18 DC VELOCITY DECEMBER 2017 www.dcvelocity.com
newsworthy
Banyan Technology building nationwide truck
platform supporting heavy-goods e-commerce
A transportation technology provider is building a platform
to connect retailers and third-party logistics service providers (3PLs) with thousands of local truckers nationwide
to facilitate same-day deliveries of heavy goods that are
ordered online.
The platform, developed by Cleveland-based Banyan
Technology, will be rolled out during the first quarter of
2018, according to Lance Healy, Banyan’s co-founder and
chief innovation officer. In a recent phone interview, Healy
said this would be the first attempt to build out a nationwide IT (information technology) network linking the
key players in the fast-growing heavy-goods e-commerce
ecosystem. Currently, connections are made with carriers
through individual enterprise platforms, Healy said.
Healy said he plans to recruit between 1,500 and 2,000
local carriers, with the first 50 to 100 going live in the first
quarter. Banyan will also oversee the carrier “on-boarding”
process to ensure each carrier meets financial and operating
requirements before being incorporated into the network,
Healy said.
Smaller and established carriers will dominate the platform, and there will be few independent drivers involved,
Healy said. Three of the five largest 3PLs, which Healy
wouldn’t identify, are involved in the initiative. Also
involved are large IT firms such as Cary, N.C.-based
MercuryGate International Inc., Stamford, Conn.-based
Pitney Bowes Inc., and Australian firm Wise Tech Global.
All of those companies leverage software applications to
power hundreds of millions of supply chain management
transactions.
E-COMMERCE GETS HEAVY
Healy pursued the idea after determining the heavy-goods
segment was ripe for the same speed-to-market innovations
consumers and businesses have grown accustomed to for
the delivery of smaller e-commerce shipments, which still
account for most of the fulfillment business. According to
data from SJ Consulting, the so-called large-format category—shipments that weigh more than 150 pounds as well as
items whose dimensions make them non-conveyable—will
grow by 9. 4 percent in 2017, bringing the market size to
$8.1 billion. The SJ data does not include large-format
items transported by parcel carriers like Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx Corp. and Atlanta-based UPS Inc.
The heavy-goods e-commerce market is expected to grow
significantly in coming years as manufacturers and retailers
expand the number of SKUs (stock-keeping units) available
for online ordering. Less-than-truckload (LTL) and even
truckload carriers are expected to jump into the fray as the
weight and dimensions of the goods being delivered falls
within their wheelhouses. Experts have said, however, that
LTL and truckload drivers will need to adjust to making
deliveries directly to residences instead of warehouses and
shipping docks.
One e-tailer that Banyan will initially steer clear of is
Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. The world’s largest e-tailer,
which has been aggressively expanding into the heavy-goods arena, has way too much volume for Banyan’s platform to absorb right now, according to Healy. “We’re not
ready for that fire hose,” he said.
—Mark Solomon
Privately held transportation company CRST International
Inc. has named Kimberly Maes president of CRST’s Logistics
Inc. Maes brings 20 years of transportation leadership
experience to her new role. … Commonwealth Supply
Chain Advisors has added three industry-recognized
experts to its roster of supply chain consultants: Colman
Roche, Kevin Thuet, and Don Savage. … The Florida
Ports Council, the professional association for
Florida’s public seaports, has elected Steven
Cernak, Port Everglades’ chief executive/port
director, as its chairman. … Vargo, a provider
of systems integration services, warehouse
execution software, and equipment solutions
for fulfillment centers and DCs, has hired
Mike Peters as a quality assurance/support
professional and Eric Vander Zee as a systems
engineer. … Ametek Solidstate Controls has
added Michelle Cleveland, a 20-year veteran
of marketing for B2B and B2C
companies, to its team as marketing manag-
er. … Akro-Mils, a North American manufac-
turer of storage, organization, and transport
products, has named Dana Rafferty executive
director of sales and marketing. … Swift
Industrial Power has added Beth Correro to its corporate
office team in Knoxville, Tenn. PETERS
newsmakers
CLEVELAND
RAFFERTY
