AxleHire, a last-mile solutions company powering delivery for HelloFresh, Deliverr, Freshly and Pet Food Express, has closed a $20M funding round aimed at increasing its sortation capabilities, expanding its network and moving more into general ecommerce. It also hopes to create a national network to compete with regional carriers.
3PLs and 4PLs have both seen an explosion in popularity and are now being used to ship all kinds of goods. Each offers big potential benefits for retailers to outsource major elements of their supply chain. Here are some of the main differences between them and pluses and minuses to help you decide which is right for your business.
As container ships piled up at the blocked Suez Canal for six days, an already serious issue of port congestion has grown worse, rippling down to longer delays on consumer orders as inventories deplete with goods hung up in transit. Some chokepoints have seen easing but shippers continue to scramble and costs rise.
Last week Amazon spent $131 billion for a 19.5% share in ATSG, which operates aircraft it leases. And many believe Amazon Logistics is looking to restart delivering non-Amazon volume from its shippers. So what is up with all this activity and investment? We talk with Kiri Masters of Bobsled Marketing about the pieces that are in place.
Shipping logistics affect all of our lives in ways we tend not to think about. Transportation of goods across the world shapes what we buy, wear and use. Shipping influences the cost of goods, world trade and especially companies’ environmental impact. Here are some key aspects of sustainability efforts in shipping logistics.
FedEx is acquiring ecommerce platform ShopRunner, which offers subscribers guaranteed two-day delivery for $79 a year, looking to bolster its ecommerce offerings and bulk up in the battle against ex-partner Amazon, which is expected to restart 3P fulfillment in 2021. ShopRunner, based in Chicago, will be operated as a subsidiary.
A few weeks ago, analysts predicted FedEx’s strong Q4 results were a preview of coming attractions for when UPS reported. They weren’t wrong. UPS reported a record 22.8% surge in average daily shipping volume in Q2, fueled by massive ecommerce growth, and a 65% increase in shipments to consumers, nearly 70% of total volume.
To succeed in this new world of retail disruption and ever-shifting customer demands, smart brands are moving to a direct model. The benefits of DTC can be substantial but require a dramatic retooling of operations, from customer service to returns management, direct merchandising, direct delivery and warehousing and logistics.
Now that it’s detached itself from Amazon, FedEx has entered into a multiyear agreement with Amazon’s cloud computing rival Microsoft, with the first offering using the latter’s real-time intelligence capabilities to provide FedEx shippers with greater visibility into transit time issues. Other solutions will be announced later this year.
