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Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) reported record quarterly revenue of $1.945 billion in the 2021 fourth quarter, a 50 percent increase over revenue of $1.296 billion in the 2020 fourth quarter.

Following a record-breaking 2021 third quarter, the 2021 fourth quarter once again reset the standard as the best quarterly financial performance in Landstar history. 2021 fourth quarter revenue, gross profit, variable contribution, net income and diluted earnings per share each set all-time quarterly records.

“As we look to the 2022 first quarter, we anticipate continued solid performance on the expectation that ongoing capacity constraints will support a strong freight environment in the near term. The strength in revenue per load on loads hauled via truck and the number of loads hauled via truck experienced in 2021 has continued into the first few weeks of January. Typically, revenue in the first quarter is expected to be lower than the revenue of the immediately preceding fourth quarter. Regardless, I expect the strong trends in revenue per load and loads hauled via truck to continue as we move through the remainder of the 2022 first quarter” said Landstar President and CEO Jim Gattoni.

Landstar’s financial performance in fiscal year 2021 was by far the best in the Company’s history. Revenue in fiscal 2021 was approximately $6.5 billion, an annual record, and was approximately $1.9 billion higher than the previous record set in 2018.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!

Two major players in the logistics industry are leading a group of companies investing millions in Phantom Auto, a fast-rising Silicon Valley company that has developed software enabling remote operation of forklifts and other material moving vehicles.

Phantom Auto software makes it possible for forklifts to be remotely operated from virtually anywhere in the world with strong internet connectivity. Operators located in off-site locations, including their homes, can operate multiple forklifts, making such jobs more convenient and attractive for potential hires.

ArcBest, a multi-billion dollar freight and logistics service provider, and NFI, one of the largest third-party logistics providers in North America, are the lead investors in a $42 million round of funding for Phantom Auto, the companies announced Wednesday. 

The technology behind Phantom’s remote operation software  delivers secure, low-latency communication over volatile and constrained wireless networks, enabling reliable sensor streaming and safe control of vehicle functions.

The goal isn’t to replace workers, NFI Chief Executive Sid Brown said, but to add capacity by having people work remotely, which he said would also help recruitment, including among people who like to play videogames.

The move comes as the supply chain and logistic industries continue to deal with a labor shortage that pre-dates the 2020 onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!

About 800 dockworkers, kind of 1 in 10 of the day by day group of workers on the ports of Los Angeles and Lengthy Seaside had been unavailable for Covid-related causes.

The Covid-19 Omicron variant is hampering efforts to transparent a backlog of about 100 container ships on the country’s busiest port as infections upward thrust amongst Southern California dockworkers.

Alan McCorkle, chief executive of Yusen Terminals LLC at the Port of Los Angeles, said the rise in coronavirus infections has extended a worker shortage that began over the Christmas and New Year holidays, reducing productivity at his terminal by about 20%.

Dozens of vessels have waited weeks or months to dump shipment on the ports of Los Angeles and Lengthy Seaside as a weigh down of imports has overwhelmed logistics operations that ship items to U.S. markets.

The Southern California port complex is the main ocean gateway for U.S. imports from Asia, handling about 40% of containerized cargo. The ports struggled last year to handle record import volumes that surged about 20% compared with pre-Covid levels in 2019 as businesses rushed to restock inventories and Americans switched their pandemic-era spending from services to goods.

The Biden management took measures aimed toward decreasing the backlog, together with efforts to prod Southern California terminals to transport towards 24-hour operations that had limited success.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!

The National Retail Federation expects some 20,000 people in New York City this month for its annual event, a major forum for supply-chain technology and logistics providers.
Big logistics-industry conferences are moving ahead with in-person events in the coming weeks even as the Omicron variant rips through the U.S. and snarls domestic and international travel.

Over 2200 exhibitors are confirmed to exhibit in person at CES 2022. In the last two weeks, 143 additional companies have signed up to exhibit in-person.
The Journal of Commerce and parent IHS Markit Ltd. also plan to go forward with their annual TPM conference, a pivotal gathering for the trans-Pacific maritime shipping sector that went virtual during the pandemic, starting in late February in Long Beach, Calif.
TPM, which begins on Feb. 27, usually attracts more than 2,500 attendees, about 80% of whom come from North America with most of the remainder split about equally between Asia and Europe.

Shippers, carriers and intermediaries have traditionally used the conference to get a sense of contract prices for the coming shipping season
Organizers of big shipping and logistics events say they are taking Covid-19 safety precautions as they kick off 2022 with in-person gatherings

Growth + Change = Opportunity!

Business-to-consumer retailers — brick-and-mortar and eCommerce sellers alike — rely on the holiday season to bookend their sales year with a positive outcome. The economy can be unpredictable, so ending the year strong as shoppers plan their holiday gifts is crucial. Retailers expect to see a significant bump in sales during the holiday season. Just as likely is a post-holiday decline in sales

Consumer demand in the United States has been robust this year, and it’s just getting stronger as the holidays approach.

Because of supply-chain uncertainty, transportation delays, and the unknown influence of the Omicron variety of Covid-19 on customer behavior, the stakes for retailers during the important fourth quarter, when sales and earnings normally peak, are high this year.

Record backups of container ships in the U.S. and logjams at other distribution chokepoints suggest big volumes of goods are still tied up in supply chains. That leaves many businesses in limbo as Christmas approaches and facing a possible flood of out-of-season merchandise in the New Year.

As many of your competitors slow down, the post-holiday season is the perfect occasion to pick up new campaigns and find new, creative ways to market.

Some experts speculated that persistent shipping difficulties may force some stores to redirect entire late-arriving containers to discounters before the item enters the company’s own supply chain.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!

Trucking company Central Freight Lines Inc. will shut down in the coming weeks after failing to end years of losses despite strong demand in freight markets during the pandemic.

After 96 years in business, Waco, Texas-based less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier Central Freight Lines is closing its doors.

Central Freight announced that it is winding down its operations and as of Dec. 13 has ceased picking up new shipments. The carrier expects to deliver substantially all freight in its system by Dec. 20.

The company owns approximately 1,200 trucks and is a large LTL operator, a slice of the trucking industry in which carriers move shipments of multiple customers on a single trailer. Most operators in this industry have thrived over the past two years thanks to strong demand from retailers and manufacturers and the boom in online shopping spurred by the pandemic.

According to data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the carrier employs 1,325 drivers and has 1,602 power units.

Despite its efforts, Central Freight was unable to gain commitments to fund ongoing operations, find a buyer of the entire business, or fund a Chapter 11 reorganization.

Central Freight Lines was founded in 1925 when W.W. “Woody” Callan Sr. bought a Model T and drove from Waco to Dallas to pick up some goods for a Waco merchant, thus starting Central Forwarding and Warehouse company.

Delivery transportation continues to be a vital part of the American economy, ensuring businesses and customers have a broader reach to sell and purchase goods and products. A trucking dispatcher have the critical job of helping truck drivers to concentrate on routes and roadways and to safely deliver their cargoes. Without strong dispatchers, projects fall apart.

Dispatchers who are looking to improve their game can sidestep many of the difficulties by following a few key guidelines.

1. Know your market

Local knowledge is one of the biggest assets you can have as a dispatcher. This includes knowing the best routes and shortcuts, as well as having a firm memory of current pricing.

2. Get to Know your Drivers

As a trucking dispatcher, it’s important to make an effort to get to know drivers on a personal level.

Not only will this improve the day-to-day working relationship, but it also shows the driver that you value them as a person instead of just another asset to move cargo.

3. Plan ahead

Planning ahead minimizes last-minute changes and improves general workflow and productivity. A lot of time can be saved by setting up geo zones, adding subcontractors, and creating templates when you receive the job frees up a ton of your time on the day of the project

4. Manage the chaos

Dispatching trucks is hectic work. Your desk is always flooded with paperwork. Job changes will come in at a moment’s notice. And it will be up to you to coordinate between multiple schedules to accommodate a project’s timeline.

5. Be a great communicator

The remote nature of your work makes it especially important to flex your communication skills. Whether you are working from a pickup truck, the dispatch office, or at home – you need to be sure that everyone knows where they are supposed to be and when they need to be there.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!

The private companies that operate port facilities from Washington state to Southern California will begin negotiation on a multiyear agreement with the union representing 22,400 dockworkers to replace the contract that expires in July 2022. The union already rejected an offer by port terminal operators to delay negotiations until 2023.

Major issues during negotiations usually include automation and benefits. In recent years, the terminals gained authority to expand the use of technology, while the union won increases in wages and pension benefits.

The ILWU contract covers about 15,400 full-time and 7,000 part-time dockworkers at ports stretching from Bellingham, Wash., to San Diego. Most workers aren’t directly employed by the terminals. The facilities order unionized workers for shifts each day or night based on needs.

ILWU International President Willie Adams said in a statement that everyone should welcome the prospect of collective bargaining “as fundamental to the wellbeing of our ports rather than prognosticating disaster.”

The average dockworker with more than five years’ full-time experience in 2019 earned almost $190,000. Several supervisors that year earned $500,000 or more. Benefit costs for most full-time dockworkers during the decade through 2019 increased to about $110,000 per worker from $82,500, according to PMA data.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!

Grocery stores in the U.S. may receive limited quantities of products or may lack some flavors or items due to labor, raw material, or transportation issues that food manufacturers are facing. The companies named increased demand, labor shortages, “supply chain restrictions” or “logistical challenges”.

Parts of the US are now battling food shortages as worried Americans have emptied supermarket shelves amid the supply chain crisis threatening the nation’s economy and holiday shopping.

The surge in demand comes as two of America’s major container ports in California face a massive pandemic-related backlog. Retailers say they need to maintain their customer experience as best they can to remain competitive.

Some 58% of consumers said supply-chain disruptions, product shortages and shipping delays have made shopping more stressful, and 41% said product shortages and significant shipping and delivery delays would cause them to abandon a brand, according to results from an October survey by New York-based trade association ICSC, which represents retail businesses.

Grocery stores in the U.S. haven’t escaped product shortages, although larger companies with access to a wide network of suppliers, capital and space have had more success working around supply-chain issues without disrupting the shopper experience.

But smaller grocery retailers with less flexibility have struggled to keep shelves full and to plan for what items may show up on any given day.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!

Postal service and logistics firms express concern that vaccine mandates will cause delays in the supply chain and mail. And more lawsuits are filed against the federal rules. In California, state officials are examining exemptions to vaccinations granted by doctors. Retailers are concerned about implementing the requirements during the busy holiday shopping season

The National Retail Federation, the National Federation of Independent Business and the American Trucking Associations, told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in their lawsuit that businesses would lose employees, incur “unrecoverable compliance costs” and face deteriorating conditions in “already fragile supply chains and labor markets.”

National industry groups representing retail, truckers and independent businesses sued the Biden administration Wednesday over its vaccine and testing requirements for private companies, claiming they would cause “irreparable harm.”

Companies including United Parcel Service Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and others that manage warehouse staffers, truck drivers and other employees across logistics networks in general aren’t requiring employees outside of some office workers to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Many firms say they are encouraging staffers to get vaccinated while mandating protection measures in workplaces.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!