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FRESH LOOK FOR RENAULT TRUCKS E-TECH DUO

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Two product lines in Renault Trucks’ heavy duty all-electric range have been given a fresh look for 2023.

With the update, the E-Tech T and C will be the first trucks to bear the manufacturer’s new logo. 

Production will not start until 2023, however the duo are already available for pre-order.

The fresh look is the latest step from Renault on its commitment to decarbonising road freight transport. 

For example, it is now the only company to provide an electric mobility offer for all uses. 

In other words, Renault Trucks offer everything from a 650kg cargo bike to a 44-tonne electric tractor and construction truck.

The company says that the new models ‘have a design that is specific to their electric motorisation’. 

Firstly, they both have the trademark graphic signature of the brand’s electric trucks.

For example, there are blue hubcaps and a vertical stripe on the sides of the vehicle. 

Alongside the E-Tech badge at the front, the trucks feature a new Emblem plate in blue plexiglass.

Meanwhile, the front of the vehicles has been brought forward by 115mm and side radars fitted, for extra safety.

The chassis is also equipped with a retractable step, therefore maximising space dedicated to the batteries. 

Renault Trucks says the designers took inspiration from electronic music for the front panel’s fresh look. 

Specifically, a pattern that is reminiscent of an equaliser has been adopted. 

To reinforce this electromechanical effect, the front of the vehicles are fully painted. 

Finally, new logo takes on a monochrome design, which Renault says asserts its ‘acceleration and commitment to transport decarbonisation’. 

Indeed, Renault Trucks is determined to meet the climate challenge.

It says it will do so by developing ever cleaner, safer and more circular transport solutions to accompany its customers on their path to carbon neutrality.

ESCAPE TO VICTORY

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In a move that builds upon the success of its prior deployments, digital solutions provider PTC has announced the expansion of the use of its Servigistics® Service Parts Management SaaS solution by the United States Air Force (USAF) for its supply chain modernization program, ESCAPE


The expansion is a five-year definitive contract consisting of a one-year base period and four one-year options that are worth up to $95 million.

The USAF is leveraging Servigistics as the sole-source provider to plan and optimise its $76 billion service parts supply chain tuned to asset availability. For its part, Servigistics supports ESCAPE’s effort to modernize planning and forecasting, increase aircraft availability and improve mission support functions while investing taxpayer funding in optimal parts inventory.

Leslie Paulson, General Manager, Servigistics Business Unit, PTC said: “By embracing digital solutions like Servigistics, the USAF is transforming its service parts supply chain to optimise planning and logistics with its OEM network and strengthening the digital thread.

ROLL WITH IT

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As part of an important trial being sponsored and supported by Network Rail and Great Western Railway, (GWR) Thales has installed its Robust Train Positioning System (RTPS) – or ‘rolling lab’ – onto the UK railway network in order to provide critical data that will increase safety and efficiency


The RTPS can be found onboard an in-service GWR Class 150 cab, where it will gather at least one year’s worth of data.

Alex Stockill, Thales Product Line Manager, said: “We are connecting this equipment to a general-purpose computer platform onboard, which will provide a range of potential benefits. It’s giving us a rolling lab for testing integration with Train Protection and Warning System technology, as well as many other opportunities for innovation.

“Particularly usefully for this initial train is that we will be able to continuously generate and analyze data as it runs in passenger services, so it lets us test ideas at a low cost and high speed. It gives us a much quicker way of responding to customer needs and demonstrating solutions.”

SORT AFTER SOLUTIONS

Ferag, the Zurich-based leader in advanced conveying and sortation solutions, has launched its hi-tech, Swiss-engineered overhead pouch and sorted systems into the UK market


The technology offers retail, ecommerce, automotive and general merchandise businesses reliable, high-performance conveying and sortation at speeds of up to 12,000 units per hour.

Ferag has secured a strong presence in the UK intralogistics market by winning three new contracts for solutions in the apparel and retail sectors.

Heading up Ferag’s UK operations, Darcy de Thierry, Managing Director, Ferag UK Ltd, says: “British retailers and manufacturers are experiencing huge structural change. The growing focus for most is on ecommerce orders, which places a heavy emphasis on high-performance fulfilment operations capable of handling thousands upon thousands of single or few-item orders a day.

“Automated systems, such as overhead pouch and sortation solutions, facilitate fast picking, making them increasingly critical to maintaining and growing order volumes. But businesses cannot afford for them to fail – they need well engineered solutions using only the best, hard-wearing components and low-friction materials. That’s where Ferag’s extensive experience within the newspaper industry – where reliability is paramount – will be a tremendous advantage to the UK market.”

FREIGHT EXPECTATIONS

With the air freight industry in the midst of another boom, international logistics provider cargo-partner has expanded its charter program by adding a new weekly part-load service between Vienna and Chicago O’Hare International Airport


With Vienna Airport serving as an ideal hub for Central and Eastern Europe, and Chicago begin a strategic starting point for distribution in the Midwestern United States, customers have been increasingly requesting air freight solutions on this route.

In addition, cargo-partner operates its own warehouses at both locations and can thus offer flexible door-to-door solutions. This service is suitable for general cargo of all types, with the company able to offer comprehensive customs and last-mile services. “cargo-partner has recognized customer demand for highly time-critical transports on this route and is able to ensure immediate availability as well as the fastest possible response times,” explains cargo-partner CEO Stefan Krauter as to why this decision to expand the successful charter program has been taken

PS Logistics Continues Expansion with Acquisition of Clay’s Transport and Clays Logistics

Transaction marks PS Logistics’ fifth acquisition of 2022, further establishing the company in the Southeast by adding a terminal in Brookhaven, Mississippi

P&S Transportation LLC, a PS Logistics subsidiary, announced today that it has purchased all substantial transportation assets of Clay’s Transport Inc. and Clays Logistics LLC, or, together, “Clay’s,” a privately-owned interstate trucking and brokerage company that specializes in flatbed shipping in the Southeastern United States.

Headquartered in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Clay’s maintains a fleet of 35 tractors and 50 trailers. The company primarily hauls general flatbed freight, including lumber, metals, and steel, the types of freight in which P&S also specializes.

The acquisition will provide Clay’s, its customers, and its drivers with additional capacity, new service offerings, and increased economies of scale.

Organizationally, Clay’s will be managed by James Waldrop as a separate division of P&S Transportation under the leadership of Houston Vaughn, president and COO, P&S Transportation. Clay’s will continue to operate under the Clay’s Transport brand name.

The Clay’s acquisition continues PS Logistics’ acquisition strategy of partnering with families and owners within the flatbed trucking segment. Since 2016, PS Logistics has successfully acquired 26 trucking and brokerage operations. Financial terms of the Clay’s transaction were not disclosed.

About PS Logistics

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, PS Logistics is one of the largest and fastest growing flatbed transportation and logistics providers in the United States. PS Logistics provides full-service transportation services, including asset-based transportation, non-asset-based transportation, brokerage, third-party-logistics-managed transportation, warehousing, and supply chain services. This hybrid model delivers optimal flexibility to address customers’ flatbed transportation needs across various industries throughout the United States.

President Joe Biden asks Congress to Impose Rail Deal over Union Objections

President Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi are moving to prevent a looming shutdown of the nation’s freight railroads with the House preparing to take up legislation this week to impose a settlement over the objections of some unions.

Biden said in a statement Monday that lawmakers should “immediately” codify the agreement he helped broker in September between unions and railroads “without any modifications or delay,” after some labor groups voted to reject it.

Biden’s intervention underscores the administration’s growing concern about the possibility of a work stoppage on freight rail lines. A strike could wreak havoc on the US economy by crippling supply chains, disrupting passenger rail travel and preventing key materials from reaching water treatment plants.

Unions and railroads have until Dec. 9 to avoid a strike, and a negotiated agreement now appears unlikely.

Of a total of 13 labor agreements among the 12 unions representing different types of rail workers, nine have been ratified and four were struck down by members. Tensions rose after the largest union representing about 28,000 workers, mostly conductors, voted it down, with 51% against, in results released on Nov. 21.

Congress can intervene to stop a strike under federal law. Pelosi said the House would consider legislation this week to adopt the tentative September agreement.

Freight rail companies urged Congress to act quickly.

The September agreement, though, does not include sick leave, a key issue for freight-rail workers, who have sought to guarantee medical time off and other benefits.

Tony Cardwell, president of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, said he would oppose any legislation that doesn’t include paid sick days. BMWED was one of four unions that voted down the proposed agreement, and Cardwell said he would stand by his members.

The threat of congressional intervention already robbed unions of leverage, Cardwell said. Freight-rail carriers last week turned down the union’s latest offer of four paid sick days — down from the initial request of 15 — knowing Congress would step in, he said.

Cardwell said he had been on the phone all day trying to shore up support for paid sick days in the forthcoming legislation.

Pelosi in her statement praised the September deal for “including a 24% raise, no changes in copays, deductibles or coinsurance costs, some time off for routine, preventative and emergency medical care,” but said Democrats would continue to “fight for more of railroad workers’ priorities, including paid sick leave.”

The White House signaled earlier Monday it would not let a shutdown of freight rail lines cripple the economy, with a spokeswoman noting that Congress has repeatedly intervened in the past to prevent work stoppages.

Congressional action to stop a strike isn’t a foregone conclusion. Legislation could run into objections from progressive Democrats because unions, a powerful Democratic constituency, oppose it. Senate procedures are more complicated, so getting a bill passed by the deadline would probably require all 100 members to agree on holding a quick vote.

Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, said he would support a rail strike bill if it guarantees sick leave benefits.

The Senate Commerce Committee’s top Republican, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, said Congress must pass legislation to avert the strike.

However, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said a bill on the rail strike has been discussed but that it would be a “challenge” to get it done by the deadline.

Drive Efficiency and Savings with your Supply Chain and Freight Bill Audit Solution

The chaos and uncertainty of the global supply chain throughout the past two years has brought the importance of an optimized logistics operation into sharp focus. As transportation costs soared, many executives paid close attention to the effects of the supply chain on their bottom line.

To gain end-to-end visibility into your supply chain, you need a freight audit and payment provider that takes all the data from your freight bills and standardizes it – ingests, cleanses, normalizes, and connects it from disparate systems – to provide you with centralized intelligence and visibility for total transportation spend management.

 

Supply Chain and Freight Bill Audit Costs

Enterprise leaders need business intelligence to make informed decisions. Without a freight audit process, you have no visibility into which parts of your supply chain need optimization, which parts regularly accrue unnecessary accessorial charges, where you are being charged with incorrect rates, where you could use better route planning, and other crucial KPIs.

A freight audit and payment solution that automates the process of pulling data from every freight invoice across your global transportation network and compiling it into usable data is the best way to gain end-to-end control and visibility into your supply chain.

Freight Audits and the Transportation Industry

In 1980, the transportation industry was deregulated. Before that, freight payment terms were cohesive across the board, and each freight invoice had to be paid in a matter of days.

This changed the way logistics services were paid, and shippers and carriers could negotiate the terms of their freight bills. The freight payment process became more complex, and as technology has advanced over the past few decades, the need for a comprehensive freight audit has increased.

Freight Bill Errors

Accurate and timely accounting, reporting, and freight payment is nearly impossible – up to 25% of freight invoices are estimated to contain errors. With freight bill audit software, your organization can uncover improperly charged fees, avoid double paying invoices, and ensure carriers are paid correctly and on time.

The freight audit process provides your enterprise with more accurate carrier invoices. With accurate invoicing comes accurate data. With accurate data comes insightful analytics on the state of your transportation spend, allowing stakeholders to make informed decisions and track KPIs and other essential business analytics.

Freight Bill Auditing Challenges

Manual freight auditing necessitates a special skill set. Audit staff will need specific training and attention to detail, and they will need to have access to all original bills of lading and carrier contracts to crosscheck any rates, freight weights, and any errors.

When you partner with a freight audit and payment (FAP) provider, auditing becomes an automated process, improving your freight payment and total transportation spend data quality and efficiency.

New Shipper/Carrier Relationships

With recent global supply chain turmoil, shippers are currently experiencing difficult times. The shipper/carrier dynamic has shifted. For the first time in recent memory, the market favors the carrier. Carriers have more options and more power than ever in recent history.

Shippers are in a unique position, grappling with rising fuel prices, changing tariffs, capacity restraints, and unpredictable service. These factors can result in delivery delays, expensive spot transactions, and unhappy customers due to empty shelves and backorders. Further, shippers don’t have much leverage.

These aspects of the current market add up to shippers facing the challenge of keeping carriers happy. On-time freight bill payments to carriers are the best way to do so. Carriers are spoiled for choice, and if they are going to be paid late, they will prioritize other shippers without much thought, regardless of negotiated contracts.

Increasingly, carriers are demanding shorter payment terms, and shippers are having difficulty retaining capacity commitments from suppliers. This impacts shipper days payable outstanding (DPO) and working capital objectives, creating more financial risk.

Bottom line?

On-time carrier payments are imperative.

Freight Audit and Payment Software

Freight auditing software analyzes freight invoices for inaccuracies, ensuring you pay carriers on time, while ensuring you pay only what you were quoted in contract negotiations. You gain better visibility and control over the entire billing process and other aspects of business that affect your bottom line — cost allocation and timely accruals, for example.

When powered by a credible platform, freight audit and payment software gives you visibility into freight costs across your entire business operations, which can reveal smarter ways to maximize trade routing (also decreasing your carbon emissions and supporting your organization’s ESG goals) and predict future transportation costs.

 Auditing, Freight, and the Future of Supply Chain

Complete Freight Audit software, powered by Transportation Spend Management, empowers global enterprises with the predictive tools needed to future-proof transportation operations.

 Chris Cassidy is the chief revenue officer for Trax Technologies, the global leader in Transportation Spend Management (TSM) solutions. Trax elevates traditional Freight Audit and Payment (FAP) with a combination of industry leading cloud-based technology solutions and expert services to help enterprises with the world’s more complex supply chains better manage and control their global transportation costs and drive enterprise-wide efficiency and value. For more information, visit www.traxtech.com.

Port of Houston box Numbers Stay High in Softening Market

The Port of Houston has enjoyed a 13 per cent year-on-year container growth in October, continuing its positive trend seen throughout 2022.

The port moved a total of 371,994 TEU during the month.

Loaded container TEU reached the highest volume ever, up 21 per cent compared to the same month last year.

Overall, container volume is up 18 per cent year-to-date at Port Houston’s terminals and has surpassed the 3 million mark thus far, with 3,333,924 TEU.

“Although the import demand in the US appears to be softening, we have not seen any slowing in Houston in recent months,” said Roger Guenther, Port Houston Executive Director.

“We are handling record amounts of cargo and remain focused on aggressive infrastructure development to optimise capacity and efficiently handle current and future demand through our port.”

The Port Commission recently voted to introduce a sustained import dwell fee and an optional excessive import dwell fee to cope with record-breaking volumes.

The port had long considered the introduction of a fee as containers keep flowing in at its terminals with no signs of imminent softening in import loads.

“The additional dwell fees are intended to minimise storage of containers on terminal. Boxes need to move through the terminal quickly to maintain a fluid environment and superior level of service for our customers,” Guenther said.

Total tonnage across Port Houston’s facilities was up 18 per cent in October and 25 per cent for the year as compared to last year.

In September, the Port of Houston registered its second-highest month ever for containers following a surge in demand for imported goods.

Total throughput reached 353,525 TEU, a year-on-year increase of 26 per cent

The Uber-ization of US Trucking is only Speeding Up

US trucking is entering a tumultuous period that will likely reshape the $875 billion industry.

Shipping rates that spiked during disruptions caused by the pandemic have plummeted — some are now calling it a “freight recession” — as inventory gluts across the US lowered demand. That has placed the sector at a disadvantage during annual contract negotiations now in full swing, but means retailers and other customers will benefit from lower transportation costs.

There’s also a shakeout among the brokers who match trucking companies with loads that need to be shipped. Silicon Valley entered the fray a few years ago and digitized what had been a transaction done with phone calls and paper. Large and established brokers have also bolstered their technology, leaving the 17,000 smaller firms that haven’t evolved vulnerable.

When Suma started his career in the truck industry a couple of decades ago, his job was to open up packets of paperwork delivered by courier to log the deliveries made by drivers for Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. Now the company he runs is trying to eliminate all that paper.

Inventory Glut 

Meanwhile, uncertainty reigns. Retailers still have too much inventory, a result of consumers pulling back from apparel and other goods after splurging last year. The US might also be heading into a recession, which would put more pressure on spot market truckload rates that are down 40% from a year ago, according to KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Contracted freight tonnage that’s seasonally adjusted fell 2.3% in October from September, the largest decline since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the American Trucking Associations. Contract freight rose 2.8% in October when compared with a year ago, the lowest gain since April, the trade group said.

The brokerage battlefield is pitting legacy brokers, such as C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. and RXO Inc. that are expanding automated systems, against digitally native newcomers, such as Uber Technologies Inc.’s freight unit and Convoy Inc. Large trucking companies, including J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. and Werner Enterprises Inc., are adding more competition by building out their own digital brokerages.

The race to become the leading digital platform includes Werner’s $113 million acquisition this month of ReedTMS Logistics, a Tampa, Florida-based freight broker with $372 million in annual revenue. That came after Uber Freight’s purchase of Transplace last year for $2.25 billion.

Most brokers are asset-light, which means they don’t own trucks. Instead, they shepherd freight from origin to destination by playing matchmaker between shippers and truckers. Brokers build capacity in this fragmented industry by signing up as many of the 2 million US freighters as they can. These carriers are mostly small, with half of them being just one-truck operations. Less than 6,000 carriers own more than 100 trucks.

The automation technology removes labor by providing a computer application for truckers to find freight and accept the price for hauling it. There’s still a lot of paperwork used in the industry. But services, including Transflo, are bridging the transition by allowing drivers to scan trip documents at truck-stop kiosks to digitalize the paperwork for fleet operators.

Uber Freight and Convoy have gobbled up market share, but struggled to make a profit. Convoy, which raised $260 million in April led by Baillie Gifford is still investing in its technology and capturing market share, CEO Dan Lewis said in an interview.

Bob Biesterfeld, CEO of C.H. Robinson, has been through several dips in the freight market and is responding by planning to cut costs by $175 million — mostly through personnel reductions — to preserve profit while also boosting spending on automation. C.H. Robinson projects the freight downturn will pressure its operating margins, but expects to come out stronger when the cycle eventually turns positive.

Brewing Battle

RXO, the digital freight broker spun out from XPO Logistics Inc., expects to make money during the downturn and pick up new business, according to CEO Drew Wilkerson. The company brought on Yoav Amiel, a former Uber exec, from XPO to supercharge its automation technology.

The digital startups that have scooped up customers have done so mostly by offering lower prices, which isn’t a new tactic in the industry, Wilkerson said. In the end, it’s still a relationship business because shippers depend on brokers to deliver their freight on time.

Suma projects Loadsmith will generate $8 million of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization this year and plans to fund expansion with its own cash. The company expects sales growth to slow down next year amid the downturn in freight demand. The company also will pursue an acquisition at the end of next year or beginning of 2024 to catch the upswing in the freight cycle.