A2b Fulfillment, a third-party order fulfillment and customer service specialist, has pledged $150,000 to the Pete Nance Boys and Girls Club’s Capital Campaign for the charity’s new facility in Greensboro, Georgia. The company has funded $60,000 to date and will remit another $90,000 over the next three years. Upon completion, the new Pete Nance Boys and Girls Club building will be equipped with a STEM lab, study and mentoring rooms, an arts room, and a gym.
Qatar Airways Cargo and global transport and logistics company Kuehne+Nagel have donated airfreight services to UNICEF as part of the “1 million kilos” charitable initiative. Triggered by the Covid-19 crisis, the “1 million kilos” initiative is part of the larger “We Qare” project of Qatar Airways Cargo, through which the airline donated 1 million kilos of freight for humanitarian aid during 2020.
Industrial automation specialist Berkshire Grey partnered with food-rescue organizations City Harvest and the Greater Boston Food Bank to distribute food to needy families for Thanksgiving. In addition to donating about 40,000 pounds of food, Berkshire Grey supplied robotic systems to pick and pack shelf-stable food into boxes.
Shipping and logistics company CMA CGM donated and distributed 10,000 18-pound turkeys to families in areas hit hard by Covid-19. Turkeys were provided to families in Lake Charles, Louisiana; Houston; Los Angeles; Nashville, Tennessee; and Norfolk, Virginia.
Material handling equipment company Raymond Storage Concepts Inc. donated a Raymond 8210 pallet truck (top photo) to the Inter Parish Ministry food pantry in Cincinnati.
I have always been a train buff. One of my greatest thrills was to ride in a locomotive for a story I wrote a number of years ago. Trains are simply a great way to travel: They’re comfortable, you get to enjoy the scenery, and you’re spared the monotony of long-distance driving. While the U.S. has a fine system of Amtrak trains, you have to experience high-speed trains in Europe or Japan to fully appreciate the rail travel experience.
Trains are not only a great way to carry people; they’re also the most efficient way to move freight. We have been relying on rail for transporting goods since the first steam locomotive was built in England in 1804.
At one time, rail ruled the world. That’s no longer the case: Railroads transport far fewer people today than they did 80 years ago, and many former railway lines have been converted into bike paths and hiking trails.
Yet the railroads remain a vital economic force, carrying about 30% of all freight transported in the United States. And despite the bike path conversions, the U.S. rail system is the largest in the world, boasting 140,000 miles of track, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. Rail freight today is an $80-billion-a-year industry, with seven Class 1 railroads, 22 regional lines, and 584 short-line railroads.
There are good reasons to move freight by rail. For one thing, trains are far more fuel-efficient than trucks, able to move a ton of freight 500 miles on a single gallon of fuel compared to 134 miles for an 18-wheeler. Rail transport is cheaper as well: Moving a ton of cargo by rail costs about a third as much as an all-truck move, and a combined truck-rail intermodal move costs about half as much as the all-highway equivalent.
Then there are the infrastructure-related benefits. One 100-car freight train can move as much cargo as several hundred over-the-road trucks; collectively, the rails take an estimated 800 million trucks off the highways each year, according to the Association of American Railroads. That’s a win on a couple of counts. First, it can help cut down on road congestion. Second, it reduces wear and tear on highways at a time when our roads are crumbling and funding for repairs is limited. In contrast, the U.S. railroads spend $25 billion—about 19% of their revenue—each year to maintain their tracks.
So the next time you’re stopped at a rail crossing watching 100 cars go by, don’t mutter under your breath. Instead, appreciate that those railcars are reducing congestion, creating efficiencies, saving money, and helping the planet a bit, too.
The Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based company said it added the tool as a “2025 C.H. Robinson customer research study” reveals that more than one third of shippers say they need more data to help them find savings on tariffs and duties, a rate which is three times higher than last year.
“This tool makes navigating trade complexity faster and more effective,” Mike Short, President of Global Forwarding at C.H. Robinson, said in a release. “Whether they’re looking to reroute freight, consolidate entries, or rethink supplier relationships, we give shippers the insights to act decisively and stay ahead. For example, with this tool a national retailer could identify high-volume SKUs coming from one point of origin, then quickly compare total duty spend along various alternative sources—then reroute future supply where needed.”
More broadly, market volatility is a persistent challenge for global shippers. In just the past few months, shippers have faced a wave of evolving U.S. trade actions—from Section 301 and Section 232 duties to IEEPA reciprocal and fentanyl-related tariffs—with more changes expected. This makes it essential for importers to have self-serve technology that helps them accurately assess costs and optimize their strategies at speed, the company said.
“The combination of these tools gives shippers an unmatched view into their supply chains so they can optimize sourcing and customs strategies on the fly and meaningfully reduce landed costs,” said Short. “With rapid changes in tariff and trade policies causing uncertainty for customers, our team is working hard to bring clarity wherever possible.”
Austrian freight forwarder Gebrüder Weiss has expanded into Thailand, saying today that the move strengthens its market presence in Southeast Asia and expands its transport and logistics network in one of the world's most economically dynamic regions.
In 2024, Thailand posted export volumes worth approximately $300 billion, up 5% from the previous year. Industrial goods account for the majority of its outbound trade at 86%, with key categories including electronics, vehicles, machinery, and food.
Gebrüder Weiss’ new team of 20 employees in Bangkok provides international air and sea freight transportation, customs handling, and national and cross-border land transport services.
With its entry into the Thai market, the company now has an active presence in nine countries across the East and South-East Asia region and Oceania, including: Australia, Greater China, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam. That regional network now spans 35 locations with around 800 employees
“The new country organization allows us to close a strategic gap and create direct connections to central Asia-Pacific markets for our customers,” Lothar Thoma, Managing Director Air & Sea at Gebrüder Weiss, said in a release. “Thailand is an important export location with strong trade links to the USA, China, Japan, Australia, and Singapore – markets where we are also represented with locations of our own.”
Businesses face mounting pressure from investors to show measurable returns on their investments in artificial intelligence (AI), but 74% say their projects face barriers such as infrastructure costs, disconnected data silos, or slow data ingestion, according to a survey from data analytics provider Qlik.
The data from a survey of 500 business leaders conducted in April shows a gap between near-universal strategic importance placed on AI and companies’ ability to operationalize it with real-world results, Philadelphia-based Qlik said.
Specifically, nearly 87% of respondents describe executing with AI as no longer optional, but core to their competitive strategy. And yet seven in ten organizations struggling with data integration specifically cite complex toolchains and fragmented data sources as their primary roadblocks.
"Organizations clearly recognize that merely investing in AI is insufficient; what matters now is delivering tangible outcomes," Mike Capone, CEO of Qlik, said in a release. "Yet, as our research underscores, the road to production AI remains blocked by persistent hurdles—cost, complexity, and data fragmentation.”
In addition to infrastructure challenges, trust in AI-generated insights remains a crucial factor. The survey highlights a significant trust gap within organizational ranks—88% of executives express at least moderate confidence in AI insights, but full, audit-ready trust drops to 42%. Notably, C-suite executives are 31% more likely than directors to express complete trust in AI-driven insights (48% vs. 37%).
The balance of power in the global logistics and industrial real estate sector is tilting towards landlords, marking a “significant shift” with wide-reaching implications for occupiers, investors, and developers, according to a report from Cushman & Wakefield.
The change comes as global supply chains are reconfigured and cost pressures evolve, Chicago-based Cushman & Wakefield said in its “Waypoint 2025” report, which draws on insights from more than 120 markets worldwide.
The research reveals that the proportion of tenant-favorable markets is expected to fall sharply from 52% today to just 28% by 2028. This change is being driven by constrained supply, robust demand, and rising costs across key inputs such as rent, labor, construction materials, and electricity. At the same time, landlord-favorable markets are forecast to rise from 24% to 35%, signaling a more competitive leasing environment in the years ahead for occupiers.
“With the global logistics and industrial sector set to shift in favor of landlords, occupiers should move quickly to secure current assets or plan for new facilities, particularly in markets where vacancy rates may tighten,” Sally Bruer, Head of EMEA Logistics & Industrial and Retail Research, said in a release. “As markets move toward more landlord-favorable conditions, confidence in the delivery of new supply may grow, provided construction costs remain manageable.”
In the Americas, there is expected to be a significant shift away from the current tenant market conditions and towards neutral and landlord positions. The current tenor is that 72% of markets are more tenant-friendly, but this will reduce to just 23% in the next three years.
“We’re witnessing a rebalancing of global supply chains that is accelerating demand in key nearshoring markets like Mexico and the southeastern United States,” Jason Tolliver, Cushman’s President of Americas Logistics & Industrial, said. “This window of tenant-favorable conditions won’t last forever. For many occupiers, now is the time to act on mission-critical sites before the balance tips.”
The report also explores how cost pressures are reshaping location strategies. For example, labor costs vary significantly across regions, with average logistics and industrial wages in Switzerland nearly double the global average, while countries such as India and Vietnam remain far more cost-effective. These disparities are prompting companies to reassess their site selection criteria, taking into account not only wages but also energy reliability and the potential for automation, Cushman & Wakefield said.