Nov 28, 2017   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Ryder Forms Strategic Partnership with Plug and Play to Support Development of Innovative Supply Chain and Logistics Startups

Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE: R), a leader in commercial fleet management, dedicated transportation, and supply chain solutions, announced today that the Company is expanding its commitment to innovation with several new partnerships, including sponsoring Plug and Play, a global startup ecosystem and venture fund specializing in the development of early-to-growth stage technology startups in 12 verticals.

“Ryder is constantly looking for new ways to promote innovation and efficiency within our customers’ supply chain operations and this latest partnership with Plug and Play will help us accomplish just that by accelerating the development of some of the greatest emerging technologies to date,” said Steve Sensing, Ryder President of Global Supply Chain Solutions. “We’re confident Ryder’s unparalleled engineering and analytics expertise will advance the strategic priorities of Plug and Play and its partners, and ultimately drive innovation within supply chain and logistics.”

Ryder’s sponsorship of Plug and Play will focus on accelerating projects across a variety of industries, addressing the need for supply chain management and effective logistical operations in almost every type of business. Ryder will engage with a select group of startups to provide executive mentoring, technical expertise, and the opportunity to potentially pilot startup solutions within its own operations. This will create an added benefit beyond standard startup scouting.

“Plug and Play is proud to receive support and industry expertise from Ryder as the newest addition to our Plug and Play Supply Chain & Logistics program,” said Saeed Amidi, Founder and CEO of Plug and Play. “At Plug and Play, we believe that early stage companies have the potential to develop innovative solutions that will vastly improve businesses and lives – from new tracking technologies for shipments, to AI and robotics, to new innovative solutions for last-mile delivery. Tapping into Ryder’s supply chain engineering expertise will help Plug and Play accelerate and grow world-class startups in supply chain and logistics faster and at a larger scale.”

Ryder participated in Plug and Play’s 2017 Fall Summit at the Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, Calif., where the Company was an Ecosystem Corporate Sponsor of the Supply Chain & Logistics accelerator program. The Supply Chain & Logistics accelerator program is one of 12 accelerator programs that Plug and Play facilitates across multiple industries and solutions. Ryder joins Ericsson, Maersk, Panasonic, BASF, Prologis, and DHL as sponsors of the Plug and Play Supply Chain & Logistics accelerator program.

Ryder’s Focus on Bringing Innovative Solutions to Market

Ryder has launched and supported the development of several innovative solutions within the supply chain and logistics industries. Earlier this year, Ryder announced RyderShare™, a cloud-based platform that provides real-time shipment visibility, predictive alerts, and exception dashboards. Ryder collaborated closely with several customers who were seeking greater network visibility and proactive event management around their shipments in order to make critical decisions around factors that impact their business. Ryder’s deep engineering expertise, combined with features that enable real-time exception handling, routing, and analytics, has established RyderShare as the ultimate tool in logistics network management and customer service.

Ryder has also implemented several innovative technologies into its customers’ supply chain operations such as transportation asset and identity tracking pilots which offer greater visibility into tracking trailer conditions as well as monitoring location, utilization, and load temperatures. The Company is also utilizing remote controlled aerial drones to assist with monitoring inventory levels and auditing as well as autonomous forklift systems and robotics to supports its warehouse management solution.

About Ryder Supply Chain Solutions

Ryder Supply Chain Solutions optimizes logistics networks to make them more responsive and able to be leveraged as a competitive advantage. Globally-recognized brands in the automotive, consumer goods, food and beverage, healthcare, industrial, oil and gas, technology, and retail industries rely on Ryder’s leading technologies and world-class logistics engineers to help them deliver the goods that consumers use every day.

Operating 189 facilities with 44 million square feet of warehouse space, Ryder offers flexible solutions as well as end-to-end visibility – no matter how challenging or diverse the storage and distribution needs may be. Ryder currently provides comprehensive logistics and supply chain management solutions to companies with operations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., and Singapore, and also contracts with more than 2,100 providers of all modes of transportation in the markets it serves.

The Company, founded in 1933, operates behind the scenes, managing critical transportation and logistics functions for more than 50,000 customers, representing many of the world’s best-known brands. Ryder employs 34,500 people and manages a fleet of 234,100 commercial vehicles.

About Ryder

Ryder is a FORTUNE 500® commercial fleet management, dedicated transportation, and supply chain solutions company. Ryder’s stock (NYSE:R) is a component of the Dow Jones Transportation Average and the S&P MidCap 400® index. Ryder has been named among FORTUNE’s World’s Most Admired Companies, and has been recognized for its industry-leading practices in third-party logistics, environmentally-friendly fleet and supply chain solutions, and world-class safety and security programs. The Company is a proud member of the American Red Cross Disaster Responder Program, supporting national and local disaster preparedness and response efforts. For more information, visit www.ryder.com, and follow us on our Online Newsroom and social media pages: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

About Plug and Play

Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. We connect startups to corporations and invest in over 150 companies every year. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in 22 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 6,000 startups and 180 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 365 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $6 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club, PayPal, SoundHound, and Zoosk. For more information, visit www.plugandplaytechcenter.com.

Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements and information included in this news release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on our current plans and expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Accordingly, these forward-looking statements should be evaluated with consideration given to the many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements including those risks set forth in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors or to assess the impact of such risks on our business. Accordingly, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.