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FedEx says it is shielding small shippers from surcharges

Chief Marketing Officer Brie Carere said large businesses willing to ship on lower-volume days of the week or move their holiday volume earlier in the calendar may also see a pricing benefit in negotiations.

Amazon Air booms as worldwide air cargo falls

Air cargo volume is down compared to 2019, which means merchants still looking for capacity are fighting for the little space that's left on the market.

Chewy's new limited-SKU warehouse is just for volume surges

Chewy is banking on a new kind of fulfillment center, plus automation, to keep lowering fulfillment unit costs. 

FedEx will ring in new year with price hikes, surcharges

FedEx Express, Ground and Freight will increase shipping rates by about 4.9% or more starting Jan. 4, 2021.

Walmart, Schneider Electric team up to help suppliers transition to renewable energy

The initiative aims to educate suppliers and help them through conversion — a process Walmart's Senior Director of Sustainability said can be daunting.

Hurricane Sally douses east-west throughways as it makes landfall in Alabama

Because Sally is slow-moving, the taper after landfall could last several days, and the bounce back may be delayed by recent storms Laura and Marco. 

UPDATED: Sept. 16, 2020 at 9:41 a.m.

AmCham: 71% of businesses have no plans to leave China despite souring trade relations

More than one in four companies believe the trade war will last indefinitely, according to a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and PwC.

Transpacific rates more than double, capacity constraints create 'nightmare' for shippers

"The supply chain is just jammed," said one shipping association executive, adding that the current environment has made procuring freight the hardest its been in his 40 years in the business.

UPDATED: Sept. 11, 2020 at 1:30 p.m.

Amazon to hire 100K after 6 months of capacity building

For Amazon's first-ever peak season in a pandemic, the company is focused on safety first, capacity second and shipment speed third, according to CFO Brian Olsavksy.

Deep Dive

The driver shortage: A big piece of the tight capacity puzzle

Retirements, hesitant drivers and career changes shrunk the workforce, contributing to market imbalances in the supply chain.

Walmart pilots drone delivery for groceries with Flytrex

The test program will deliver grocery and household items from Walmart stores to homes in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Peloton doubled production capacity, but supply won't catch up until 2021

Executives anticipate Peloton will be in capacity-building mode for the foreseeable future and dismissed any notion that it could overshoot demand with the ongoing manufacturing ramp-up.

Wayfair hires Walmart alum to run supplier tech

The e-tailer sees expansive product choice as a differentiator, which makes attracting vendors a key element to its success. Technology is one inducement.

American Eagle stages materials with suppliers to keep inventory lean

For the fall and holiday seasons, the apparel retailer is bringing in a smaller assortment, based on which suppliers require smaller upfront buys to maximize flexibility.

Coupa says increased focus on spend management has led to RFP uptick

The pandemic is driving procurement departments to get a better grasp on cash flow, spend management and sourcing risk. 

3 ways to fight stockouts in the pandemic

Historical data isn't worthless, but it won't work alone in times of unpredictable demand. 

5 charts show CPG inventory challenges

Stockouts plagued retailers and manufacturers in the early days of the pandemic. Recovery has not been the same across product categories.

Nestlé invests $30M in Closed Loop fund to expand sustainable packaging use

The deal provides the manufacturer with access to food-grade recycled plastics it can use for packaging in products such as Coffee Mate and Stouffer's.

UPS to hire 100K seasonal workers to handle parcels for peak

UPS' holiday hiring targets match the number from the last two years amid very different circumstances and a much lower degree of certainty.

Pandemic complicates supplier audits, increases modern slavery risk in Asian manufacturing hubs

Verisk Maplecroft's Modern Slavery Index reveals extreme or high risk in manufacturing centers such as Bangladesh, China, Myanmar and India.

Intermodal leads rail volume recovery as retailers restock

Despite what may turn out to be a dramatic recovery for certain segments of the railroads' businesses, pricing is unlikely to shift until 2021, one CSX executive said.

Whole Foods to offer pickup from nearly all its stores before October

As e-commerce demand soars during the pandemic, some grocers are automating pickup, adding off-premise lockers and carving out more dedicated space in stores and parking lots.

Port of LA launches dashboard to break down forecasted volume for incoming cargo

The dashboard shows what volume is expected to move via rail and the size of the containers making landfall, which helps the port's supply chain partners plan labor and other resources in advance.

Uber Freight enters enterprise software game, extending visibility to loads off the platform

Uber Freight has spent much of the last year partnering with TMS providers, but its Link product may put the company in competition with those players. 

FMCSA seeks comments on letting drivers under 21 haul interstate loads

Proponents of the change say it could help ease the driver shortage, while opponents have raised safety concerns.