Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

newsworthy

Opus9 says drayage platform offers transparent pricing and container tracking

Firm adds container port mode to truckload and LTL products in bid to build end-to-end visibility.

Opus9 says drayage platform offers transparent pricing and container tracking

Third party logistics provider (3PL) Opus9 has added a drayage mode to its automated freight-booking platform for full truckload and less than truckload (LTL) cargo, the firm said recently.

The move adds another link in the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company's plan to provide a "one-stop shop for transportation needs" that will eventually allow users to manage their shipments from end to end, Opus9 CEO Alex Ryu said in a phone briefing.


Opus9 offers its new drayage platform at ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., Garden City and Savannah, Ga., and Kearny and Elizabeth, N.J., with plans to add additional sites in coming months. The company also plans to add another transportation mode next year when it launches a platform for ocean shipping rates, Ryu said.

Shippers in the drayage sector face challenges such as a lack of capacity and poor transparency into pricing, according to Opus9. The new platform helps those shippers move containers more efficiently by helping them get instant quotes, book easily, and track their shipments in real-time, the company said. According to the company, its drayage app improves efficiency by offering three services: instant drayage quotes that remove the time and effort of negotiating rates; an easy-to-use booking process; and smart matching with carriers to provide greater capacity at busy ports.

While those features may sound commonplace to shippers and carriers using some of the digital freight matching apps available in the long-haul trucking market, they are not yet broadly available at ports, Ryu said. Comparing the automation levels of booking freight in different modes, Ryu said that LTL is "pretty automated" in terms of pricing, booking, tracking, and invoicing; full truckload is "tricky but doable," and that drayage is "really challenging."

Drayage is different from other modes because shippers sometimes incur unplanned surcharges added by carriers, Ryu said. For example, a closed port terminal may decline a trucker's delivery of an empty container, forcing the driver to haul the load back to his own lot and try again the next day.

In another difference from other transportation sectors, shippers say it can be hard to track the location of their containers because drayage drivers are not required to install the electronic logging devices (ELDs) that automatically provide global positioning system (GPS) coordinates in addition to monitoring drivers' hours of service. Lacking that data, shippers must check individual container numbers through a terminal operator's computer system, Ryu said.

By compiling information like transparent pricing and container tracking on a single drayage platform, Opus9 hopes to market its product to shippers and freight forwarders in Asia, who currently lack that visibility into the status of their shipments into U.S. markets, Ryu said.

Opus9's product joins a number of other digital solutions targeted at the drayage area. Logistics technology startups launching drayage platforms in recent months include: Next Trucking, BookYourCargo.com, Dray Alliance, and DrayNow Inc.

The Latest

More Stories

Trucking industry experiences record-high congestion costs

Trucking industry experiences record-high congestion costs

Congestion on U.S. highways is costing the trucking industry big, according to research from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), released today.

The group found that traffic congestion on U.S. highways added $108.8 billion in costs to the trucking industry in 2022, a record high. The information comes from ATRI’s Cost of Congestion study, which is part of the organization’s ongoing highway performance measurement research.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

From pingpong diplomacy to supply chain diplomacy?

There’s a photo from 1971 that John Kent, professor of supply chain management at the University of Arkansas, likes to show. It’s of a shaggy-haired 18-year-old named Glenn Cowan grinning at three-time world table tennis champion Zhuang Zedong, while holding a silk tapestry Zhuang had just given him. Cowan was a member of the U.S. table tennis team who participated in the 1971 World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan. Story has it that one morning, he overslept and missed his bus to the tournament and had to hitch a ride with the Chinese national team and met and connected with Zhuang.

Cowan and Zhuang’s interaction led to an invitation for the U.S. team to visit China. At the time, the two countries were just beginning to emerge from a 20-year period of decidedly frosty relations, strict travel bans, and trade restrictions. The highly publicized trip signaled a willingness on both sides to renew relations and launched the term “pingpong diplomacy.”

Keep ReadingShow less
forklift driving through warehouse

Hyster-Yale to expand domestic manufacturing

Hyster-Yale Materials Handling today announced its plans to fulfill the domestic manufacturing requirements of the Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act for certain portions of its lineup of forklift trucks and container handling equipment.

That means the Greenville, North Carolina-based company now plans to expand its existing American manufacturing with a targeted set of high-capacity models, including electric options, that align with the needs of infrastructure projects subject to BABA requirements. The company’s plans include determining the optimal production location in the United States, strategically expanding sourcing agreements to meet local material requirements, and further developing electric power options for high-capacity equipment.

Keep ReadingShow less
map of truck routes in US

California moves a step closer to requiring EV sales only by 2035

Federal regulators today gave California a green light to tackle the remaining steps to finalize its plan to gradually shift new car sales in the state by 2035 to only zero-emissions models — meaning battery-electric, hydrogen fuel cell, and plug-in hybrid cars — known as the Advanced Clean Cars II Rule.

In a separate move, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also gave its approval for the state to advance its Heavy-Duty Omnibus Rule, which is crafted to significantly reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from new heavy-duty, diesel-powered trucks.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshots for starboard trade software

Canadian startup gains $5.5 million for AI-based global trade platform

A Canadian startup that provides AI-powered logistics solutions has gained $5.5 million in seed funding to support its concept of creating a digital platform for global trade, according to Toronto-based Starboard.

The round was led by Eclipse, with participation from previous backers Garuda Ventures and Everywhere Ventures. The firm says it will use its new backing to expand its engineering team in Toronto and accelerate its AI-driven product development to simplify supply chain complexities.

Keep ReadingShow less