Technology

• Locus Robotics, a provider of autonomous mobile robots, released the LocusHub business intelligence engine to provide AI-powered warehouse intelligence and robotics automation optimization. LocusHub, part of the LocusOne platform, harnesses advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to deliver predictive and prescriptive insights.

• Rail shippers can gain better control of transportation costs with a demurrage management solution from Railinc’s TransmetriQ business unit. The new TransmetriQ module helps identify and manage demurrage situations, provides automatic demurrage estimates, identifies dwell and cycle time trends, and prioritizes cars for loading/unloading to minimize fees.

• apexanalytix, a provider of supply chain risk management solutions, launched apex Neural Engine, an AI-powered solution designed to streamline supplier interactions and relationships. The solution provides companies with a trainable risk-sensing assistant to consume risk signals from around the world and builds private knowledge bases by applying generative AI to supplier documentation.

• Kaleris unveiled new capabilities in its yard management system (YMS) to improve efficiency, operational visibility, and safety in yard operations. The latest innovations in the Kaleris YMS include intelligent movement to organize yard moves, minimize conflicts, and reduce bottlenecks as well as appointment scheduling, which assigns a specific time for trucks or carriers to arrive for shipment loading/unloading.

Products

↑ The next-generation HUBTEX Load Manager helps workers transport bulky, long, or heavy loads into and out of storage. Providing support for steering into target positions and finding the ideal lifting height, the system also offers optional preselection settings for fork adjustment and mast reachout, ensuring long goods can be transported with precision.

• The new Raymond Courier 3030 Automated Stacker offers improved motion control, object detection coverage, increased speeds, and lane staging capabilities to materials handling applications. The Courier is built on the Raymond chassis and mast and uses vision-guided technology.

• Emerson’s Appleton Baymaster LED high-bay luminaires and Areamaster LED floodlights are now equipped with energy-saving dimming as a standard feature, along with new color temperatures that minimize light pollution.

← The Autotote 64 from packaging manufacturer Loadhog is designed to work with intralogistics automation. The container features a single-shot, double-skin base that makes it smooth inside and out. It has a cantilever base edge which reduces deflection and helps ensure a smoother transition between linking conveyors, during directional change, and over rollers.

→ The LHI-DO Lightgistics series light from Smart Vision Lights is designed to deliver intense linear light in high-speed scan tunnel systems so packages can be illuminated and read, no matter the shape or material. The technology—which enables LEDs to rapidly self-trigger thousands of times per second at rates imperceivable to the human eye—maximizes the capabilities of machine vision systems while protecting employees.

• Delta, a provider of IoT-based solutions, unveiled a new wireless charging system for electric forklifts, heavy-load automated guided vehicles, and yard trucks. The new M∞Vair 30 kW wireless charging system, which recently obtained Federal Communications Commission approval, provides 95% contactless power conversion efficiency.

Services

• Bangkok Flight Services, the joint venture between Bangkok Airways and Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), a member of the SATS Group, achieved Good Distribution Practice (GDP) certification for its dedicated pharma handling facility at the city’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport. WFS customers can now avail of 27 GDP or IATA CEIV Pharma certified facilities globally, with two locations in North America aiming for certification in Q2 and Q3 2024.

• GEODIS launched a multi-carrier parcel shipping solution that offers shippers enhanced rate shopping and carrier selection capabilities. Customers in the Americas region can take advantage of a broader choice of shipping options, making informed selections for ecommerce fulfillment by comparing shipping rates based on parcel size, destination, and delivery timeline.

• Southeastern Freight Lines, a provider of regional less-than-truckload transportation services, opened a new service center in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The new facility, located at 6333 Whitney Drive, consists of 45 dock doors and offers expanded dispatch spaces.

• Old Dominion Freight Line opened one of its largest service centers, expanding its network to better serve the Northeast. The new service center located in Tannersville, Pennsylvania, began operations in March 2024 with 140 employees.

Transportation

↑ The CMA CGM Group took delivery of the CMA CGM MERMAID, the first ship in a series of 10 new 2,000-TEU container ships powered by liquefied natural gas. To be deployed in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, the ships join the CMA CGM fleet of around 620 vessels, including more than 30 powered by alternative energies.

• PITT OHIO now offers next-day shipping lanes to New England from three of its terminals. Previously, standard shipping to New England from Cumberland and Baltimore, Maryland, and the Greater Philadelphia Area could take up to 3 days. Now, customers in New England can expect their freight to arrive in 24 hours.

• OOCL introduced its newest mega container ship the OOCL Abu Dhabi, the eighth eco-friendly 24,188-TEU vessel on its fleet. It will serve the Asia-Europe LL1 service.

• ZIM added a call to Cai Mep Port in Vietnam to its ZMP service, connecting Asia to the East Mediterranean. The updated rotation includes Pusan, Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Da Chan Bay, Cai Mep, Colombo, Haifa, Ashdod, Mersin, Derince, Istanbul, and Xiamen.

• Efret launched a road freight transport service from the UK to Morocco with scheduled departures every weekday. The direct service offers transit times of 5-7 days door to door.

Technology

↓ Dexory’s autonomous robotics and AI-powered analysis solution, DexoryView, lets businesses understand what happens in their warehousing operations in real time. The system combines analytics capabilities with autonomous robots that capture image and sensor data from across a warehouse and a digital platform that connects warehouses across the global supply chain.

• Dock management solution myQ Enterprise from Chamberlain Group, the company behind the LiftMaster brand, is a connected hardware and software solution that streamlines driver scheduling, simplifies check in, and provides real-time communication. Facilities can automate loading dock assignments and processes with the solution.

• QAD’s new Industrial Transformation Platform helps manufacturers, suppliers, and supply chain participants address challenges by solving root causes. Also called the O3 Platform, the solution lets enterprises synchronize processes, systems, and people with artificial intelligence, accelerated implementations, frontline worker coaching, manufacturing and supply chain solutions, connected workforce capabilities, and process intelligence.

• PalletTrader, an online marketplace for buying and selling pallets, introduced new features to streamline the process. PalletTrader now offers buyers direct access to pallets for sale on the marketplace from its homepage without having to log into the platform. It also added a guest buying role.

• End-to-end supply chain planning software solution provider John Galt Solutions expanded its partnership with PlanetTogether to enhance supply chain planning and scheduling solutions and add new capabilities to the Atlas Planning Platform. Companies can streamline manufacturing processes, adapt to changes in production sequence, and unlock business value throughout the supply chain.

• AI-driven optimization software provider INFORM offers SYNCROSUPPLY, a truck and time slot solution that automates the scheduling of truck appointments at manufacturing facilities. The solution supports the yard management staff and provides visibility more than four days out to reduce vehicle congestion and improve dock door utilization.

Products

• Retailers can lower the environmental impact of their packaging with middle-mile logistics platform Fillogic’s new offering: 100% recyclable, reusable mono-material polypropylene packaging. Provided by Renegade Plastics and made by reusable packaging provider Returnity, the reusable shipping box replaces standard corrugated cardboard, holds more than 50 pounds, and lasts 40 – 50 shipping cycles.

• Toshiba America Business Solutions’ new BV400T thermal transfer printers quickly (7 inches per second) and vividly (up to 300 dots per inch) produce shipping and shelving labels, radio frequency identification (RFID) asset management tags, and other labels. Capable of making approximately 1,000 labels a day, Toshiba’s 4-inch desktop printers are designed to meet industrial labeling and receipt needs.

← ORBIS added a new pallet, top cap, and reusable sleevepack system to its OpteBulk collapsible plastic bulk solutions. Maximizing truckload space, the new OpteBulk 48×45 series offers a total of 28 positions per 53-foot trailer, two more positions than other 48×45 sleevepacks in the market.

Services

→ Florida’s Port Canaveral welcomed a second mobile harbor crane, expanding its ability to handle a diverse cargo portfolio. Manufactured by the Liebherr Group in Germany, the LHM 600 evo 6 has a lift capability of up to 154 tons and a jib length of 200 feet. Its 20-container reach allows for containers to be stacked nine high on deck.

• Ryder System expanded its cross-border U.S.-Mexico operations by opening a logistics facility in Laredo, Texas, as well as extending its drayage yard in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Its new 228,000-square-foot warehouse and cross dock in Laredo is located 3 miles from the World Trade Bridge on the U.S.-Mexico border with interstate access in both directions.

• Americold Realty Trust plans to begin construction in the first half of 2024 on its first facility through a strategic collaboration with Canadian Pacific Kansas City to co-locate Americold warehouse facilities on the CPKC network. Americold is investing $127 million in the 335,000-square-foot facility in Kansas City, Missouri. The new facility will support CPKC’s single-line rail service for refrigerated shippers between the U.S. Midwest markets and Mexico.

• DHL eCommerce, a division of DHL Group, relocated from its Elkridge, Maryland, distribution center to a 138,500-square-foot location in Manassas, Virginia. Double the size of the previous location with 41 dock doors, the new distribution center enables DHL eCommerce to process more B2C domestic volume.

• Corporate Storage activated its Foreign Trade Zone designation at its Gainesville, Georgia, warehouse to save customers thousands of dollars through deferred duties, taxes, and processing fees. With the FTZ designation, Corporate Storage is positioned to serve customers whose products come through the nearby Blue Ridge Connector, Northeast Georgia’s inland port, which is scheduled to be completed in 2026.

Transportation

• Enstructure, a U.S. marine terminal and logistics company, and Dole Food Company expanded Dole’s shipping services to Port Wilmington in Delaware. The addition of a second weekly service increases the capacity for tropical fresh fruits, including Dole branded fruits, and general cargo being imported to the Mid-Atlantic region from Colombia, Honduras, and Guatemala.

Technology

• Identiv’s ID-Pixels tags will now be powered wirelessly by Energous’ PowerBridge technology, enabling accurate sensor measurements throughout the supply chain, including in cold chain logistics. The joint solution aims to deliver more reliable power than disposable batteries and charging cables to Internet of Things sensors deployed across the logistics industry.

• HERE Technologies launched HERE Advanced Traffic Patterns to help improve the planning, routing, and delivery of goods and packages. The solution leverages trillions of data points from onboard sensors, telematics systems, and mobile devices to calculate traffic speed information for commercial vehicles, incorporating variables such as time, day, and vehicle type to help companies improve planning capabilities with predictive ETA windows.

↑ RightHand Robotics introduced the RightPick 4 System, an autonomous robotic piece-picking solution for warehouse order fulfillment, which offers improved picking and grasping techniques. The solution has enhanced AI-based software algorithms, upgraded sensors, and hardware that enables a larger picking range of item SKUs, item handling capacity, and increased system autonomy.

Products

← Smart Vision Lights’ new RHI200-DO Lightgistics light with hidden strobe technology features 64 LEDs in a ring light for uniform lighting at long working distances. The technology helps maximize the abilities of machine vision systems. The light addresses the challenges of high-speed barcode reading and optical character recognition on highly reflective plastic wraps and shipping bags.

• ORBIS, in collaboration with partner Seedbox Solution, unveiled the GEN250 seed box, a container for storing, transporting, and discharging bulk seed. The reusable containers are collapsible and stackable, minimizing storage needs and increasing transportation efficiency.

• The new nestable picking pallet, Retail US5, from Cabka is 100% recyclable and is constructed from recycled plastic. Designed for U.S. plastic pallet solutions, the Retail US5 features a lightweight construction and a low nesting height to maximize space utilization.

Services

• cargo-partner is constructing its third warehouse at its iLogistics Center in Dunajská Streda, Slovakia. The expansion will nearly double storage capacity from the current 27,600 to 50,000 pallet spaces. The new Class A building was designed to optimize energy efficiency and includes 22 loading ramps and two drive-in gates for loading and unloading.

• Delta Cargo launched an ecommerce solution called DeliverDirect in collaboration with SmartKargo. DeliverDirect is a door-to-door delivery service for the U.S. market, offering ecommerce retailers a customizable, direct-to-consumer shipping solution that provides alert management, tracking and reporting, and access to Delta’s domestic network.

↑ Southeastern Freight Lines opened an expanded service center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The new facility consists of 230 dock doors and houses its pickup and delivery operation as well as its breakbulk operation on an interim basis while Southeastern works to redevelop its second facility in Charlotte.

• CJ Logistics America is opening a cold storage warehouse in Gainesville, Georgia, later this year, located adjacent to the future Northeast Georgia Inland Port, providing a direct link to the Port of Savannah. The 270,000-square-foot building, developed by RL Cold, offers a blast freezing system that brings products to desired temperatures in 24 hours or less.

• AIT Worldwide Logistics opened a LEED-certified warehouse in Palatine, Illinois, near Chicago. Designed to handle a variety of shipping needs, the newly constructed, 370,000-square-foot building is equipped with 58 dock doors and provides full-service warehousing, including pick and pack services, short- and long-term storage, and multiple temperature-controlled areas for food logistics and life sciences commodities.

Transportation

↑ China Cargo Airlines launched three Boeing 777 freighter flights a week to Miami from Shanghai Pudong International Airport. The airlines awarded Worldwide Flight Services a three-year contract to handle its cargo, including ecommerce traffic, perishables, seafood, and general cargo.

• Ocean Network Express (ONE) is set to launch a container ship service between Savannah, Georgia, and West India in May 2024. The new offering gives the Georgia Ports Authority 10 services via the Suez Canal, with nine calling on the Indian subcontinent. ONE’s new West India North America service offers a weekly route linking Hazira, Nhava Sheva, and Mundra to Savannah.

• CMA CGM’s first liquefied natural gas-powered container ship now serves West African ports. The 15,000-TEU CMA CGM SCANDOLA sails on CMA CGM’s West Africa Express service connecting West Africa (Tema, Lekki, Abidjan, and Pointe-Noire) directly to China, Southeast Asia, and India.

• ZIM introduced ZIM Pacific Northwest Xpress (ZPX), an independent service that connects Asia, Canada, and the United States via Vancouver Gateway. ZPX commenced operations on January 21 from Cai Mep, Vietnam, with the following rotation: Yantian, Kaohsiung, Xiamen, Ningbo, Shanghai, Vancouver (Deltaport), Pusan, and back to Cai Mep. Service features include rail connectivity covering major Canada and U.S. inland IPI destinations, including East and Central Canada, U.S. Midwest, and Ohio Valley.

• Roadrunner expanded its less-than-truckload services, launching offerings to Canada and Portland as well as adding 135 lanes to its network. Roadrunner’s new lanes include: Dallas and Houston, Texas, to Denver; Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee, to Denver; the Northeastern United States to and from Nashville, Indianapolis, Louisville, and Cincinnati; cities in Florida to Nashville and Memphis; and service to Alaska and Hawaii.

↑ Maersk A/S, an entity under A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk), and Hapag-Lloyd signed an agreement for a long-term operational collaboration called Gemini Cooperation, which will start in February 2025, to provide shippers with ocean network reliability and accelerate decarbonization initiatives. The new cooperation includes a fleet pool of around 290 vessels with a combined capacity of 3.4 million TEUs; Maersk will deploy 60% and Hapag-Lloyd 40%.

•  JLT Mobile Computers introduced its JLT Insights warehouse productivity software, a monitoring and analysis solution. It monitors devices, vehicles, access points, and workforce productivity through real-time data from sensors embedded in the JLT6012 series of rugged computers.

•  Casper Labs launched a tracking, reporting, and transparency tool called Casper Labs Track & Trace. Designed to optimize inventory management and product distribution, it helps manufacturers upgrade workflows and improve transparency.

•  AI-powered parcel delivery logistics platform Bettermile is now available for U.S. shippers seeking a last-mile visibility solution. The company’s cloud-based software offers real-time tracking, route optimization, and communication tools to boost efficiency and customer satisfaction.

•  Accenture and SAP SE teamed up to offer a supply chain nerve center that can reduce risk, enhance visibility, and support sustainability goals. The companies co-developed new capabilities for the SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain solution to help organizations respond to changes in supply, demand and inventory.

•  New route optimization SaaS solution, Logi-IQ, which launched in beta in late 2023, is now available for full implementation. Designed to address inefficiencies in logistics planning, resource waste, and communication challenges, Logi-IQ offers route optimization capabilities as well as driver management, task management, and business intelligence functionality.

•  Rotate launched a real-time capacity and market intelligence tool to support decision-making in the air cargo industry. Rotate’s Live Capacity tool offers insight into the supply side of the air cargo market—and is available free of charge. Users gain real-time access to global capacity information based on flight-tracking data covering flights from thousands of airlines at more than 9,000 airports.

•  ORO Labs integrated its procurement workflow platform with the SAP Ariba procure-to-pay solution and other SAP products, enabling customers to orchestrate spend and supplier management across enterprise systems and data. The integration helps companies create intake workflows, build a procurement tech stack, and simplify user engagement.

•  Designed to help companies ensure compliance with the new U.S. Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), Tecsys launched Elite WMS for healthcare distribution. The new warehouse management system contains embedded serialized DSCSA support designed for real-time, continuous compliance. It also streamlines workflows for receiving, putaway, and fulfillment.

Carrier Logistics Inc. (CLI), a provider of freight management software for less-than-truckload fleets, now offers automated departure reports that provide system-generated notifications about freight status. The departure reports are transmitted as soon as the delivery driver leaves a terminal to inform the customer their freight is on the truck and provide an estimated time of arrival.

Products

•  Metalcraft, a manufacturer of identification products, now offers the Universal Eco Mini RFID Tag, which is designed for item-level retail tracking on metal surfaces. Made with 40% less material than previous products, it has a read range of up to 25 feet on metal surfaces.

•  Cabka’s new reusable, recycled plastic pallets incorporating the Repsol Reciclex polypropylene compound, offer high load capacity, flexural rigidity, and dimensional stability. The pallets are compatible with automated handling and robotic palletizing systems.

•  Macfarlane Packaging launched a line of sustainable stock boxes for retailers. Made of single- and double-wall boxes, the new line is 100% Forest Stewardship Council certified.

•  Mezzanine Safeti-Gates now offers safety gate designs with product containment netting. The add-on offers high-strength, high-visibility netting on the ledge gate to prevent products from falling from elevated rack systems.

•  Specim, Spectral Imaging Ltd. released an upgraded Specim FX50 middle-wave infrared hyperspectral camera for industrial applications, including sorting, quality control, and process optimization. With a high spatial resolution, image speed, and signal-to-noise ratio, the Specim FX50 enables fast and accurate inspection and classification of materials.

•  Reelables unveiled its new 5G Smart Labels, a printable 5G label solution that lets retailers and other stakeholders track shipments at the piece level as they move through the supply chain. The label itself functions as the tracking device connected to a cellular network.

Services

Florida’s Port Everglades received three additional Super Post-Panamax container gantry cranes as part of its $471-million project to expand its deepwater turn-around area for cargo ships. The three 175-foot-high ship-to-shore cranes, valued at $15.1 million each, can handle containers stacked eight high from a ship’s deck and reach 22 containers across the ship’s deck.

•  Dayton Freight Lines relocated its Detroit service center to a new facility double in size. Located northwest of Detroit in Waterford Township, the new center has 132 dock doors.

Estes opened a new terminal in its headquarter city of Richmond, Virginia. One of the largest terminals in the carrier’s network, the facility features 98 doors, more than 41,000 square feet of dock space, and 4,900 square feet of office space across 20 acres.

•  Armada opened a new warehouse facility located at 101 Enterprise Drive in Flower Mound, Texas. The facility offers 357,069 square feet of ambient space, serviced by 72 dock doors. Temperature-controlled capacity includes 33,678 square feet of refrigerated space and a 54,630-square-foot freezer supported by a 16,723-square-foot cool dock and 16 dock doors.

•  PL Cold, the new corporate division of Progressive Logistics (PL), opened a 300,000-square-foot, deep-frozen (-10°F) storage facility east of Indianapolis. In collaboration with development partner Ambrose Property Group, PL Cold integrated technology and design features to ensure Safe Quality Foods (SQF), organic, and American Institute of Baking (AIB) certification, offering its customers flexible cold storage options within one day’s drive of most of the U.S. population.

•  Qatar Airways Cargo launched the Drive service, which transports various types of automobiles by air. Drive accommodates high-value vehicles on the airline’s freighters and passenger flights, delivering them to more than 160 belly-hold and more than 70 freighter destinations as well as other destinations that are not part of its scheduled services.

Averitt opened a new facility in the South Alabama Logistics Park in Mobile, Alabama. Equipped with electric forklifts and energy-efficient LED lighting with motion sensors, the facility features a 120,000-square-foot warehouse and a 35,000-square-foot cross-dock.

Transportation

cargo-partner launched cross-border road solutions connecting the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Its U.S. team is located in four cargo-partner offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Clarksville.

•  Lufthansa Cargo welcomed a fourth Airbus A321 freighter to its fleet and continued to expand its route network by adding Stockholm, Amman, and Stavanger to its winter flight schedule. With 14 pallet and container positions on the main deck and 10 on the lower deck, the twin-engine medium-haul aircraft has a total payload of 28 tons.

•  OOCL launched a new Japan-Philippines service called KTX4. The new offering enhances the network coverage between Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South China, and the Philippines. KTX4 directly connects multiple ports in Japan with the Philippines.

Cargo airline One Air took delivery of its second Boeing 747-400 freighter. The additional aircraft supports the new airline’s regular charter services connecting Hong Kong and London Heathrow, as well as provides ad hoc capacity for global charter services.

•  ZIM started a short sea service linking Mexico to the Port of Brunswick in Georgia, with the first shipment of more than 1,000 vehicles delivered through the gateway in November 2023. The Gold Star service offering from ZIM provides delivery of roll-on/roll-off cargo for automakers.

•  J.B. Hunt Transport Services and BNSF Railway launched Quantum, a premium intermodal offering. The offering cuts delivery times by one day from standard intermodal service. The shipments are assigned priority drayage and rail positions.

•  Atlas Air, a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, took delivery of a Boeing 777 Freighter on behalf of MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA. Atlas Air now operates four 777 Freighters for MSC. The aircraft supports MSC’s weekly global services, including a route from Hong Kong to Dallas/Fort Worth.

A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) is set to launch the first of its 18 large methanol-enabled vessels currently on order. On February 9, 2024, the new vessel enters service on the Asia-Europe lane, which includes port calls in Shanghai, Tanjung Pelepas, Colombo, and Hamburg, with Ningbo, China, as its first destination. The container vessel built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea is equipped with a dual-fuel engine, enabling operations on methanol as well as biodiesel and conventional bunker fuel.

• HID released three new models in its LinTRAK RAIN RFID ultra-high frequency tag family to provide companies with more options to identify, track, and manage textile items. The new LinTRAK tags are robust and discreet, blending into apparel seams.

• The JWL150-DO Lightgistics Series light from Smart Vision Lights can perform high-speed barcode reading and optical character recognition with packages in reflective plastic wraps or shipping bags. The units have hidden strobe technology that allows LEDs to internally self-trigger thousands of times per second, pulsing faster than the human eye can perceive and creating the illusion of continuous light to maximize machine vision systems.

• Southco introduced a new cable accessory for its surface-mounted AC-15 rotary latch actuators, a multi-point rotary latch pull system. The accessory is ideal for applications on trucks and other vehicles.

Services

• To serve the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, GEODIS opened a new temperature-controlled facility in Schiphol in the Netherlands next to an existing site. TAPA-A rated for air freight, the new facility is part of GEODIS’ worldwide cross-docking network for ambient and cold chain products.

• To help companies move their goods more sustainably with reusable packaging, ORBIS Corporation expanded its manufacturing facility in Urbana, Ohio. The expansion adds 30% more space for the production of ORBIS totes and pallets, and allows ORBIS to add more presses and tools, increase capacity, and shorten lead times. Reusable packaging products produced at the plant are used in industries such as automotive, food, beverage, and consumer packaged goods.

• DACHSER Sweden is moving into a new location in Jönköping, which is located between Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. With more than 17,000 square feet of office space, approximately 108,000-square-foot warehouse, and a cross-dock terminal with 70 gates, the new branch is DACHSER’s largest in the Nordic countries. The new premises offer an expansion from 5,800 to 11,000 pallet spaces for warehouse operations.

• Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), a member of SATS Group, will increase cargo capacity at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) by 20% in early 2025 with the opening of a new 346,000-square-foot terminal. The new facility gives JFK its first dedicated on-airport handling facility for temperature-controlled pharmaceutical products and perishable cargo.

Technology

• UPS introduced the UPS Supply Chain Symphony™ platform, a new tool that integrates shipping, warehousing, and inventory management functions into a single platform. This unified approach helps UPS customers operate more efficiently, gain supply chain visibility, and address challenges. The cloud-based Software-as-a-Service solution integrates previously stand-alone UPS tools so companies can view and orchestrate outcomes.

• ToolsGroup released the latest version of its JustEnough Retail Planning and Execution suite, offering advancements in its assortment planning and allocation capabilities. The newest version offers enhanced target creation in assortment planning that supports user-defined update periods and returns recommendations.

• DDC FPO unveiled its new auto-extraction and structuring solution, the latest addition to its platform of supply chain products. The new solution engages automated machine learning technology to cleanse and structure raw data from freight documents, applies client business rules, and transmits information via APIs to the client’s system.

• John Galt Solutions and FourKites teamed up to deliver end-to-end supply chain visibility. Integrating John Galt Solutions’ AI-powered Atlas Planning Platform with FourKites’ real-time supply chain insights, companies can detect and mitigate risks, receive shipment tracking data, align warehouse plans with transportation schedules, and attain visibility across the supply chain ecosystem.

• CargoAi, a provider of airfreight technology solutions, introduced CargoCoPilot, a feature integrated into its flagship platform, CargoMART. Leveraging large language models, CargoCoPilot offers real-time intelligent assistance, enabling users to enhance their efficiency, productivity, and skills in the airfreight procurement process.

Transportation

• Qatar Airways Cargo started a dedicated freighter service to Warsaw, Poland. The addition of the freighter service, in combination with passenger flights, increases the weekly cargo capacity to more than 220 tons from Warsaw to Qatar.

• Etihad Cargo launched flights connecting Abu Dhabi and Denmark. The airline commenced four Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights a week to Copenhagen, Denmark, appointing WFS as its cargo handling partner in Copenhagen.

• Lufthansa Cargo now offers its fastest-speed service—td.Zoom—for urgent shipments. The service includes top speed, priority, and capacity access with no weight or size limitations. The handling processes at Lufthansa Cargo’s hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, and Vienna provide ramp supervision during aircraft loading and unloading, as well as dedicated ramp transfer from the warehouse to the aircraft and vice versa.

• The new Movu Robotics line offers a range of products, including atlas pallet shuttles, escala bin shuttles, and ifollow autonomous mobile robots for pallets and roll cages that work either stand-alone or as collaborative robots. Movu Robotics provides automation solutions for warehouse applications such as storing, conveying, picking, and handling.

• Storopack’s new air cushion film, AIRplus BIO Home Compostable, reduces shipping weight as well as plastic waste. Air cushions made from the lightweight organic film protect light- to medium-weight goods in transit.

• The new TLD970 Dynamic Pallet Dimensioner from METTLER TOLEDO automates the capture of cargo dimensions, ensuring speed and precision. Utilizing light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology, the TLD970 provides the measurements of a single cargo item within seconds regardless of lighting conditions.

• The Qimarox Highrunner HR8 palletizer can stack boxes of frozen foods into stable pallets, even if they are not form-fixed or fully filled. By placing the boxes with their ribs (a structurally robust part of the box) exactly on top of each other, the Qimarox HR8 prevents boxes that are not completely filled from collapsing. Since the resulting pallet is sturdy, wrapping the load requires less film.

Services

• ODW Logistics added a 540,000-square-foot warehouse in Columbus, Ohio, bringing its Central Ohio warehouse space total to more than 4 million square feet. The class-A facility marks the 14th distribution center in Central Ohio for the 3PL provider.

• Roadrunner offers a Smart Guarantee LTL service offering—a priority service that ensures less-than-truckload freight is delivered by the promised delivery date or it’s free. Shippers can take advantage of the new offering for an additional 25% charge. In the event of a transit delay, Roadrunner waives 100% of the bill for guaranteed shipments.

• Arrive Logistics expanded into Canada with an office in Toronto, enhancing its cross-border and intra-Canada freight services.

• To enhance its cool chain capabilities in the United States, Etihad Cargo, the cargo and logistics arm of Etihad Airways, expanded its network with Worldwide Flight Services (WFS). Etihad Cargo’s customers receive end-to-end cargo services via its PharmaLife and FreshForward offerings in addition to the cargo handling facilities and services offered by WFS at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Washington Dulles International Airport.

• Consolidated Chassis Management (CCM), a cooperative chassis pool manager, rolled out the South Atlantic Chassis Pool, SACP 3.0 on October 1, 2023. The new SACP 3.0 brings 45,000 new or refurbished chassis to the South Atlantic region.

• Third-party logistics providers Worldwide Express, GlobalTranz, and Unishippers formed a new corporate identity, WWEX Group. With a network of carrier partners, including a strategic relationship with UPS, WWEX Group’s companies offer SMB, mid-market, and large enterprise shippers parcel, less-than-truckload (LTL), full-truckload (FTL), managed transportation, and expedited services.

• The Port of Savannah’s Mason Mega Rail Terminal boosts on-port rail capacity and offers shippers three-day transit time from vessel discharge to cargo availability in North Carolina via the Carolina Connector direct rail service. Georgia Ports and CSX provide 7-day-a-week rail departures between the Mason Mega Rail Terminal and the railroad’s CCX Yard in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

Technology

• Dexterity AI and FedEx Corp. unveiled an industry-first solution: an AI-powered robotics system that can load boxes into trucks and trailers. Dexterity AI designed the mobile robots with a suite of intelligence ranging from the ability to see, touch, think, and move quickly to pack trailers with stable, dense walls of randomized boxes. Its mobile robot, DexR, navigates autonomously to the back of trailers and connects to a conveyor system that feeds the robot boxes directly from the sortation system.

• Kitov.ai’s new K-BOX line of machine vision systems combines artificial intelligence, 3D imaging, and robotic planning technologies for product inspection applications. K-BOX offers APIs that connect Kitov software to most standard and collaborative robots on the market, allowing companies to add advanced visual inspection capabilities to their existing robotic solutions.

• DAT Freight & Analytics launched an AI-powered identity-fraud detection and prevention platform through a partnership with Verosint to help prevent the unauthorized use of customer login credentials and combat identity theft. The new technology allows DAT to leverage AI and machine learning to validate user identities and scrutinize suspicious accounts. Users can now verify the identity of the entities they are doing business with and ensure the legitimacy of load postings on the DAT load board.

• Net Feasa’s IoTPASS Smart Container Tracking solution added a new device that forms a security bridge between the locking bar and the container and uses Net Feasa’s Context Aware AI functionality to interpret security infringements. The device transmits data while the container is in transit, including unauthorized door opening, route deviation, prolonged dwell time, and other shipment anomalies.

• Trimble introduced Appian Daily Planner, a cloud-based solution for multi-stop, multi-vehicle route optimization that aims to improve asset utilization, on-time deliveries, and customer service. By combining a configurable interface with the Appian optimization algorithm, Appian Daily Planner lets fleets transition from batch routing to a real-time planning approach.

• Treston’s new AI-powered ergonomics assessment service is designed to help companies reduce work-related injuries. Treston ErgoID employs AI computer vision software, along with the expertise of its own ergonomics specialists, to analyze workflows and provide insights into workplace ergonomics. Users receive personalized recommendations—from ergonomic improvement suggestions to positioning techniques—based on video assessment results.

Transportation

• ZIM’s new service provides a direct link between Georgia Ports and the West Coast of South America. Direct service on the ZIM Colibri Xpress leverages the Port of Savannah’s refrigerated cargo infrastructure and partner network that can support a range of services, such as agriculture inspections, cold treatment/retreatment services, fumigation, and repacking. The Port of Savannah has the capacity to power more than 3,000 refrigerated containers simultaneously.

• Strengthening its Intra-Asia service network, ​OOCL started a service that directly connects multiple ports in Thailand, China, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The port rotation includes Bangkok, Laem Chabang, Ho Chi Minh, Ningbo, and Shanghai.

• Lufthansa Cargo started a route from Helsinki and Copenhagen once a week as well as added a weekly Copenhagen-to-Frankfurt route. The new services accommodate late deliveries in Helsinki and Copenhagen and offer connections from Frankfurt next morning to the Lufthansa Cargo network.

• Norfolk Southern (NS) and Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) expanded their domestic interline intermodal services in Florida. NS introduced service to FEC’s Fort Pierce and Fort Lauderdale facilities. The additions increase direct access to and from markets in Chicago; Cincinnati; St. Louis; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Kansas City, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee; Lathrop, California; and Southern California.

• Shipping company Finnlines is introducing two new vessels on the daily Kapellskär – Långnäs – Naantali (Sweden to Finland) route to increase cargo as well as passenger capacity. The first vessel M/S Finnsirius (pictured) made her maiden call at Sweden’s Port of Kapellskär and was welcomed with a celebratory water salute in September 2023. The second vessel Finncanopus will arrive in January 2024.

• Cathay Pacific resumed its nonstop service from Chicago O’Hare International Airport to Hong Kong International Airport on October 3, 2023, after a three-year pause. The resumption of the three-times-per-week flight, with a capacity for 14 pallets in the belly of the A350-1000 aircraft, complements Cathay Cargo’s eight-times-per-week dedicated freighter service to Hong Kong.

•  Carrier Transicold’s new thin-profile Vector 8400R refrigeration unit for domestic intermodal containers offers improved fuel efficiency and lifetime compliance with California’s latest emissions standards. It provides efficient refrigeration and freezing performance in a compact design.

•  Ropax Roto-Compactors from Epax Systems compress recyclable material and waste in warehouses and distribution centers. The industrial-grade machines use a rotating drum with metal teeth to tear, rip, shred, and compact a variety of items including cardboard boxes, fruit and vegetable crates, plastic waste, and packing filler.

•  The Port of Longview’s two new 130-ton Kalmar Super Gloria Reachstackers have increased the port’s breakbulk capacity. Previously relying on its two Liebherr mobile harbor cranes for both dockside and laydown yard operations, the port now utilizes the new stackers in the laydown yard, allowing heavy-lift operations to proceed both on-dock and in the yard simultaneously.

•  The new attached-lid FliPak container from ORBIS is designed for split-case picking and distribution. The reusable plastic containers take the place of corrugated shipping boxes for long-term packaging savings and improve warehouse cleanliness by eliminating fiber and dust. FliPak totes stack when full and nest when empty.

Services

•  C.H. Robinson opened a cross-border logistics facility in Laredo, Texas. With 400,000 square feet, 154 dock doors, and room for 700 trailers, it expands the company’s footprint along the Mexico border to 1.5 million square feet.

•  cargo-partner expanded its warehouse in Zagreb, Croatia. The upgraded facility now includes 20,000 pallet slots as well as a nearly 10,000-square-foot mezzanine where the local team provides e-fulfillment and value-added services. In addition to short- and long-term storage, the Zagreb warehouse offers daily pallet and parcel distribution to EU- and non-EU countries, a customs bonded area, and customs brokerage services.

•  Dimerco opened its second bonded warehouse within the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Free Trade Zone in September 2023. Designed for high-tech companies, the new facility offers customizable shelving options, 10 storage bays, and floor space to accommodate ecommerce clients with picking and packing operations.

•  Aeronet Worldwide opened a new station in Savannah, Georgia—located 8 miles from the Port of Savannah and 6 miles from Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. The 179,800-square-foot facility operates as a hub for inbound and outbound ocean freight and domestic and international air freight services.

•  3PL Evans Transportation launched an in-house parcel solutions division. The new division aims to provide cost savings, carrier diversification, and operational insight and accountability through contract optimization, audit and recovery, and business intelligence services.

•  Fulfillment by FHB Group upgraded its logistics center in Svätý Jur and opened a new facility in Senec, both in Slovakia. The logistics centers are equipped with multilevel mezzanine shelving systems for storage and picking. Artificial intelligence-guided systems optimize reception, storage, picking, and other parts of ecommerce fulfillment.

•  Southeastern Freight Lines, a provider of regional less-than-truckload services, opened a service center in Austin, Texas. The new service center, located at 10001 E US Hwy 290, employs 57 associates and features 120 dock doors, an appointment warehouse, office, and a fuel island for drivers.

Technology

•  Upply, a digital platform for freight transportation, now offers its Connect solution in Germany, Spain, and Belgium, in addition to France. Shippers can work with their own carriers or with new operators sourced by Upply, find spot transport solutions, and digitalize and automate administrative tasks.

•  Imaginnovate’s new artificial intelligence (AI) tool automates logistics pricing. Called the Dynamic Pricing Engine, the technology automates pricing practices based on historical buying and selling patterns, aggregated market data, and personalized pricing rules. The tool sets pricing ranges for logistics services based on variables such as demand, competition, lanes, equipment, and types of transportation.

•  The expanded integration of FlockDirect—a shared truckload solution from Flock Freight—and e2open’s transportation management system (TMS) increases the capacity choices for shippers. Users of e2open’s TMS can access real-time, dynamic quoting and booking capabilities to ship via FlockDirect.

•  Retailers can match orders with demand in close to real-time with WARPstock, a new inventory distribution service from WARP. Using its proprietary algorithm, WARP facilitates the movement of goods in/out of customers’ warehouses, to distribution centers, and in/out of stores based on real-time sales.

•  Wiliot added real-time humidity sensing to its ambient Internet-of-Things visibility platform, letting companies monitor the humidity of products—in addition to temperature, location, and carbon footprint—to enhance quality, freshness, safety, and sustainability across the supply chain. When an IoT Pixel—a self-powered postage stamp-sized device affixed to products and packaging—is exposed to different humidity levels, the information is relayed wirelessly to the Wiliot Cloud.

•  Flexport now offers a self-service, end-to-end, AI-enabled supply chain solution for entrepreneurs. They can access Flexport’s solution at no cost, and enterprises that want more features can join Flexport+, a membership program offering supply chain financing, priority shipping services, and access to supply chain experts.

•  Supply chain visibility provider FourKites launched Fin AI, a natural language interface that helps customers find insights, identify opportunities for optimization, and automate tasks. Fin AI lets users assess the impact of disruptive events on their supply chain, diagnose why a shipment isn’t tracking, and bring it online to increase visibility throughout their network.

•  Manhattan Associates upgraded its returns management solution to create a more streamlined returns process. The solution is designed to optimize a product’s return path and inventory placement based on assortment and current stock levels—reducing retailers’ shipping costs and improving the sustainability of a return.

•  ORTEC Americas introduced a supply chain optimization solution for the foodservice distribution industry. ORTEC’s Foodservice Solution Suite provides insights and planning tools that help companies optimize operations—increasing final-mile efficiency and balancing cost of delivery, customer satisfaction, driver satisfaction, and environmental impact.

•  Origify by Bosch offers manufacturers and retailers a solution for authenticating individual products. Using an optical recording of the product’s characteristics, a digital and tamper-proof stored fingerprint is created. In addition to verifying the authenticity of manufactured goods, companies can track products in the supply chain and detect deviations.

Transportation

•  DHL Express launched a dedicated network flight to Argentina. The new flight operates six times per week between Miami International Airport and Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a stopover in Santiago, Chile, before returning to Miami. Operated by DHL Aero Expreso, the Boeing B767-300 aircraft provide a payload capacity of 52 tons per flight.

•  Lufthansa Cargo increased flight offerings to Asia, Africa, and Mexico. Its winter flight schedule includes 83 weekly B777F connections with increased frequencies to Tel Aviv, Cairo, Hong Kong, and Mexico City, and new services to Riyadh and Taipei.

•  Ocean Network Express (ONE) selected Broward County’s Port Everglades as the U.S. port of call on its new FLX service that brings refrigerated fruits, vegetables, and seafood from farms in South America to South Florida. The FLX service launched in September 2023 and connects Port Everglades to Callao and Paita (Peru), and Guayaquil (Ecuador).

•  DSV now offers a new route in its air freight charter network that connects North America to the Middle East through its collaboration with Qatar Airways Cargo. DSV’s “Gateway Star” route departs from Mexico City to Doha, Qatar, via Huntsville, Alabama, as well as Luxembourg.

•  Canadian National Railway Company (CN) unveiled an upgrade to its Falcon Premium Intermodal Service. Because of operational changes by its business partner, Union Pacific, shippers save a full day of transit time using the Canada-United States-Mexico service, which is designed for intermodal customers shipping automotive parts, food, freight—all kinds, home appliances, and temperature-controlled products.

•  Ocean cargo shippers can expect cost efficiencies with a new operational cooperation agreement between ZIM and MSC. The cooperation scope includes services connecting the Indian subcontinent with the East Mediterranean, the East Mediterranean with Northern Europe, and services connecting East Asia with Oceania.

•  Norfolk Southern and CN launched a cross-border domestic interline intermodal service that links Atlanta with six Canadian locations (Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta; Vancouver, British Columbia; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Toronto and Montreal) and Kansas City, Missouri, with Toronto and Montreal.

•  The CSX Carolina Connector Intermodal terminal gives North Carolina importers and exporters a direct rail connection between the Port of Savannah and Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The Georgia Ports Authority and CSX teamed up to provide 7-day-a-week rail departures between GPA’s Mason Mega Rail Terminal in Savannah and the Eastern North Carolina location, offering customers three-day ship-to-shore transit time.

Products

•  The new bi-directional automated guided vehicle (AGV) BigBuddy from ResGreen Group International uses magnetic tape to move loads up to 5,000 pounds. Built for crowded warehouses that require maneuverability, BigBuddy includes two 16-zone LiDAR lasers in the front and back of the vehicle to ensure worker safety.

•  Confidex a Beontag Company released Heatwave Ultra, a new industrial RFID tag solution engineered to withstand recurring heat cycles as well as lengthy heat events. With a thermoplastic enclosure, Heatwave Ultra is built for extremes and can be used multiple times in high temperature cycles.

•  The Taskmaster XL pallet shredder from Franklin Miller shreds entire pallets and nails to reduce bulk volume. Designed to cut pallet disposal costs, it has an enclosed hopper design that automatically directs the pallet into the cutting chamber.

Services

•  Dachser opened a high-bay warehouse (pictured below) in Memmingen, Germany. The new warehouse can handle as many as 400 pallets per hour—or 5,000 per day—of incoming and outgoing goods via 22 loading and unloading gates with features such as automatic unloading systems, a palletizing station, and eight rail-guided rack operators in high-bay storage.

•  The Port of Savannah received four Super Post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes, upgrading its crane fleet to 34 machines at Garden City Terminal after four older cranes are retired and recycled. Pictured below: The all-electric cranes, designed by Konecranes of Finland, transit the Savannah River channel aboard the BigLift Barentsz on Aug. 24, 2023. The cranes and improved dock will increase Garden City Terminal berth productivity by 25% or 1.5 million TEUs of annual capacity.

•  LEMAN expanded its freight forwarding operations to Mexico to better serve shippers in North and South America.

•  Dayton Freight Lines, a provider of regional less-than-truckload services, moved its Wisconsin Rapids Service Center into a new facility located directly behind the old one. Located in Mosinee, Wisconsin, off Interstate 39, the new service center features 28 doors.

•  DHL eCommerce, a division of DHL Group, opened a Silver LEED-certified 352,000-square-foot distribution center in Chicago. It houses a Honeywell IntelliSort cross-belt loop sorter capable of processing up to 40,000 parcels and packages per hour. Additionally, the new facility has 149 dedicated trailer parking spaces.

•  Averitt Express expanded its Charleston-area facility (pictured below) to support growing cargo volume in and out of the Port of Charleston. The enhancements to the facility located in North Charleston include an additional 35,000 square feet of warehousing space as well as on-site parking and fuel tanks.

Technology

•  Dexterity unveiled the latest release of its palletizing and depalletizing software designed to optimize pallet operations in warehouses. The Dexterity Palletizing and Depalletizing 3.0 software release enables warehouse robots to sort products directly onto pallets, pick from up to 5 pallets stacked on each other, and load and unload rolling carts.

•  Consolidated Chassis Management (CCM), a cooperative chassis pool manager, opened its onboarding portal to support its new South Atlantic Chassis Pool (SACP 3.0), following a soft launch that began in June. Companies must register via the new portal to participate in the SACP 3.0 pool, which will start in October 2023, so they can access CCM’s new and refurbished chassis available in 75 locations throughout the South Atlantic region.

•  The latest release of FORTNA’s intelligent slotting optimization software, OptiSlot DC, incorporates a simple system language change for Spanish and German in addition to English for businesses growing in additional geographies. Other enhancements include visibility and decision-making support through custom reporting.

•  ToolsGroup, a supply chain planning software provider, introduced Dynamic Fulfillment, a new addition to the JustEnough retail planning and execution suite. Designed to boost retailers’ order management systems, Dynamic Fulfillment evaluates fulfillment options based on costs, margins, resources, and customer service level agreements.

•  PortPro, a drayage software provider, released Automated Terminal Appointments, which helps companies secure terminal appointments. The feature is available to companies in New Jersey, New York, Seattle-Tacoma, Los Angeles-Long Beach, Norfolk, Charleston, Miami, Mobile, and Oakland.

•  RFID technology solutions provider Datamars launched STORM, a web platform that allows companies to remotely manage and monitor their RFID devices installed in multiple locations. STORM lets users filter their inventory based on name, location, or other properties.

•  Dun & Bradstreet introduced D&B Protect, a new supply chain risk platform that illuminates sub-tier suppliers and identifies risk in real-time throughout an entire supply chain to address vulnerabilities to fraud, abuse, and exploitation.

Transportation

•  cargo-partner introduced airfreight consolidation services between Western Europe and Asia. It now offers weekly airfreight solutions from major airports in Austria, Germany, the UK, Sweden, and the Netherlands to more than 10 destinations across India, China, Singapore, and Thailand.

•  Britain’s new all-cargo airline, One Air, completed its inaugural Boeing 747-400 freighter flight, operating a full charter for client Shandong Glory from China to the United Kingdom. In addition to charter flights, One Air offers regular airfreight services from Asia Pacific to Europe with two 747F flights per week.

•  Roadrunner launched eight new lanes to Virginia and Las Vegas, giving LTL shippers more direct options. Inbound service to Richmond, Newport News, and Virginia Beach, Virginia, begins from the following cities in California: Commerce, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Inbound service to Las Vegas, Nevada, starts from Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia.

•  OOCL now offers a new service in its Intra-European Network. The Türkiye Spain Morocco Express (TSM) service provides a direct connection between Greece, Türkiye, Spain, and Morocco along with a transshipment connection at OOCL’s Mediterranean hub of Piraeus.

•  The new 4800 and 4810 80-volt sit-down counterbalanced trucks from The Raymond Corporation are designed for outdoor applications, including container yards, lumber yards, big-box stores, and building material suppliers. The 4800 and 4810 models feature the Raymond Performance Stability System, which provides vehicle control for reduced damage to goods and facilities.

•  Lift’n Buddy LNB-2 two-wheel hand trucks from Presto ECOA help workers transfer items from floors to shelves, workbenches, conveyors, processing equipment, and vice versa, as well as load and unload delivery trucks and work vehicles. The LNB-2 platform raises loads up to 200 pounds from floor level to over 3 feet high.

•  Designed for multi-drop last-mile operations, Structure-flex’s Reflex curtain system provides easy access to products in delivery vehicles and features individual locks on each curtain for added security.

Services

cargo-partner opened a more-than-215,000-square-foot logistics center in Istanbul, Türkiye. The warehouse provides more than 20,000 pallet slots and has 17 loading docks for all vehicle types, enabling transshipment, customs bonded warehousing, and distribution throughout the region.

•  DHL eCommerce Solutions, a division of Deutsche Post DHL Group, moved its distribution center in Orlando, Florida, to a facility that is double the size. The 129,000-square-foot facility is located two miles from the Orlando International Airport.

•  Langham Logistics, a warehousing and transportation company with a focus in life sciences, upgraded its Phoenix facility, adding more than 9,000 controlled room temperature (CRT) pallet positions to serve the West Coast’s cold chain warehousing and distribution needs. The warehouse features 151,000 square feet of storage space.

•  Cardinal Logistics Management Corporation established a national drayage service center to provide customers with a scalable nationwide drayage solution. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the center connects shippers with dray capacity to and from ocean ports and rail ramps across the United States and Canada.

Technology

TouchPath now offers a discounted subscription program for its supply chain software systems, reducing rates by 50% for the first three months of the subscription, which includes maintenance and support. TouchPath products available under the new subscription offer include TouchWMS and TouchMES supply chain systems.

•  FreightSmith launched SchedulePro, a solution designed to streamline and simplify warehouse appointment scheduling. SchedulePro helps shippers, carriers, and receivers reduce manual tasks and simplify communications to create accountability and build a more structured process.

•  3PL GEODIS introduced a supply chain analytics tool, Analytics Interactive, in collaboration with software vendor Yellowfin as part of the GEODIS Visibility platform. The new Software-as-a-Service embedded analytics tool provides GEODIS customers with customizable dashboards and self-service reporting.

•  CSX launched an online site selection tool to assist companies searching for rail-served properties and communities competing for economic development projects. The new interactive tool is the latest enhancement to the CSX Select Site program, which helps manufacturers find appropriate sites for projects.

Transportation

OOCL welcomed a new mega-vessel to its fleet. Named OOCL Turkiye at a recent ceremony at Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering shipyard, the new vessel is the third 24,188-TEU vessel to be received by OOCL in a series of 12 and joins vessels OOCL Spain and OOCL Piraeus in serving OOCL’s Asia-Europe LL3 service loop.

•  Atlas Air took delivery of a Boeing 777-200 freighter, which it will operate on behalf of MSC. This is the second of four Boeing 777-200 freighters that Atlas Air will operate for MSC, which offers service to Mexico City, Indianapolis, Liege, Seoul, and Xiamen airports.

•  Shippers now have an intermodal service between Canada and Mexico. CN, Union Pacific Railroad, and GMXT now offer Falcon Premium intermodal service, a Mexico-United States-Canada service with a rail connection in Chicago.

•  Consolidated Chassis Management (CCM) is set to launch SACP (South Atlantic Chassis Pool) 3.0 in October 2023. The new chassis pool provisioning program consists of 50,000 modernized chassis to service 75 locations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and North and South Carolina. The first shipment of CCM new build container chassis arrived in Savannah in May 2023. Chassis will continue to be delivered over the next six months via various locations.

•  Cleveland Cold Storage is set to open its 156,000-square-foot cold storage facility later this summer, offering a range of frozen storage and distribution options for local, regional, and national shippers. The Cleveland, Ohio, facility features 122,000 square feet of -10°F freezer space, a 20,000-square-foot 34°F cold dock, and 10,000 square feet of dry storage for multi-customer use.

•  Latin America Cargo City finalized the construction of a new pharmaceutical warehouse in Uruguay. The new building is integrated with the existing infrastructure and will store vaccines and other biological products and drugs that will be shipped to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Paraguay, and Colombia.

•  Saddle Creek Logistics Services is opening additional multi-client distribution centers in Walton, Kentucky; Joliet, Illinois; Myerstown, Pennsylvania; and North Las Vegas, Nevada—adding more than 1.8 million square feet of space.

Products

•  The new Combi-CB70E from forklift manufacturer Combilift is an electric counterbalance truck with multidirectional ability, allowing it to handle long and bulky loads in confined spaces. With a 15,500-pound lift capacity, the Combi-CB70E has large elastic tires and a compact wheelbase.

•  ORBCOMM’s new RT 8000 monitoring solution lets cold chain operators in the food distribution, retail logistics, and pharmaceutical industries track and monitor their temperature-controlled cargo. The unit is designed to reduce the frequency of field replacement and helps companies ensure products meet regulatory compliance and maintain integrity.

•  Southworth Products now offers a lift table stocking program, with its most popular hydraulic lift table models and other vertical lifting and positioning equipment available for shipment in one week or less. The Swift Lift 1 program includes lift table models that have capacities from 1,100 to 6,000 pounds and platforms up to 48 by 96 inches.

Technology

•  Ecommerce brands can increase cross-border ecommerce sales with Digital River’s expanded global logistics capabilities, including low-cost shipping, product classification, and customs clearance.

•  Ehrhardt Partner Group launched a routing and scheduling solution called Greenplan, the newest solution within the EPG ONE Supply Chain Execution Suite. Greenplan helps companies calculate routes while addressing challenges such as costs, time windows, and the need to reduce CO2 emissions. It also includes time-of-day-dependent traffic flow speeds in the calculation.

•  Comau introduced the MI.RA Picker, an automation solution for perception-based random bin picking. Adaptable to different brands of commercial robots, customized bins, and grippers, the picking solution uses two high-resolution laser sensors and a central camera to autonomously recognize, locate, and grasp randomly placed objects at a rate of up to 40 pieces per minute.

•  WARP, a freight network providing middle-mile solutions, now offers a delivery optimization experience program for LTL shippers with a $1 pallet fee if its technology isn’t able to optimize a shipper’s load based on cost, speed, or efficiency. The program involves same-/next-day delivery within a 100-mile radius of 10 metro areas.

•  A2Z Smart Technologies launched the Cust2Mate platform to help retailers reduce food waste by promoting expiring foods to shoppers in real time. Through the Cust2Mate platform, consumers can enable in-cart payment.

•  The ET6x series of rugged, 5G Android, artificial intelligence-powered tablets from Zebra Technologies is designed for workers in warehouses, manufacturing plants, and ports/rail yards. The ET60 (pictured) and ET65 are 2-in-1 Android tablets with a friction-hinge keyboard that transforms them into laptops. The display is protected with shatter- and scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass.

•  Loftware released NiceLabel 10.3, the latest addition to its cloud product line of labeling software. The enterprise labeling solution features integration capabilities for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management and SAP, letting users design, manage, and print labels from enterprise resource planning software.

•  Companies now have the tools to measure, track, and communicate their plastic action initiatives—from decreasing plastic usage to incorporating recycled plastics to offsetting their footprint with plastic credits—with the Oceanworks Plastic Action Dashboard.

•  Supply chain risk management software provider Avetta launched Cyber Risk Solution to provide companies with visibility to cybersecurity risks in their supply chain. The tool scores cyber health in 10 areas and delivers an aggregate grade for each supplier.

•  Logility added new functionality to its cloud-based Logility Digital Supply Chain Platform to increase visibility into vendor and supplier relationships. The release introduces the ability to optimize a company’s network design for Scope 3 emissions.

•  DHL Aviation, the in-house airline of DHL Express, introduced an optional GoGreen Plus service for its air freight product. GoGreen Plus enables air freight customers to reduce the CO2 emissions caused by their freight by using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which is made from waste oils. Customers set emission reduction targets and determine how much SAF they want to use.

•  The heavy-duty Apex 1000 ergonomic power station from Newcastle Systems adjusts to the height of the warehouse associate, from 5-feet to 6.5-feet-tall, providing full-screen access to ERP, WMS, MES, and other information systems while on the move. Its hanging printer shelf accommodates most industrial barcode printers.

Transportation

•  Shippers will have a new direct rail connection and corridor linking Mexico, Texas, and the U.S. Southeast with an agreement reached by Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), CSX Corporation, and Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W). The railroads have agreed to create a new direct CPKC-CSX interchange connection in Alabama. CPKC and CSX will each acquire or operate portions of Meridian & Bigbee Railroad, a G&W-owned railway in Mississippi and Alabama.

•  Lufthansa Cargo expanded cargo services to two airports in Mexico City. From its hub in Frankfurt, the cargo airline operates freighter flights to the new Felipe Ángeles Airport, which opened in March 2022. Additionally, Lufthansa Airlines passenger aircraft regularly transport goods as belly cargo to Mexico City Airport.

•  UWL expanded its inland point intermodal (IPI) program for the Sun Chief Express service, which operates between Southeast Asia and the United States and Canada via Seattle. The service now includes access to two IPI locations in Ohio—Cleveland and Columbus.

•  Maersk’s Al Maha service now calls at three Saudi ports: Jeddah Islamic Port, King Abdulaziz Port, and Jubail Commercial Port. The new route links Saudi Arabia’s hubs to six ports across the Middle East.

•  Estes Express Lines opened a terminal in Banning, California, to enable faster freight transfers. Using all electric forklifts, the new facility has eight electric tractors on site and features 133 dock doors.