XPO Logistics rolls out new enhancements to XPO Connect to meet COVID-driven e-commerce demand

At a time when the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to bring about increased e-commerce activity, with consumers more frequently buying big and bulky items—like furniture, exercise equipment, and other heavy goods—online, as they are at home more, Greenwich, Conn.-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider XPO Logistics announced this week it has rolled out new capabilities to its digital freight platform, XPO Connect.

XPO Connect was initially introduced in April 2018. The offering provides shippers with what XPO called a single point of entry for visibility across various transportation modes in real time, which, in turn, helps shippers identify both time- and cost-saving opportunities. And it also noted that XPO Connect enables shippers to gain access to usable business intelligence that can be leveraged to more efficiently purchase transportation in various ways.

XPO Connect’s new capabilities include:

• enhanced inventory tracking precision, which resulted in 99% accuracy in June;
• automated rescheduling of homeowner-missed delivery appointments and automated route planning;
• enhanced contactless delivery capability, which synchronizes e-capture signature on handheld devices without direct contact between the driver and the customer

“We’ve been investing in digitization across the business for years, and the benefits of that strategy are more evident than ever,” said Mario Harik, chief information officer for XPO Logistics, in a statement. “In June, our last mile unit in North America saw deliveries climb to the kind of peaks we typically see during the holidays. XPO Connect adjusts smoothly to changes in volume, helping our retail and e-commerce customers keep pace with consumer expectations.” 

XPO Chairman and CEO Brad Jacobs previously told LM that XPO Connect has continued to resonating in the carrier community since its inception with the ” said amount of downloads from carriers seeing steady gains.

XPO officials added that XPO manages more than 10 million deliveries and installations on an annual basis for omnichannel retailers and e-commerce companies as the largest provider of last mile logistics services in North America, adding that it uses its XPO Connect digital platform to facilitate consumer communications, schedule deliveries and product technicians, manage reverse logistics and assess consumer satisfaction.

What’s more, it added that XPO’s truck brokerage, expedite, intermodal, drayage, managed transportation and global forwarding business units all leverage XPO Connect for digital access to capacity and real-time freight tracking, with more than 62,000 road carriers having registered on XPO Connect globally.

In its second quarter earnings announcement last week, XPO reported that it generated revenue of $3.5 billion, adjusted EBITDA of $172 million and an adjusted loss per share of $0.63, with all three figures reflect year-over-year declines due to COVID, according to CFO David Wyshner.