American Airlines is expanding its cargo-only operations this month to transport essential telecommunications equipment and electronics between the Netherlands and the U.S. in order to keep businesses connected and informed during the Covid-19 outbreak. The cargo-only flight will operate twice weekly between Amsterdam and Dallas/Fort Worth. Without passengers onboard, each Boeing 777-300ER aircraft can carry approximately 54,000 kilograms of cargo in the belly hold.
In March, American began operating its first cargo-only flights since 1984 between DFW and Frankfurt (FRA). Since then, American has begun operating 46 weekly cargo-only flights between the U.S, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, providing more than 3 million kilograms of capacity to transport critical goods each week. In addition to AMS-DFW, American is expanding its cargo-only service to multiple destinations including DFW and Dublin (DUB); between New York (JFK) and London Heathrow (LHR), and between Miami (MIA) and Buenos Aires (EZE).
In addition to carrying the telecommunications equipment and electronics from Amsterdam, the company is moving cargo the assist the global coronavirus relief effort, including medical supplies, personal protective equipment (PPE) and pharmaceuticals, as well as essential goods including manufacturing and automotive equipment, mail, fresh fruit, vegetables, and fish.
And in other examples of the logistics industry dedicating its assets to the coronavirus fight:
Trucking trade group the American Trucking Associations (ATA) has partnered with Protective Insurance Co. to expand the availability and supply of hand sanitizer to truckers along major U.S. freight corridors. ATA and member-company ABF Freight are hauling ten 55-gallon drums of hand sanitizer, purchased by Protective Insurance, for distribution in eight states, where drivers will be able to refill their personal supplies at no cost. Drums are now in place at locations in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with the remaining load in transit for delivery this week. “Crossing the bridge from crisis to recovery hinges on the integrity of our supply chain and its ability to keep moving,” ATA President and CEO Chris Spear said in a release. “Protecting America’s truck drivers, and ensuring they can stay safe and healthy while on the road, is paramount. While we continue to work with federal agencies on the strategic distribution of PPE, we’re also taking our own initiative—partnering with industry allies—to build supply networks for drivers to tap into.”
FedEx Corp. has unveiled an alliance with the cloud e-commerce platform provider BigCommerce, saying the deal will help brick-and-mortar businesses that have been shut down during the Covid-19 pandemic transition from running physical stores to moving their retail operations online. The two companies are collaborating on an offer for new BigCommerce customers, consisting of four months of free service with BigCommerce and discounted FedEx shipping rates. “As we all face the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19, it’s even more important for small and medium businesses to be able to continue providing much-needed goods and services to their communities,” Randy Scarborough, vice president of Customer Engagement Marketing at FedEx, said in a release. “We’re proud to team up with BigCommerce to make it easier for more businesses to move online quickly so they can stay connected to commerce and deliver for their customers.”
Transportation information management startup Breakthrough is using its data to facilitate capacity-sharing opportunities among shippers whose supply chains have been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Working with both its clients who express a desire to help or a need for capacity, Breakthrough is utilizing its broad set of North American transportation data to connect shippers based on their network flows and freight characteristics. Facilitating partnerships between shippers with underutilized private fleets or excess dedicated fleet capacity and shippers in need allows products in high demand to get to consumers faster, while keeping drivers of private and dedicated fleets employed during this time of uncertainty, the firm said. “As this crisis spreads across the country, we’ve all looked at our businesses to see what we can do to make a difference, and our clients, in a typically highly-competitive industry, have done just that,” Breakthrough COO Heather Mueller said in a release. “Breakthrough saw this as an opportunity to coordinate support and provide relief to shippers who need it.”
Logistics robot technology provider Brain Corp. is donating $1.6 million worth of autonomous floor cleaning robots and services to essential businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic. Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are playing a vital role in helping support essential businesses and their workers on the front lines of the health crisis, since retailers, airports, and hospitals are required to clean more frequently and deliver more cleaning coverage than usual. Autonomous floor scrubbers powered by Brain Corp.’s BrainOS software are providing more than 8,000 hours of daily work—equal to a quarter-million hours over the next 30 days—that otherwise would have to be done by an essential worker, the company said. By deploying robots, those workers are freed up to focus on other critical tasks, such as disinfecting high-contact surfaces, re-stocking, supporting customers, or even taking a much-needed break.
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.”