Distribution

Waymo and Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, announced that they are forming a “broad, global, strategic partnership” to deploy fully driverless trucks. Daimler will integrate Waymo’s autonomous driving technology, widely considered to be among the best in the world, into its fleet of heavy-duty Freightliner Cascadia semi-trailer trucks.

Both Waymo and Daimler were independently working on self-driving trucks until coming together to form this partnership. Waymo had purchased a small fleet of Peterbilt trucks, which it has retrofitted with autonomous driving sensors and software. It currently is testing those trucks in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

Recent industrial action has caused a massive backlog of empty containers in Sydney and to a lesser extent in other capital city ports in Australia, according to Shipping Australia Limited (SAL).

Ocean shipping companies lose money and revenue-earning opportunities if empty boxes are uselessly hanging about in the country and SAL said in its announcement that one way to tackle the backlog is the use of “sweeper” vessels, boxships to pick up and take away empty boxes.

But the ongoing container disruption in Sydney due to industrial action has resulted in availability issues on additional berth slots, which shipping companies need to bring in the sweeper ships.

The National Chamber of Pineapple Producers and Exporters (CANAPEP) has requested that the authorities of the Ministry of Finance and Public Security scan 100% of the containers loaded with fresh and industrial pineapple that the country exports, regardless of the destination port, to prevent these…

On Thursday, the final day of Cool Logistics 2020, the first speaker on the topic 'Rethinking cold chain nodes & modes to market' was a well known face at the conference: Albert Cheung Founder, JC Food Republic, Hong Kong. He spoke about the Japan Reefer on Rail project and the future of rail technology.…

A food distribution platform managed by Jacob Weiss, N20, was awarded $25,000 in Friedman School’s annual Entrepreneurship Competition

A team of alumni from Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy who are supporting small farmers in Sacramento Valley, California, took home the top prize in Friedman School’s Food and Nutrition Entrepreneurship Competition.

Amazon’s fleet of delivery trucks is finally getting a little greener. This morning, the e-commerce titan revealed its first custom electric delivery vehicle: A big, surprisingly cutesy van built in partnership with electric transport startup Rivian....

In January 2017, Chilean Customs inspectors acted on a tip from a whistleblower: The country’s prized crop of raspberries was under threat. Inspectors raided the offices of Frutti di Bosco, a little-known fruit trading company on the second floor of a tower block in downtown Santiago. The files, company…

The Giumarra Cos., Los Angeles, is testing deliveries of fruit by planes without pilots and has had its first successful flight.

Tim Riley, president of Giumarra Cos., called the program “groundbreaking” and will transform the future of the industry.

Giumarra is working with start-up Robotics Corp., Mountain View, Calif., using technology developed by the company. Giumarra is pursuing the program “to help address supply chain and delivery challenges within the fresh produce industry,” according to a news release.

The company’s first flight, a 200-mile trip from Reedley Municipal Airport to Whiteman Airport, Los Angeles, was Aug. 7.

“This test proved that the technology is viable and will evolve the way we bring products to market by enabling us to deliver fresher, riper fruit anywhere in the country, including remote food deserts, at speeds never before seen,” Riley said in the release.

The automated Cessna 172 Skyhawk included a pilot and engineer on board “for safety assurance,” according to the release. Reliable Robotics’ first fully autonomous flight was last year. It has also successfully landed the larger Cessna 208 Caravan and is in the process of certifying it for the program as “an ideal for air shipments of produce,” according to the release.

An empty London industrial unit has been transformed into a sophisticated indoor farming space dedicated to growing fresh herbs which can be delivered to the city’s restaurants within hours of harvesting all year round. The new Vertical Farm facility is being operated by Harvest London, a company…

Mastronardi Produce is no stranger to creating growth and opportunity. In a move that will continue the company’s unprecedented growth, Mastronardi has announced the establishment of a new distribution center in British Columbia on the west coast of Canada. The distribution center will serve the Western…

There are many reasons why a government or international organization may advocate the introduction of urban indoor farming. The association for vertical farming looks at some of the main motivations for bringing agriculture closer to the consumer. While urban indoor agriculture may have seemed a…

Earlier this month Israel and the UAE signed an historic agreement to normalise relations, marking a big development in economic collaboration and ending a ban on trade between the Gulf Arab state and Israel. Now, Danish shipping giant Maersk MAERSKb.CO said it will now transport ocean cargo between the…

Canadians are increasingly interested in pineapples coming from new countries of origin, including Colombia and Ecuador. “Our supplies are steady right now. We’ve probably tripled our volume over last year,” says Vaughn Smith of Global Citrus Group in Brantford, ON. He notes that Global Citrus has been…

The Indian state of West Bengal is suffering an acute potato crisis due to a lack of availability of cold storage facilities. While the state produces 11.5 million tons of potatoes annually, currently there is a storage capacity of only 7 million tons. To add to the problem, the government controls the…

U.S. Customs & Border Protection Office of Field Operations at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility intercepted $2.36 million worth of alleged methamphetamine and heroin in a commercial shipment of fresh produce arriving from Mexico.

“This interception of dangerous drugs truly exemplifies the teamwork of our officers working at our cargo facility,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, port of Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas. “CBP continues to analyze smuggling methods and utilize intelligence, experience and technology to keep our border communities safe and secure.”

On Sep. 16, 2020, at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge cargo facility, a CBP officer referred a tractor/trailer hauling a commercial shipment of fresh produce for further inspection. The secondary examination included the assistance of a (canine team) and subsequently officers discovered suspected narcotics hidden within the shipment. Officers removed 162 packages of alleged methamphetamine weighing 85.63 pounds and 30 packages of alleged heroin weighing 16.22 pounds. These drugs are valued at $1.7 million and $649,000, respectively.

Now’s not the time to let our guard down when it comes to protecting our U.S. borders, urged National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) president A.V. Roth. Unfortunately, an estimated $630-million shortfall in Agriculture Quarantine Inspections (AQI) funding through the end of fiscal year 2021 has the pork industry very concerned about future funding for agricultural inspections at U.S ports of entry.

“Pork producers are already facing an unprecedented crisis as a result of the COVID-19 human health pandemic. An outbreak of ASF or other foreign animal diseases in the U.S. would be a devastating blow to hog farmers already teetering on the edge,” Roth said during a media teleconference on Thursday.

Following up on last week’s efforts by the Chinese Ministry of Transport to curb runaway spot rates, United States authorities have threatened to take carriers to court if they discover evidence of collusion in the container shipping industry’s highly profitable response to the global pandemic.

The US government’s Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) called a private meeting yesterday (16 September) to discuss what it described as “market trends in trade lanes serving the US and actions taken by both individual carriers and global alliances in response to Covid-19 and related impacts to the shipping industry”.

Spot rates between Asia and the US peaked last week at US$3,711/FEU on the west coast and US$4,496/FEU to the east coast, according to Freightos’ FBX01 Daily and FBX03 Daily Indexes.

The resulting surge in carrier profitability and a miserable peak season for shippers dealing with soaring transportation costs have surprised all leading analysts.

The blue rigid EPS-trays won't longer be used in 2021. A foldable crate will be the alternative, but that won't be a suitable solution for everyone. Therefore, for several growers, it becomes more interesting to start using their own pool trays. One of the options on the market are the transport boxes of…

The catering industry is slowly getting back on its feet after the difficult first half of the year. This means a sigh of relief for the wholesalers who have specialised in this sector. However, normality has not yet returned; public festivals in particular are painfully absent from the annual turnover…

Fruit maturity is an essential factor for fresh retailers to make economical distribution scheduling and scientific market strategies. In the context of farm-to-door mode, the fresh retailers could incorporate the postharvest maturity time, picking time and distribution time to deliver high-quality…

The Industry Advisory Group (IAG) of the IPPC ePhyto Solution calls on governments to support the adoption of ePhyto to facilitate international agricultural trade, which would be crucial in safeguarding global food security beyond the Covid-19 recovery period.  Global trading operations of plant products…

In Pune, start-ups like Farmpal have opened new collection centres to help growers deliver fresh produce easily by connecting growers to their markets and cutting off the middlemen.  Going back for one moment: India grew more grain in 2017 than ever before and the government’s agriculture budget rose 111 per…

A 19-minute video has been released on YouTube, showing the transport of local bananas throughout the region, selling the produce on certain hotspots. The shots of dozens of mopeds carrying the bananas is a sight to see!

Consumers are currently able to purchase one of the most famous peaches in the Spanish region of Aragon: the one under the PDO Melocotón de Calanda, which is known for ripening inside a paper bag. This protects it from pests, making it possible for it to receive practically no phytosanitary treatments.…

US: Albertsons embraces micro-fulfillment to power e-commerceTo support e-commerce growth, Albertsons Cos. has expanded its partnership with automation specialist Takeoff Technologies to deploy micro-fulfillment centers (MFCs) to fill online grocery orders. Currently, Albertsons has two Takeoff-powered…

Importing bees is a challenge Rod Scarlett knows well. When most international flights stopped in March, thousands of queen bees were stranded abroad, and Scarlett, the executive director of the Canadian Honey Council, had to figure out how to get them to Canada on time. “The early spring is when we…

In refrigerated containers the chilled air often short circuits, not keeping the fresh produce at the desired temperature. “Cold air is lazy, it takes the path of least resistance,” explains Barry Hugo, managing director at Dunlash South Africa and Refrigerated Air Flow Technologies (RAFT).  This challenge…

Since mid-August, green folding crates have replaced the blue crates in the freshmarts of Colruyt Group's food stores (Colruyt Lowest Prices, OKay, Bio-Planet and Spar Colruyt Group). Four folding crates take up as much room as one old crate saving the group transport and space. The transition from blue…

Amazon.com Inc’s drone service has received federal approval that will allow the company to begin testing commercial deliveries through its drone fleet, the e-commerce giant said. Amazon Prime Air, the company’s special service delivering packages in 30 minutes or less, has been approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to test delivering orders using autonomous drones.

At Windset Farms, one of North America’s largest sustainable suppliers of naturally grown produce, Nunhems talked with David Coronado (Senior Cucumber Grower) and Shiho Uzawa (Marketing Manager) about the changing demand for greenhouse grown cucumbers and their new delivery program, Windset Direct. “The…