XPO Logistics

Brad Jacobs, Chairman and CEO of Greenwich, Conn.-based freight transportation and logistics services provider XPO Logistics, offered up myriad opinions on a host of industry trends and themes at the opening session of this week’s SMC3 2021 Jumpstart conference, which was held virtually.

Greenwich, Conn.-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider XPO Logistics said today that it reached a new high-water mark with its digital freight marketplace, XPO Connect, noting that the Drive XPO app, which is used by carriers and truck drivers to access XPO Connect, has now been downloaded more than 300,000 times.

Greenwich, Conn.-based XPO Logistics, a provider of global freight transportation and logistics services, said that its acquisition of the majority of Kuehne + Nagel’s contract logistics operations in the UK and Ireland, which was initially announced in March 2020, is a done deal.

Significant changes may be coming for Greenwich, Conn.-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider XPO Logistics, with the company announcing today that its board of directors signed off on the approval of a plan to seek a spin-off of its logistics group as a standalone publicly traded company.

The separation of logistics and transportation businesses would create two pure-play industry powerhouses.

Following an early October Bloomberg report, which indicated Greenwich, Conn.-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider XPO Logistics was vetting the possibility of selling its European supply chain business, a Bloomberg report published this week stated that is no longer the case.

Revenue—at $4.22 billion—was up 1.7%, and net income attributable to common shareholders—at $21 million—fell 51.2%. Operating income—at $223 million—was down 2.7%. Diluted earnings per share came in at $0.83 compared to $1.14 a year ago, and adjusted quarterly EBITDA—at 439 million—was up less than 1% and was the best third quarter EBITDA in its history, coming in ahead of Wall Street expectations by $87 million, or 25%.

A recent Bloomberg report noted that Greenwich, Conn.-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider XPO Logistics is again looking into the possibility of selling its European supply chain business operations. Citing “peoplE familiar with the matter," the report said that this process had paused during the pandemic.

XPO Logistics said today that its XPO Connect digital freight marketplace has hit what it called two new global milestones, with more than 200,000 downloads for the Drive XPO mobile app, with more than 65,000 carriers now registered on the platform.

When asked to assess 2020 Peak Season prospects, a pair of executives at some of the nation’s leading motor carrier and logistics services providers said at this week’s Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) virtual conference indicated things are looking solid.

XPO Logistics announced this week it has rolled out new capabilities to its digital freight platform, XPO Connect.

XPO officials said that Kuehne + Nagel’s U.K. contract logistics operations include various services, including: inbound and outbound distribution; reverse logistics management, and inventory management. For 2019, Kuehne + Nagel’s U.K. contract logistics operations took in around $500 million (EUR) from the beverage, technology and e-commerce, and food service verticals.

Company officials said XPO will manage United Kingdom (UK) UK parts distribution through an integrated, digitally-managed transportation network. And they added that XPO will distribute automotive parts to Mercedes-Benz’s UK retail and commercial vehicle dealerships, running more than 40 routes on a daily basis from the Mercedes-Benz European Logistics Center in Milton Keynes and XPO’s overnight-delivery depots in Motherwell, Leigh, Wakefield, Gloucester, and Taunton.

Fourth quarter revenue—at $4.14 billion—was off 6% annually, but net income attributable to common shareholders—at $96 million—was up 14%.

Greenwich, Conn.-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider XPO Logistics said today that its North American Drive XPO mobile app, for carriers, reached approximately 100,000 downloads in 2019, which it called a “digital milestone.”