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The High Chaparral

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March 31, 2022

FedEx Express is to test Elroy Air’s Chaparral autonomous air cargo system in its ‘middle-mile’ logistics operations, moving shipments between sorting sites from next year. California Bay-based Elroy Air is building the first end-to-end autonomous vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aerial cargo system in the US.

Elroy Air unveiled its Chaparral autonomous aircraft in January 2022. It can autonomously pick up 300-500lbs of cargo and deliver it up to 300 miles. The Chaparral is capable of longer-range flights without the need for additional infrastructure, such as airports or charging stations.

FedEx and Elroy Air will pursue certifications and begin flight testing in 2023.

KN-chartered Antonov brings aid to Ukraine

Chris Lewis

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March 30, 2022

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KN-chartered Antonov brings aid to Ukraine

Freight forwarder Kuehne+Nagel chartered a Ukrainian Antonov An-124 freighter to fly 111 tonnes of aid from Sharjah airport to the aircraft’s home country, via Poland, on 29 March. The shipment was sourced from UNICEF’s warehouse in Dubai and landed in Poland the same evening for trucking to Ukraine. Kuehne+Nagel International chief executive Detlef Trefzger, said: “It is symbolic in itself that we can make one of the largest deliveries of aid to Ukraine with a Ukrainian Antonov airplane. The forwarder has pledged to offer emergency aid to Ukraine worth 10 million Swiss francs in the form of logistics services.

Forwarder Woodland finds room to grow in LA

Forwarding

Chris Lewis

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March 30, 2022

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Forwarder Woodland finds room to grow in LA

Global forwarder Woodland Group has moved into a new and larger space in Los Angeles. Weekly export consolidations to Australia and Europe. It offers full omni channel logistics services covering import, export, domestic, FCL, LCL, air and warehousing services, along with in-house customs brokerage. Woodland, which opened its first US location in 1991, specializes in transatlantic air consolidation and in serving Australasia from the US.

DHL signs deal for six more freighters

Express

Chris Lewis

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March 29, 2022

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DHL Express has signed a deal with aircraft leasing company Cargojet for five additional B767 freighters in 2022-23.

Cargojet provide ACMI, CMI, charter, and aircraft dry lease services to support DHL’s international requirements for Europe and North, South, Central and Latin America, as well as Asia and currently operates 12 freighters to service its requirements.

DHL also intends to be Cargojet’s inaugural launch customer for the B777 wide body long-range converted cargo freighter, which are expected to be deployed in late 2023 or early 2024.

Qatar Airways offers eBooking on CargoWise

Chris Lewis

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March 29, 2022

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Qatar Airways offers eBooking on CargoWise

Qatar Airways Cargo and software company WiseTech Global have launched a direct eBooking solution, building on the flight schedule and operational data exchange implemented last year. The eBooking connection between WiseTech’s CargoWise platform and Qatar Airways Cargo management system, CROAMIS, enables freight forwarders using CargoWise to choose their flight and confirm a booking in real-time, without having to leave the platform. Bookings made through the platform can also be modified.

Head of airline connectivity at WiseTech Global, Scott McCorquodale, said: “The air cargo industry has historically been very manually-based, which contributed to substantial inefficiencies. This has all changed in recent years, with many airlines now firmly prioritising their digital transformation projects. With the new eBooking connection now available to CargoWise users, forwarders are able to confirm their bookings without any input from airline staff – dramatically speeding up the process, and allowing forwarders to focus on providing value-added services to their customers.”

AGI unblocks Chicago congestion

Ground Handling

Chris Lewis

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March 28, 2022

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Cargo handler Alliance Ground International (AGI) says it has reversed “stifling” cargo congestion at Chicago O’Hare with new technology and a new 253,000sq. ft off-airport import center with new racking and cargo mobility systems.

Vice president business development, Warren Jones, said: “AGI is the largest ground handler in Chicago, and the digitisation of our handling processes has made us the most capable.

“It has enabled us to foster a culture change in communication that will benefit freight forwarders and our airline partners alike.

“The combination of the OCC’s Flight Tracker Radar System, integrated Cargo Sprint software, capacity optimization heat mapping, and the upcoming AGI online ‘real people’ chat center has meant that AGI can directly communicate with forwarders, airlines, and other service providers to deliver a new level of stakeholder communication.”

The cargo mobility system monitors where cargo is situated within the import center, enabling forwarders, through the AGI website, to check on the progress of their freight, he added.

The introduction of canine screening, in line with Transport Security Administration (TSA) regulations that came into effect on July 1, 2021 has also boosted efficiency.

Following a recent visit to the facility, executive director of the US Airforwarders Association, Brandon Fried, said: “AfA worked very hard with the TSA to get the third party privatized canine programme underway. It is fantastic to see it work in practice and know that it will significantly help with regard to the reduction of cargo congestion currently hampering the efforts of our membership today.”

Charter broker comes to refugees’ aid – in the air and on the ground

Brokers

Chris Lewis

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March 23, 2022

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Charter broker comes to refugees’ aid – in the air and on the ground

Air Charter Service has now arranged more than 20 relief flights to Poland and several more to Moldova carrying cargo such as tents and medical supplies, to aid Ukrainian refugees. Its team has not only been facilitating flight operations, but has also been purchasing and delivering supplies to various border camps and driving refugees to other destinations in Poland.

ACS’s director of government and humanitarian services, Ben Dinsdale, commented: “The stories are terrifying, and we are pulling out all the stops to make sure we do our part in the operation and get as many humanitarian flights into surrounding countries where Ukraine’s refugees have been arriving. We expect many more flights over the coming weeks and months, as the refugee numbers continue to grow. Generally the flights have been arriving into Poland, but we have also had several to Chisinau in Moldova, which is a short drive to the border.”

He added: “Beyond focussing on the charters we are also looking at what we can do to help the families that our team in Poland is meeting. Through our Charity Committee our employees raised more than £10,000 so far and we have put that to good use. The team in Poland hired a van and filled it with supplies including nappies, baby food, baby wipes, toothpaste, toothbrushes, sanitary products and snacks for children, and delivered it all directly to refugee camps. After finding out that a shortage of accommodation and onward transportation was becoming a problem, they then hired a minibus and have personally transported over 40 people from 12 families from the camps to major cities – some days they were driving for 15 hours.”

Head of the ACS Charity Committee, Katie Ivie added: “The team on the ground have done a great job so far, but we are trying to do more. We currently have a number of larger projects in the works to help families fleeing this conflict. ACS has a long history of working with Ukrainian airlines and customers, many of whom have family either fleeing the conflict or who are stuck in Ukraine, so we are reaching out to do what we can. We are also directing anyone who will listen to donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee as no doubt there will be millions more refugees pouring into Europe to escape the fighting.”

View a video about the ACS team’s efforts here: here

Air forwarders come out in favour of shipping reform and free trade

Forwarding

Chris Lewis

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March 23, 2022

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Air forwarders come out in favour of shipping reform and free trade

The Airforwarders Association (AfA) has signed two stakeholder letters, in favor of the proposed new Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 and another supporting the Americans for Free Trade coalition’s bid to address unfair tariffs from China.

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 seeks to address longstanding port disruption, made worse by the pandemic and which is costing forwarders punitive demurrage penalty fees. AfA hopes that the proposed legislation will reduce fees to freight forwarders, their clients, and truck operators.

AfA is backing the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 as many of its members are full-service freight forwarders offering a variety of transportation options, including ocean.

The Americans for Free Trade (AFT) letter supports congressional action on legislation that aims to help US businesses and workers compete globally, including with Chinese businesses.

AfA executive director, Brandon Fried said: “The pandemic taught us that global supply chains are not only interconnected, but require collaborative efforts between forwarders, airlines, ocean carriers, truckers, and railroads.”

He added: “As the Ukraine crisis accelerates, there is a significant need for increased logistical cooperation by all participants to make sure that essential medical supplies, food, and other vital materials reach those who need them most. Without a collaborative approach, the efficient distribution of these products would not be possible.”

Dimerco offers China-Mexico multimodal option

Forwarding

Chris Lewis

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March 23, 2022

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Dimerco offers China-Mexico multimodal option

Taiwan-headquartered international transportation specialist Dimerco has launched a new Air+Road service from China to Mexico, via the US.

Aimed at companies shipping high-value components to manufacturing plants it offers door-to-door transit times of 6˗8 days with high security. It says that manufacturing operations in North America increasingly rely on rapid replenishment of component parts from China, but ocean freight is too slow and direct air freighter services are limited.

Air+Road combines regular consolidated flights from China to Los Angeles and Dallas with cross-border bonded trucking service where team drivers travel non-stop and only on highways to keep cargo safe.

In Mexico, cargo is delivered to the international airport closest to the consignee, where it is treated by Customs as a China to Mexico airport-to-airport shipment. Dimerco expedites customs clearance before transferring cargo to a standard truck and transporting it to the consignee.

While 2-3 days slower than direct air freight, Air+Road is 30-40% cheaper and is a practical response to the near absence of direct air freight shipping from China to Mexico.

Slot and dock system speeds JFK cargo

Chris Lewis

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March 22, 2022

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Kale Logistics Solutions’ US subsidiary, Kale Info Solutions has piloted a truck slot and dock management system with ground handler Worldwide Flight Services at New York JFK Airport. The Artificial Intelligence-based module, part of Kale’s Airport Cargo Community System (ACS), has reduced truck wait times by up to 66% for exports and 48% for imports, it says.

Around 50 organizations and more than 160 individual users, including truckers and ground handling operatives, were enrolled in the pilot test, which began in December 2021.

Kale Logistics Solutions chief executive, Amar More, said: “Truck congestion is becoming a major challenge in North American airports and ports, and JFK, being a significant one, requires a smart system to handle cargo movement seamlessly. We have helped several airport and port communities across the world in overcoming such challenges and are excited to work with WFS and the JFK cargo community in changing the way cargo is picked up and delivered in New York forever through this initiative.”

The pilot included integration of Kale’s ACS truck and slot management module with WFS’ warehouse management system, ePic.

The system addresses the causes of congestion such as bunching of truck traffic, lack of information for operational planning to handlers, paperwork at the airport and visibility of airport operations to stakeholders.

WFS vice-president, Rinzing Wangyal (pictured) added: “We have created a digital infrastructure with an integrated system and the results of the pilot are very encouraging. Looking at the benefits delivered by the pilot phase and encouraging feedback from the cargo community, we will soon be rolling this out across all our facilities in JFK and other stations in North America.”

Kale helped set up the first air cargo community system in the US at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in 2020 and has since continued to drive ACS adoption at airports in the region and across the globe.