Logistics

Cold-storage specialist Lineage Logistics is branching into rail.

A trade war with China and the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have U.S. companies starting to question a decades-old strategy of shifting manufacturing operations to low-cost labor markets in China and other Asian nations.

XPO Logistics has completed its acquisition of the majority of Swiss firm Kuehne + Nagel’s European logistics, the company announced Jan. 4.

The nation’s ports continued their breakneck pace in November as imported products arrived and unloaded at a record or near-record rate at facilities on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

U.S. railroads have completed installation of an automated crash-prevention system that covers 57,536 miles of freight and passenger tracks ahead of an end-of-year deadline that was previously extended, the Federal Railroad Administration announced Dec. 29.

U.S. railroads are back, with freight volume posting the first quarterly gain in two years.

The trucking industry stands poised for a solid start in 2021, building on an unprecedented 2020 during which the U.S. economy relied heavily on truckers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robotics company Nuro announced Dec. 23 that it has acquired Ike Robotics Inc., which builds automated trucking technology.

FedEx Corp. announced Dec. 28 that it has completed its acquisition of ShopRunner, marking an expansion of the company’s e-commerce footprint.

Commercial U.S. drone flights are set to receive a huge boost as soon as the week starting Dec. 28 with requirements that most of the devices must transmit a radio beacon with a digital license plate.