Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.
Arkansas Best Corp., the parent of less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier ABF Freight System Inc., said
Thursday it has acquired Panther Expedited Services Inc. from private equity firm Fenway Partners LLC for $180
million in cash and debt.
The transaction gives Fort Smith, Ark.-based Arkansas Best a firmer foothold in the time-critical, or "expedited,"
logistics market. Panther, based in Seville, Ohio, is believed to be the second-largest player in the segment, behind
FedEx Customs Critical, the expedited delivery unit of giant FedEx Corp.
Separately, ABF announced it would impose a 6.9-percent rate increase on shipments not moving under contract,
effective June 25. The move matches an identical rate hike announced last week by FedEx Freight, another FedEx unit
and the nation's largest LTL carrier by sales.
Under the transaction, Panther will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Arkansas Best and as a sister
company to ABF. Andrew Clarke, Panther's president and CEO, will remain with Panther in the same role. All other
members of the company's executive team are expected to remain as well, Arkansas Best said in a statement.
In 2011, Panther reported gross revenue—revenue before the cost of purchasing transportation—of $215 million. It reported
a net loss of $3.4 million, but posted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $24 million.
Founded in 1992 as an asset-light expedited service provider with heavy exposure to the automotive industry, Panther has
diversified over the years into other areas of logistics services. For example, Panther today has a significant presence in
international freight forwarding, which was not the case 10 to 15 years ago.
Currently, the auto business accounts for about 22 percent of Panther's revenue, according to David G. Ross, transport
analyst for investment firm Stifel, Nicolaus & Co.
Ross said that although Panther will remain a leader in the expedited market, most of its growth is likely to come from
other segments of the logistics business. The company has about 11,000 customers worldwide.
Fenway acquired Panther in 2005 and in a statement Thursday characterized it as having been a "successful investment" for
the firm.
EXPANDED PORTFOLIO
Panther is an "excellent strategic fit for our company and our customers as we seek to offer end-to-end logistics solutions
for progressively more complex supply chains," said Judy R. McReynolds, Arkansas Best's president and CEO, in a statement.
Clarke said in the same statement that although both companies offer expedited transport services, they have "different,
complementary operating models and minimal customer overlap."
Michael P. Regan, chairman of TranzAct Technologies Inc., an Elmhurst Village, Ill.-based transport consultancy, applauded the
move, saying the acquisition is a necessary step for ABF to broaden what had been largely a plain-vanilla portfolio.
Unlike rivals that have both regional and national trucking operations as well as expanding non-asset based logistics
operations, "ABF is known just as a unionized longhaul carrier," Regan said. The Panther purchase dramatically expands ABF's
value proposition, he added.
Regan said it would be interesting to see how ABF executes the integration of Panther, noting that the company, unlike some
of its rivals, has chosen to expand organically rather than through acquisition. As a result, it has little experience
incorporating another corporate culture into its system.
LABOR COMPLICATIONS
The Teamsters union, which represents about 7,500 ABF employees, may not be thrilled with the prospect of its parent
buying a non-union company, Ross surmised. However, there might be little labor backlash because the transaction presents
the potential for significant cross-selling opportunities and, if successful, should feed ABF's LTL network with new freight
and possibly create additional Teamster jobs, he added.
ABF and the Teamsters are gearing up to renegotiate a new National Master Freight Agreement to replace the pact that
expires next year. In May 2010, the union rejected ABF's proposal for wage and benefits concessions similar to what had
been agreed to by workers at YRC Worldwide, ABF's chief rival and the only other carrier that is party to the national
contract. Later that year, ABF sued YRC and the union on grounds that the various concessions agreed to by YRC fell
outside the province of the national contract and should be voided.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.