Brokerages

With the ostensible proliferation of new players on the trucking scene that say they are essentially an Uber for trucking, it turns out that this description may in fact be a misnomer, according to a recent report issued by supply chain consultancy Armstrong & Associates. Uber for trucking, downsides of uber trucking 2016

Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently caught up with Kevin Abbott, vice president North American Surface Transportation, Truckload at C.H.Robinson.

Despite an annual gain in total brokered freight transportation shipments, total revenue and invoice amount per shipment saw declines, according to the “First Quarter 2016 TIA 3PL Benchmarking Report,” which was recently issued by the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA).

ArcBest’s 3PL subsidiary ABF Logistics acquired Plano, Texas-based Bear Transportation Services L.P. this week for $26 million. Bear is a private, non-asset truckload brokerage firm, with more than 140 employees in Plano and Fayetville, Ark. It was established in 1982 and has roughly $120 million in annual revenue in providing services for myriad industry verticals, according to ArcBest.

Over the last several months, there has been a spate of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity centered around deals with an emphasis on large truckload brokerages. On the surface deals like these makes sense for more than a few reasons, given the vast carrier reach that the large brokerages have, coupled with strong technology platforms, and shipper relationships across a wide swath of industries.

Rumors of transportation and logistics titan UPS acquiring Chicago-based transportation management services provider Coyote Logistics for $1.8 billion have become a reality, with UPS announcing today that the deal is now official.

This is the 26th edition of this report, which is based on monthly data from TIA member companies who submit real operating data and respond to questions on business conditions impacting the 3PL sector.

In a move geared towards expanding its freight brokerage presence even further, global logistics services provider and freight forwarder C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (CHRW) said yesterday that it has reached an agreement to acquire Kansas City-based Freightquote.com for $365 million. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015.

Cincinnati-based non-asset freight broker and third-party logistics (3PL) services provider Total Quality Logistics (TQL) recently announced it has opened a new sales office in Daphne, Alabama.

Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently caught up with Doug Waggoner, CEO of Echo Global Logistics, a non-asset based freight brokerage company and a provider of technology-enabled transportation and supply chain management services on various topics impacting freight transportation and logistics.

The freight brokerage market has another behemoth in the mix, with the recently announced definitive merger agreement of two non asset-based third-party logistics (3PL) service providers Chicago-based Coyote Logistics and Access America Transport (AAT), which is out of Chattanooga, Tenn.

Menlo Worldwide Logistics LLC, a third-party logistics (3PL) subsidiary of freight transportation services provider Con-way Inc., recently introduced a freight brokerage service in Europe, which is located in Amsterdam at its European headquarters.

Echo Global Logistics, a non-asset based freight brokerage company and a provider of technology-enabled transportation and supply chain management services, acquired Jacksonville, Fla.-based Comcar Logistics, a non-asset based truckload brokerage.

Last week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said in a Federal Register notice that guidelines based on the national transportation bill—Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21)—regarding FMCSA jurisdiction for anyone acting as a broker or freight forwarder are set to take effect on October 1.

Established in 2010, Open Mile is a non-asset based transportation service provider, focusing on truckload brokerage, that provides high-tech automation with freight management expertise, according to Echo officials.