Expedited

Chicago-based third-party logistics and technology-enabled transportation services provider Echo Global Logistics announced earlier today it has acquired Huntington Beach, Calif.-based Freight Saver, a provider of third-party logistics (3PL) services.

Fort Worth, Texas-based Class I railroad carrier BNSF Railway said it rolled out a new, expedited, third-day rail service, running from Los Angeles to Houston. Company officials said that this service, which went live on July 10, is comparable to over-the-road service options and represents a significant advancement in the company’s ability to deliver fast, consistent and reliable transportation offerings.

A trio of well-known logistics services providers, Dallas-based privately held freight brokerage and authorized UPS reseller Worldwide Express, Phoenix-based GlobalTranz, a full-service 3PL focused on freight brokerage and technology, GlobalTranz, and Dallas-based Unishippers, the second-largest privately held freight brokerage in the country, announced today they are collaborating on what they called a new “corporate identity,” entitled WWEX Group.

Atlanta-based Nolan Transportation Group (NTG), a provider of non-asset, tech-enabled logistics and brokerage services, and a subsidiary of Transportation Insight, and San Francisco-based freight forwarding and customs brokerage services provider Flexport, said they are collaborating on a strategic partnership focused on integrating their respective technologies, with a focus on “greater visibility across supply chains.”

Entitled Beon, TI said that this new platform gives shippers and carriers a single point of access to access both TI’s and Atlanta-based Nolan Transportation Group’s (NTG) logistics network and services, “from port to porch.”

Company officials said that these service upgrades are part of an effort to meet the growing customer needs for transporting critical shipments during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, through the usage of what it called a faster LCL service by leveraging expedited trucking, coupled with faster sailings on some trade lanes that will subsequently offer up faster shipper customer transit times. For example, the company said that this offering has enabled it to send urgent medical shipments from China to the...

XPO Logistics announced late yesterday it has acquired New York, New York-based UX Specialized Logistics, a North American provider of last mile logistics services for major retail chains and e-commerce shippers.

Even though the economy is clearly not running on all cylinders, things are better than they were just a few years ago, especially in related supply chain, freight transportation and logistics sectors. And as things slowly get better, pricing has returned to the forefront as a balancing act between shipper and carrier relations. That was a main takeaway at the CEO Panel of the recently-concluded NASSTRAC Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla.

Staying true to a major theme of expanding its service offerings—growth through acquisition—non-asset based third party logistics (3PL) services provider XPO Logistics announced today it has acquired the operating assets of Statesville, North Carolina-based East Coast Air Charter Inc. (ECAC), a non-asset, 3PL focused on expedited air charter brokerage.

Earlier this month, an investment group led by Bradley S. Jacobs, an entrepreneur and founder and owner of Jacobs Private Equity LLC, and Express-1 Expedited Solutions, a non-asset-based third party logistics (3PL) transportation services provider, said they have entered into an agreement in which Jacobs and a group of co-investors will invest up to $150 million in cash in Express-1.