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UPS Will Not Sunset Residential Peak Surcharges

| Mike O'Brien

UPS for the first time is extending its peak surcharges for residential delivery beyond the usual mid-January cutoff, referring to them as by the new designation of “demand surcharges” which will be in place until further notice, while FedEx is not following suit but letting them lapse.

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FedEx Q2 Again Hit by Softer Volume

| Mike O'Brien

FedEx experienced another challenging quarter, with lower volumes impacting the top and bottom line, especially in the Express segment, and the company announced further moves to rein in costs and trim operations, including grounding more flights and dialing back capital spending.

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USPS, Under Pressure, Upgrades EV Plan

| Mike O'Brien

The U.S. Postal Service today announced a major upgrade to its planned rollout of electric vehicles to replace its aging delivery fleet, saying the USPS will purchase only EVs after 2026, as the agency bows to significant pressure from Washington and the states to expand and speed up its changeover.

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Warehouse Space Demand Will Shrink in 2023

| Mike O'Brien

Demand for warehouse space will decrease in 2023, experts predicted, but companies will still be looking to fill in network gaps opportunistically, while continuing to move sourcing and inventory closer to domestic customers to hedge against supply chain shocks. Consolidation of the 3PL sector is expected to continue.

Supply Chain, Sustainability Tools: Working in Tandem

| John Rattay

Shippers know they must prioritize sustainability to remain competitive and align with customer demands. They also know that they must leverage technology to measure their company’s supply chain carbon impacts accurately and set attainable sustainability goals. To solve this, they need to break out of traditional ways of doing things.

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Pitney Bowes Investor Calls for Board Takeover, New CEO

| Mike O'Brien

Pitney Bowes will get a board makeover with an installed majority and a new interim CEO, if investor Hestia Capital has its way, actions that have led management to take defensive measures. The hedge fund said it’s taking these hardball measures after the company refused its offer last month to bring in three new outside directors.

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Freight Consortium Looks to Create API Standards

| Mike O'Brien

A freight consortium made up of J.B. Hunt, Uber Freight and Convoy is looking to create an industry standard for using application programming interface (API) connections to share data among partners in order to solve freight scheduling challenges, initially addressing full truckload (TL).

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Foreign Trade Zones: A Hidden Gem for Retailers

| Mike O'Brien

Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs) have been around since 1934, yet many retailers don’t know the program exists, or anything about the benefits they can realize from deferring or eliminating import duties, tariffs and taxes. This MCM Special Report taps experts in logistics, importing and FTZ operations to help you make an informed choice.

Macy’s Converts 35 Stores to Mini FCs

| Mike O'Brien

Ahead of peak season, Macy’s converted 35 stores into mini fulfillment centers, creating about 1 million square feet of space to handle online orders, lowering costs, speeding up delivery times and reducing the incidence of painful split shipments, executives said on a recent earnings call.

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OneRail Raises $33 Million, Looks to Expand to SMB

| Mike O'Brien

OneRail, an Orlando-based startup with software that optimizes last-mile deliveries, has raised $33 million in a Series B round to further develop its platform and bring in new talent to fuel its growth, with plans to launch an extension for SMBs on Shopify in 2023.