last mile

Taking a major step to expand its last-mile home delivery capabilities, Concord, NC-based Cardinal Logistics Management Corporation, a provider of freight transportation and logistics services, announced today it has acquired Stoughton, Mass.-based last-mile delivery specialist NRX Logistics.

Forward Air officials said that the purchase price is $2.25 million, with Value Logistics generating roughly $6 million in annual revenues. The transaction, which Forward Air said will be funded from cash on hand, will be made official later this month.

Greeneville, Tenn.-based asset-light freight and logistics services provider Forward Air Corporation announced it has acquired the assets of Johnson City, Tenn.-based CLW Delivery Inc., a privately held final mile provider specializing in last-mile logistics and in-home installation services for national retailers and manufacturers, for cash consideration of $5.5 million.

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

Company officials said that Werner Final Mile will provide national delivery and related services to residential and business locations throughout all Canadian provinces and territories. They added that this service leverages the company’s strategic alliance agent network, delivering large or heavy items by two uniformed associates manning a liftgate straight truck, in order for customers to ship things like non-conveyable products, including returns and exchanges, in the United States and Canada.

Nothing has been predictable or consistent in the parcel shipping industry in 2020. The onset of COVID-19 decimated shipping volumes in March and the beginning of April, as businesses sent employees home and shuttered facilities. However, parcel volumes have raged higher and higher ever since, with both FedEx and UPS reporting daily volumes at and exceeding “peak” holiday volumes.

Bringg Founder and CTO Lior Sion told LM that the need for this new offering was driven by how consumer expectations for delivery, curbside pickup and click 'n' collect have been thrust into hyper-growth due to COVID, making omnichannel fulfillment a business imperative not just for success but for survival in today's market.

In recent conversations I had with two leading parcel express and last mile logistics experts, there was no shortage of talking points to touch upon, as they relate to the ongoing coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic.

The company announced that its subsidiary, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, acquired the assets of South Easton, Mass.-based RDI Last Mile Co. on December 31, 2019. A purchase price was not disclosed, but company officials said that the acquisition was funded using J.B. Hunt’s existing revolving credit facility.

Data issued this week by two separate organizations for on-time performance of holiday shipments for week 49 and week 50 of 2019 showed that carriers are dealing with seasonal challenges and spikes, while on-time performance remained solid over all.

In its annual holiday survey, entitled “Last Mile Delivery Wars: How to Keep Retail Promises and Win with Reliability,” which was based on feedback from 2,500 United States-based consumers and focused on trends and themes that Convey said will define the holiday online shopping experience for now and into the future, things like costs, and speed received top billing.