Who will be the winners in data center logistics? @Kuehne_Nagel just won a long-term contract to provide @Amazon with data center supply chain services. As Amazon tends to do when they award contracts to partners that are providing scarce capacity, they are also receiving options to buy K+N stock, so that as K+N benefits from Amazon, both parties gain additional upside. How will @GXOLogistics, DSV and other global giants respond? And will pure plays emerge focused on data center supply chain solutions? freightwaves.com/news/kuehne…

Freight inflation is coming back with a vengeance. And as one logistics executive said to @WSJ, “Chaos increases prices.” If you are a Fortune 500 CSCO, a logistics company, a trucking provider, or a supply chain software company, you need a strategy. Inflation and volatility affects the entire industry.

Big news in logistics M&A today! $CHRW is buying $RXO. This is the largest acquisition in @CHRobinson history. At $5.8 billion, it is transformative. The deal makes sense for lots of reasons. It gives CH Robinson a major scale advantage. It reflects a growing market interest in consolidation in logistics. It will be a catalyst for other logistics companies to make acquisitions. It showcases how larger companies have advantages in a post-Montgomery legal environment. And at 13x 2026 adjusted EBITDA (including synergies), it’s a reasonable valuation. This is good news for the freight brokerage sector. It shows that the market is investable, and that smart strategic companies are expecting continued recovery and growth. wsj.com/business/deals/c-h-r…

Here's the story about why this is happening and how it is rippling through the economy wsj.com/business/inflation-c…

Smart move by ports leader @DP_World to invest in trucking as an alternative bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

How does government regulation create opportunity in the supply chain world? While most owners dread increased government regulation, the reality is that changing laws lead to new opportunities. In the 1980s, syringes and blood vials washed up on shores in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Around the same time, AIDS had entered the public lexicon, and public fears were increasing. Congress responded with The Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988. The act forced hospitals and clinics to track medical waste from manufacturing to distribution to destruction. And it required waste processors to get licensed. While this added significant costs to the process, it also created a new industry. Small waste processors struggled with the new costs of compliance. But a consolidation emerged, led by @Stericycle_Inc, which would become the #1 provider in the medical waste sector. Stericycle would ultimate sell to @WasteManagement for $7 billion. Fast forward to today. California is debating regulation for the cold chain sector. On the surface, this could appear to be bad news for cold chain companies. But in reality, could it lay the foundation for a super-cycle in cold chain growth? Who will the winners be? fleetowner.com/refrigerated-…

Are robots coming to automate warehousing? Absolutely. @mavenrobotics just raised $100M from RoboStrategy Advisors, LocalGlobe, Vine Ventures, and XTX Ventures. They are focused on "mixed palletizing," e.g. pallets comprised of goods from different factories or sources. And Hamza Derbas and the team draw on experience in electric vehicles and self-driving cars. Expect much more innovation in this field! techcrunch.com/2026/09/10/ma…

Autonomous trucking software firm @plusdocs is going public in an $800 million SPAC deal. Good sign for the sector! share.google/dKiN43deu82ZuRM…

You know California trucking regulations are bad when the Babylon Bee makes fun of them

The @GroupDescartes acquisition of Extensiv is noteworthy for several reasons. It is Descartes' fourth acquisition this year. It also extends from transportation onto warehousing and fulfillment management. Descartes is building a complete suite of solutions for the supply chain that continues to broaden. How will Blue Yonder, WiseTech, Infor, Oracle and other supply chain software competitors respond in the coming year? freightwaves.com/news/descar…

Consolidation is picking up in the last mile. Food delivery is first. Commercial delivery is second. The @Uber acquisition of @deliveryherocom for $15B, which the boards just recommended, will cement Uber's leadership in Europe as well as the US. Who will be next? wsj.com/business/ubers-15-bi…

Good sign of multinational logistics interest in Latin America! @DHL is acquiring a freight forwarder in Uruguay. share.google/Bnte7lmnTCv0q3q…

Can you imagine a fully-automated warehouse? With Tetromino, @Amazon is taking another big step toward this vision. They plan to spend $530 million in the next 3 years. What is the payoff? Tetromino "could process packages at roughly 2.5 times the rate of its existing delivery station design." Expect a race between Amazon, @FedEx, @UPS, @DHL and others to reduce the fully loaded supply chain cost per unit. Who will win? businessinsider.com/amazon-t…

Driverless trucking generated a lot of hype 5 years ago. Today, the hype is quieter, but are we finally witnessing breakthroughs in traction? @Gatik_AI just raised $200M to scale up. They are apparently now at $600M of contracted revenue. And they plan to mass-produce thousands of trucks with Isuzu to meet demand. Is this an inflection point for autonomous trucking? Kudos to Gautam Narang, Byron Knight, Koch Disruptive Technologies, and all involved. freightwaves.com/news/gatik-…

Drones are going to blanket the US with last mile delivery networks. @Amazon just announced plans to make 1 million deliveries and expand to nearly 500 cities this year. Prime Air will deliver in less than an hour, and in some cases just a few minutes. The initial parameters are for deliveries of less than 5 pounds in a radius of less than 7.5 miles. This means food and small packages could be coming to you by drone shortly! This is going to transform food delivery and other last-mile supply chain networks. cnbc.com/2026/08/19/amazon-p…

Ecommerce is continuing to displace retail. @Walmart just announced $186B in quarterly sales. Notably, more than 100% of the growth came from ecommerce, as retail stores declined. The need for compelling ecommerce supply chain solutions is as great as ever!

Will Amazon's supply chain announcement roil ecommerce fulfillment? I'm hearing two very different things from the markets. On the one hand, many CEOs of ecommerce fulfillment companies are bullish about 2026, and continuing to grow rapidly and profitably. On the other hand, many PE firms are spooked by Amazon's announcement. Some are worried that fulfillment companies dependent on $AMZN could be obsolete. And others are worried that even fulfillment companies totally independent of Amazon could still be materially harmed. Who do you think is right? And if you are an ecommerce fulfillment executive, what are you doing differently to ensure your long-term growth remains strong?

Meanwhile @Walmart just announced 30-minute-last mile delivery in 33 markets. The battle against @Amazon and others is accelerating! chainstoreage.com/walmart-ta…

@Amazon is taking its drone delivery overseas. By expanding into the UK, Amazon is demonstrating its plans to turn Prime Air into a global offering. Imagine how this will change customer expectations in last mile! supplychain247.com/article/a…

Why are warehousing companies buying record levels of robots? In North America alone, we've seen over 18,000 robots and $1.2 billion spent in H1 2026 for warehousing. This is a 7% increase in value versus H1 2025, and represents a post-COVID record. Smart warehousing CEOs, like Patrick Kelleher of @GXOLogistics, see cost savings, operational flexibility, and resilience gains. Expect to see much more growth in warehouse automation! wsj.com/logistics-report/why…