tech

Metro MVT: Optimising supply chain visibility and customer value through innovation

Feb 18, 2026 | , ,

2025 marked a breakthrough year for Metro as we continued to advance the MVT digital platform, delivering new applications, enhanced visibility, and significant improvements to our underlying infrastructure. 

These investments reflect our commitment to helping customers operate more efficiently, make better-informed decisions, and maintain complete control of their global supply chains.

Over the past year, we rolled out a series of major upgrades across MVT, including the launch of our Invoice App and E‑Bookings, making it easier than ever for customers to manage essential logistics processes from one integrated platform. We also completed a substantial investment in real‑time airfreight tracking, now fully embedded into Track and Trace. This enhancement provides accurate milestone visibility, fewer information gaps, and a more reliable digital airfreight experience strengthening Metro’s position as a leader in technology‑enabled freight solutions.

A select group of customers also gained early access to MVT Reporting & Analytics, a powerful new analytics suite designed to unlock deeper insight into supply chain performance. This comprehensive reporting tool provides dynamic dashboards, trend analysis, and operational KPIs that enable smarter planning and problem‑solving. Successive release phases will continue until the end of Q2 2026, with general release beginning 1 March 2026 for all customers.

Delivering Measurable Value for Our Customers

The expansion of the MVT application suite delivers tangible benefits that help customers run more agile and resilient supply chains, including:

  • Enhanced end‑to‑end visibility: Real‑time tracking across multiple modes allows for faster exception management and improved operational confidence.
  • Greater efficiency and workflow automation: Digital tools reduce manual activity, eliminate duplication, and accelerate core logistics processes.

Looking Ahead: What’s Coming to MVT in 2026

With an ambitious roadmap for 2026, Metro is continuing to expand and enhance the technology experience in MVT to support our customers’ evolving needs.

Q1 2026 Highlights

We look forward to sharing these imminent product releases and will provide more information via your Metro dedicated customer relationship management contacts and future newsletters.

  • Web‑based Booking App – A streamlined, modern interface that simplifies the placing of multimodal shipment bookings for our customers.
  • Port Congestion App – Real‑time insight into port performance, dwell times, and congestion risks, empowering customers to plan proactively.
  • Enhanced RoRo Vessel Tracking – More accurate sailing milestones, live ETAs, and improved visibility of delays, critical for automotive, machinery, and high‑value supply chains customers that rely heavily on RORO movements.

Q2 2026: Introducing the Schedules App

The new Schedules App will provide customers with comprehensive global carrier schedules for ocean movements. This capability enables better planning, transit‑time comparison and service selection, helping customers make informed decision around optimise their supply chain performance.

We will also release significant improvements to road freight visibility through an externally‑facing Carrier App that integrates road freight milestones directly into MVT in real time.

Continuing the Journey: Q3, Q4 and Beyond

Further enhancements through the second half of 2026 include:

  • Advanced customer‑configurable notifications across all MVT applications.
  • DCM (Demurrage, Detention & Free Time) upgrades to give greater visibility of risk and help customers manage free‑time allocation more effectively.

Simultaneously, our product and development teams will be focusing on detailed research and scoping for new digital capabilities, including customer rate tariff management and automated digital quoting, planned for release between late 2026 and early 2027.

These investments reflect Metro’s ongoing commitment to building a modern, connected, and data‑driven supply chain experience for our customers.

At Metro, our digital solutions are shaped by the people who use them every day. The MVT platform, and the wider suite of Metro applications, are developed with direct input from our customers ensuring the tools we create solve real‑world challenges and deliver meaningful value. 

We are always keen to hear from customers about their experiences with our existing products, as well as the pain points, bottlenecks, and opportunities they see across their supply chains. This insight is essential in guiding future development, influencing new product ideas, and helping us prioritise the digital capabilities that matter most. Your feedback fuels our roadmap, strengthens our innovation, and ensures Metro continues to deliver technology that truly supports your business.

For any enquiries, further information or feedback on Metro digital products and developments, please EMAIL Ian Powell, Customer and Technical Solutions Director

stop trade

Customs is the bottleneck in global trade — Metro is removing it

Feb 18, 2026 | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Global Trade Observatory Outlook 2026, based on insights from more than 3,500 senior supply chain executives globally, delivers a clear message: customs is now the single biggest operational constraint in global trade. 

According to the report:

  • 60% of executives cite customs clearance as the leading cause of disruption.
  • 36% rank trade facilitation among the top policy priorities for enabling growth.

At a time when 94% still expect trade growth, the implication is clear: growth is possible, but only if border friction is controlled.

For importers and exporters, speed through borders is now as important as speed of transit.

Border Friction Is No Longer a Back-Office Issue

Customs delays today are not just administrative inconveniences. They create:

  • Demurrage and storage costs
  • Production stoppages
  • Missed retail windows
  • Inventory distortion
  • Reputational risk

As supply chains diversify and multi-origin sourcing becomes more diverse, compliance complexity increases. Different rules of origin, changing tariff regimes, sanctions screening, high-risk product categories and new digital reporting requirements all increase exposure.

The Global Trade Observatory findings confirm what many businesses already feel: border friction is now the pressure point in supply chain resilience and execution at customs is no longer a milestone, it is a strategic necessity.

Metro’s Customs Brokerage: Built for Complexity

Metro’s Customs Compliance Services are designed specifically for this environment of volatility and regulatory intensity. 

Our AEO-accredited team manage the full spectrum of customs requirements, including:

  • Permanent and temporary imports
  • Transit (T1) procedures
  • Specialised food and high-risk product declarations
  • UK, EU and USA clearance at all ports
  • Sanctions-origin advisory and exemption cases

This is not simply about filing entries, it is about total compliance and controlling risk before it materialises.

For example:

  • 99.8% of food shipments clear without delay, with IPAFFS paperwork typically submitted within one hour of receiving slaughterhouse documentation.
  • Export declarations are routinely processed within 30–120 minutes.
  • Secureduty refunds through proactive review and HMRC engagement.

CuDoS: AI-Driven Customs Intelligence

Metro’s AI-driven CuDoS platform automates compliance for complex, multi-line entries. 

  • Aggregates multi-line invoices (300+ lines)
  • Reduces manual processing by 70%
  • Achieves 99.3% first-time declaration accuracy
  • Completes complex entries in under two hours

In a market where manual processes can take 6–24 hours and error rates remain high, automation and AI-driven validation are competitive advantage.

From Compliance to Competitive Advantage

The Global Trade Observatory Outlook highlights how trade growth will continue despite uncertainty, but only for those who can navigate friction effectively, and customs sits at the centre of that challenge.

As supplier diversification increases and new trade corridors open, customs complexity rises. Multi-origin supply chains multiply declaration volumes and compliance touch-points.

Without disciplined brokerage and intelligent automation, delays compound quickly.

The Global Trade Observatory data confirms that customs is now the primary bottleneck in global trade. 

Metro’s mission is simple: remove that bottleneck.

If your business is experiencing clearance delays, compliance pressure, or escalating duty exposure, Metro’s Customs Compliance team and CuDoS platform deliver measurable performance improvements in speed, accuracy and cost control. EMAIL managing director, Andrew Smith, to learn more.

Cathay tailfins 1440x1080 1

Air freight volumes rebound and rates adjust post-peak

Jan 21, 2026 | , , , , , ,

Average east-west spot freight rates strengthened into December as peak-season demand lifted pricing, and while they eased back over the year-end, early January data shows a sharp rebound in demand.

Outbound air freight rates from Asia rose firmly into December, reflecting year-end demand and sustained e-commerce flows. Month on month pricing on both the Asia–US and Asia–Europe lanes rose by the strongest monthly averages of the year.

Despite this seasonal lift, rates closed the year marginally below December 2024 levels, highlighting that the 2025 peak was solid but less aggressive than the year before.

Asia–Europe pricing has proved more resilient over the year than Asia–US, supported by e-commerce flows increasingly oriented towards European consumers rather than the US market.

January volumes surge as markets reopen

Following the normal year-end slowdown, global air cargo volumes rebounded strongly in the first full week of January. Worldwide tonnages rose by more than 25% week on week, reversing the sharp declines seen in the final weeks of December. Compared with the same period last year, chargeable weight ran around 5% higher, indicating a stronger underlying start to 2026.

This rebound was broad-based across all major origin regions except Africa. Asia Pacific remained the largest contributor in absolute terms, continuing a trend seen throughout 2025.

Capacity began to recover as freighter operators reinstated services scaled back after the peak. Freighter capacity rose by over 15% week on week in early January, although overall global capacity still remained around 7% below mid-December levels.

Even with supply returning fast, average rates remain slightly ahead of the same point last year, reinforcing that the market reset reflects seasonality rather than a structural downturn.

Asia outbound lanes lead volume growth

Year-on-year volume growth in early January was led by Asia Pacific origins, up around 8%, in line with the full-year growth rate recorded in 2025.

On Asia–US routes, volumes increased by around 10% year on year, driven mainly by Southeast Asia, while flows from China and Hong Kong remained broadly flat. This points to a more diversified Asia export base rather than a single-country surge.

Asia–Europe volumes grew even faster, up around 15% year on year, supported by stronger flows from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand, underlining Europe’s growing role as a destination market for Asian exports.

Beyond Asia, traffic from the Middle East and South Asia showed some of the strongest growth rates entering 2026, with double-digit year-on-year increases on both Europe- and US-bound lanes.

Securing lift and service predictability is about smart, proactive planning. Metro’s air freight team closely monitors capacity, fine-tunes routings and works with trusted carrier partners to keep cargo moving reliably and on time.

Metro’s digital platform adds confidence through live flight telemetry, delivering:
– Real-time aircraft position and route mapping
– Accurate departure and arrival confirmation
– Time-stamped milestones, updated as events unfold

This visibility means our customers can plan with certainty, optimise inventory and protect service levels—even as market conditions change.

EMAIL Andrew Smith, Managing Director, to explore smarter, faster and more resilient air freight solutions powered by live data and long-standing carrier relationships.

National Cyber Security Centre 1440x1080 1

Metro attains Government-backed Cyber Essentials certification

Nov 12, 2025 | , ,

Metro has achieved Cyber Essentials certification, the UK Government-backed baseline for protecting organisations against the most common cyber threats.

Achieving Cyber Essentials builds on our ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification awarded in July, reinforcing a layered, standards-led approach to information security across our operations and supply chain.

With business and procurement leaders reporting a marked rise in attacks and cascading disruption risks, strengthening first-line cyber controls at each node in the chain is now a business continuity priority, not just an IT task. Our Cyber Essentials certification evidences robust baseline controls, while ISO 27001 provides the governance, risk and assurance framework above them.

Cyber Essentials focuses on five technical controls proven to block or defend against the most prevalent cyber-attacks:

  • Firewalls & internet gateways to prevent unauthorised access
  • Secure configuration of devices, software and services
  • User access control with least-privilege principles and strong authentication
  • Malware protection to detect and stop malicious code (including ransomware)
  • Patch management to close known vulnerabilities promptly

Certification is independently assessed and renewed annually, driving continual improvement and accountability.

A continuum of assurance

  • ISO/IEC 27001:2022 (achieved July 2025) sets the overarching Information Security Management System (ISMS) covering policy, risk assessment, controls and audit.
  • Cyber Essentials complements this with mandated, practical safeguards at the device and network edge. A tangible signal to customers that foundational defences are in place and verified. 

UK guidance continues to emphasise board-level accountability for cyber resilience, reflecting the escalating tempo and impact of attacks. Metro’s combined certifications align with this direction of travel and with customer expectations for measurable, third-party-validated controls across their logistics partners.

What customers can expect

  • Trusted handling of data and systems across bookings, visibility tools and integrations
  • Consistent security standards applied to partners and internal processes
  • Ongoing improvement via annual Cyber Essentials renewal and ISO 27001 surveillance

Cyber Essentials certification is a further step in our long-term programme to deliver secure, technology-driven solutions that help you operate with confidence in an increasingly digital trading environment.

To discuss secure integrations, data exchange or platform connectivity, EMAIL Ian Powell, Customer & Technical Solutions Director.

Category: MVT

Metro | MVT | Technology

Latest News in this category