Supply Chain in Numbers

[#353] Supply Chain in Numbers - Aug 31, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:04:20 GMT

Welcome to “Supply Chain in Numbers.” This newsletter tracks significant numbers from the supply chain world. Five prominent numbers are published every Monday. If you have any feedback, please send it to me.

1.5 million sqft Walmart DC in NY

Walmart is considering a 1.5 million-square-foot distribution center in Wallkill, New York, that could employ about 1,500 people and add a major new link to the retailer’s supply chain. Plans call for an 80-foot-tall warehouse, a roughly 41,000-square-foot truck maintenance garage, truck courts, loading areas, and gated parking. The site would have 1,215 employee parking spaces and 1,050 truck parking spaces. Walmart owns a 9.3-acre parcel tied to the proposal, along with another 127 adjoining acres. The retailer received approval to build a 1.1 million-square-foot facility at the site in 2003, but those approvals later expired. [Supply Chain 24x7]

900 tons of shipments per day

DHL Express has completed a $204 million expansion of its Shenzhen gateway, the company’s largest investment in mainland China to date. The expanded site, located at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, can now process about 900 tons of shipments per day, three times its previous amount. DHL said the gateway will also create more than 1,000 jobs. The company is also adding a new daily cargo flight connecting Shanghai, Bangkok, Bahrain, and Brussels. The route, flown with a Boeing 767 freighter, adds up to 50 tons of daily shipping space between China and markets across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. [Supply Chain 24x7]

500 miles per one gallon of fuel

While many possibilities have been made due to the automation in trucking (given the field accounts for most of the miles travelled and 60 percent of U.S. transportation fuel use), automation on commercial towboats on the Mississippi has a lot of promise. Millions of tons of commodities are moved on inland waterways in the United State, and it’s one of the most energy-efficient ways to move cargo. Machine learning navigation systems are being experimented with as well as hazard monitoring, vessel tracking and the calculation of stopping distances. If efficiencies can be found and planning can be improved, there’s lots of potential; one gallon of fuel can move a one-ton cargo 500 miles on a barge, but only 60 miles on a truck. [NumLock]

$9.25 million for warehouse data platform

Takt Inc., which offers a warehouse labor management and intelligence platform, raised $9.25 million in Series A funding. The round marks the company’s first institutional financing since it was founded in 2021. Takt integrates with warehouse management systems (WMS), time clocks, robotics and material handling controls, and homegrown applications. It then measures that activity continuously against engineered labor standards. Operations teams can use Takt to build labor plans, set goals and incentives, coach employees, and connect performance to cost and profitability. TaktAI reasons over the combined model to identify where results are moving and why, so supervisors can make intraday moves before problems compound. Kenco, one of North America’s largest 3PLs, selected Takt and deployed its technology across 19 distribution centers. At a single-client CPG (consumer packaged goods) site, average cost per pallet fell 15%, or $229,000 annually. [Automated Warehouse Online]

94-year old Truck Driver

Orrin Asmus doesn’t use a routing software, doesn’t even own a computer, and he only carries a basic cellphone — no bells and whistles. “I never have had a GPS. That’s what they make roadmaps for — to show you how to get there. The cellphones are great because you call a customer up and say, ‘I’m in your town. How do I get to you?’” Asmus said. “Just give me what the necessities are, and I love what I’m doing.” The 94-year-old trucker still operates the old-school way. Asmus learned he might just be the oldest semi-truck driver in the U.S., based on Guinness World Records, and it working owner of McLaughlin Freight Lines (where Asmus works now) to apply for the Guinness Title. [CCJ Digital]

[#352] Supply Chain in Numbers - Aug 24, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 12:04:03 GMT

18,000 robots in first half of 2026

Logistics operators’ efforts to automate more warehouses are accelerating as wages rise and consumer demand for speedy deliveries increase. North American companies ordered nearly 18,000 robots valued at about $1.2 billion in the first half of this year, according to a recent report from the Association for Advancing Automation. That was up 2% from the same period last year in terms of units ordered and about 7% in value. Companies last year bought more than 36,700 robots, the highest number of orders since 2022. Investments in warehouse technology are expected to keep growing, with 92% of companies recently surveyed by Interact Analysis saying they plan to spend more on automation this year. [WSJ]

$91.1 million as profit from fuel surchages

U.S. railroad Union Pacific collected $91.1 million more in fuel surcharges than it paid for fuel during the second quarter, far ‌outpacing rivals, according to a company filing with the Surface Transportation Board. Those excess surcharges boosted Union Pacific’s profit, underlining criticism from some shippers that surcharges meant to recoup rising petroleum costs due to the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran are sometimes excessive. Railroads are the only U.S. transportation companies that report both fuel costs and fuel surcharge revenue to regulators, offering rare insight into how surcharges can improve company profits. [Reuters]

12,289 rivers and canals for shipping

A new study published in Nature Climate Change found that shipping along rivers is responsible for a uniquely high fraction of emissions attributable to shipping in general. The analysis looked at 20 billion ship tracking records from 2019 to 2022 along 12,289 navigable rivers and canals, and found that inland vessels produced 164 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2022 alone, good for 24.7 percent of total shipping emissions that year. Just 20 major rivers accounted for 69 percent of the emissions. [NumLock]

677 supply chain theft incidents in Q2

The number of cargo thefts in the US and Canada decreased sharply during the second quarter of this year, but the value of the goods stolen was up markedly. Verisk CargoNet documented 677 supply chain theft incidents across the United States and Canada in the second quarter, a 26% decline from the same period in 2025 and a 14% decrease from the previous quarter. However, despite the lower number of incidents, total estimated cargo losses more than doubled year over year, reaching $304.6 million in the second quarter of 2026, up from $135.7 million in the same three months in 2025. The average value among thefts with a reported commodity value reached $564,009, although that figure was heavily influenced by a small number of extreme, multimillion-dollar losses. [Truckers News]

$4.5 billion as safety net

General Motors is setting up a $4.5 billion safety net designed to keep critical components flowing through supply-chain troubles. The automaker is aiming to secure supplies of high-risk components through a financing arrangement of prefunding the purchase of essential parts. Under the deal, supply-chain management firm Procura will receive funding through a bank syndicate led by JPMorgan Chase and Santander. Procura will prepay certain suppliers on GM’s behalf, giving them the capital required to make and store inventory set aside for the Detroit automaker. [WSJ]

[#351] Supply Chain in Numbers - Aug 17, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 12:04:05 GMT

8 European warehouses cyberattacked

A cyberattack on CEVA Logistics has disrupted operations at eight European warehouses, exposing customer data and delaying e-commerce shipments as retailers suspend connections to affected logistics systems. The impact appears contained to the eight warehouses, while CEVA’s air, ocean, road, and rail transport management operations have continued normally. The incident, which had been reported by Dutch NU.nl, and FreightWaves, has nevertheless exposed a critical vulnerability for retailers that depend on outsourced warehouse technology. bol, De Bijenkorf, and other customers have warned consumers that personal or order information may have been accessed, while fulfilment delays and cancellations have followed at some affected operations. [Breakbulk]

$150 million Series C in FreighTech

FreightTech has a new unicorn, and it took 20 months to build. HappyRobot closed a $150 million Series C at a $1.2 billion post-money valuation, putting a price on the idea that AI agents can absorb the phone calls, emails and follow-ups that move freight. The pace behind the valuation is significant. HappyRobot has raised roughly $200 million across three rounds in 20 months, growing 5x since its Series B closed in late 2025. It now runs agents inside more than 150 enterprise customers, including DHL, Uber Freight, Kuehne+Nagel and Austria’s LKW WALTER. HappyRobot sells a platform rather than a single automated workflow. That distinction is what the company says sets it apart from competitors. HappyRobot is also pushing beyond freight, with agents now handling high-volume work in telecommunications, energy utilities, oil and gas, and property and casualty insurance. [Freightwaves]

AI accounts for 67% of supply chain digital investments

More than half of chief supply chain officers are unclear about what their AI investments are delivering, even as companies pour more of their digital spending into the technology. Gartner found that 55% of supply chain chiefs are unclear about their AI returns, while AI now accounts for 67% of supply chain digital investments. The problem is not necessarily how companies manage individual AI projects. Instead, many lack a bigger plan for deciding which projects should receive limited training, staffing, and change-management resources. The findings came from two Gartner surveys. One included 394 supply chain professionals at companies with at least $250 million in annual revenue and was conducted from November 2025 through February 2026. A second survey of 135 senior supply chain leaders, conducted from January through April 2026, examined AI use cases and returns. [Supply Chain 24x7]

28% lower unit cost for 68.5% US volume

UPS is leaning more on automated facilities to handle U.S. volume. At the end of Q2, 68.5% of U.S. volume flowed through buildings equipped with automation, up from 64% a year ago. That increase equates to 337 million more packages being handled with automation. The cost per piece in an automated building is about 28% lower than a non-automated building. Over the past several years, UPS has been making steady progress toward a more automated U.S. network that is less reliant on manual labor to move and sort packages. Examples of automated technology UPS has deployed include trailer unloading systems and vehicles that can move irregularly sized shipments through facilities. UPS would introduce 24 more automated buildings to its network in 2026, adding onto its existing roster of 127 buildings. [Supply Chain Dive]

$1.1 million average per Panama crossing

Shipping costs through the Panama Canal have risen sharply, with auction prices for transit slots reaching record levels. Two major factors are behind the surge: falling water levels linked to a developing El Nino and higher demand for the canal after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Daily auctions for August transit slots through the canal’s commonly used locks have averaged about $1.1 million so far this month. That is more than 16 times the average price recorded during the same period last year. Water levels in Gatun Lake, the main reservoir feeding the canal, are currently below the 1965–2022 average and are expected to fall further in the coming months. [Business Standard]

[#350] Supply Chain in Numbers - Aug 10, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 12:02:20 GMT

Booking orders for 2031 delivery

GE Vernova’s gas turbine order backlog jumped 16% in a single quarter, from 100 GW to 116 GW. CEO Scott Strazik said the company is booking 2031 deliveries today, with data centers now joining utilities in the queue. The bottleneck for AI infrastructure is not compute or software. It is the physical machinery that generates the electricity to run compute, and that machinery is sold out five years forward. Customers are increasingly diverse, spanning about 100 entities in 26 countries. About 80% are “traditional” customers like utilities and 20% are data center customers. [Utility Dive]

10-14% capacity withdrawn through blanked sailings

Carriers routinely pulled 10–14% of scheduled capacity on major east-west trades in the first half of 2026. Sea-Intelligence says blank sailings have transitioned from a demand-driven response to a permanent network management tool. Supply chain planners can no longer treat scheduled capacity as booked capacity. The baseline has shifted, and shippers pricing on published schedules are pricing on fiction. Comparing with the first half of 2019, carriers relying on cancelling sailings to balance supply and demand, prompting an analyst to conclude that supply chain planners need to recalibrate allocation and inventory strategies around a lower baseline of availabie capacity. [The Loadstar]

Reduction of lead times by 60%

GE Aerospace cut production lead time for critical components by 60% in Q2 2026, helping drive a jump in deliveries during the quarter. As it cuts down on production time, the company is also refining its forecasting ability by leveraging artificial intelligence to improve demand signal identification, cutting the number of signals it tracks by 50% and reducing processing times by 90% across 190 parts in its turbine airfoils team. The combined efforts are helping the company better collaborate with suppliers, such as GKN, a provider of fan cases. With GKN, the company built detailed visual work instructions, increased capacity and implemented a 3D inspection technology, which led to a 90% improvement in inspection time. [SC Dive]

15 days for China to Europe Deliveries

China State Railway Group is boasting about delivering air conditioners from their manufacturers in China to buyers in Europe within just 15 days by rail thanks to a route that was originally designed as a flagship project of the Belt and Road initiative back in 2013. Rail links between China and Europe have existed, but the China Railway Express is particularly shining in this moment, when sea routes between Europe and Asia have been snarled by tensions in the Middle East, and sea routes take 40 days to transport goods. Air conditioners have been shipped from China to Europe at a significantly higher rate than normal given the extreme heat on the continent, and manufacturers like Midea Group and Gree Electrical Appliances have switched to rail to ensure that HVAC systems get to market while it’s still hot. [NumLock]

67 ships attacked

At least 67 ships have been attacked or boarded since the start of the Iran war, with at least 17 seafarers killed in regional maritime attacks, according to data from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The attacks have sent insurance premiums and freight rates to record levels. And insurers are becoming increasingly reluctant to underwrite voyages through the region, as the fighting has made it hard for them to recover costs when ships are hit. Typically, the lead marine insurer would arrange for salvage operations, but that isn’t an option for now, according to the head of one U.K. insurer. [WSJ]

[#349] Supply Chain in Numbers - Aug 3, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:04:28 GMT

Lead Time of 10 year and a backlog of 8 years

Aircraft makers and hyperscalers are both desperate for turbines to power their jets and data centers. At the heart of this surging demand is a handful of companies that make their highly specialized parts. Just four companies dominate Western production of turbine blades and vanes, according to SemiAnalysis: Howmet Aerospace, Berkshire Hathaway’s Precision Castparts, private-equity-owned Consolidated Precision Products and DPC Holdings, the parent of U.K.-based Doncasters Group. Wait times for aircraft run 10 years or longer. Heavy-duty power turbines are facing backlogs of as long as eight years. These backlogs are helping drive demand for spare parts. Airlines are forced to fly older planes for longer and need spares, as do gas turbines, because the existing base is being run much harder than expected. [WSJ]

Launch from stealth mode with $300 million funding

Tech startup Walden Robotics launched from stealth mode, saying it will deploy humanoid robots into real production environments in manufacturing and logistics, “doing useful work side-by-side with people.” Massachusetts-based Walden Robotics said its general-purpose robots can continuously learn and improve while performing real work. The firm says that approach enables skilled team members to delegate difficult-to-automate tasks, so they can focus on the problem-solving, judgment, and dedication to craft that make their work more gratifying and impactful. The firm has now launched with $300 million in venture funding, in a round that was led by Toyota (Toyota Motor Corp, Toyota Invention Partners, and Toyota Ventures) and Deviation Capital. Walden launched out of Toyota Research Institute in January 2026 and began working with customers across multiple industries immediately. [DC Velocity]

5.1% CAGR for big and bulky last-mile

After years of hot growth, American providers of last-mile delivery for big and bulky goods are adjusting to softer demand, according to a report from Armstrong & Associates (A&A) and the National Home Delivery Association (NHDA). A&A estimates that compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the U.S. third-party logistics (3PL) big and bulky last-mile delivery market from 2017 through 2025 was 10.6%, but that figure will drop to 5.1% for the period from 2025 through 2027. In dollar terms, A&A estimates the market will reach estimated revenues of $11.42 billion in 2026 and $12.34 billion in 2027. The main reason for the change is consumer softness, with housing turnover at a 30-year low and furniture-store sales in decline. That’s significant because big and bulky demand is tightly linked to housing turnover and large-ticket discretionary spending. [DC Velocity]

$12 million funding for modular warehouse automation

UNIT AI, a physical AI company making enterprise-grade automation more accessible for retailers and third-party logistics (3PL) providers, announced $12 million in funding to accelerate commercial deployments of its modular, AI-powered platform for end-to-end ecommerce fulfillment and returns across North America. According to the company, UNIT’S platform can deploy in as little as 1,000 square feet and deliver ROI in under 12 months. In just 22 months, UNIT is already working with leading retailers and logistics providers, including Barrett, ShipCalm, DaVinci, Carter, as well as global apparel brands. [Yahoo Finance]

$1 billion revenue from 3 businesses

The private equity firm that acquired Honeywell’s Intelligrated and Transnorm divisions in April has now completed that transaction, and will combine those two businesses with the systems integrator Trew. Combing those three units will create an organization that is focused on helping customers design, build and support warehouse automation solutions for retail, e-commerce, manufacturing, distribution, and parcel operations. The company will do that through a combined portfolio of systems integration, conveyor, sortation, robotics, automated storage and retrieval (AS/RS), palletizing, software, controls, and lifecycle services. The three businesses collectively generated more than $1 billion in revenue in 2025, employing more than 3,700 people across North America, South America, Europe and Asia. [DC Velocity]

[#348] Supply Chain in Numbers - Jul 27, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:04:38 GMT

250 fewer MX freight carriers

There are 250 fewer Mexican carriers operating in U.S. commercial zones along the southern border as a federal cabotage crackdown has barred hundreds of Mexican truckers from crossing the border. Both Mexican drivers and trucking operators have come under increasing pressure from the Trump administration as federal agencies take a harsher stance on illegal activities within the transportation industry. The U.S. Department of Transportation has begun sharing its Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records of commercial vehicle inspections with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Now, Border Patrol agents can see if a Mexican driver attempting to cross into the U.S. has a prior violation for engaging in illegal cabotage. If so, agents are yanking visas and barring those drivers from crossing the border. [TT News]

36 Locus Robots for meal kit fulfillment

HelloFresh has grown its chilled fulfillment capacity from 100 SKUs to 500 SKUs via an expanded partnership with Locus Robotics. HelloFresh first deployed 13 Locus Origin robots for its Factor brand in July 2025 as part of a pilot program. The robots were able to handle their fulfillment tasks — from order induction to box drop-off — in three minutes and 36 seconds on average. HelloFresh expanded the deployment within three months, adding 26 more robots to the mix. The SKU expansion enables greater meal variety for HelloFresh customers and unlocks new revenue opportunities for the meal kit company. HelloFresh plans to add fulfillment support from Locus Robotics to its EveryPlate brand later this year. [SC Dive]

$30 million acquisition of last-mile delivery solution

Supply chain software vendor Descartes Systems Group has acquired Drivin, a provider of last-mile delivery management solutions across Latin America, in a deal that marks Ontario-based Descartes’ 33rd acquisition since 2017 and its third in 2026. Santiago, Chile-based Drivin enables distributors, retailers, consumer goods companies, and logistics service providers to improve delivery performance with advanced route optimization, dispatch management, and real-time execution visibility, enhanced by machine learning and agentic AI capabilities. The platform is widely adopted in high-density urban environments where logistics complexity and service expectations continue to increase. Descartes bought Drivin for up-front consideration of $30 million, with a potential additional bonus payment of up to $5 million, based on the combined business achieving revenue-based targets in the first two years post-acquisition. [DC Velocity]

200 pound Humanoids

Robots with humanlike attributes are getting bigger and heavier–approaching 200 pounds in some cases. That means de-risking humanoid workers may be a key to the sector’s aggressive growth goals. Traditional industrial robots such as welders or loaders are deterministic: adhering to a fixed set of rules for a constant result. Humanoids tasked with performing multiple jobs use AI and are probabilistic, meaning they operate on statistical likelihoods, not certainty. That will require the robots to have layers of safeguards before they can work shoulder to shoulder with human beings. [WSJ]

Splitting into 2 business units

Supply chain tracking and visibility tech firm Project44 will separate into two businesses, as the original parent company will serve enterprise shippers, while the newly launched “LSP44” targets logistics service providers (LSPs).In the company’s plan, Project44 will provide shippers with a “decision intelligence platform” that complements their transportation management system (TMS) and last mile delivery software with enhanced visibility. And in contrast, LSP44 will provide purpose-built artificial intelligence (AI) agent and API infrastructure for LSPs such as third party logistics providers (3PLs), freight forwarders, and brokers. The firm says that LSP44 is not offering a newly created product, but rather splitting off an existing capability into a standalone business. [DC Velocity]

[#347] Supply Chain in Numbers - July 20, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:04:52 GMT

Visibilty into $2.8 billion labor spend

Amazon is piloting a program called Right Station Link that puts wearable devices on warehouse workers in indirect roles such as maintenance, safety, and floor management to track their location and task duration. The program targets roughly $2.8B in labor spend that Amazon currently cannot monitor automatically because these workers move between assignments rather than staying at fixed stations. Amazon planned to use Zebra hand-worn scanners but is making the software hardware-agnostic after supply chain delays threatened the timeline. The pilot raises immediate questions about worker surveillance, but the underlying move is about visibility into the last category of warehouse labor that lacks digital measurement. [Business Insider]

$5,933 per 40-foot container

The average cost to ship a 40-foot container from China to the U.S. West Coast hit $5,933 at the start of this month, a threefold increase from the end of February and the highest rate since September 2024, according to transportation intelligence company Xeneta. Importers are bringing forward orders for the busy end-of-year shopping season to avoid new tariffs taking effect at the end of July. Some companies have also been scrambling to beat new bunker fuel surcharges that ocean carriers are expected to implement in the coming weeks to account for rising oil prices resulting from the war. [WSJ]

$1.4 billion acquisition of FedEx contract logistics

CMA CGM has agreed to acquire contract logistics provider FedEx Supply Chain for $1.4 billion. The deal, which is expected to close in 2026, would nearly triple the size of CMA CGM subsidiary CEVA Logistics’ contract logistics operations in North America. FedEx Supply Chain has nearly 10,000 employees. Once the deal is executed, FedEx and CMA CGM also plan to enter into multiyear ocean and air freight agreements, which are slated to commence in different phases between now and 2028. CMA CGM will become FedEx’s preferred ocean carrier under a non-exclusive agreement. FedEx acquired FedEx Supply Chain, formerly known as Genco, in 2015. [Supply Chain Dive]

18% increase in warehouse construction

Developers of industrial warehouses have been cautiously optimistic now that the data centers are taking all the heat from the NIMBY crowd, with construction up 18 percent in the second quarter. Granted, lots of the demand for warehouse space is from suppliers of data center equipment, but with some 305 million square feet of industrial real estate under construction, the two-year pause experienced by the warehouse construction industry appears to be over. Prologis, the largest owner and operator in the space, is planning to start work on $4.5 billion to $5.5 billion worth of development this year, up from $3.1 billion last year. [WSJ]

620,000 sqft Coke bottling facility

Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling in late May completed the final foundation pour on a new manufacturing and distribution campus Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. It’s a $650 million, 620,000-sq.-ft. facility that will serve as a flagship facility within the Coca‑Cola System. The company, one of the largest Coca-Cola bottlers in the U.S., broke ground early this year. The construction will replace Reyes’ original 125,000-sq.-ft. facility, built in 1984 in the same town 60 miles east of Los Angeles. The fully integrated production hub will include manufacturing lines, warehouse and distribution capabilities, customer service operations and an on-site recycling center. Construction is expected to continue through 2027. [Food Processing]

[#346] Supply Chain in Numbers - Jul 23, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:03:52 GMT

20% less vending machines

The number of operating vending machines in Japan fell about 20 percent from 2013 to 2025, dropping to about 1.95 million units. The largest operator of the machines — which are seemingly everywhere in the country, and contain a much wider arrangement of products than vending machines in other countries — is Coca-Cola, followed by Suntory Beverage, which has 340,000 vending machines. Because products sold in vending machines tend to be a little more expensive than what you’d buy at a more typical retailer, inflation can be a real strain on the business, and annual sales volume per machine is down to 207 cases, off 60 percent from the peak in 1996. Suntory is eyeing new ways to use all that hardware in the field, and has settled on targeting anime and pop fans with on-demand printing of trading cards and similar blind-box products. [NumLock]

$1.16 per mile for a spot intermodal load

American retailers are learning to love trains again, as trucking rates climb toward their highest levels in four years. North American intermodal transports, in which railroads carry containers and truck trailers, rose about 6% in May from a year earlier to an average of around 369,000 containers and trailers a week. That was the largest annual increase since March 2025, when companies were rushing in merchandise ahead of expected new U.S. tariffs. The average spot rate for U.S. intermodal was $1.16 a mile for the week ended June 16, according to InTek Logistics, though most intermodal loads move under long-term contract rates. That intermodal spot rate was well below the average dry-van rate of $3.05 a mile for the week ending June 13. [WSJ]

27 temp-controlled short-term storage facilities

United Parcel Service is investing $48 million into 27 temperature-controlled facilities as it continues its push into healthcare services. The expansion of these global facilities, which are designed for short-term storage between air and ground transportation, allows UPS to better tap into an emerging $39.1 billion temperature-sensitive biologics market, which continues to grow amid ballooning demand for medication that is required to be stored cold. The risk associated with improperly stored medicines is high. According to the World Health Organization, temperature problems are responsible for 50% of global vaccine waste and cost $35 billion per year. UPS’s push into temperature-controlled facilities represents a growing trend of freight companies investing in healthcare logistics to protect themselves against economic uncertainties hitting demand elsewhere. [Fortune]

1,478 containers lost out of 280 million

The newest report from the World Shipping Council about containers lost at sea is out, with the industry estimating that 1,478 containers were lost overboard last year out of 280 million containers transported overall (equivalent to just 0.0005% of global container movements). That is up from 576 containers last year, driven by just a few major incidents (the MSC ELSA 3 sinking off the coast of India with 640 lost containers paramount among them) but still overall well under the historical average. The World Shipping Council cited challenging weather in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, including warmer ocean temperatures and more unpredictable storm conditions, as major contributors to container losses. Fire-related incidents, cargo shifts in heavy seas, groundings and total vessel losses also played a role. [gCaptain]

223% YoY increase in Uranium production

Uranium production in the United States reached its highest level in a decade, with production of uranium oxide reaching 2.1 million pounds. That’s up 223 percent over the annual production of 2024. It’s the largest number since 2016, when 2.5 million pounds were produced domestically. Exploration drilling for uranium was up by 66 percent, reaching one million feet of drilling across 1,824 holes. [NumLock]

[#345] Supply Chain in Numbers - Jul 6, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 13:03:29 GMT

700,000 sqft DC for West Coast Distribution

Nestlé USA opened a 700,000-square-foot distribution center equipped with digital technologies and automation systems in Arvin, California, part of a broader network enhancement. The site is meant to strengthen the consumer packaged goods manufacturer’s West Coast distribution network and features the largest automated storage and retrieval system within the company’s global network. Nestlé invested $330 million into the facility’s construction, part of its plan to spend $25 billion on bolstering U.S. operations over a 10-year period beginning in 2020. The Arvin facility is the second high-tech distribution facility Nestlé has introduced into its network in the last two years, joining a $675 million beverage factory and distribution center the company opened in Glendale, Arizona, last year. [SC Dive]

4,500-acre integrated rail facility

BNSF Railway said the city council of Barstow, Calif., approved its $4 billion, 4,500-acre integrated rail facility designed to more efficiently move freight from international containers into domestic boxes for eastward shipment. The Barstow International Gateway will include a railyard, intermodal facility and warehouses. Containers arriving by sea at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will be moved from ships onto trains to Barstow, where they will be processed and put on eastbound trains on BNSF’s network. Westbound freight heading to the ports and other California terminals will also be consolidated at the site. By moving the sorting and processing of containers from congested areas near the ports, the project will allow more cargo to be shifted to rail from trucks. The project would eliminate about 205 million truck miles traveled in 2028 as per BNSF estimates. [BNSF]

750,000 sqft warehouse hub

DSV Global Transport and Logistics, the world’s leading transport and logistics company, broke ground on its new Oregon Regional Warehouse Hub in Hillsboro, Oregon. The 750,000-square-foot facility — larger than 13 football fields — will serve as a logistics center for the company’s semiconductor customers throughout the state. It consolidates the company’s three existing Oregon locations in Sherwood and Tualatin into a single hub. [KGW]

330,000 sqft DC for pharma distribution

McKesson Corp. will build a highly automated regional distribution center in Oklahoma. This $179 million facility will replace an existing distribution center, expanding capacity and modernizing capabilities to support future demand. The 330,000-square-foot facility will serve as a regional pharmaceutical distribution hub. Located in Moore, OK, at the North Moore Industrial Park, the site will feature digitally enabled logistics, state of the art automation, precision inventory management, and expanded cold chain capacity. In addition, the site will increase McKesson’s capacity and throughput, and strengthen operational resilience with 100% standby power to support safe operations in adverse conditions. [DC Velocity]

$58.2 million for zero-emission cargo handling

The Port of Long Beach (POLB) has authorized $58.2 million for the purchase and deployment of new zero-emission cargo-handling equipment, cleaner harbor craft and a zero-emission locomotive. The expenditure is part of the port’s System-Wide Investment in Freight Transport (SWIFT) initiative, which is partially funded by the California State Transportation Agency. Port tenants and operators will use the funding to acquire 61 units of zero-emission, human-operated cargo-handling equipment and 21 chargers to power them; deploy six zero-emission and five clearer harbor craft to replace older diesel engines; and purchase a zero-emission locomotive. POLB is served by Pacific Harbor Line, which interchanges with BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. [Progressive Railroading]

[#344] Supply Chain in Numbers - Jun 29, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 12:03:39 GMT

40,000 mile trip to study freight

At nearly 40 years old, Lars Jensen’s Volkswagen camper van appeals to him mostly for its lack of modern features. The vehicle he calls “Sally” is just the right rig to drive around Africa over the next 18 months to explore the world’s most promising supply chain frontier. Jensen is the most widely cited analyst in container shipping. On a journey co-sponsored by German container carrier Hapag-Lloyd AG, Danish logistics giant DSV A/S and Swiss tech company Nexxiot AG, he plans to travel through 41 countries and cover more than 40,000 miles (65,000 kilometers). He’ll zigzag down the western coast to South Africa before turning north. Some countries are too dangerous to travel by road, so he’ll park the van occasionally and fly around. The rough itinerary ends in Kenya sometime near the end of 2027. The goal is to scope out opportunities and risks — invisible from afar — to better connect Africa’s economies to the global trading system. [Bloomberg]

35 driverless trucks

PepsiCo is running 35 driverless trucks on Arizona roads, making it the first major U.S. consumer-goods company to disclose the real-life, large-scale use of autonomous trucks on public roads. the trucks traverse busy highways and local streets transporting snacks and drinks between bottling plants, storage facilities and stores such as Walmart and Dollar General. While at least nine autonomous-truck companies operate in Southern and South-Central states, many still have human monitors at the wheel, or are only used in limited tests. PPepsiCo has been working directly with Gatik since 2022. They operated with a safety driver in each truck for a few years, and started driverless runs in June 2025. The trucks have had no accidents on public roads. PepsiCo has five more trucks on the road in Texas and one in Arkansas, and it is looking to expand their use for more short-haul trips to more locations. [WSJ]

5.8% higher spend for low-inventory items

Should online retailers tell customers when items they are shopping for are in low supply and might run out? Doing so seems to pay off, according to a recent study involving Instacart, a website that connects people with personal shoppers who go to local grocery stores and other retailers to pick up and deliver purchased items. Some online retailers may hesitate to tell customers when an item is in low supply, fearing it might encourage them to shop elsewhere or discourage them from buying anything else on the site. But this study found the opposite to be true: Being honest led to an increase in order frequency, with shoppers spending about 5.8% more money on the site over a six-month period. [WSJ]

$78 per megawatt-hour

In 2025, battery energy storage stations cost $78 per megawatt-hour generated, which is down 27 percent year over year. That is also down significantly from $185 per megawatt-hour generated in 2020, as the price of the storage batteries themselves has dropped to $70 per kilowatt-hour thanks to a surge in production by manufacturers based in China. That $78 per megawatt-hour generated is particularly significant: It means that the levelized cost of energy for battery tech is now less than OG gas-fired power plants, which came in at $102 per megawatt-hour, and is on the cusp of edging out coal’s $77 per megawatt-hour. [NumLock]

500,000 sqft DC for medical devices

Boston Scientific is investing approximately $138 million to build a 500,000-square-foot distribution facility in Plainfield, Indiana. Boston Scientific’s main U.S. distribution center is in Quincy, Massachusetts. The company, which bought the Quincy site in 1998, turned the location into a 630,000-square-foot customer fulfillment center in 2017. Boston Scientific also operates distribution centers in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, and Johns Creek, Georgia. One of Boston Scientific’s principal manufacturing facilities is about 40 miles from Plainfield in Spencer, Indiana. In 2022, Boston Scientific completed the renovation of the Spencer campus, which has worked on products including the company’s single-use endoscopy and urology scopes. [Supply Chain Dive]

[#343] Supply Chain in Numbers - Jan 22, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 12:03:18 GMT

4% slower driving to offset higher fuel costs

Truck drivers are trying to find ways to mitigate persistently high fuel costs if they can’t pass them onto customers. Improving fuel economy is one way, and slowing down by even a few miles an hour can save truckers hundreds of dollars a week. With a gallon of diesel costing 25% more than before the start of the Iran war, commercial drivers drove 4% slower in late April compared with the start of the year. In addition to the slight slowdown, average trip length is down by 2%. An initial analysis indicates the trend continued in May. Slowing down comes with its own costs, however. Truck drivers operating on the spot market are paid by the mile, and they get the same rate even if they work longer hours by driving slower. [WSJ]

1 cabinet powering a home for 3 months

Alphabet’s Waymo is set to recycle its old EV batteries as storage for solar power in partnership with B2U Storage Solutions. Waymo isn’t the first car company to recycle its batteries with B2U, but its fleet of self-driving cars go through them more frequently than regular EVs. To repurpose EV batteries — which B2U buys from auto and other companies — the units are removed from the cars, tested and ultimately packed into 9-foot tall cabinets, which look like small shipping containers. Each one contains dozens of old EV batteries. The company estimates one cabinet could power an average home for up to three months, with each battery reused by B2U adding up to $10,000 in added power value. [WSJ]

47,000 panels a day

Solar giant Qcells has started making solar cells at its Cartersville, Georgia, factory, and it’s on track to become the largest solar cell factory in US history by Q3 2026. This isn’t just another factory; it’s the only place in the country where every major piece of a solar panel — from ingot to finished module — gets made under one roof. The module assembly side is already running at full capacity, turning out 16,700 panels a day. Once everything is running at full speed, Cartersville will produce 3.3 GW each of ingots, wafers, and cells per year, plus 3.5 GW of modules. Add in the company’s expanded Dalton, Georgia, factory — which tripled its module capacity to 5.1 GW in late 2023 — and Qcells’ total Georgia module capacity will hit 8.6 GW a year. That’s about 47,000 panels a day, or enough energy to power roughly 1.3 million US homes annually. [Electrek]

$1.7 million condom heist

A shipment designed to provide protection instead exposed vulnerabilities: $1.7 million worth of condoms and lubricants never reached their Walmart destination after cybercriminals hijacked a legitimate trucking carrier, recruited unsuspecting drivers, and redirected the load to a warehouse in the Bronx, N.Y. The shipment contained 103,000 retail-ready units of ONE-branded condoms and lubricants. The trucks were loaded on April 21 at the company’s warehouse in Lynn, Mass. Two days later, Global Protection was notified that the shipment had never arrived at its destination. The fraud began long before the load was ever booked. Criminals sent a phishing attack, disguised as a standard broker agreement, targeting a legitimate trucking company. Using the stolen credentials, the scammers allegedly impersonated the compromised carrier and successfully secured the bid through the DAT load board to move the goods to Walmart. While warehouse staff noticed the trucks themselves did not carry the name of the carrier expected for pickup, but that alone did not initially trigger alarm bells. [Truck News]

4 Indian Seafarers rescued after a year

It took intervention from the Turkish government to finally rescue four Indian seafarers who had been stuck on a decrepit cargo ship after the owner of the vessel was arrested as part of an International drug sting. While most of the crew was repatriated several months ago, four individuals remained on the ship since July 2025, waiting for replacements and back pay, both of which never arrived. In late March, the ILO reports that the majority of the crew were repatriated with partial pay. However, to meet international regulations, four crewmembers were forced to stay behind to maintain the safety of the ship. By May, the four remaining crew wrote the ILO saying they had not been paid in eight to nine months, they only had 30 to 40 liters of diesel still aboard, and no one was helping them. [Maritime Executive]

[#342] Supply Chain in Numbers - Jun 15, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:04:07 GMT

$6.7 billion in cargo equipment over 5 years

U.S. ports face the need for $6.7 billion in cargo equipment investment over the next five years in order to maintain their efficiency and global competitiveness, according to a survey of 25 senior port and terminal executives conducted by the National Association of Waterfront Employers (NAWE). The executives surveyed provided estimates on the costs associated with purchasing new STS cranes and cargo handling equipment (CHE), repairing existing assets, and upgrading terminal operations over the next five years. The survey also found that there is demand for more than 100 new or replacement ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, underscoring the scale of modernization needed to accommodate larger vessels and maintain port efficiency. [DC Velocity]

$2,846 to $10,710 to $2,471 per ton

The volatile price of cocoa has sent major food brands scrambling to find alternatives with a similar taste and mouthfeel. The price of cocoa shot up from $2,846 per metric ton at the start of 2023 to as high as $10,710 per ton in 2025, and has only recently come down to around $2,471 per ton. For large food brands, that kind of volatility is hard to work with, hence the search for a broader range of cocoa-free chocolate. Barry Callebaut, a brand you have probably never heard of but which is indeed the largest cocoa processor and chocolate ingredient supplier in the world, hopes to have a cocoa-free chocolate called ChoViva, derived from sunflower seeds, available in the U.S. as soon as this year. [NumLock]

Up by 52% YoY

Truckers who held on through almost four years of slumping freight rates finally have something to celebrate. The Logistics Managers’ Index, a monthly survey of supply-chain managers, showed transportation prices increased in May at the fastest rate for any metric in the report’s 10-year history. Dry-van spot rates for the week ended June 5 were up about 52% year-over-year excluding fuel surcharges. Estes said because of the stronger freight market over the past few months, the nationwide company is increasing its fleet of more than 10,500 trucks and expanding its pool of about 11,000 drivers. The turnaround comes after four years in which carriers have been squeezed by a combination of too many trucks on the road and not enough loads. [WSJ]

45% reduction in diesel spend

Fuel Transport’s short-haul electric vehicle pilot with consumer products giant Kenvue Canada yielded savings on diesel of nearly 45%. The logistics transportation company in January deployed an electric truck for a short-haul, multi-stop route in the greater Toronto area for Kenvue, maker of personal care products including Aveeno, Listerine and Neutrogena. Now more than five months since the launch, the evaluation has gone well and could expand into other markets including the U.S. Based on a recent research, Over a six-year period four battery Class 8 trucks, each traveling 90,000 kilometers annually, would have a cost advantage of $856,486 compared to diesel trucks. However, the report also noted downsides to the Class 8 EV trucks. Some vehicles only operated between 150 and 200 kilometers per day, less than half the advertised range but that was due to limited charging infrastructure. [Trucking Dive]

$50 million for US-Mexico air freight

Known for its consumer and e-commerce package carrying network, parcel delivery giant UPS Inc. in now growing its capabilities in the business to business (B2B) sector, investing $50 million to increase its U.S.-Mexico air freight capacity for customers in the North American automotive and industrial manufacturing sectors. Specifically, UPS announced the expansion of its North American Air Freight capabilities — introducing time-definite heavy air freight service to and from Mexico for the first time and extending coverage across North America to better support production-critical supply chains. Beginning in August, UPS will offer 1-, 2- and 3-day service options to and from Mexico that help manufacturers move high-value, time-sensitive parts with greater speed and predictability. For its customers, this means fewer delays at the border, improved visibility from origin to destination and greater confidence in keeping production lines running. [DC Velocity]

[#341] Supply Chain in Numbers - Jun 8, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 12:03:28 GMT

Transpacific spot at $3,433 per FEU

Container shipping spot rates are surging at a pace not seen for years as an early peak season combines with Red Sea disruptions, front-loaded cargo demand, and aggressive carrier pricing power. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) today jumped 155 points to 2,726.48, its highest level in the last couple of years, marking the fifth consecutive week of gains. The rally is being echoed across global benchmarks. The Drewry World Container Index (WCI) climbed 23% this week to $3,433 per feu, driven by sharp increases on the transpacific, intra-Asia, and Asia-Europe trades. On the transpacific, spot rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles surged 31% to $4,565 per feu, while rates to New York rose 20% to $5,505 per feu. On Asia-Europe, rates from Shanghai to Rotterdam increased 25% to $3,579 per feu, while Shanghai-Genoa climbed 20% to $5,089 per feu. [Splash 24x7]

Demolition of 1.2 million sqft warehouse

Demolition work is set for this week at a warehouse destroyed in a massive fire more than a month ago in Ontario. The blaze erupted shortly after 12:30 a.m. April 7 near Hellman and Merrill avenues, destroying the more than 1 million-square-foot Kimberly-Clark facility. Demolition is expected to run up to 12 hours a day over the next two weeks, though officials said the schedule could shift as work progresses. Authorities are investigating the fire as arson. Chamel Abdulkarim, a 29-year-old Highland resident, has pleaded not guilty to aggravated arson charges in connection to the incident. Abdulkarim was reportedly working at the Kimberly-Clark distribution center through a third-party company at the time of the fire. Officials said paper products valued at about $500 million were destroyed. No injuries were reported. [ABC 7]

39% of global Li

A new forecast puts Chinese companies controlling 39 percent of global lithium production by 2030, up from about a third of production as of 2020. Australia, now the largest producer, would see its share of extraction fall from 43 percent in 2020 to 25 percent in 2030, particularly as African lithium supplies rise from virtually zero percent of global extraction in 2020 to 13 percent in 2030. [NumLock]

Training 300,000 employees

Target Corp. is planning to evaluate workers on how they greet, help out, and engage with shoppers, stepping up efforts to make service in its stores more consistent. Managers will use these performance metrics, which also include execution, reliability, and teamwork, to create a more structured set of guidelines around measuring store services. More than 300,000 employees completed training aimed at making its stores easier to shop in and its services friendlier. Late last year, Target directed store staff to smile, make eye contact, and greet or wave to customers within 10 feet, Bloomberg News reported. Employees are supposed to ask customers within four feet whether they need help or how their day is going, if appropriate. The company is also changing its dress code for store workers, requiring them to wear red shirts with blue jeans or khakis. [Bloomberg]

10.2 cents per mile

Trucking fleets are paying record-high liability insurance costs even as crash rates decline, according to new research from the American Transportation Research Institute. ATRI’s latest insurance study found that average liability premiums climbed nearly 38% between 2015 and 2024, reaching 10.2 cents per mile. During roughly the same period, heavy-duty truck crash rates dropped 2.6%, according to ATRI. Injury crash rates were down more than 15% from their 2019 peak, while fatal crash rates dropped nearly 14%. In ATRI’s annual industry issues survey, insurance ranked as trucking’s third-biggest concern in 2025, behind only the economy and lawsuit abuse. Insurance pricing is driven by a mix of crash trends, economic conditions, litigation, and what the industry calls “social inflation” — rising claim costs, partly fueled by larger verdicts and more aggressive legal tactics. [Trucking Info]

[#340] Supply Chain in Numbers - Jun 1, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:04:55 GMT

$20.6 billion of tariff refunds

Approximately $20.6 billion is on its way to importers who successfully filed claims through the new web portal developed by US Customs and Border Protection, the agency said in a court filing this week. However, the government’s latest declaration to the US Court of International Trade also included an admission of a significant error in its last report to the federal judge overseeing the tariff refund process, showing that the value of refunds processed in the early weeks of the program was far lower than previously thought. Two weeks ago, a US trade official said that more than $35.5 billion in refund claims were being processed. Yet that number “was overstated by approximately $10 billion”. Approximately $85 billion in both potential and certified refunds have been accepted for processing in CAPE as of May 22. [Bloomberg]

Reduction of 83,000 vehicles until November

Toyota has widened its planned overseas production reductions to approximately 83,000 vehicles through November, up from a previously announced 38,000, as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz weighs on demand. The Japanese automaker has notified major suppliers of the revised schedule, citing softening demand across the Middle East and Asia alongside rising fuel prices that are curbing appetite for petrol-powered vehicles. Vehicles affected by the overseas cuts include petrol-engine SUVs in the RAV4 series, assembled in China, and the Innovative International Multipurpose Vehicle series, which serves emerging markets. To partially offset the reductions, Toyota plans to increase output and exports of Prius hybrids and other electric vehicles. [Just Auto]

44% of T-shirt material production

A new analysis found that much of the material used in T-shirt manufacturing is wasted during production. The study found that about 44 percent of the material used to produce a tee is discarded as waste during production. This means that while there’s substantial attention on the stat that less than one percent of used clothing is recycled into new textiles globally — and that a maximum of 14 percent of the original fibers in a new T-shirt might be able to be recycled or reused — at the end of the day, much of the material is already in the dump before the shirt is even sold. [NumLock]

60% of stores

Walmart said it continued to expand automation across its sprawling supply chain, with about half of its U.S. e-commerce fulfillment center volume now automated and more than 60% of stores receiving some level of freight from automated distribution centers. Walmart has filed for a tariff refund, but doesn’t expect a massive windfall. The company estimates it paid around $2.4 billion in tariffs that the U.S. Supreme Court deemed illegal, less than 1% of last year’s U.S. sales. [WSJ]

$250 million funding at $3 billion valuation

Stord Inc., a logistics technology startup, raised $250 million, at a valuation of $3 billion, in a new funding round to expand its fulfillment operation and help merchants better compete with Amazon.com Inc. Founded in 2015, Stord has positioned itself as a partner to help retailers manage inventory as well as the checkout and fulfillment process, at a time when many businesses struggle to match the fast, affordable shipping offered by Amazon. Stord said it currently operates nearly 100 warehouses globally. The Atlanta-based company plans to use the new funding to expand its network and invest in artificial intelligence and robotics initiatives to streamline customer order handling. [TT News]

[#339] Supply Chain in Numbers - May 25, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 25 May 2026 12:03:55 GMT

$4.5 billion for pharma manufacturing

Eli Lilly is making another major investment in U.S. manufacturing, announcing plans to spend an additional $4.5 billion at two of its sites in Lebanon, Indiana. The new investment brings Lilly’s total manufacturing commitments in Indiana to more than $21 billion since 2020 and pushes the company’s overall spending past $50 billion during that stretch. Lilly said the expansion is tied to growing demand for its medicine, especially its fast-growing treatments for obesity and diabetes. Earlier this year, Lilly announced a $5 billion manufacturing plant in Virginia that will focus on injectable medicines and API production. The company also announced a $3.5 billion expansion project in Pennsylvania tied to injectable manufacturing and supply chain growth. In Puerto Rico, Lilly is expanding manufacturing to increase medicine production and strengthen its long-term supply network. [Supply Chain 24x7]

13% of garments examined had banned content

More prohibited cotton was found in garments sold in Western countries in 2025 than in the prior year for the first time in four years, according to a new report from forensic-testing company Oritain. The report indicates that more illegal materials entered apparel supply chains as companies shifted manufacturing to minimize the impact of new U.S. tariffs. Oritain anonymously sampled 1,000 finished garments from 40 brands. The New Zealand-based company benchmarked the origin of materials against the standards set by a 2021 U.S. law banning companies from importing products made with forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. Oritain said 13% of the garments examined contained raw materials sourced from Xinjiang, up from 6% a year earlier, the first annual increase since Oritain ran its initial report in 2021. [Logistics Cmail]

25% SKU Reduction

Under Armour has cut 25% of its SKUs over the last two years as the retailer targets a more disciplined inventory approach. The retailer expects to make further reductions, prioritizing “fewer, better products” that align with concentrated demand alongside a less complex supply chain. The retailer had initially outlined its goal to eliminate 25% of its inventory mix in 2024. After purposeful efforts to trim its product assortment in Q4, the retailer ended the fiscal year with $915 million in inventory, down 3% year over year. Other retailers rationalizing SKU mixes include Lowe’s, which was on pace to reach its goal of cutting 15% of SKUs by the end of 2025.https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/under-armour-reaches-25-sku-reduction-goal/820387/

14.3% trucks failing brake inspection

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) annual Brake Safety Day, which is not publicly announced before it takes place, saw 14.3% of trucks (574 total) inspected during the event placed out of service for brake-related violations. This year’s Brake Safety Day took place on April 14 in 47 jurisdictions throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Of the 4,021 total inspections conducted, 3,447 total resulted in no brakes-related out-of-service violations — 85.7% of the total number of vehicles inspected. Vehicles that had no critical vehicle inspection items may have received a CVSA decal. North Dakota ranked highest for the most intense states, with 30.5% of all 2025 violations issued pertaining to brake systems. West Virginia’s 4.1% brakes-violation rate sat at the bottom of the list. [Overdrive Online]

Accelerated by 18 months

Coupa, which Thoma Bravo took private in an $8 billion deal in 2023, is acquiring enterprise workflow automation startup Tonkean. Tonkean is Coupa’s second AI-focused acquisition announced in two weeks, following its deal for Rossum, which uses AI to process invoices and other business documents. Last year, Coupa acquired Cirtuo for AI-powered category management and Scoutbee for supplier discovery. Tonkean last raised a $50 million Series B round led by Accel in 2021, at a $300 million post-money valuation. The company raised about $84 million in total funding. Tonkean lets enterprise employees start procurement requests in plain language and routes the work through the appropriate approvals and systems. It connects to more than 250 other enterprise systems, letting workflows move across tools outside Coupa. This deal accelerates Coupa’s product roadmap by about 18 months. [Axios]

[#338] Supply Chain in Numbers - May 18, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 18 May 2026 12:02:12 GMT

32 cents per pound surcharge

FedEx and UPS have implemented fuel surcharge increases and new shipping fees this month, adjustments that will affect a wide range of customers’ international shipments. The carriers are applying temporary fees for shipments between the U.S. and various countries until further notice. One from UPS is a 32-cent-per-pound surcharge for volume to the U.S. from any origin country or territory, except those where a surge emergency fee already applies. FedEx and UPS are also raising their fuel surcharges on import and export services. For example, if the price per gallon of jet fuel is $4 in a given week, FedEx will levy a 38.5% fuel surcharge for international exports. Previously, FedEx charged a 36.5% rate at that fuel price. Meanwhile, DHL eCommerce is increasing its fuel surcharge calculations for domestic products on May 30. [Supply Chain Dive]

$28 million acquisition of driver safety solution

Descartes acquires Idelic for $28M. Idelic provides an AI-powered driver safety and performance management platform that integrates training, monitoring, and predictive risk analytics for fleet operators. The acquisition will be used to enhance Descartes’ Global Logistics Network with advanced safety intelligence and expand its fleet performance management capabilities. With an AI analytics workflow designed to measurably impact driver behavior, fleets can proactively identify and reduce driving risk by leveraging the platform’s unique dataset of more than 40 billion miles of telemetry and over 400,000 accident records. The company collects real-time, highly detailed event-level data through a connected network of more than 80 telematics, risk management, and regulatory system integrations. [Dynamo]

2 million sqft DC in Arizona

Burlington Stores announced it broke ground on a new distribution center in Buckeye, Arizona, located near Phoenix. The facility is expected to open in 2028. The off-price retailer said the 2 million-square-foot facility is its most advanced to date, with engineering to keep up with the speed of off-price retail. The new facility will be “highly automated,” featuring advanced sorting systems and custom software, enabling faster daily operations. The off-price retailer announced last year it had agreed to purchase two of its leased distribution centers: one in Savannah, Georgia, and another in Riverside, California. The Savannah facility is expected to open this spring. [Supply Chain Dive]

$75 million investment into BLE provider

Avery Dennison Corp., a digital identification solutions vendor, made a $75 million minority investment in Wiliot, a provider of passive Bluetooth low energy (BLE) sensors for supply chain inventory visibility. The deal comes six months after Walmart named Avery Dennison to expand the use of RFID in fresh food applications, and nine months after Walmart picked Wiliot to deploy “ambient internet of things (IOT)” sensors across its supply chain, saying the goal of those moves was to enhance supply chain efficiency, inventory accuracy, and cold chain compliance. Wiliot IoT Pixels: low-cost, battery-free Bluetooth sensors attach to items and harvest energy from ambient radio signals to transmit data — such as location, temperature, and movement. Off-the-shelf bridges and gateways (hubs), which are quick to deploy, wake up nearby IoT Pixels via radio signals, receive their data, and securely forward it to the Wiliot Cloud. [DC Velocity]

Almost 4x increase in throughput per week

No swarms of workers pick goods off shelves and pack orders at a CVS Health warehouse off the New Jersey Turnpike near Philadelphia. Instead, all the action takes place above and behind red and gray walls, where hundreds of robots ferry products to replenish stores across the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic. The building is the first warehouse in CVS’s network of more than two dozen buildings to rely so heavily on robots. CVS says its automation experiment is paying off, processing 2 million items a week for delivery to stores, up from 550,000 units before it installed the systems in 2023. It is working to double automation use at this warehouse by the end of the year. The company declined to say how much it is investing in the warehouse, which uses technology from AutoStore, Tompkins Robotics, and Bastian Solutions, part of Toyota Automated Logistics. [WSJ]

[#337] Supply Chain in Numbers - May 11, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 11 May 2026 12:03:14 GMT

$700 per ton from $455 for Urea

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused serious supply chain snarls for many products reliant on oil and gas production from the Middle East, including fertilizer. The price of urea hit nearly $700 per ton in April, up from $455 before the war, and farmers are unprepared for the price hike; the American Farm Bureau Federation found 70 percent of farmers nationwide are unable to afford the fertilizer they need, and one in three farmers in the Midwest didn’t prebook fertilizer for 2026 and are now in trouble. Help isn’t coming anytime soon, for that matter: even in the most optimistic scenario, the Agricultural Risk Policy Center projects that prices will remain high heading into 2027 as it’ll take time to repair damaged production infrastructure. The Center projected that urea fertilizer will cost 13 percent more than its pre-crisis price heading into at least 2028, even if the Strait opens imminently. [NumLock]

Trucking for 800 miles to avoid Hormuz

The world’s largest container carrier, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co, plans a new service linking Europe with isolated Middle East ports, using trucking across Saudi Arabia and smaller vessels in the Persian Gulf instead of transiting the blocked Strait of Hormuz. The first sailing would be May 10 from Antwerp, in a loop that also includes stops in Germany, Italy, Lithuania, and Spain. Ships will cross the Suez Canal into the Red Sea and visit two ports on the western coast of Saudi Arabia — Jeddah and King Abdullah. From there, the network uses trucks to reach Dammam on the peninsula’s east coast, where feeder vessels would connect to maritime gateways, including in Abu Dhabi and Dubai’s Jebel Ali. The drive from Jeddah to Dammam — a route that passes through the capital Riyadh — is about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers). MSC’s feeder ships would also reach Bahrain, Iraq, and Kuwait. [Bloomberg]

1.2 million sqft “Receive Center”

Target is testing a new way to manage inventory before it ever reaches its distribution centers. The retailer has opened a 1.2 million-square-foot Receive Center in Houston, a new type of facility designed to take in product directly from global vendors and hold it until it’s needed elsewhere in the network. From there, inventory is sent to six regional distribution centers and one flow center, eventually reaching stores and online orders. The idea is simple: don’t push inventory downstream too early. By adding capacity earlier, Target can wait to move goods until demand becomes clearer, helping avoid overcrowded distribution centers and store backrooms. It also gives the company more flexibility to respond to shifts in demand, especially for seasonal items, bulky products, and goods with long lead times. Target also leaned heavily on extended reality (XR) technology to design the Houston Receive Center before construction began. This approach led to faster development and real cost savings, including more than $500,000 in materials and nearly $700,000 in savings from optimizing a key sorter design. [Supply Chain 24x7]

Finding raw materials for a $39 billion industry

A number of exciting radiotherapies have hit the market, with several radioactive drugs demonstrating promise in treating cancer. If they do take off, an interesting supply chain issue would arise, as the current supply of radioisotopes would not be enough to meet demand. In order to source the relevant isotopes, the pharmaceutical industry has people scouring nuclear waste stockpiles and discarded medical devices. The radiotherapy field was kick-started in 2017 when Novartis launched Lutathera, which uses lutetium-177 to treat gastrointestinal cancer. It then released a second drug, Pluvicto, which uses the same isotope to treat prostate cancer, and together, the two drugs generate $2.8 billion a year. The broader radiopharmaceutical market is projected to grow to $39 billion in annual sales by 2032, and the industry is already developing new ways to produce alpha emitters, which many believe will serve as the backbone of the business. [NumLock]

79% of the US population is within 5 miles of a Return Bar

UPS’ Happy Returns has expanded its network of return drop-off locations by more than 1,700 through a partnership with UPS authorized shipping outlets. Happy Returns now has 10,000 drop-off locations, known as Return Bars, nationwide for consumers to access. The reverse logistics provider said the growth reinforces its standing “as the largest consolidated return network in the U.S., now more than three times the size of the next-largest alternative.” The additions primarily come from Annex Brands and PackageHub Business Centers, which offer a range of shipping services with multiple parcel carriers. The newfound reach announced Tuesday means 79% of the U.S. population now lives within five miles of a Return Bar, up from 76% prior to the expansion. [Supply Chain Dive]

[#336] Supply Chain in Numbers - May 4, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 04 May 2026 12:04:01 GMT

29% of the total US food supply

During the height of the pandemic, food waste declined substantially across the supply chain, dropping from a record high of 74.6 million tons in 2019 to 56.4 million tons in 2020. Gradually, however, that number began to tick back up again, reaching 71.6 million tons as of 2023. Based on the data, though, the post-pandemic increase has leveled off, with the 2024 food waste figure coming in at 70 million tons. However, that is still 29 percent of the total U.S. food supply. [NumLock]

10-to-80 benchmark in 3 mins 44 seconds

Chinese battery titan CATL has revealed its third-generation Shenxing battery, an iron phosphate battery that is the answer to a rival offering from BYD, and the Shenxing battery is posting seriously impressive specs when it comes to charging. According to a report, charging the battery from 10 percent to 98 percent took just 6 minutes and 27 seconds, with the standard 10-to-80 benchmark taking just 3 minutes and 44 seconds. The battery also performed well in the cold: At -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit), the Shenxing charged from 10 percent to 98 percent in just 9 minutes. [Arstechnica]

$1.4 billion for a 185-acre Pharma manufacturing campus

AbbVie will invest $1.4 billion to build a large manufacturing campus in Durham, North Carolina, to support production of its immunology, neuroscience, and oncology medicines. The drugmaker plans to hire 734 people at the 185-acre site over the next four years, including engineers, scientists, production workers, and laboratory technicians, according to a news release. Construction of the facility will begin this year and is expected to be completed by the end of 2028. The first phase of construction will include small-volume parenteral drug manufacturing facilities, laboratories, a warehouse, administrative offices, and employee wellness centers, according to a news release. SVPs are sterile, injectable pharmaceutical products, such as vials, prefilled cartridges, and prefilled syringes, that contain injectable or infusion medicines. They are typically less than 100 milliliters by volume. [Manufacturing Dive]

1-hour delivery for $10 per order

Sam’s Club announced that it is rolling out a new “enhanced tier” for its popular minimum-free express delivery service. According to the company, Plus members can pay an additional $10 to have an order delivered to their doorstep in an hour or less. The same service for regular Club members will run $22. Following an initial test, Sam’s Club began offering the enhanced tier at its 600-plus warehouses nationwide on April 2. Since then, the company has fulfilled nearly 65,000 orders, with the fastest delivery arriving at the customer’s doorstep in about 10 minutes. Average delivery times, meanwhile, sit at 55 minutes. According to the company, a significant share of the items requested for express delivery are everyday essentials, including water, produce, and household necessities. [USA Today]

$16 million a year due to disruptions tied to procurement

Supply chain disruptions tied to procurement are costing companies an average of $16 million a year, according to a new report from Coupa and Incisiv. The study, based on a survey of 133 senior procurement leaders across industries, including freight and logistics, found that every organization surveyed experienced a major supply disruption over the past 24 months. Those disruptions showed up in real ways, including expedited freight, production shutdowns, and missed commitments. The report found that 39% of organizations still see procurement as an operational necessity rather than a driver of business performance. At the same time, 72% expect procurement to become a strategic contributor or a source of competitive advantage within the next three years. Still, only 32% of respondents said digital transformation is a top priority for direct procurement, even as companies face rising disruption and supply risks. [Supply Chain 24x7]

[#335] Supply Chain in Numbers - Apr 27, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:03:56 GMT

$150 to $800 per ton of H2SO4

The Iran war is exposing a fragile, underappreciated chokepoint in the global economy: sulfuric acid, a byproduct of oil, gas, and copper refining that is essential for fertilizer, semiconductors, and copper processing. With exports through the Strait of Hormuz throttled and China suspending acid exports, prices have surged from roughly $150 a ton to as high as $800 in local spot markets, turning a niche chemical into a flashpoint for inflation, industrial disruption, and food-supply risk. The bigger takeaway is that the energy transition still runs through deeply fossil-fuel-dependent supply chains, and when those chains break, the consequences spread far beyond energy into growth, prices, and geopolitical leverage. [WSJ]

$50 million Series B for drone delivery

Manna Raises $50M in Series B Funding. Dynamo portfolio company, Manna, develops an autonomous aerial drone delivery platform for last-mile logistics, enabling rapid delivery of goods directly to consumers’ homes. The company will use the funds to expand to 40 operational bases across the United States and Europe, scale its delivery network, and support hiring across engineering, operations, and regulatory functions. [Dynamo]

$58 per megawatt-hour

Power grids that once relied on gas and coal to make up for a drop in solar or wind production are increasingly using power banked over the course of the day, stored in batteries. The average cost of grid-installed battery has dropped 75 percent from 2018 to 2025 and is projected to drop another 25 percent through 2035. In 2025, the cost per megawatt-hour was $78, and in real 2025 dollars, that’s expected to drop to $58 per megawatt-hour in 2035. It’s produced a rarely seen phenomenon in the construction business: a second, identical battery build-out approved just a few months later might come in at a fraction of the first’s budget. To say the least, it isn’t all that common in the energy industry. [NumLock]

$2.1 million seed funding for procurement agents

Traza Raises $2.1M in Pre-Seed Funding. Traza develops an AI-native platform that deploys autonomous agents to automate procurement and supply chain operations for large industrial enterprises. The company will use the funds to accelerate AI agent development, expand its engineering team, and deepen co-design partnerships with enterprise customers in the United States. Traza deploys AI workers that integrate directly into the procurement workflows of large industrial enterprises, executing the operational tasks that today consume thousands of hours of human effort each year — vendor management, quoting processes, order tracking, supplier communications, and supply chain coordination. [Traza]

Stopping home delivery for 4 million addresses in Canada

The government-owned corporation that delivers mail in Canada is taking steps to stop home delivery. Canada Post is initiating talks with 13 communities to begin converting about 136,000 addresses from door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes, a standalone unit with designated space for each of the multiple residences it serves. It is the first step in a move that will end home delivery for about 4 million addresses over the next five years. Canada Post will work with city planners and neighborhoods to determine the best locations for community mailboxes. Of the 17.6 million addresses Canada Post currently serves, 75% already have some form of centralized delivery. Some people use community mailboxes or a post office box, while others live in apartments or condominiums. Eliminating home delivery would save Canada Post about $400 million Canadian ($291.96 million) a year. [AP News]

[#334] Supply Chain in Numbers - Apr 20, 2026

Vikas Argod — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:03:28 GMT

$200 million Series H round for drone logistics

U.S. autonomous drone delivery and logistics startup Zipline has raised another $200 million, bringing total funding to $1.2 billion. The additional funds, which included participation from crypto investment firm Paradigm, have pushed Zipline’s recent Series H round to $800 million. Zipline has developed a drone delivery ecosystem that includes aircraft, launch and landing systems, and logistics software. The company, founded in 2014, got its start in Africa, where it used its autonomous drones to deliver blood in Rwanda. Zipline has expanded its reach and the uses of its drones since then. Today, it’s drones delivering food, retail, agriculture, and health products in five African countries, several cities in the United States, and Japan.[Tech Crunch]

$470,000 worth of stolen vehicles

Texas authorities intercepted two semis carrying roughly $470,000 in stolen vehicles believed to be headed to Honduras. These cases usually do not start with a dramatic heist; they start with a routine-looking handoff, credible paperwork, and a carrier that appears legitimate, allowing bad actors to gain control long before anyone realizes the shipment has been redirected. The use of multiple trucks and a cross-border route points to organized exploitation of weak verification points, not random theft. Most cargo theft is really an identity and process control failure upstream, not a security failure at pickup. For operators, brokers, and shippers, that raises the stakes on vetting counterparties before a load ever moves, because once freight is moving toward a border, the odds of recovery fall fast. [Freightwaves]

$2.52 per mile for a van on the spot market

The spot market is facing significant upward rate pressure as a surge in fuel costs builds off an ongoing supply-side recovery in 2026. The truckload freight rates hit two-year highs for both spot and contract rates, driven by a surge in diesel costs in March. The report also found that truckload freight volumes increased across all major haulage types during the month. Spot van rates increased 11 cents sequentially to $2.52 per mile, while reefer rates rose 9 cents to $2.97 per mile. Flatbed showed a more notable increase, rising to 37 cents per mile from $3.09. Uber Freight has observed the spot market tightening sequentially since December. The trend continued into the new year, driven by winter storms, followed by the Iran war’s impact on fuel costs. This all resulted in spot rates increasing about 30% this year when compared with 2025, with a 20% rise when excluding fuel. [TT News]

Owner of 1,000 ships

In another milestone, Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has become the first container carrier in the world to operate 1,000 ships. The delivery this month of the 11,480 teu MSC Migsan from China’s Zhoushan Changhong shipyard marked a four-digit world-first for container shipping. Privately held MSC is the world’s largest container line and a huge name in the cruise market. MSC’s 7.3m TEU-strong fleet today is nearly equivalent to the combined fleets of Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express, Evergreen, and HMM. [Splash 24x7]

$30 million seed funding for rail decarbonization

Voltify, a Philadelphia-based startup that wants to decarbonize the rail industry, has raised $30 million in seed funding to trial its system that retrofits diesel locomotives with battery power and charges them on the go via a network of microgrids. The startup estimates it can reduce energy costs by more than 20% compared with the lowest rail companies’ diesel costs over the past decade. Compared with current diesel prices, that saving would be “much, much more than 20%.” It adds battery power to existing locomotives and pairs that with so-called dynamic charging technology that would allow them to recharge while moving. The company intends to build renewable-powered microgrids — which generate and store energy locally — along rail corridors to supply the electricity it needs. [WSJ]