FreightWaves LIVE: An Events Podcast

The cold chain logistics industry is a tough environment in which success requires selecting the right equipment while keeping costs in line, according to industry professionals.“Of all the different manufacturers and transportation logistics companies and wholesale distributors that we work with, the cold chain is certainly one of the most challenging environments from an equipment standpoint,” said Tim Wills, chief marketing officer at Peak-Ryzex Inc.Wills was part of a fireside chat with Larry Klimczyk, president of the Americas region at FarEye, during the FreightWaves Cold Chain SummitWatchApple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the temperature-controlled supply chain continues to call for greater transparency to ensure food quality and safety, Penske Logistics welcomed the opportunity to ensure its cold chain operations were the gold star in the industry.Penske Logistics’ Jeff Jackson, senior vice president, operations – dedicated contract carriage, shared his insight on how his company earned the first-of-its-kind cold chain certification that focuses on excellence in refrigerated transportation with George Abernathy, president of FreightWaves, in a virtual talk at the FreightWaves Cold Chain Summi WatchApple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Refrigerated shippers and their carrier partners have been under increasing pressure in recent years due to new regulations centered on ensuring safe and sanitary delivery of temperature-controlled products.On Tuesday, SkyBitz announced a partnership with Coretex, which provides sensor-based refrigerated solutions. The sensors, combined with Coretex’s cloud-based platform, will work in conjunction with SkyBitz’s trailer-tracking technology, giving pharmaceutical and retail customers visibility into where their trailers are located and the condition of temperature-controlled loads.Terri Lucas, vice president of sales for SkyBitz, and Craig Marris, president of Coretex, discussed the new partnership and combined solution on Friday during FreightWaves’ Cold Chain Summit virtual conference. Both SkyBitz and Coretex are regional sponsors of the event. WatchApple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Saad, head of operations for Gatik, an autonomous vehicle startup, explained during a fireside chat Friday as part of FreightWaves’ Cold Chain Summit, that the company could have driverless vehicles on roadways by next summer.Speaking with Kevin Hill, director of research and editorial for FreightWaves, Saad said that fully autonomous vehicles might be on the road “before summer rolls around next year.”“The short answer is we are quite ready to go on the tech side,” Saad said. “We want to ensure we can work closely with our customers and with regulators when we start doing the first unmanned runs. I can’t give you an exact timeline, but I will say that before summer rolls around next year we certainly plan to have that well in the bag.” WatchApple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The instability of early-stage COVID-19 vaccines will push the limits of supply chain capabilities worldwide, but as more traditional medicines enter the market, distribution will become easier for many logistics companies and regions of the world, a key figure in DHL’s preparations for the blockbuster shipping event said.At least 10 billion doses of coronavirus vaccine will likely be required to immunize 7.8 billion people worldwide, according to some estimates. More than 220 vaccine candidates are under development, including nine in Phase 3 trials that could be approved in the coming weeks and months.Some drug companies are using new technologies to speed up development, but these vaccines contain a high-protein base and need to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures as low as minus 80 degrees Celsius.“In the initial phases it’s quite plausible we’ll see many shipments that are direct to the point of inoculation,” Larry St. Onge, president of life sciences and health care for DHL Customer Solutions, said in a virtual presentation to the FreightWaves Cold Chain SummitWatchApple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As e-commerce sales are projected to hit over $709 billion in the U.S. in 2020 in large part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, logistics companies are focused on last-mile delivery and improving customers’ experience.JT Engstrom, chief strategy officer of FreightWaves, and Lakshmanan Chidambaram, president of the Americas for Tech Mahindra, discussed the evolution of e-commerce over the next two years during FreightWaves’ virtual Last Mile Logistics Summit WatchApple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Responding to pressure to be more transparent about their service performance following the major railroad mergers of the 1990s, the freight railroads began providing shippers and regulators weekly data on metrics such as rail car velocity and terminal dwell times.But one measure that they haven’t been providing, asserts an executive at one of the country’s largest agribusiness companies, is how well they’ve been performing against the promise of Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), an operating methodology adopted by most of the railroads and one that can have a significant effect on first-mile and last-mile delivery for customers.“As far as a rail shipper is concerned, the game is won or lost in that first-mile, last-mile segment of the supply chain,” said Brad Hildebrand, global lead for rail and barge at Cargill Inc., during a fireside chat Thursday with FreightWaves Senior Staff Reporter Joanna Marsh at FreightWaves Last Mile Logistics Summit. “If that’s not going well, it can have a huge impact on operations.”WatchApple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Purchase returns and the reverse logistics portion of last-mile delivery have become a focal point as more consumers settle into the lifestyles and purchasing habits that have become the new norm in a COVID world.Consumers’ acceptance of a digital retail channel has provided salvation to many retailers that have seen pandemic-related shutdowns choke off traditional in-store buying. At the FreightWaves Last Mile Logistics Summit on Thursday, Tony Sciarrotta, executive director, Reverse Logistics Association, and Nicholas Isasi, executive VP, DM Transportation Management Services, chatted about some of the issues and best practices used in reverse logistics and processing purchase returns. WatchApple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To put the U.S. last-mile trucking market in broader perspective, look at non-U.S. markets. Things are really different over there across the border.In a fireside chat during the FreightWaves Last Mile Logistics Summit, Liftit co-founder and CEO Brian York outlined how his company is growing its last-mile operations in Latin America, which now span Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Ecuador. With Andrew Cox.WatchApple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is nothing simple about providing a reverse logistics service, especially for large replacement or return items that do not fit neatly into a small package.However, more U.S. third-party logistics service providers (3PLs) and trucking companies in recent years have found this to be the type of niche service where their expertise can shine.“We have found this especially important to our appliance customers and anyone doing furniture delivery,” Jason Neal, manager of dedicated accounts at Kenco, told Andrew Lockwood, senior manager of solutions design for Suddath Global Logistics, during a virtual FreightWaves Last Mile Logistics Summit fireside chatWatchApple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices