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.
Shipping containers loaded with imported Covid-19 test kits and protective gear for frontline medical personnel have started to arrive at the Port of Virginia, where logistics leaders have instituted a critical cargo initiative allowing them to process that cargo rapidly, the port said today.
The imports could help address critical shortages in the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, including virus testing gear and personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers. Health experts say the lack of sufficient stocks of both items is hindering the country’s effort to slow the spread of the virus, since epidemiology studies cannot be accurate without data from widespread testing of potential patients. Likewise, shortages of protective gear are endangering “essential workers”—including truck drivers and warehouse employees—who are required to report to work despite regional business closures and shelter-in-place orders.
On Tuesday, the Nevada Trucking Association said that several casinos from the state’s gaming economy had donated surgical gloves, and other groups could soon give additional PPE items such as hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes. “One of the things I love most about Nevada is how people and businesses have stepped to help one another respond to Covid-19,” Paul Enos, CEO of the Nevada Trucking Association, said in a release. “The Wynn, Caesar’s, and The Peppermill in Reno have been extremely generous in donating gloves to our drivers and the men and women working in the supply chain.”
And today, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned that air cargo bottlenecks of such medical gear shipments could put lives at risk. “Air cargo is a vital partner in the global fight against COVID-19. But we are still seeing examples of cargo flights filled with life-saving medical supplies and equipment grounded due to cumbersome and bureaucratic processes to secure slots and operating permits. These delays are endangering lives. All governments need to step up to keep global supply chains open,” Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO, said in a release.
The shipments of medical gear now flowing into the Port of Virginia were handled through the port’s “Covid-19 Critical Cargo Initiative,” which expedites the processing of any cargo needed in the coronavirus fight, and allocates the equipment and personnel assets needed to get the container moving to its destination as fast as possible, port leaders said.
In this case, the vessel “Cosco Philippines” arrived at Virginia International Gateway early Monday morning, and the container with the test kits was offloaded just before 9 a.m. Barely two hours later, a truck carrying that container left the terminal and was bound for a pharmaceutical company in Indianapolis.
By now, that truck has delivered its load of PPE for the medical industry—such as face shields, gowns, and gloves—test kits, and virus-critical shipments like hand sanitizer and raw materials going into PPE production. “We moved our first import load of test kits on Monday and our operations team worked closely with the ocean carrier and the cargo owner to make sure we moved that container first,” John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, said in a release. “Three more containers are set to arrive later this week and we are working with the ocean carriers to identify additional priority cargo.”
At another East Coast port, the Georgia Ports Authority has implemented an "Isolate and Operate" strategy to keep its facility open despite the threat of workers falling victim to the pandemic. For example, port leaders say they have minimized the risk of possible exposure by spreading workers out across the expanse of the 1,300-acre Garden City Terminal in Savannah. In other changes to keep maritime cargo moving despite Covid-19 threats, the port has assigned operators to specific cranes, closed all break rooms and group meeting areas, and provided disinfectants to equipment operators so they can wipe down their controls at the beginning and end of each shift.
In conjunction with those policies, the International Longshoremen's Association at Georgia Ports has started monitoring the temperature of union members as they report to work, sending home any workers with a temperature or other symptoms of illness.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.