Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.
Supply chain software has historically been split into discrete chunks, which meant users had to turn to a transportation management system (TMS) to solve one problem, a warehouse management system (WMS) for another, and an enterprise resource planning (ERP) program for an overview of it all.
These distinctions worked fine for years as the tradition-bound trucking, warehousing, and material handling industries caught up to the technology wave sweeping corporate America. But as the digital marketplace re-orders supply chain operations, it's evident that the siloed model is no longer up to the task.
TMS vendors have responded by tearing down the fences that used to separate trucking software from other logistics solutions. Today's TMS programs share overlapping databases with ERP, WMS, and warehouse execution systems as well as with fulfillment planning, order management, business intelligence, data analytics, and other specialized applications. Linking these isolated data fields can trim waste and create new profit, whether the user is a shipper, third-party logistics service provider (3PL), broker, truckload carrier, or other supply chain player.
The merger between TMS and its software siblings has been made possible by recent advances in two particular fields—cloud-based computing that allows for shared interoperable databases, and mobile application development that supports native apps built to take advantage of the unique capabilities of devices like tablets and smartphones.
OMNICHANNEL DISTRIBUTION CHANGES THE GAME
One of the main forces driving the change in transportation management systems is omnichannel retailing, which is pushing users to demand higher performance from their transportation management systems and increasing the execution pressure on fulfillment operations, said Fab Brasca, vice president for global solution strategy and intelligent fulfillment at Scottsdale, Ariz.-based developer JDA Software Group Inc.
In response, developers are moving away from treating those diverse software applications as independent silos of information because the isolated data can lead to bottlenecks and latency in decision-making—an unforgiveable sin at a time when companies need to be able to respond swiftly to any disruption in the supply chain.
"A customer could say, 'I've already got WMS, TMS, and order management software. Isn't my supply chain efficient enough?' And we answer that it may have been efficient enough when all you were doing was pushing inventory to your stores. But with this change to omnichannel, it's not just about store fulfillment and online fulfillment, but about overall consumer fulfillment," Brasca said.
Companies increasingly operate in a marketplace where complex global problems affect not just transportation but also omnichannel distribution, retail, and manufacturing operations. To tackle those challenges, software must feature interoperability between transportation and warehousing, both in sharing transactional flows and in merging the two worlds with optimization logic.
A "warehouse-aware" TMS application can help users to eliminate common bottlenecks—for instance, by allowing them to revise dock schedules to better coordinate inbound and outbound traffic, said Brasca.
Another advantage a networked TMS offers over standard transportation management systems is the ability to host a link to mobile computing platforms, giving users more visibility into shipments in transit than is allowed by current technology, such as daily updates generated through electronic data interchange (EDI). In comparison, a TMS linked to a location-enabled smartphone could use signals from a global positioning system (GPS) receiver to provide real-time updates that give users better connectivity with carriers and let them find quick solutions to capacity constraints.
GOING MOBILE
Adding mobile capabilities to a TMS can do much more than simply allow users to do a better job of tracking deliveries and monitoring schedules. For example, it is easier to track a load if the TMS can accommodate "geofences," which, when incorporated into software programs, enable users to receive alerts when a truck crosses predefined geographic boundaries as measured by an app on the driver's smartphone.
"With an automated location-enabled device, you could be notified if the truck is ahead of schedule or behind," said Bill Ashburn, chief marketing officer at HighJump Software Inc. "You would know he's arrived, because he broke the geofence and he's no longer moving. So now you know he's at the DC."
That location-enabled TMS extension could also allow a company to automatically track information relating to fuel taxes, driving logs, and hours of service, sparing drivers the task of keeping detailed records and reporting them to the dispatcher once a day.
The transition from daily updates to real-time connectivity will produce big results, but it may take time to reach all levels of the shipping industry.
"Transportation is a very generational business," Ashburn said. "The millennials come in and they're more savvy with technology. The generation (before) them is wowed by real-time data."
Mobile TMS apps can do far more than generate truck schedules, Ashburn said. A driver with a TMS app on his smartphone could take photos of damaged cargo, record vehicle inspections at checkpoints, or scan images of documents such as a bill of lading. In some cases, a mobile-enabled TMS could even generate additional profit for users.
"Now, you can see if there's a vehicle here and a load available over there. Let's connect the dots and reduce deadhead miles," Ashburn said. "If you don't have it, you're at an extreme competitive disadvantage."
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Shippers and their customers are raising their expectations for real-time TMS performance as they become aware of these abilities, said Chris Parker, chief operating officer of InMotion Global Inc., a TMS provider in Brandon, Fla.
"Today's logistics professionals are much more sophisticated than they were 10 years ago," Parker said in a press release. "They are used to one-stop online services, with access from any location and on any device."
TMS use has more than tripled since 2005, according to a July 2015 survey conducted for the company. The same survey showed 54 percent of logistics professionals use some sort of TMS software today, compared with just 15 percent 10 years ago.
Logistics companies are flocking to transportation management systems to address the issues that keep fleets from operating at maximum efficiency, particularly those related to drivers' schedules and delays that all-too-commonly occur at the junction between the warehouse and the truck.
Those pain points are among the top causes of wasted driving hours and lost freight-carrying capacity, according to a recent white paper from J.B. Hunt Transport Inc., a multimodal transportation logistics company based in Lowell, Ark.
Delays in transportation can cost freight carriers dearly because of the Department of Transportation's strict limits on truck drivers' hours of service, the report says.
Current regulations limit commercial motor vehicle drivers to an "on duty" day of 840 consecutive minutes (or 14 hours), which quickly shrinks to 660 minutes (or 11 hours) after subtracting mandated safety inspections and a required 30-minute break within the first eight hours.
Because the hours-of-service countdown logs all minutes consecutively, drivers can't simply stop the clock during traffic jams or warehouse delays. J.B. Hunt goes on to list a range of additional time-wasters, such as waiting around for freight to be loaded or unloaded, detention and dwell time caused by inflexible pickup and delivery times, and unscheduled variation in shipment schedules.
The common thread to most of these time-wasters is that they occur at the point where the truck meets the distribution center. That means a TMS app with access to warehouse data could help users avoid logjams by identifying time-consuming activities and devising a more efficient route.
By smoothing out those bumps in the road, a connected TMS application could add valuable minutes to every driver's day and boost the number of shipments passing through each warehouse.
Nearly one-third of American consumers have increased their secondhand purchases in the past year, revealing a jump in “recommerce” according to a buyer survey from ShipStation, a provider of web-based shipping and order fulfillment solutions.
The number comes from a survey of 500 U.S. consumers showing that nearly one in four (23%) Americans lack confidence in making purchases over $200 in the next six months. Due to economic uncertainty, savvy shoppers are looking for ways to save money without sacrificing quality or style, the research found.
Younger shoppers are leading the charge in that trend, with 59% of Gen Z and 48% of Millennials buying pre-owned items weekly or monthly. That rate makes Gen Z nearly twice as likely to buy second hand compared to older generations.
The primary reason that shoppers say they have increased their recommerce habits is lower prices (74%), followed by the thrill of finding unique or rare items (38%) and getting higher quality for a lower price (28%). Only 14% of Americans cite environmental concerns as a primary reason they shop second-hand.
Despite the challenge of adjusting to the new pattern, recommerce represents a strategic opportunity for businesses to capture today’s budget-minded shoppers and foster long-term loyalty, Austin, Texas-based ShipStation said.
For example, retailers don’t have to sell used goods to capitalize on the secondhand boom. Instead, they can offer trade-in programs swapping discounts or store credit for shoppers’ old items. And they can improve product discoverability to help customers—particularly older generations—find what they’re looking for.
Other ways for retailers to connect with recommerce shoppers are to improve shipping practices. According to ShipStation:
70% of shoppers won’t return to a brand if shipping is too expensive.
51% of consumers are turned off by late deliveries
40% of shoppers won’t return to a retailer again if the packaging is bad.
The “CMA CGM Startup Awards”—created in collaboration with BFM Business and La Tribune—will identify the best innovations to accelerate its transformation, the French company said.
Specifically, the company will select the best startup among the applicants, with clear industry transformation objectives focused on environmental performance, competitiveness, and quality of life at work in each of the three areas:
Shipping: Enabling safer, more efficient, and sustainable navigation through innovative technological solutions.
Logistics: Reinventing the global supply chain with smart and sustainable logistics solutions.
Media: Transform content creation, and customer engagement with innovative media technologies and strategies.
Three winners will be selected during a final event organized on November 15 at the Orange Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, during the 2nd Artificial Intelligence Marseille (AIM) forum organized by La Tribune and BFM Business. The selection will be made by a jury chaired by Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the Group, and including members of the executive committee representing the various sectors of CMA CGM.
The global air cargo market’s hot summer of double-digit demand growth continued in August with average spot rates showing their largest year-on-year jump with a 24% increase, according to the latest weekly analysis by Xeneta.
Xeneta cited two reasons to explain the increase. First, Global average air cargo spot rates reached $2.68 per kg in August due to continuing supply and demand imbalance. That came as August's global cargo supply grew at its slowest ratio in 2024 to-date at 2% year-on-year, while global cargo demand continued its double-digit growth, rising +11%.
The second reason for higher rates was an ocean-to-air shift in freight volumes due to Red Sea disruptions and e-commerce demand.
Those factors could soon be amplified as e-commerce shows continued strong growth approaching the hotly anticipated winter peak season. E-commerce and low-value goods exports from China in the first seven months of 2024 increased 30% year-on-year, including shipments to Europe and the US rising 38% and 30% growth respectively, Xeneta said.
“Typically, air cargo market performance in August tends to follow the July trend. But another month of double-digit demand growth and the strongest rate growths of the year means there was definitely no summer slack season in 2024,” Niall van de Wouw, Xeneta’s chief airfreight officer, said in a release.
“Rates we saw bottoming out in late July started picking up again in mid-August. This is too short a period to call a season. This has been a busy summer, and now we’re at the threshold of Q4, it will be interesting to see what will happen and if all the anticipation of a red-hot peak season materializes,” van de Wouw said.
The report cites data showing that there are approximately 1.7 million workers missing from the post-pandemic workforce and that 38% of small firms are unable to fill open positions. At the same time, the “skills gap” in the workforce is accelerating as automation and AI create significant shifts in how work is performed.
That information comes from the “2024 Labor Day Report” released by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), the firm’s government relations and public policy arm.
“We continue to see a labor shortage and an urgent need to upskill the current workforce to adapt to the new world of work,” said Michael Lotito, Littler shareholder and co-chair of WPI. “As corporate executives and business leaders look to the future, they are focused on realizing the many benefits of AI to streamline operations and guide strategic decision-making, while cultivating a talent pipeline that can support this growth.”
But while the need is clear, solutions may be complicated by public policy changes such as the upcoming U.S. general election and the proliferation of employment-related legislation at the state and local levels amid Congressional gridlock.
“We are heading into a contentious election that has already proven to be unpredictable and is poised to create even more uncertainty for employers, no matter the outcome,” Shannon Meade, WPI’s executive director, said in a release. “At the same time, the growing patchwork of state and local requirements across the U.S. is exacerbating compliance challenges for companies. That, coupled with looming changes following several Supreme Court decisions that have the potential to upend rulemaking, gives C-suite executives much to contend with in planning their workforce-related strategies.”
Stax Engineering, the venture-backed startup that provides smokestack emissions reduction services for maritime ships, will service all vessels from Toyota Motor North America Inc. visiting the Toyota Berth at the Port of Long Beach, according to a new five-year deal announced today.
Beginning in 2025 to coincide with new California Air Resources Board (CARB) standards, STAX will become the first and only emissions control provider to service roll-on/roll-off (ro-ros) vessels in the state of California, the company said.
Stax has rapidly grown since its launch in the first quarter of this year, supported in part by a $40 million funding round from investors, announced in July. It now holds exclusive service agreements at California ports including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Hueneme, Benicia, Richmond, and Oakland. The firm has also partnered with individual companies like NYK Line, Hyundai GLOVIS, Equilon Enterprises LLC d/b/a Shell Oil Products US (Shell), and now Toyota.
Stax says it offers an alternative to shore power with land- and barge-based, mobile emissions capture and control technology for shipping terminal and fleet operators without the need for retrofits.
In the case of this latest deal, the Toyota Long Beach Vehicle Distribution Center imports about 200,000 vehicles each year on ro-ro vessels. Stax will keep those ships green with its flexible exhaust capture system, which attaches to all vessel classes without modification to remove 99% of emitted particulate matter (PM) and 95% of emitted oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Over the lifetime of this new agreement with Toyota, Stax estimated the service will account for approximately 3,700 hours and more than 47 tons of emissions controlled.
“We set out to provide an emissions capture and control solution that was reliable, easily accessible, and cost-effective. As we begin to service Toyota, we’re confident that we can meet the needs of the full breadth of the maritime industry, furthering our impact on the local air quality, public health, and environment,” Mike Walker, CEO of Stax, said in a release. “Continuing to establish strong partnerships will help build momentum for and trust in our technology as we expand beyond the state of California.”