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Welcome to the March 2021 edition of JBF Freight Transportation Industry Bulletin, a monthly newsletter curated by the JBF Consulting team, with a focus on supply chain, transportation, logistics and of course freight.

In This Issue

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Transport-Centric Macroeconomic Metrics

March 2021 Update

If a pandemic isn’t enough, let’s throw in a polar vortex that disrupts transportation across 2/3 of the country!

Shippers were hopeful that the traditional winter freight slowdown would provide a chance to re-group and re-align capacity based on learnings over the last year. Unfortunately, that has not occurred. Contract rates are now at a 5- year high and, according to DAT, the spot market is now .60 / mile higher than Feb 2020 for dry van and .80 / mile for reefer. Freightwaves reports that national tender rejection rates for dry van are just above 26%. This remains consistent with the rejection rates we’ve seen since September.

When to Do Supply Chain Design

Experience tells us the usual catalysts for a SCD project of meaningful size and scope fall into one of these categories that present themselves ad hoc (versus being a strategic, regular activity)... read more

Transport Dive Monthly Column

Choosing a Consulting Partner

Specific to the supply chain, business leaders have a myriad of choices from which to select some outside expertise. Any one of these choices may be appropriate for you and your team. If asked, most consultants will give the standard “It depends” response. Irrespective of your need or project, here are a few analogies that might help...

MEME of the Month

Featured Success Story: Technical Upgrade for CPG/Pharma Brand

JBF Consulting delivered creative solutions to migrate this on-premise client from an outdated version of the Blue Yonder TMS. Intimate collaboration with the client enabled us to engineer a realistic plan with enough time for functional enhancements and change management to benefit the end-users, in what would have been a typical “technical upgrade”. These enhancements resulted in hours of daily time savings for each load planner.

March Transportation Industry Mergers, Funding & Partnerships

Launches

3PL Central Launches Enhanced Small Parcel Suite to Support High-Volume E-commerce and Omnichannel Fulfillment - March 18, 2021

Global Shipping Business Network Successfully Incorporated to accelerate the Digital Transformation of Global Shipping and Trade - March 16, 2021

BluJay Solutions Launches Augmented Global Trade Platform, Reimagining Customs and Compliance Management for International Trade - March 10, 2021

Turvo Launches New Customer Experience Solution Purpose-Built for the Supply Chain - March 9, 2021

Mergers & Acquisitions

RGL Logistics expands supply chain operations with Appleton purchase - March 16, 2021

Kaleris Announces Merge of Best-In-Class Companies PINC, ShipXpress, and RailCarRX - March 11, 2021

Tive Acquires UK-based MyTrackingDevices - March 9, 2021

Panasonic [maybe] set to buy US supply chain software company for $6.5bn - March 8, 2021

project44 Acquires Ocean Insights - March 4, 2021

Metro Supply Chain Group Completes Strategic Investment in Defence Logistics Company HCL Logistics - March 2, 2021

Descartes Acquires QuestaWeb - March 1, 2021

Funding

Duckbill Announces the Closing of Its US$50 Million Funding led by Temasek, a New Record in the Industry - March 20, 2021

Shelf Engine Raises $41 Million to Transform the Grocery Supply Chain, Quadrupling Retailer Profits While Reducing Food Waste by One Third - March 18, 2021

Delhivery Close To $3 Bn Valuation With Pre-IPO Funding Led By Fidelity - March 17, 2021

Flowspace Raises $31M in New Funding Round - March 16, 2021

Lineage Logistics Raises $1.9 Billion in New Equity to Fund Investment in Global Network Capacity and Industry-Leading Technology - March 11, 2021

Atlanta SPAC will raise $400M to invest in logistics industry - March 8, 2021

Deliverr raises $170M in new funding - March 3, 2021

Instacart raises $265M at a $39B valuation - March 2, 2021

Deposco Secures $35 Million in New Growth Funding Led by NewSpring - March 1, 2021

Partnerships & Collaborations

Southfield Capital Partners with Alba Wheels Up - March 16, 2021

Cold Chain Technologies Partners With Cloudleaf to Provide Enhanced Real-Time Visibility for End-to-End Distribution of Temperature-Sensitive Drugs and Biologics - March 16, 2021

Longbow Advantage and AutoScheduler Announce Strategic Partnership - March 9, 2021

ClearMetal and Munich Re Group Partner to Guarantee Shippers Complete and Timely Delivery of Data - March 9, 2021

Moderna and IBM Plan to Collaborate on COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Chain and Distribution Data Sharing - March 4, 2021

Locus Partners With Lytx To Offer Future-Ready Logistics - March 2, 2021

ReBranding

XPO Logistics names contract-logistics business GXO - March 18, 2021

Leading Supply Chain Risk Analytics Companies, Resilience360 and Riskpulse, Combine and Rebrand as Everstream Analytics - March 2, 2021

Free eBook: Buyers Guide to TMS Discovery

Looking for a win-win opportunity with your carriers? Shippers and carriers can both benefit from initiatives that seek to minimize detention. While the individual benefits differ between shippers and carriers, the commonality is that a reduction in detention time has the net impact of increasing asset and labor productivity which will drive down costs for both parties.

Request this complimentary practical guide to learn more. Get your copy here.

Request a Complimentary TMS Assessment

Do you have a complex transportation issue? JBF Consulting has the passion, expertise and knowledge to meet any need. Increase visibility, maximize ROI, customize your software solution. We have the knowledge to take your business to the next level.

Since 2003, JBF Consulting has been helping shippers of all sizes and across many industries select, implement and squeeze as much value as possible out of their logistics systems. We speak your language — not consultant-speak - and we get to know you.

Our leadership team has over 70 years of logistics and TMS implementation experience.

Because we operate in a niche — we’re not all things to all people — our team members have a very specialized skill set: logistics operations experience + transportation technology + communication and problem-solving skills + a bunch of other cool stuff.

To contact JBF Consulting call 203-807-5231 or email: brad.forester@jbf-consulting.com

The fine print: This newsletter is being provided to the reader as a general overview of current market conditions and contains information compiled by JBF Consulting from a variety of sources. This newsletter is provided solely for general informational purposes and is not intended to be, nor should it be construed by the reader as, specific advice or a solution tailored to a particular company or client. Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of the information provided to your company’s circumstances and it is recommended that you seek independent advice if you have questions specific to your own objectives.

JBF Consulting makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein and shall have no liability for any representations (expressed or implied) regarding information contained in, or omitted from, this newsletter.