UPS van in snow holiday peak season feature

Narvar Partners With UPS on Real-Time Data Tool

| Mike O'Brien

Narvar, provider of post-purchase experience solutions, is now pulling in real-time shipping data from UPS into a new dashboard product called Monitor to give shippers greater visibility into packages in transit across the supply chain, anticipating and proactively addressing issues.

autonomous middle mile Ryder Gatik

Ryder Invests in Gatik for Autonomous Middle Mile Delivery

| Mike O'Brien

Truck leasing, logistics and fleet management provider Ryder has made an investment in Gatik, whose technology will power autonomous middle mile deliveries for retail and ecommerce clients in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, initially equipping 20 leased Ryder box trucks for the purpose.

More Than Half of U.S. Consumers Planning Holiday Shopping Early

| Mike O'Brien

Supply chain delays, ongoing carrier issues and expectations of late deliveries or out of stocks has driven a record number of U.S. consumers to begin holiday shopping earlier than ever, with 52% of them in an Oracle Retail survey saying they’ve already begun to do so. Major retailers like Target and Best Buy have kicked off promotions.

LaserShip delivery feature

LaserShip Acquires OnTrac for $1.3B, Looks Nationally

| Mike O'Brien

Regional carrier LaserShip is acquiring competitor OnTrac for $1.3 billion deal, in one fell swoop changing the equation in last-mile parcel delivery by giving the combined entity coverage of three-quarters of the continental U.S. as ecommerce demand continues to soar.

canadian fulfillment feature

Canadian Fulfillment: Importing Bulk Products Duty Free

| Jeffrey Wilkins

Canadian fulfillment means purchasing large shipments overseas, then importing them to Canada, where they’re held by a third party until you receive an order and they ship it out. While it seems like a rather roundabout way of doing business, there’s a reason it’s becoming increasingly popular among U.S. businesses: It saves you money.

USPS letter carrier

USPS Delays Parcel Service Slowdown

| Mike O'Brien

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has decided to temporarily suspend a planned reduction in service level standards for First Class package delivery until after the peak holiday season, a week after the Postal Regulatory Commission which oversees it said the plan “lacked demonstrable evidence.”

Why Yesterday’s Carrier Strategy Has Expired

| Mike O'Brien

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic-driven spike in ecommerce, a nagging labor shortage and supply chain issues have put capacity at a premium and left shippers struggling to keep up. This report explores ways today’s retail and ecommerce shippers must pursue a carrier strategy that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago.

parcel shipping delivery scan

Amazon Surpasses FedEx in Parcel Volume

| Mike O'Brien

For the first time, Amazon Logistics surpassed a major carrier in domestic parcel volume, edging out FedEx in 2020, according to Pitney Bowes annual shipping index, although FedEx had substantially more revenue. Pitney Bowes is also predicting domestic parcel volume will nearly double between 2020 and 2026.

project44 convey feature

project44 Acquires Convey, Gains Last Mile Strength

| Mike O'Brien

project44 has acquired Convey for $255 million to create an end-to-end supply chain visibility solution, marrying up the latter’s expertise in last mile to complement its focus up the chain in first and middle mile and all modes of freight, in both B2B and direct-to-consumer realms.

FedEx express truck

FedEx, Salesforce Partner on Joint Solutions

| Mike O'Brien

FedEx and Salesforce are joining forces on a multi-year partnership integrating Salesforce Commerce Cloud and its order management system with FedEx and its ShopRunner subsidiary, in a bid to offer a front-to-back ecommerce and supply chain and fulfillment solution for retailers.