Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Alpine Supply Chain Solutions hosts Covid-19 preparedness training—Covid-19 roundup for April 27

Systems integrator offers free webinar on keeping warehouse employees safe during the crisis; IFDA lobbies for aid to foodservice industry, and XPO launches “appreciation pay” program—Covid-19 roundup for April 27.

Alpine Supply Chain Solutions warehouse training

Material handling systems integrator Alpine Supply Chain Solutions will host a free webinar this week with tips to help warehousing and logistics companies navigate the maze of information related to employee safety during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Companies overwhelmed by the volume of safety information, best practices, and government guidelines can tune in this Wednesday, April 29 at 2 p.m. EST for the firm’s Covid-19 Preparedness and Response webinar that will offer: 


  • General training.
  • An overview of CDC/OSHA guidelines.
  • Communication tools.
  • An introduction to Alpine’s easy-to-use electronic checklist.

“Alpine Supply Chain Solutions has collaborated with industry partners, researched the impacts, and documented best practices, so that you don’t have to,” the company said in a statement announcing the webinar.

In other pandemic-related news, industry trade groups and logistics firms are taking steps to help companies and employees navigate the changing business environment: 

  • Last week, the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA), voiced its support for bi-partisan legislation adding $351 billion in funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), but noted that more must be done to help its members. The group says foodservice distributors will lose an estimated $24 billion in revenue by mid-June because of restaurant and school closures nationwide and said it continues efforts to lobby congress on members’ behalf. “Congressional leaders will need to consider the big-picture impact of the pandemic as well as financial solutions for the recovery of the foodservice industry as a whole,” IFDA said.
  • Transportation and logistics company XPO Logistics rolled out an “appreciation pay program” for nearly 40,000 employees in the United States and Canada whose responsibilities “require them to work on the front lines during the Covid-19 crisis,” the company said. The program aims to recognize the work of XPO workers who don’t have the option of working from home. Under the program: hourly employees in its distribution centers will receive $2 per hour on top of their regular hourly rate for all hours worked during the week; salaried employees in these sites will receive weekly lump-sum payments ranging from $100 to $250, depending on position. Employees who are participating in an existing pandemic special incentive plan will be placed in the plan that provides the greater benefit to them, the company also said. Field employees working in service centers within the company’s LTL business unit will instead receive a one-time bonus of $500 for all full-time employees, and $250 for all part-time employees, XPO said.

To see further coverage of the coronavirus crisis and how it's affecting the logistics industry, check out our Covid-19 landing page. And click here for our compilation of virus-focused websites and resource pages from around the supply chain sector.

The Latest

More Stories

team collaborating on data with laptops

Gartner: data governance strategy is key to making AI pay off

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.”

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

dexory robot counting warehouse inventory

Dexory raises $80 million for inventory-counting robots

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.

Keep ReadingShow less
container cranes and trucks at DB Schenker yard

Deutsche Bahn says sale of DB Schenker will cut debt, improve rail

German rail giant Deutsche Bahn AG yesterday said it will cut its debt and boost its focus on improving rail infrastructure thanks to its formal approval of the deal to sell its logistics subsidiary DB Schenker to the Danish transport and logistics group DSV for a total price of $16.3 billion.

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.

Keep ReadingShow less
containers stacked in a yard

Reinke moves from TIA to IANA in top office

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.

Reinke will take her new job upon the retirement of Joni Casey at the end of the year. Casey had announced in July that she would step down after 27 years at the helm of IANA.

Keep ReadingShow less
NOAA weather map of hurricane helene

Florida braces for impact of Hurricane Helene

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.

Keep ReadingShow less