Happy Friday, and happy October 28th. This is my favorite time of year. The leaves are changing colors, with vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows popping off the trees. The mornings are cool and crisp, and the afternoons warm up, which makes spending time out side that much more enjoyable. Fall sports are in in full swing, so I spend my weekends on the soccer and flag football fields. It also means the NFL season is starting to sort itself out. And last night, Tom Brady set yet another record. He has already established himself as the GOAT, with 7 Super Bowl rings, the most wins, passing yards, passing touchdowns, completions, Pro Bowl appearances, and division titles. Last night, Ravens outside linebacker Justin Houston sacked Brady on back-to-back plays in the second quarter to make Brady the most-sacked quarterback in NFL history. Sacked 555 times in his career, Brady surpassed Ben Roethlisberger, who was sacked 554 times during his 18-year career with the Steelers. That one is probably not a record he was hoping to break. And now on to this week’s logistics news.
- Amazon in the news:
- Apple calls on global supply chain to decarbonize by 2030
- UPS earnings rise as higher prices offset shipping slowdown
- California, Mexico sign historic toll- sharing pact for Otay Mesa East Port
- Sam’s Club finalizes chain-wide deployment of robotic inventory scanners
- Shipt to offer Dealivery Days program
Earlier this week, Amazon and Hawaiian Airlines announced that the retail giant will use Hawaiian Airlines to fly its first Airbus freighters on primary cargo routes and to Hawaii beginning in the second half of 2023. According to Peter Ingram, President and CEO at Hawaiian Airlines, Amazon selected the airline because of the carrier’s familiarity with the A330-300 aircraft, cargo handling experience, track record completing flights, and on-time performance as a passenger airline. The companies also announced that Amazon had hired Hawaiian to operate 10 Airbus A330-300 converted freighters between airports near Amazon fulfillment centers for at least eight years. Amazon will rent the planes from Seattle-based lessor Altavair, which is sending the used passenger aircraft to Airbus’ maintenance and overhaul partner to be remodeled for carrying cargo containers. An Amazon official said the A330s are replacement aircraft for older Boeing 767s that will exit the fleet in the next two years as their leases expire.
Amazon’s European operations have been at the forefront of the company’s sustainable transportation push. Last year, Amazon delivered more than 100 million packages to customer doorsteps in Europe using electric delivery vans and other zero-emission vehicles, per its sustainability report. In North America, it delivered over half a million packages with EVs, although that number should grow as the company ramps up its use of Rivian EVs in the U.S. over the next seven years. Amazon plans to invest more than 1 billion euros to more than double the size of its electric van delivery fleet in Europe over the next five years, the company announced Wednesday. The online retail giant currently has more than 3,000 electric vans delivering packages to customers in Europe. It expects to grow its fleet to more than 10,000 vans by 2025.
Apple has called on its global supply chain to take new steps to address their greenhouse gas emissions and take a comprehensive approach to decarbonization. The company will evaluate the work of its major manufacturing partners to decarbonize their Apple-related operations (including running on 100 percent renewable electricity) and will track yearly progress. Apple has been carbon neutral for its global corporate operations since 2020 and is laser-focused on its ambitious goal to become carbon neutral across its entire global supply chain and the life cycle of every product. Apple also announced new initiatives and investments aimed at helping decarbonize the global economy and promote innovative climate solutions for communities. These include significant investments in renewable energy in Europe, partnerships to support businesses transitioning to clean energy, and new support for projects that advance natural carbon removal and community-driven climate solutions around the world.
United Parcel Service Inc.’s profit climbed in the third quarter despite a downtick in shipping volumes as higher prices buoyed the business. UPS Chief Executive Carol Tomé said the global economy outside the U.S. softened in the third quarter, but the delivery company managed to adjust its networks to changes in parcel volume. Overall revenue for the Atlanta-based delivery company rose 4.2% to $24.2 billion, as revenue per piece shipped rose 8.6%, offsetting a 2.1% decline in the volume of packages. The drop in shipping levels from a year ago is the latest sign of slackening demand across various modes of transportation ahead of what is typically the industry’s busiest time of the year. UPS expects overall parcel volume in the coming peak period to decline from a year earlier, judging from its contracts with shippers. UPS executives added that they expect peak to be a little later this year, as inventory levels are in better shape than last year, when consumers were encouraged to shop earlier. There is also an extra delivery day during this peak season.
The United States and Mexico signed a historic agreement Monday to share toll revenue at the new Otay Mesa East port of entry. Representatives of SANDAG and Caltrans joined U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and Supervisor Nora Vargas at the signing ceremony in Mexico City. The agreement calls for a single toll collection point on the U.S. side of Route 11, a toll rate set by SANDAG, and designates the North American Development Bank as custodian and distributor of the toll funds. The agreement comes just weeks after SANDAG received a $150 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for construction of the new border crossing facility and related transportation infrastructure. Officials said the future facility will reduce wait times, curb emissions, power economic growth, and bolster bi-national trade along the busiest border region in the Western Hemisphere.
Walmart division Sam’s Club has completed a national chain-wide rollout of Inventory Scan towers that have been added to its existing fleet of robotic scrubbers in partnership with artificial intelligence (AI) company Brain Corp. Employing a first-of-its-kind dual-function design, the scanning accessory has been fitted to the floor scrubbers already deployed at Sam’s Club locations nationwide. The towers are powered by Brain Corp’s AI operating system, BrainOS, combining best-in-class autonomy and ease of use with equipment. Once installed on the scrubber, the cloud-connected Inventory Scan tower captures data as it moves autonomously around the club. As functionality is deployed, insights such as product localization, planogram compliance, product stock levels, and verification of pricing accuracy will be delivered to the club. Each function negates the need for time-consuming and potentially inaccurate manual processes that can affect product availability and member experience, or create waste caused by inaccurate ordering.
Ahead of the holiday season, Shipt will offer Dealivery Days, an exclusive three-day savings event beginning on Saturday, November 5. During this period, Shipt members and customers will be able to unlock deals on an array of products, with deep discounts of up to 30 percent off, from such retailers as Target, Walgreens, Meijer and Fred Meyer. Recognizing that inflation is affecting consumers across the country, Shipt is prioritizing deals for customers in the categories that have been hardest hit, including meat and pet products, both of which have seen an average price increase of more than 15 percent over the past year. Additionally, Shipt members, customers who have an annual subscription for access to free same-day delivery on orders over $35, will be receive early access to exclusive holiday Dealivery Days savings opportunities from Target, Meijer, participating grocery retailers, Walgreens, Rite-Aid and CVS, starting on Friday, November 4.
That’s all for this week. Enjoy the weekend and the song of the week, from the birthday boy Ben Harper, Burn One Down.
