14 DC VELOCITY JUNE 2019 www.dcvelocity.com
newsworthy
J.B. Hunt to launch trailer pool to bolster its
freight-matching platform
Supply chain service provider J.B. Hunt Transport Services
Inc. is launching a trailer pool and drop-and-hook service that could build leverage for the company’s digital
freight-matching platform, one more sign that money is
continuing to flow into services aimed at streamlining
the process of matching power-unit tractors with loaded
trailers.
Lowell, Ark.-based Hunt
said its new trailer pool
and drop-and-hook service,
called J.B. Hunt 360box,
could improve the efficiency of freight operations for
both businesses and carriers when it launches later
this summer. The company introduced its digital
freight-matching tool, J.B.
Hunt 360, in 2017, saying the system could use real-time
data and artificial intelligence to match freight with capacity
and connect shippers with carriers.
Hunt’s early May announcement follows the introduc-
tion of several competing digital freight-matching services,
including Uber Freight’s Powerloop and Convoy’s Convoy
Go. Many large carriers also provide trailer pools for their
high-volume shippers, but they charge for the service and
require the shipper to use their drivers, said Tony Wayda,
supply chain practice senior director and principal at
Boulder, Colo.-based consulting firm SCApath LLC.
According to J.B. Hunt, 360box will prevent the loss in
productivity that can occur during a live delivery—such
as delays due to dock-door wait and detention—by elim-
inating the immediate need
to load and unload trailers.
Instead, drivers simply drop
the trailer in a designated
area and go on to their next
load, increasing driver pro-
ductivity while eliminat-
ing the operational cost of
maintaining trailers.
The 360box pool will initially consist of 500 trailers, each 53 feet long and
equipped with track-and-trace tools, and will be expanded
as market demand grows, Hunt said. Businesses can reserve
a unit for drop-trailer purposes, and carriers will make offers
to transport the trailers using Carrier 360, the carrier-facing
segment of the J.B. Hunt 360 platform. Complementing its
digital freight-matching platform with a real-world trailer
pool could create a more efficient transportation network
across North America, the company said.
JDA Software has named Open Sky Group its 2018
“Selling Partner of the Year.” Open Sky Group is a
reseller of the JDA Warehouse Management, JDA
Warehouse Labor Management, JDA Workforce
Management, and JDA Transportation Management
systems and has earned this distinction three times.
… Pilot Freight Services, a worldwide provider of
transportation and logistics services, was recognized
by Walmart Supply Chain as one of six Walmart
Transportation Carriers of the Year. Pilot was honored
as “E-Commerce Carrier of the Year.” … International
express services provider DHL has been recognized by
the Top Employers Institute as a Global Top Employer
in the U.S. for 2019. This award recognizes compa-
nies for their dedication to creating an outstanding
work environment. … Industrial truck manufacturer
Kion North America Corp. honored its dealer Bravo
Montacargas with its President’s Award at the compa-
ny’s 2019 dealer meeting. Bravo Montacargas earned
the award, the company’s top honor, for achieving the
highest total combined sales for lift trucks and parts in
2018. … UPS and Havertys Furniture were two of 19
organizations honored with the first annual Atlanta
Supply Chain Awards. Presented by APICS Atlanta, the
Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’
Atlanta Roundtable, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber,
the awards recognize leaders and organizations from
both traditional and new digital supply chain back-
grounds in the metro Atlanta supply chain community.
… The Andersons, an Ohio-based agribusiness company
and long-time user of the Port of Virginia, has received
the port’s 2018 Shipper of the Year award. This annual
award recognizes a shipper that has worked with the
port to make it better for all users.
accolades
