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NOTED: The Supply Chain in Brief-Oct 2020

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Recognition

  • Total Distribution is the First Place Fleet Safety Award winner of the Florida Trucking Association’s Safety Management Council in the Truckload Shipping Division—Under 5 Million Miles category. James McMaster, director of transportation, and Doug Sibila, CEO of parent company Peoples Services, accepted the award.
  • Transportation and logistics provider Werner Enterprises was named to U.S. Veterans Magazine’s 2020 Best of the Best Top Veteran-Friendly Companies for its support of military veterans, service members, and their families. Werner was also named a Top Supplier Diversity Program for veterans.
  • Ascent Global Logistics’ On-Demand team was named General Motors Supplier of the Year. Chosen by a team of General Motors global executives, the award recognizes suppliers that exceeded expectations, created outstanding value, or introduced innovations in 2019.


Good Works

  • The captain and crew of COSCO Shipping Lines container ship COSCO Malaysia rescued four seafarers on a distressed sailboat in the Gulf of Mexico. The ship received a distress call from the sailboat and immediately carried out rescue operations under instruction from local U.S. Coast Guard officials, providing water, food, and dry clothing for the rescued party.
  • APM Terminals Mobile, the Alabama State Port Authority, and Maersk Special Project Logistics helped Team Rubicon, a volunteer disaster response organization, collect and distribute more than 36,000 pounds of bottled water, food, and emergency supplies for those affected by Hurricane Laura in Louisiana.
  • Lynden International assists organizations such as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center with complex logistics requirements during health crises and natural disasters, such as transporting frozen COVID-19 test kits and biological material for use in the search for a vaccine.
  • Total Quality Logistics pledged to cover $1 million in transportation costs by 2025 to haul food, water, medical supplies, and other essential goods to food banks, communities in need, and nonprofits.

Shovel Ready

  • CSX Transportation completed the DeWitt Rail Yard modernization project in Syracuse, New York. The yard provides intermodal service between Syracuse and the Port of NY and NJ’s ExpressRail Elizabeth terminal. The project is designed to lower shipping costs, reduce truck traffic, and provide more trip options.
  • DHL Express invested nearly $198 million in a new hub at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, marking its largest investment in France since 1976. The facility will have the capacity to process 38,000 packages per hour, which is 15 times greater than DHL’s existing facility.
  • An Amazon fulfillment center will be the first tenant in the Contra Costa Logistics Center under construction in Oakley, California. The 150,000-square-foot facility will be the smallest of five buildings at the site, with the largest planned at 642,000 square feet.

Green Seeds

  • The CMA CGM Jacques Saadé joined CMA CGM Group’s fleet, making it the largest liquefied natural gas-powered containership in the world. Liquefied natural gas reduces sulfur dioxide and fine particle emissions by 99% and emits up to 20% less carbon compared to fuel motorization. This is an initial step in achieving the company’s objective of carbon neutrality by 2050.
  • Volkswagen plans to be carbon neutral in all its global operations by 2050. Volkswagen Group Logistics is switching all Deutsche Bahn carriage of materials and vehicles in Germany to green electricity by the start of 2021, and aims to increase vehicle transportation by train from 53% to 60% by 2022.
  • PITT OHIO, a provider of logistics services in the transportation industry, received a patent for a process it developed to bring renewable energy into a battery system and distribute the power to points of use. The microgrid combines solar and wind energy with battery storage to power interior and exterior lighting loads throughout a facility, and operates autonomously.

Sealed Deals

  • Transportation equipment and services provider Alstom is rolling out Kinaxis’ RapidResponse applications in five additional locations, bringing the number of global users to more than 500. The solution simulates planning scenarios according to specific operational constraints to ensure Alstom can plan its manufacturing activities efficiently.
  • Brook Furniture Rental, a provider of rental furnishings, selected Descartes Systems Group’s delivery scheduling solution to improve its white-glove operations across the United States. The end-to-end platform for home and last-mile delivery handles appointment booking, route planning, and mobile proof-of-delivery processes.

M&A

  • Nippon Express USA acquired third-party solutions providers MD Logistics and MD Express.
  • Shipping and fulfillment services provider Visible acquired TriCon, a Dallas-based logistics and fulfillment company.
  • KAG, a North American tank truck transporter and logistics provider, acquired Les Distributions Carl Beaulac, a Quebec-based company specializing in hauling petroleum, chemicals, aggregates, and hot products.
  • Supply chain solutions provider NFI acquired CAI Logistics, the non-asset logistics division of CAI International.
  • Motion Industries, a distributor of maintenance, repair, and operation replacement parts, acquired Applied Machine and Motion Control, a Kentucky-based supplier of motion control and automation products and services.

Up the Chain

  • BNSF Railway named Kathryn Farmer as its president and chief executive officer, making her the first woman to lead a major railway operator in North America. Starting with the company in 1992, Farmer previously served as executive vice president of operations and has held leadership roles in all major divisions.
  • Hans Thalbauer joined Google Cloud as managing director of global supply chain, logistics, and transportation solutions, and Paula Natoli joined the company as director of global supply chain, logistics, and transportation solutions. Thalbauer previously served as senior vice president of industry transformation initiatives at SAP, and Natoli served as group vice president of product management at Blue Yonder.