Logistics M&A activity continues in 2023 even as cargo demand declines and the global economy remains in flux.
Yusen Logistics, the freight forwarding wing of Japan-based shipping and logistics company NYK Line, has acquired third-party logistics (3PL) and fulfillment provider Taylored Services from its private equity owner Saybrook for an undisclosed sum.
The deal expands Yusen Logistics’ Contract Logistics Group’s warehouse network in certain distribution areas of the U.S. and is designed to strengthen its end-to-end supply chain portfolio with specialized services, such as omnichannel retail, wholesale and e-commerce fulfillment.
Under the acquisition, Taylored Services will become part of the Yusen Logistics’ Americas branch.
Yusen Logistics will acquire Taylored’s 11 distribution centers, many of which are located near major U.S. ports including Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York/New Jersey, Savannah and Miami, as well as in Louisville, Ky. The facilities total approximately 2.9 million square feet of distribution space.
Yusen already has an extensive global reach, providing warehousing, distribution and supply chain services through a network of more than 24,000 employees and over 630 offices in 47 countries. The company had 1,900 employees in the U.S. prior to the acquisition, operating more than 5 million square feet of warehouse space.
Meanwhile, the N.J.-based Taylored Services functions as a multichannel logistics provider offering fulfillment, warehousing and transportation services, as well as drayage and transloading for retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers. Taylored also operates an in-house freight brokerage, Taylored Freight Services. The company provides services to a client base including Macy’s, Burlington, Nordstrom and Marc Jacobs, with expertise that extends to multiple brand and accessory categories.
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The respective Yusen Logistics and Taylored Services names and brands will remain in place.
“Combining the strengths of Taylored fulfillment centers in U.S. port-centric gateway markets with Yusen Logistics’ global and domestic capabilities in international freight forwarding, warehousing and transloading operations, and supply chain orchestration will allow us to provide a full suite of supply chain logistics solutions to our current and future customers,” said Mikhail Kholyavenko, CEO of Yusen Logistics Americas.
All of Taylored’s more than 350 employees will be retained. Matt Ennis, who was formerly the vice president of business development and client solutions at Yusen Logistics Americas, Inc., has been named the new president and CEO of Taylored Services.
Taylored’s president and CEO, Jim DeVeau, will be staying on in an advisory role during the transition.
In a statement, DeVeau said that Taylored employees and customers would gain access to an extensive global network, alongside supply chain solutions for international air and ocean freight forwarding and fourth-party logistics.
“We will do everything possible to ensure a smooth transition and a successful outcome for our new friends at Yusen and our employee-partners who drove the company’s five-fold growth,” said Taylored executive chairman Jonathan Rosenthal.
ArcBest sells off fleet maintenance unit for $100M, debuts freight movement tech
The Yusen/Taylored deal wasn’t the only recent development in the logistics field, which has also seen technology companies like BlueCargo and Slync generate new funding.
In more logistics consolidation, truckload management and freight brokerage company ArcBest is selling off its FleetNet America fleet maintenance and repair services unit to Cox Automotive for $100 million in cash.
FleetNet’s emergency mobile services offering users a network of more than 60,000 independent service providers throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Services include brokering emergency mobile assistance, mobile truck repair, towing and recovery, preventative maintenance and tire repair.
Paired with Cox Automotive’s expertise in facilitating marketplace transactions, delivering data insights and operating at global scale, the acquisition is aimed at improving flexibility, transparency and communication before and during the fleet maintenance process.
Aligning with the goal to eliminate breakdowns for its customers, Cox Automotive’s purchase of FleetNet also builds on the vision of its mobility fleet operations to deliver turnkey solutions backed by fleet experts and a service provider network, allowing customers to more easily find and connect with specialized service providers when necessary.
This proprietary technology, which includes FleetNet’s mobile app, is built to automate workflow to keep vehicles healthy and on the road, and fleet providers focused on their business.
“We are relentless operators and innovators, and we are obsessed with putting our customers, service providers and our people first, always,” said Alex Fraser, associate vice president of fleet operations, Cox Automotive Mobility. “We are invested in making operating a fleet more efficient, solving our customers’ problems on the road or in the garage.”
Selling FleetNet enables ArcBest to dive deeper into freight movement with the debut of Vaux, a hardware and software suite designed to enable warehouse employees to load and unload truck trailers faster—ultimately reducing trucker dwell time at warehouses.
Traditionally, trailers are loaded or unloaded piece by piece, which can often require workers to move individual pallets multiple times. But Vaux’s racking system is designed to sit underneath and around cargo inside trailer beds, enabling warehouse workers to latch a forklift onto a platform to push freight into a trailer or pull freight out in one move.
Vaux also has software for tracking items in transport, giving shippers visibility into the location of their freight. Bar codes on pallets are scanned as they are loaded so the software can trace the pallets using their location on the racking system.
By reducing dwell time, which the American Transportation Research Institute calculated was 1 hour and 54 minutes per stop in 2021, truckers would have more time to complete their trips. Federal regulations limit most commercial truck drivers to 11 hours of driving over a 14-hour workday.
“As a customer-focused logistics company, we are aware of the supply chain challenges our customers face related to freight handling inefficiencies. The environment isn’t the same as it was even 10 years ago, and we have heard from our customers that they need a solution,” said Judy R. McReynolds, chairman, president and CEO, ArcBest, in a statement. “In many of our customers’ warehouses, the traditional way of loading and unloading trailers one piece at a time is impacting their supply chains. With Vaux, our innovation teams have developed solutions to address these challenges, allowing transformation in the way freight moves.”