18 DC VELOCITY MARCH 2019 www.dcvelocity.com
newsworthy
Emerging e-commerce trends are changing the face of the
trucking industry, with the growth of last-mile delivery
cutting the average trucker’s trip length by 37 percent since
2000, according to a recent industry study.
While the average trucking haul distance
has shrunk, the number of truck trips and
urban vehicle miles traveled have increased
for much of the same 19-year period,
thanks to an increase in more regionalized
retail supply chains and the proliferation
of urban last-mile deliveries, the American
Transportation Research Institute (ATRI)
said.
The ATRI report, E-Commerce Impacts on
the Trucking Industry, also revealed that retailers are becoming more flexible in how they interact with consumers by
decentralizing their distribution and fulfillment networks
to bring inventory closer to consumers. That trend has
resulted in a total of 2,130 fewer department stores and
385,000 fewer jobs at those stores in 2017 compared with
2015, ATRI said.
Even as store jobs have disappeared, courier jobs have
expanded to take their place. There were 1,937 more courier services operating and just over 85,000 new employees
hired in the sector between 2015 and 2017,
the ATRI study found.
The loss of department stores has also
been offset by the growth of “last-mile
fulfillment centers,” which represented 73
percent of the industrial real estate market
in 2017, a 15-percentage-point increase
from the previous year.
“ATRI’s research provides a critical road-
map for trucking industry stakeholders to
address the challenges and benefits of e-commerce and
omnichannel retailing,” Tom Benusa, chief information
officer of Eagan, Minn.-based trucking company Transport
America, said in a release. “These trends are game-chang-
ing, and our industry must adapt quickly to ensure that
trucking continues to be the pre-eminent freight mode.”
Study: E-commerce trends are shrinking average length
of truck trips
Canadian food distributor Tree of Life has selected the
Blue Ridge Integrated Business Planning solution to help
align the company’s revenue and financial plans with
its demand and supply planning. … Cassens Transport
Co., a U.S. automotive logistics services company, has
deployed SmartDrive Systems’ SmartDrive safety pro-
gram across its fleet of nearly 1,200 trucks. … ProShip
Inc., a provider of logistics software and supply chain
solutions, has partnered with Labelmaster, a maker of
labels, packaging, and technology for the transport of
dangerous goods and hazardous materials, to enhance
its offerings for dangerous goods shippers. The deal
gives users of ProShip’s multicarrier shipping software
access to up-to-date hazardous materials tables, robust
validation checks, and compliant shipping papers. … Lolli
and Pops Inc., a specialty retailer of confections, sweets,
and gifts, has adopted TrueCommerce’s OneTime sup-
plier enablement solution to power new omnichannel
initiatives. … Ceva Logistics has renewed its contract
to provide third-party services to Italian shipbuilder
Fincantieri for an additional three years. Since 2015,
Ceva has been responsible for moving components and
parts used in shipbuilding to 10 Fincantieri sites across
Italy along with providing warehouse management
services at two facilities. … Plastic pallet manufacturer
Saudi Pallet Manufacturing Co. has signed a $90 million
memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabian
Basic Industries Corp. to manufacture Paxxal pallets for
export and develop supply chain initiatives for the local
market. … Applied DNA Sciences Inc., a specialist in
DNA-based product authenticity and traceability solu-
tions, has signed a non-binding memorandum of under-
standing with Taiwan-based Tex-Ray Industrial Co. Ltd.,
a maker of performance fabric and smart clothing for
modern active lifestyles, to use Applied DNA’s CertainT
authentication platform to provide brand protection
and traceability for Tex-Ray’s performance fabrics. …
SupplyShift, a supply chain data management, respon-
sible sourcing, and supplier engagement platform, has
teamed up with software and analytics platform Ulula
to integrate Ulula’s labor data into SupplyShift’s tech-
nology, enabling companies to incorporate data on
prospective suppliers’ worker treatment into their sup-
ply chain decision-making. … Truckload carrier Chief
Express LLC has selected Orbcomm Inc., a provider of
machine-to-machine and Internet of Things solutions,
to provide an in-cab solution for its trucks and a trailer
monitoring solution for its dry van fleet.
alliances
