Aljex Software Inc., a vendor of software and systems for third-party logistics providers and carriers, is offering free accounts to carriers and brokers willing to serve as beta testers for software improvements.

CTL Global Inc. has opened a new warehouse in Bensenville, Ill. The facility was designed to meet the needs of the company's clients while accommodating future growth within its final-mile delivery division, Continental Transportation Solutions.

Nearly one-third of distribution centers are entirely outsourced, according to the survey-based Supply Chain Metrics Report released by the Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium.

The U.S. arm of Air Menzies International (AMI) has launched click2ship Imports, the import version of its online, door-to-door express wholesale service for air freight.

Performance metrics for warehouses and distribution centers have steadily improved since 2003, when the Warehousing Education and Research Council first conducted its annual "DC Measures" study, says Joe Tillman, senior researcher at Supply Chain Visions and co-author of the study. Moreover, the gap has significantly narrowed between best-in-class companies and those lower on the performance scale, he says.

Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. has opened new service centers in Wisconsin and Southern California. The Duluth Service Center, located on five acres in Superior, Wis., will serve customers in Twin Ports and more than a dozen cities in northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, the company.

Mike Cleland, vice president of NorthHighland, discusses what biotech and pharma companies need to do to comply with new regulations for tracking products throughout the supply chain.

Zepol Corporation, a trade intelligence company, reports that U.S. import shipment volume for June, measured in TEUs, was down 3.7 percent from May, but is up 4.4 percent from June 2011. Similarly, Q2 of 2012 has topped last year at this time by 4.7 percent. Although there was a drop from last month, June had the second-highest TEU imports so far this year, outdoing January by a slight 1 percent. Last year saw a comparable trend in the summer months with a moderate dip in June, but spikes in July and August.