Month: February 2022

U.S. intermodal transports, in which railroads carry containers and truck trailers, were down nearly 12% in the first six weeks of this year from a year ago, according to the Association of American Railroads, after tumbling in the second half of last year even as retailers and manufacturers rushed to bring in goods.

Trucking and rail industry officials say demand to move freight 500 miles or more—which is often done by rail—remains strong, as companies restock depleted inventories. But shippers are more often than usual choosing highways over railroads because shortages of labor, equipment and warehouse space across supply chains can create unpredictable delays.

Intermodal transport, which uses trucking for the final leg of delivery, is slower and more complicated than long-haul trucking. But it is also cheaper and less damaging to the environment.

Demand is contributing to high trucking rates, spot rates on the Los Angeles to Chicago routes are up 59% year-over-year, or $1.04 a mile.

But railroad officials say there are signs intermodal freight is beginning to bounce back, intermodal cargo volumes on container ships en route to the United States are up 25% compared with the start of the year.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!

San Francisco-based freight forwarding and customs brokerage services provider Flexport heralded a $935 million Series E investment round, with this round bringing its post-money valuation to more than $8 billion.

The raise follows years of uninterrupted growth for the company, particularly in the last twelve months, with Flexport’s revenue more than doubling in 2021 as it moved nearly $19 billion in gross merchandise for its clients across 112 countries.

“The global pandemic and the pressure it put on global supply chains has made the transportation of goods—something many people took for granted—a daily pain point,” said Ryan Petersen, founder and CEO of Flexport, in a statement. “This investment signals that the market recognizes the need for a tech-enabled logistics ecosystem that has the visibility and resilience to handle unexpected challenges of any scale.”

In terms of the biggest benefits of this investment for Flexport customers, Manuel Venegas, Flexport Senior Corporate & Financial Communications Manager, told LM that Flexport is most excited to continue serving customers like Lululemon, Bridgestone, and Peloton through its most recent raise.

This raise comes after a monumental year of company growth amidst the most turbulent period in global shipping.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!

A.P. Moller – Maersk announces the intended acquisition of Pilot Freight Services (Pilot), a leading U.S.-based first, middle and last mile as well as border crossing solutions provider, specializing in the big and bulky freight segment in North America for B2C and B2B distribution models, from ATL Partners, a sector-focused Private Equity firm in New York and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), one of the largest institutional investors in Canada.

With the intended acquisition of Pilot, Maersk will extend its integrated logistics offering deeper into the supply chain of its customers.

Pilot will be adding specific new services within the fast growing big and bulky e-commerce segment, thus increasing cross-selling opportunities. It will also create significant cost synergies by leveraging capabilities across the different parts of service solutions.

In December, Maersk signed a $3.6 billion deal to acquire omnichannel fulfillment company LF Logistics Holdings.

That deal gave Maersk 549 warehouses globally and increased the company’s total warehouse floor capacity by 40%, creating the world’s seventh-largest contract logistics company behind the major players like UPS and DHL.

Pilot, meanwhile, operates a North American facilities-based transportation network of 87 stations and hubs that moves and distributes freight to end customers.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!

Trucking regulators have issued new guidance that strips away confusion over CDL testing standards and could help deploy entry-level drivers faster.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is amending its regulatory guidance to clarify that the regulations do not prohibit third-party testers from administering the commercial driver’s license knowledge tests for all classes and endorsements.

FMCSA’s regulatory guidance notice is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, Feb. 3.

“State driver licensing agencies may accept the results of knowledge tests administered by third-party testers in accordance with existing knowledge test standards and requirements,” the FMCSA wrote.

The updated guidance is in response to an exemption request made by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles in April 2020.

FMCSA responded to Virginia’s request at the time and said the regulations do not prohibit the use of third-party testers. In addition, the agency indicated it would revise the existing guidance.

Regulatory guidance that was issued as recently as 2019 said that the third-party testing provision applied only to the skills portion of the testing procedure.

However, FMCSA says it has reconsidered that guidance and concluded that “nothing in the agency’s current authorities prohibit states from permitting third-party testers to administer CDL knowledge tests.”

Growth + Change = Opportunity!