Logistics Technology News

After two years of preparations, Nippon Express Co. has set up a subsidiary in Myanmar, formerly called Burma, joining a growing army of Japanese transportation, logistics and other firms aiming to cash in on what is widely seen as Asia’s last frontier market.

UK parcel delivery firm City Link, which filed for bankruptcy last week, will lay off most of its 2,780 employees in the coming days after failing to attract buyers.

Mitsui-Soko Holdings Co. will take a controlling stake in Sony Supply Chain Solutions Inc. for about 18 billion yen (US$151 million), marking the latest in a series of acquisitions by Japanese transportation and logistics companies targeting subsidiaries of struggling domestic electronics giants.

DB Schenker, the logistics arm of Germany’s Deutsche Bahn, has opened a new sales office in Vapi, India, to serve its customers in the country’s western region.

Transplace is expanding in Western Canada and Quebec as U.S.-Canada cross-border traffic speeds up, along with the U.S. and Canadian economies.

Logistics is a booming business in the Belgian city of Genk, not far from the Dutch and German borders and home to the newest Menlo Logistics distribution center in Europe.

Global third-party logistics providers DSV A/S and UTi Worldwide said they are no longer discussing a merger or acquisition.

DB Schenker, the logistics unit of Germany’s state-owned railroad company Deutsche Bahn, is seeking $2.6 billion in damages from 13 airlines that operated a global air cargo cartel.

The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America on Wednesday charged that ocean carriers may be violating the U.S. Shipping Act with their congestion surcharges at West Coast ports.

Yusen Logistics has opened a new warehouse in Vietnam’s Hai Phong City to tap growing electronics and auto manufacturing production in the country’s northern region.

When Bradley S. Jacobs thinks about technology and the future of transportation, he thinks big. The CEO of XPO Logistics believes autonomous driverless trucks and three-dimensional printing will change the way goods are produced and shipped within the next few decades, utterly changing global supply chains.

Transplace is deploying technology that helps shippers get goods across the U.S.-Mexican border more quickly, cutting truck transit times by improving the customs process.

Freight forwarding and logistics services growth fueled a 51 percent year-over-year increase in Allcargo Logistics’s consolidated net profit in its the fiscal second quarter, which ended Sept. 30.

Germany’s Deutsche Post DHL booked higher third-quarter earnings as strong gains in international express and domestic parcel shipments offset shrunken margins at its global freight forwarding unit.

Damco slumped to a $68 million net operating loss in the third quarter from a $1 million profit a year ago as ocean and air freight volumes declined in a growing global market and experienced one-off charges related to a business transformation.

Combined growth among the 50 largest transportation and logistics companies worldwide slowed to a halt in 2013 amid global economic uncertainty. The combined revenue of the 50 companies slipped 0.1 percent after increasing 2.6 percent in 2012 and 8.4 percent in 2011.

CEVA’s third-quarter earnings grew 6.7 percent from a year ago as the Netherlands-based supply chain management group posted market-beating increases in ocean and air freight volumes.

Major Japanese international freight forwarder Kintetsu World Express saw its group net profit tumble in the first half of fiscal 2014, which started on April 1, because of an extraordinary loss related to an antitrust class-action lawsuit in the United States.

Gati Ltd., India’s leading express distribution and supply chain solutions company, reported its group net profit in the fiscal second quarter totaled about $2 million, a more than two-fold increase from the same period in 2013.

European retail services company Musgrave Retail Partners expands refrigerated transportation services by acquiring Irish firm Allied Logistics.

Logistics provider Transplace is building up its chemical business by acquiring Logistics Management Solutions, a 3PL with a strong chemicals customer base.

Rising operating costs coupled with the slowdown in international freight hauling hurt profit growth at Container Corporation of India, the country’s largest intermodal logistics provider.

S.F. Express, one of China’s largest express logistics companies, plans further overseas expansion, and is targeting Europe, a company official said.

Nippon Express Co. more than doubled its group net profit in the first half of fiscal 2014, which ended Sept. 31, from the same period in 2013, as strong international freight forwarding offset U.S. antitrust lawsuit costs, and weak Japanese imports and construction-related cargo.

Major Japanese international freight forwarder Yusen Logistics Co. saw its net profit surge 146.8 percent year-over-year in the first half of fiscal 2014, which ended Sept. 31, to ¥695 million ($6.17 million).

Transport Corporation of India’s net profit rocketed 63 percent year-over-year in its second quarter, which ended September, as more shippers turned to the company’s third-party logistics offerings.

HONG KONG — Robert Mylod, the former Priceline CFO who played a major role in automating the online consumer travel market, has joined online freight pricing and quoting network Freightos, which plans to mimic the automated system that was such a game changer in the travel business.

Port congestion in Southern California is driving cargo to third-party logistics providers that have access to capacity from ocean and overland carriers, and the information technology systems to link these services together in an end-to-end supply chain solution, according to a 3PL executive.

FedEx said it has plans in place to handle expected record volume of holiday shipments this year and avoid a repeat of 2013’s late-shipments debacle.

UPS will raise freight rates for air and ground packages, domestic and international shipments and less-than-truckload freight by 4.9 percent on average Dec. 29, the company said Monday.

Panalpina’s ocean freight traffic increased by 9 percent in the third quarter, more than twice the market growth, but profit shrunk due to pressure on margins and adverse currency movements.

Tracking chassis as they move around and through ports and railheads is the next step in building a more sophisticated, interconnected supply chain, telematics company Orbcomm says.

Kuehne + Nagel credited rising U.S. container imports for driving a market-beating 7.4 percent increase in the global forwarding and logistics group’s third-quarter ocean freight traffic.

DHL Global Forwarding will secure long-term capacity in the trans-Pacific and on other trade lanes to help customers manage rising rates as global capacity tightens.

A New York-based third-party logistics company is opening a Florida office, the third major expansion for the firm in two years.

Seko Logistics is expanding in the e-commerce market by investing in Metakinetic, an e-commerce marketing and design agency.

Yusen Logistics is beefing up its footprint in Turkey by partnering with Turkish logistics provider İnci Logistics.

Modern Logistics S.A. has secured funding that will help the Brazilian logistics services provider launch operations within two months, offering regional warehousing and air and ground distribution.

Ryder System is expanding its inland distribution network in Mexico, starting with a transloading center for Chrysler at the Gulf Coast Port of Altamira.