Latest news with #US-Based
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Chain Reaction: Dispatch Science CEO Arthur Axelrad on Turning Logistics into a ‘Customer Experience Engine'
Chain Reaction is Sourcing Journal's discussion series with industry executives to get their take on today's logistics challenges and learn about ways their company is working to keep the flow of goods moving. Here, Arthur Axelrad, co-founder & CEO of Dispatch Science, discusses how the transportation management company is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions to streamline operations and provide real-time visibility for customers. Name: Arthur Axelrad More from Sourcing Journal US, Allies Warn of Russian Cyber Campaign Targeting Western Logistics Firms Logistics M&As: E2Open Taken Private in $2.1B Deal, UPS Sells Ware2Go to Stord US-Based Chinese Logistics Firms Caught Using Counterfeit USPS Labels Title: Co-founder & CEO Company: Dispatch Science What is Dispatch Science? Dispatch Science is a cloud-first logistics and delivery software platform and a leader in next-generation transportation management software for last-mile couriers and delivery businesses. We use the power of AI, algorithms and integrated route optimization to simplify and streamline all aspects of dispatching and delivery operations for on-demand and last-mile shippers, carriers and couriers. What industries do you primarily serve? We primarily serve courier and parcel delivery, medical and pharmaceutical logistics, retail and e-commerce and third-party logistics (3PLs) companies. Which industry do you think has the most to teach fashion about improving their supply chain logistics? I'd say that medical logistics is a good one to look to. When you're handling life-saving medications or organ transplants, you need to develop and uphold incredible precision surrounding the chain of custody—every item tracked from source to patient with complete auditable logs. Fashion brands, especially luxury and sustainability-focused ones, could learn so much from this. Imagine being able to prove the authentic journey of a limited-edition handbag or verify those sustainability claims everyone's making. The exception management protocols in medical are also fascinating—they have sophisticated workflows for when things go wrong, rather than scrambling to figure it out in the moment. For example, if a temperature-controlled pharmaceutical shipment goes outside the required range, there are predefined protocols: immediate alerts to all stakeholders, automatic rerouting to the nearest compliant facility, documentation requirements for regulatory compliance and clear escalation paths depending on the severity. Compare that to fashion, where a delayed shipment of limited-edition sneakers might trigger a flurry of panicked phone calls and improvised solutions. Medical logistics teaches you to plan for failure scenarios upfront, so when they happen—and they will—you have tested procedures that minimize impact and maintain service levels. What are the main things brands and retailers could do (or stop doing) right now that would immediately improve logistics? Replacing legacy electronic data interchange (EDI) systems with modern advanced passenger information (API) systems. I can't tell you how many companies I see still operating on batch processing that updates once or twice a day while their customers expect real-time everything. It's like trying to compete in Formula 1 with a horse and buggy! Even streamlining packaging can give immediate returns. We've seen clients substantially cut shipping costs by rightsizing boxes and ditching unnecessary materials. Above all, though, I'd encourage leaders to stop thinking of logistics as this necessary evil and start treating it as a customer experience engine instead. A delivery experience is often the last touchpoint a customer has with a brand, so they need to make it memorable for the right reasons. When it comes to creating efficiencies, there are quick wins and longer plays. What are a few things your company is doing to help its partners succeed on both fronts? For immediate impact, we insist on carriers using tech-enabled solutions with AI-based route optimization. This isn't just about transparency (though that's important), it's about real cost reduction through better routing. Automating customer notifications is another quick win that dramatically reduces support calls. Long-term, we're focused on building predictive analytics capabilities for demand and capacity planning. This helps get ahead of seasonal fluctuations rather than constantly reacting. The holy grail is of course end-to-end visibility with both upstream and downstream partners. When suppliers, carriers and customers are all connected through shared data, companies can best optimize the entire network rather than just their piece of it. Our platform is modular, too, so it scales with clients from startups to enterprise fleets. What is the one thing brands and retailers could be doing to make better use of technology to improve logistics? Integration, integration, integration! Most companies have these islands of technology: Their transportation management system (TMS) talks to their warehouse system, their inventory system talks to their point of sale (POS), but nothing talks to everything else. When you create a unified view of operations, however, you unlock optimization opportunities that weren't visible before. This integration enables AI-powered demand forecasting, dynamic pricing and real-time visibility platforms that actually improve customer communication and reduce failed deliveries. The technology exists, it's just a matter of connecting the dots. Are you optimistic about the state of supply chains in the next few years? I'm cautiously optimistic. Yes, we're dealing with unprecedented challenges like labor shortages, geopolitical instability and evolving consumer expectations. However, the rapid adoption of AI, automation and data-driven decision-making is creating much more resilient and adaptive supply chains. What gives me the most hope is seeing technology democratization happen in real-time. Smaller operators are gaining access to capabilities that were previously only available to enterprise companies. When a 50-truck carrier can compete on technology with a 5,000-truck fleet, it levels the playing field and drives innovation across the entire industry.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
TuSimple Reportedly Shared Self-Driving Data With China
TuSimple—now known as CreateAI—shared sensitive data with a Beijing-owned company after it signed an agreement with the U.S. government promising to stop sharing such data with firms in China, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. In February 2022, TuSimple signed the agreement, targeted at protecting national security. It had six months to begin complying with the order, which stipulated the company would disentangle its business and its burgeoning technology from The Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) was responsible for ensuring TuSimple's compliance with the agreement. More from Sourcing Journal US-Based Chinese Logistics Firms Caught Using Counterfeit USPS Labels FedEx Freight Taps New CEO, Chairman Ahead of 2026 Spinoff Yellow Nets $14M in Terminal Sales, Sets Up Saia to Further Expand US Footprint WSJ reported TuSimple sent data to Chinese autonomous vehicles a week after the agreement was signed by both entities. According to WSJ, the interagency body found that TuSimple's data sharing didn't violate that agreement; nonetheless, it did find other contraventions, which saw TuSimple paying a $6 million settlement fee, albeit without accepting fault for the issues CFIUS reportedly found. The Journal further noted that TuSimple in 2021—prior to the CFIUS agreement—brokered a deal between Chinese companies Foton and Hydron that would see the two developing autonomous trucks together, while Hydron shared an office with TuSimple. The publication further noted that TuSimple subsequently shared documents detailing how to build the autonomous vehicles it had built in the U.S.—including information about brakes, chips, steering, servers and powering the vehicle and noted that the sharing continued after the CFIUS agreement had been signed, until the compliance period officially began. WSJ reported that one of TuSimple's founders denied having sent any such information to Hydron and denied any involvement with Foton, despite the Journal having seen evidence to the contrary. TuSimple's tango with CFIUS was far from its only regulatory ruckus during this time; the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also investigated TuSimple in 2022, with a special interest in the relationship between the company and Hydron. Public documentation shows that TuSimple indicated it had come to a settlement agreement with the SEC that just needed to be finalized, but the CFIUS investigation—and another investigation brought against TuSimple by the Commerce Department because of its purported relationship with technology giant Nvidia. But TuSimple, in the form that it was then, is long gone. In January 2024, the company announced that it would delist from the Nasdaq, citing cost-value imbalances. That move came after layoffs and issues with venture capital funding, which later saw TuSimple auctioning off 10 of its autonomous big rigs. In its place is CreateAI, which leverages generative AI to create video content. That venture, stood up in December 2024, comes after TuSimple vacated the U.S. market; the company told TechCrunch that despite its efforts to operate an autonomous vehicle business in China, its agreement with CFIUS made such an attempt extremely difficult. CreateAI is funded by some of the money left in TuSimple's wake But CreateAI isn't the only venture that TuSimple alumni are involved with; according to WSJ, Xiaodi Hou, one of the company's founders, has started a new company based out of Texas called Bot Auto. He has recruited ex-TuSimple employees. Sourcing Journal could not reach CreateAI, formerly TuSimple, for comment.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Logistics M&As: E2Open Taken Private in $2.1B Deal, UPS Sells Ware2Go to Stord
Supply chain visibility technology provider E2open has been taken private in a $2.1 billion acquisition by logistics software solutions provider WiseTech Global. The sale gives E2open a new home more than a year after the company initiated a strategic review in March 2024, and enables the Australia-headquartered WiseTech to scale its U.S. presence. More from Sourcing Journal US-Based Chinese Logistics Firms Caught Using Counterfeit USPS Labels Canadian Courier Strike Risks Intensify at Canada Post, DHL Express Up Close: In Conversation with Relex Solutions' Dr. Madhav Durbha E2open will join another freight tech business under the WiseTech Global umbrella, CargoWise, which is a logistics operations software primarily used by freight forwarders and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) like Ceva Logistics, Seko Logistics and DHL Global Forwarding. Although WiseTech already has 16,500 customers across CargoWise and its other platforms like multi-modal rail solutions provider Blume Global, the acquisition will add about 5,600 customers to WiseTech's network. The cloud-based E2open platform will also give WiseTech access to more than 500,000 manufacturing, logistics, channel and distribution partners, tracking more than 18 billion transactions every year. With E2open in the fold, WiseTech will have direct connectivity to ocean carriers like Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), Maersk and CMA CGM, with the technology tracking 67 million containers annually. Roughly 18.5 percent of global export container bookings are managed through E2open's platforms. The WiseTech team sees the E2open product site as a complement to the wider CargoWise ecosystem, since it includes tools for supply chain planning and trade compliance, among others. 'These product opportunities extend our reach in key adjacent markets such as global trade management and supply chain planning whilst filling in gaps in our own products that would have required substantial investment over time,' said Richard White, founder and executive chair at WiseTech Global, in a Monday morning briefing. 'These extended capabilities will be attractive to existing and new customers alike and allow our combined customer base access to new and expanded capabilities and new geographies and markets.' Andrew Cartledge, interim CEO of WiseTech Global, said there was 'very little overlap' in products between both solutions. WiseTech sees an opportunity to take advantage of the growing need for supply chain and logistics software solutions, citing Gartner data indicating that total spend on these technologies would expand from $28 billion in 2024 to $57 billion in 2025. The deal is expected to be accretive to earnings per share in the first year. For WiseTech, this is the biggest transaction thus far for the company, which has made 55 acquisitions totaling $1.2 billion over the past 10 years, according to the presentation. E2open is no stranger to making deals either, having invested its own $2.7 billion in acquisitions since 2016, including a $1.7 billion acquisition of logistics software company BluJay Solutions. WiseTech is taking on $3 billion in debt to finance the deal, with E2open stockholders set to receive $3.30 per share in cash. The per-share purchase price represents a premium of approximately 28 percent over the company's closing stock price on Friday, the last trading day prior to the Monday announcement, and a premium of approximately 68 percent over the company's closing stock price on April 30, the day prior to media reports regarding WiseTech's evaluation of a potential acquisition of the business. E2open and WiseTech will continue to operate as independent companies until the transaction closes, which is expected in the second half of the 2025 calendar year. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals. WiseTech has already secured the written approval of shareholders representing more than 50 percent of voting rights, the company said. The deal follows another logistics acquisition that caught the industry's attention, with fulfillment services and commerce enablement technology Stord unveiling earlier this month that it acquired warehouse and inventory management solutions provider Ware2Go from UPS. Terms of that deal have not been disclosed, but the announcement came just three days after Stord revealed it raised more than $200 million in combined equity and debt financing at a valuation of $1.5 billion. The acquisition and the funding are unrelated, Stord says. Stord will become a UPS partner as part of the acquisition. Stord is bringing on 21 new fulfillment centers into its network with the Ware2Go deal, amounting to an extra 2.5 million square feet of warehouse space. This expands on Stord's 11 fulfillment nodes across 13 buildings in North America, as well as two locations in the U.K. and one in the Netherlands. Stord also has an expanded network of more than 70 partner warehouses worldwide. The company seeks to power checkout, delivery, fulfillment and returns for growing, high-volume SMBs that want to better compete with online retail giants via its combination of technologies and warehouses. It manages over $6 billion of commerce annually through its fulfillment, warehousing, transportation, and operator-built software suite including OMS, pre- and post-purchase, and WMS platforms. Ware2Go's service offerings include direct-to-consumer shipping, Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) for Amazon sellers and retail-compliant B2B shipping. Stord has sought to expand its own horizons over the past year via acquisitions. The company scooped up Pitney Bowes' e-commerce fulfillment business and freight and logistics platform ProPack in 2024. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US, Allies Warn of Russian Cyber Campaign Targeting Western Logistics Firms
Top security agencies across the United States and several of its European allies issued a joint cybersecurity advisory calling attention to a Russian state-sponsored cyber campaign targeting Western logistics companies and technology firms. A unit of Russia's primary foreign military intelligence agency, the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), has carried out the attacks on dozens of entities including those involved in the coordination, transport and delivery of aid to Ukraine. More from Sourcing Journal Adidas Says Cyber Attack Targeted Customers' Personal Information, Credit Card Data Marked 'Safe' From Breach Logistics M&As: E2Open Taken Private in $2.1B Deal, UPS Sells Ware2Go to Stord US-Based Chinese Logistics Firms Caught Using Counterfeit USPS Labels The GRU unit cyber campaign has targeted government organizations and private/commercial entities across air, sea, and rail. Among those identified include firms in the defense industry, transportation hubs such as ports and airports, the maritime industry, air traffic management and IT services. No companies have been explicitly named in the advisory. According to the report, the cyberattacks began escalating in late February 2022 at the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Western logistics operates a minimal business footprint in Russia. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, many Western companies ceased working with or severely limited their business with Russia, including logistics firms like Amazon, FedEx, UPS, DHL, Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM. Countries with targeted entities include the U.S., Ukraine, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The bad actors' cyber espionage-oriented campaign uses a mix of previously disclosed tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) including credential guessing, reconstituted password spraying capabilities, sending targeted 'spearphishing' emails including links to fake login pages, and modifying Microsoft Exchange mailbox permissions. The advisory urged at-risk organizations to recognize the 'elevated' threat, indicating that they should increase monitoring and threat hunting for known TTPs and indicators of compromise to defend against more potential cyberattacks. The security coalition listed recommendations for general security mitigations, including employing network segmentation and restrictions to limit access; considering verification-reliant 'zero trust' principles when designing systems; blocking logins from public VPNs; and collecting and monitoring Windows logs for certain events, especially for events that indicate that a log was cleared unexpectedly. Additional measures were recommended to mitigate against common credential theft techniques, including reducing reliance on passwords in favor of services like single sign-on, and using multi-factor authentication with strong factors like passkeys encrypted smartcards. According to a CrowdStrike's 2024 Threat Hunting Report, which measures cyberattacks taking place between July 2023 and June 2024, technology is the top sector by intrusion frequency. On a year-over-year basis, cyberattacks escalated 60 percent. As early as March 2022, the GRU also targeted Internet-connected cameras at Ukrainian border crossings, military installations and railroad stations to monitor and track aid shipments. Eighty-one percent of the targeted attempts were in Ukraine, while another 9.9 percent took place in Romania and 4 percent were in Poland. The actors targeted real-time streaming protocol servers hosting the cameras in a large-scale campaign, which included attempts to enumerate devices and gain access to the cameras' feeds. To defend against this malicious activity, the advisory recommended applying security patches and firmware updates to all IP cameras, disabling remote access and using a firewall to prevent communication with the camera from IP addresses not on an allowlist. Organizations who co-authored the advisory include the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the U.S., the U.K.'s National Cyber Security Centre, as well as intelligence bureaus from Germany, Canada, Australia and France, among others. In March 2022, U.S. freight forwarder Expeditors International was hit by a cyberattack, forcing the company to temporarily halt operations for eight days. The company spent $65 million in extra costs related to the security breach. More recently, cyberattacks have been a thorn in the side of retailers, with Adidas confirming Tuesday that certain customer data was stolen through a third-party customer service provider. While the athleticwear and footwear seller said it took steps to contain the incident, the extent of the breach is unknown. Earlier this month, U.K.-based retailers including Harrod's, Marks & Spencer and the Co-op Group experienced their own cyberattacks, with M&S suffering the biggest impact. Online shopping has been severely hampered at the retailer due to outages to its website that are expected to last into July. As a result, Marks & Spencer will take a profit hit in 2025 at around 300 million pounds ($404 million). Luxury sellers are not immune, with Dior confirming its own breach, in which unauthorized parties access data from customers in regions like South Korea and China. The breach primarily affected contact information, purchase history and preference data, but not bank details or credit card information.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cool Effect Adds First Direct Air Capture Project to Portfolio Following Rigorous Review
Nonprofit Backs Breakthrough Carbon Removal Solution from US-Based Clairity Technology, Supporting Scale and Integrity in the Growing DAC Market SAN FRANCISCO, May 20, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cool Effect, a Bay Area nonprofit that supports high integrity carbon emission reduction and removal projects around the globe, is announcing today that it has selected a Direct Air Capture (DAC) project to be added to its portfolio of carbon projects. After a comprehensive review, Cool Effect has chosen to represent Project Juniper, a DAC project in Nevada owned and operated by LA-based project developer Clairity Technology. This marks the first time that Cool Effect has supported a DAC project, and only the second durable technology-based Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) project added to its portfolio after selection of a biochar project in 2024. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that 10 billion metric tons, or 10 gigatons, of carbon dioxide removal will be required annually by 2050. Despite its potential as a complement to decarbonization strategies, investment in DAC remains a fraction of what's needed. According to carbon market database Allied Offsets, only 2.1 million tons of DAC carbon credits have been transacted as of December 20241 – less than 0.02% of what will be required each year. "We've seen growing interest in DAC projects from our corporate buyers, but many remain cautious because of price and availability, and are wary of investing in an emerging technology," said Jodi Manning, CEO at Cool Effect. "Clairity's innovative approach has demonstrated that scalable, high-integrity carbon removal through DAC is not just the future promise—it's starting now with Project Juniper. We're proud to add this project to our portfolio, helping build confidence in the market and setting a high bar for what first-of-its-kind, science-backed carbon removal should look like." Project Juniper captures atmospheric carbon dioxide using Clairity's novel, low-cost, and scalable three-step DAC process. First, fans blow air over a widely available, low-cost, and non-toxic alkali carbonate sorbent, capturing the carbon dioxide via a chemical reaction. Then the sorbent is heated to low temperatures, off-gassing the carbon dioxide, which is collected, and yielding water. Next, the carbon dioxide is introduced to feedstock materials, where it undergoes a mineralization process that permanently locks in carbon by generating carbonated materials. Once mineralized, the carbonated materials are transported to a local construction and demolition (C&D) landfill for storage. C&D landfills are designated for industrial waste disposal and highly regulated, meeting strict methodological requirements for ensuring low reversal risk and a carbon storage durability of over 1,000 years. Most DAC processes are both energy-intensive and consume water, which would traditionally place an increasing strain on communities as DAC scales to megaton and gigaton levels. However, Project Juniper is carbon-negative and water-positive, generating water for water-stressed communities in Southern Nevada and providing a significant environmental and economic co-benefit. The project is fully electric and can be powered by clean energy from the local grid operator. Additionally, it boasts a modular design with the ability to add on fans and increase carbon capture capacity over time, allowing for it to scale and right-size based on investment. "We were deeply impressed by the Clairity team and their innovative DAC technology," said Johanna Depenthal, Director of Project Research at Cool Effect. "Their non-toxic, energy-efficient, and water-generating carbon capture and sequestration process is a step forward for DAC, and their careful accounting of project emissions via the comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) ensures that resulting credits are truly additional. We also appreciate the meaningful co-benefits it brings to the Southern Nevada region, a key consideration for every project we support at Cool Effect." Project Juniper is currently undergoing validation by Isometric, a leading carbon removal registry. Following the project's approval, credits are anticipated to issue in summer 2025, at which time Clairity Technology is expected to be the first DAC project developer to issue credits in the United States and only the second in the world. "We're incredibly proud of the breakthrough technology behind Project Juniper and what it represents for the future of carbon removal," said Glen Meyerowitz, Founder & CEO at Clairity Technology. "From the beginning, we set out to create a DAC solution that is both scalable and cost-effective today. Partnering with Cool Effect—a leader in rigorous project selection and integrity—validates the work we've done and gives us confidence that we can accelerate impact in the years ahead." To learn more about Cool Effect and how to partner with the organization to develop an impactful carbon credit program, please visit About Cool Effect™ Cool Effect is a San Francisco Bay Area 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to reducing carbon emissions around the world. Endorsed by 1% for the Planet, its mission is to educate and then inspire businesses and individuals to take measurable action against climate change by purchasing scientifically verified carbon credits from the world's highest quality projects. It returns more than 90% of each donation directly to its project partners and, since its launch at the Paris COP in 2015, has helped projects receive over $70 million for nearly ten million tonnes of emission reductions. Like the Butterfly Effect, The Ripple Effect, and others, a single action can have global impact. To learn more, please visit or follow Cool Effect on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X. About Clairity Technology Clairity Technology is a global leader in direct air capture (DAC) and carbon storage by advancing the bounds of what can be accomplished today. Clairity's process uses readily available materials and simple hardware to deploy solutions to capture and remove atmospheric CO2. Project Juniper is Clairity's first commercial facility to perform DAC and storage via ex-situ mineralization and will generate the first independently verified credits from a DAC project in North America. Clairity will be increasing the scale of its removal across the US Southwest and in other locations around the world. For more information, visit Sources Pranav Balaji, "DAC: Processes, types of DAC and Current state of DAC," Allied Offsets, December 2024, View source version on Contacts Media Contact Jenn EiskampDemonstrate PR on behalf of Cool Effectcooleffect@
