Tomorrow is my birthday. And on Sunday, it will be 17 years since my father died.
I will be 55 years old tomorrow. My father was 73 when he died.
Every year, the gap between my age and 73 grows smaller.
The gap will be 18 years tomorrow, which sounds like a lot, but it really isn’t.
Which is why I’m going to the beach tomorrow and spending the week there.
And I’m eating ice cream. Lots of it. Because you never know
about tomorrow.
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Moving on, here’s the supply chain and logistics news that caught my attention this week:
- Union Pacific to Buy Norfolk Southern in $85 Billion Railroad Deal (NYT)
- Fact Sheet: The United States and European Union Reach Massive Trade Deal
- Trump’s Tariffs: Where He Started, What He Threatened, Where He Ended Up (WSJ – sub. req’d)
- Trump ends de minimis exemption for global low-cost goods (CNBC)
- DAT to acquire the Convoy Platform from Flexport
- Texas Highways Have a New Nighttime Creature: Autonomous Trucks (WSJ – sub. req’d)
- Competition for logistics workers heats up (DC Velocity)
- Why ‘Returnless Returns’ Can Pay Off for Companies (WSJ – sub. req’d)
Liberation Day Part II
On April 2, 2025 — or “Liberation Day” as President Trump called it — the administration announced “10% tariffs on all imports into the United States, and even higher tariffs on goods from about 60 countries or trading blocs that have a high trade deficit with the US,” as reported at the time by Bryan Mena at CNN. “That includes China and the European Union, which will be levied new duties of 34% and 20%, respectively.”
Those tariffs were ultimately paused for 90 days until July 9, then paused again until August 1, which is today.
So, where are we as I write this? Here is a snapshot provided by Chao Deng and Drew An-Pham at the Wall Street Journal:
Among big trading partners, tariffs on India will rise to 25%. Separately, Trump said he hiked tariffs on Canada to 35% effective Aug. 1.
Some countries have already struck deals with the U.S. South Korea, the European Union and Japan have agreed to a 15% tariff on their exports.
Other countries have gotten extensions. Trump threatened to impose 30% on Mexico, up from 25% currently, but said the hike wouldn’t happen for 90 days. The U.S. and China are discussing a possible extension to a tentative deal currently in place until mid-August.
By now, you should know that as you read this sentence, all of the above could have changed again. Which is why I won’t bother analyzing the implications of all this until the dust finally settles, and there is still a lot of dust in the air.
Convoy Platform Finds a New Home
Remember all the sound and fury surrounding industry marketplaces and exchanges in the late 90s and early 2000s? Most of them failed, while some transformed themselves into software-as-a-service providers.
History repeats itself, which led to the birth of “digital freight” several years ago, with Convoy being one of the hot startups — until it wasn’t hot anymore and was bought by Flexport in late 2023, reportedly for $16 million.
It’s now less than two years later and the Convoy platform has been sold again, this time to DAT. The price wasn’t officially disclosed, but the rumor mill says it was near $250 million. If true, that is some hefty return!
Commenting on the sale, Flexport CEO Ryan Peterson said the following in a blog post:
Over the past 18 months, we rebuilt and relaunched the platform as a neutral digital freight execution layer that serves brokers, carriers, and shippers across the market. We brought tens of thousands of high-quality carriers back onto the platform, reignited broker adoption, and proved that this technology has tremendous value and potential.
That investment paid off. The platform is now stronger, more widely used, and far more valuable than when we acquired it. As the Convoy Platform matured, it was clear that to achieve its full potential, it needed to be a neutral infrastructure layer.
I’m still digesting the news, but to me this falls under the broad umbrella of how Supply Chain Operating Networks continue to gain momentum (even if not in a linear fashion). As I wrote a few weeks ago in “Better With A Network: A Research Initiative 22 Years In The Making”:
Addressing these [growing supply chain challenges and requirements] cannot be solved or realized using the same level of thinking, the same technologies, and the same processes they have used in the past. Collaboration, especially with external trading partners, is no longer an option; it is imperative. We believe that Supply Chain Operating Networks are the best platform for driving change and innovation in supply chain management moving forward.
We also believe that Marc Andreessen’s famous quote from 2011 that “Software is eating the world” needs to get updated. Today, it is more accurate to say that “Software and networks are eating the world” — especially in the supply chain and logistics world.
It’s taken 22 years to reach this point, and more work is required to fully enable network effects in supply chain management, but I’m excited as ever for the road ahead.
If the $250 million price tag for the Convoy platform is true, it’s a big bet on the future of Supply Chain Operating Networks.
And with that, it’s time to unplug and head to the beach.
Have a meaningful weekend!
Song of the Week: “Pieces” by Tanlines
