Borderlands: project44 Promotes Freight Visibility In The USMCA Era; Mexico Auto Industry Prepares For Coronavirus

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="project44 Promotes Freight Visibility In USMCA Era” data-reactid=”19″>project44 Promotes Freight Visibility In USMCA Era

Now that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement has been approved in the U.S., freight-tech industry officials said key partnerships and gaining transparency across the complete value chain are more important than ever.

Tommy Barnes, head of global network partnerships at project44, said in an interview with FreightWaves that the company “allows carriers to have tremendous speed to market and kind of high-fidelity data and predictive business intelligence to make decisions they want to make on behalf of their particular clients.”

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Chicago-based project44, a visibility solutions provider, is connected to thousands of carriers worldwide, providing coverage for all electronic logging devices (ELDs) and telematics devices across all transportation modes.” data-reactid=”22″>Chicago-based project44, a visibility solutions provider, is connected to thousands of carriers worldwide, providing coverage for all electronic logging devices (ELDs) and telematics devices across all transportation modes.

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="project44 also recently earned the No. 2 spot on&nbsp;FreightWaves’ FreightTech25 list for 2019.” data-reactid=”23″>project44 also recently earned the No. 2 spot on FreightWaves’ FreightTech25 list for 2019.

Barnes said when regulatory changes occur in any country or industry, there is always the possibility it could affect visibility and supply chain transparency.

“The global transport space is like a bouncing ball. There are a lot of changes that occur in the regulatory space and the economic space,” Barnes said. “So if product is coming from a port or a rail yard or if it’s from a supplier location, you have to stitch visibility across multiple constituents. The key is to be flexible and nimble.”

To that end, project44 continues to expand its ecosystem of partners to help retailers, manufacturers and distributors gain predictive and actionable supply chain insights globally.

In the last few months, the company has announced integrations with the SAP Logistics Business Network, IBM Sterling Supply Chain Suite and more.

Barnes said project44’s goal is to provide end-to-end visibility for clients in any country — even countries such as Mexico, which has been known to frustrate carriers and third-party logistics providers.

“We operate in over 50 countries, including Mexico, and really it’s not that different,” Barnes said. “Obviously they have ports and port operating systems, rail and road applications. There’s also a telematics environment present in Mexico today as well.”

Barnes said project44’s major goal is to “stitch” ports, rail yards and telematics together — regardless of what country they are in.

“If it comes through a port, then moves via road through Mexico, through a transload to the U.S., what a customer wants is that stitch layer visibility that says, ‘Here’s the truth.’ It’s high fidelity, it tells me exactly how to manage my inventory, my finished product, and gives me the view of truth so I can manage my network more efficiently,” Barnes said.

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Amazon Leases 1 Million-Aquare-Foot Warehouse At DFW International Airport ” data-reactid=”32″>Amazon Leases 1 Million-Aquare-Foot Warehouse At DFW International Airport

Amazon, the Seattle-based digital commerce giant, is leasing the 1 million-square-foot DFW Commerce Center building near the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, according to filings with the state of Texas.

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Amazon.com, Inc.&nbsp;(NASDAQ: AMZN) has not made an official announcement, but the transaction follows several moves to significantly increase Amazon’s distribution presence in north Texas.” data-reactid=”34″>Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has not made an official announcement, but the transaction follows several moves to significantly increase Amazon’s distribution presence in north Texas.

Amazon signed a 10-year lease at the Eastpoint Distribution Center in Dallas, according to a release from Dalfen Industrial. The 419,626-square-feet center is located in east Dallas directly across from the Union Pacific intermodal yard. Amazon began occupying the entire facility Sept. 1.

The Dallas Morning News recently reported that Amazon will occupy a 465,450-square-foot facility at Hunt Southwest’s Interstate Crossing development in Fort Worth.

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Mexico Auto Industry Preparing For Coronavirus Impact” data-reactid=”37″>Mexico Auto Industry Preparing For Coronavirus Impact

The coronavirus in China has not yet affected the import of auto parts for Mexico’s automotive industry, according to several of the country’s top industry officials.

Alberto Bustamante González, director of foreign trade for Mexico’s National Auto Parts Industry Association (INA), said the coronavirus has not caused any shortages of auto parts or disrupted the supply chain yet.