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The Minneapolis-based retailer Target Corp.is seeking to extend its growth push after closing out 2021 with record-high revenue.

Speaking at its annual investor meeting in New York, said its plans for the year include 30 new stores — ranging from urban locations like New York’s Times Square to midsize stores in the suburbs — and new several sortation centers.

For the full year, Target’s revenue hit $106 billion, compared with $77.1 billion for the year ended Feb. 1, 2020, before the pandemic upended the global economy and consumer buying patterns.

Target is also planning to remodel 200 retail locations during the year, and will add 250 more Ulta Beauty mini-shops in its stores, expanding on a partnership with the beauty retailer that opened 100 such shops in 2021.

The company also promised more investment in digital services and same-day fulfillment offerings. Target last month began a test in Minneapolis and other markets that added Starbucks orders and Target returns to its pickup lanes.

Target plans $4 billion to $5 billion in capital spending every year over the next few years, which would be an increase of more than 40% from last year.

Growth + Change = Opportunity!

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!

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!