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No sign of aging for freight industry rock star

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December 7, 2023

The music industry’s favourite forwarder, Rock-it Global is to rebrand itself to its former name Rock-it Cargo to mark its 45th anniversary. To mark its 45^th years, Rock-it Cargo hosted the Welcome Party during THE Conference Live at Lititz on 6 December in Pennsylvania, where it revealed plans for its back-to-its-roots rebrand, including the relaunch of its original logo.

Since 1978, the Rock-it team has pulled together the logistics for some of the world’s largest concerts including Live Aid, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna and Lady Gaga.

One event unlikely to be repeated in the foreseeable future is Billy Joel’s tour of the former Soviet Union in 1987. Rock-it also helped Metallica become the first band to play all seven continents

While the forwarder has its roots in 70s Rock ‘n’ Roll, over the decades it has expanded into sporting events, theatrical sets, and arena spectacles.

These included supporting major productions such as Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Cirque du Soleil, Walking with Dinosaurs, and Les Misérables.

Chief executive of parent company, Global Critical Logistics, Daniel Rosenthal, said: “We felt it was fitting that we should mark the occasion by going back to our roots and taking the best that Rock-it has to offer. This includes reembracing the original name of the company, and relaunching a visual mark that so many employees and clients alike have found memories and nostalgia for.”

On February 26 2024, Rock-it will also be sponsoring the TPi Awards, which recognise achievement across the live touring industry.

IAG Cargo’s Doha route offers Latin American links

Airlines

Chris Lewis

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December 7, 2023

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IAG Cargo’s Doha route offers Latin American links

IAG Cargo has started a route between Madrid and Doha, Qatar. The new daily direct service will be operated by an Iberia A330, from 11 December and will offer connections from Asia Pacific through to 17 destinations in Latin America. It also provides a link from Latin and North America to the Middle East, particularly for food products.

IAG Cargo chief sales and marketing officer, Camilo Garcia Cervera, said: “This new route means that we’re able to increase our customers’ trans-shipment route options, by offering an additional gateway linking Asia Pacific destinations to our extensive European and Latin American network. Moreover, it presents customers in Latin America and North America an extra gateway to connect with their shippers in the Middle East and Asia Pacific, leveraging our established partnerships in the region.”

New Hong Kong hub for UPS

Chris Lewis

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December 6, 2023

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UPS has signed an agreement with the Hong Kong Airport Authority for a new hub at the International Airport near the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. It will serve as UPS Hong Kong’s main facility for processing and sorting imports, exports, and transshipments, to and from the US, Europe and other parts of Asia. The 20,000sq m (215,278sq ft) hub is expected to be completed by 2028 and will have direct access to aircraft. It is designed to handle close to 1 million tons a year.

President of UPS North Asia District, Daryl Tay, said: “Hong Kong continues to be an engine of growth and a critical part of UPS’s global smart logistics network. This new hub, along with our existing operations at Shenzhen Bao An Airport, demonstrate our continued commitment to Asia. We will continue to invest in areas of our network that bring unique value to our customers and create additional growth opportunities for UPS.”

DHL Express opens expanded Hong Kong hub

Chris Lewis

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December 6, 2023

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DHL Express opens expanded Hong Kong hub

DHL Express has opened its expanded Central Asia Hub (CAH) in Hong Kong. The carrier initiated the expansion of the facility to complement the launch of the Hong Kong International Airport’s three-runway system, set to be completed by 2024.

DHL says that, with direct access to airside and landside, CAH is currently the only dedicated and purpose-built air express cargo facility at Hong Kong International Airport. It brings a 50% increase in total warehouse space to 49,500sq m (532,770sq ft) and an automated material handling system, increasing peak handling capacity by almost 70% to 125,000 shipments per hour. Annual total tonnage capacity is expected to increase by 50% to 1.06 million tons, six times the volume when the hub was first established in 2004.

It is also the first Hong Kong’s express facility to deploy computerized tomography (CT) X-ray scan technology, which double inspection speed.

CAH is within a four-hour flight time of major cities in Asia Pacific and the Pan-Pearl River Delta region and forms part of DHL Express’s Asia Pacific multi-hub strategy, along with Shanghai, Singapore and Bangkok. The expanded Hong Kong facility will handle over 200 dedicated flights per week, complemented by an Asia air network of about 690 daily flights.

All change at DHL Express

Chris Lewis

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December 6, 2023

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DHL Express Americas chief executive Mike Parra is set to start a new role as the chief executive of DHL Express Europe with current chief executive of DHL Express Canada, Andrew Williams taking over his position from 1 January.

Both will report to global chief executive, John Pearson, and will be members of the DHL Express Global Management Board.

Williams (main picture) began his career in logistics as a sales executive at Loomis Express in 1996 and, following the integration of the Loomis business in 2002, became sales director for Eastern Canada DHL Express. In late 2011, he took on the role of vice-president of sales and marketing at DHL Express Americas and was also board sponsor of the DHL Express Caribbean area.

In 2015, he was appointed chief executive of DHL Express Canada, where he doubled the size of the team and propelled into DHL Express’s top five for inbound volume.

In his new role as, Williams will be responsible for the management of the DHL Express business in more than 55 countries and territories, leading more than 29,000 employees serving over 600,000 customers. He will be based at the DHL Express regional headquarters in Plantation, Florida.

As the newly appointed regional chief executive for Europe, Parra (pictured below) will manage operations in more than 60 countries and territories and lead a team of over 46,000 employees.

John Pearson said: “These appointments recognize the strong leadership and commitment to service excellence and to our customers’ success of both Mike Parra and Andrew Williams. Mike has achieved many accomplishments in the Americas, including consistently strong revenue and profit growth, expansion of our leading international time definite network and an intense focus on employee engagement and well-being, and I’m excited to have him lead the organization in Europe.

“Andrew Williams has been a great leader for our organization in Canada, growing revenue by nearly four times during his tenure and increasing our market share in the country. I trust that with his strong business acumen and commitment to innovation, people development and customer satisfaction, he will continue moving the Americas region forward.”

Parra, who has been the Americas CEO since 2016, has led the DHL Express division to double its revenue, adding more than 12,000 jobs and expanding its operational footprint in the region, most recently with new regional Hubs in the US, Mexico and Canada, along with launching new direct in-network flights to Argentina, Chile and Brazil.

Lufthansa adds fourth short-haul freighter

Airlines

Chris Lewis

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December 6, 2023

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Lufthansa adds fourth short-haul freighter

Lufthansa Cargo has added a fourth A321 freighter to complete its fleet of short-haul freighters. With 14 pallet and container positions on the main deck and ten on the lower deck, the twin-engine aircraft has a total payload of 28 tons and has already made its first flights including where it was named ¡Hola España!.

The new winter flight schedule, which came into effect on October 29, now includes Amman and Stockholm, Sweden. The Jordanian capital is connected to Germany once a week and Stockholm Arlanda, an important hub for pharmaceutical and temperature-sensitive goods, three times a week.

Stavanger in Norway, already part of the B777F network, will now be served once a week by A321 freighters every Thursday from Frankfurt and via Copenhagen. With Copenhagen and Helsinki already being part of the A321F network, the addition of Stockholm and Stavanger completes the network’s Nordic coverage.

ACS opens up in Bangkok

Brokers

Chris Lewis

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December 6, 2023

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Air Charter Service has opened a new office in Bangkok, with Steve Fernandez, formerly head of the company’s Hong Kong office, moving to Thailand to spearhead the operation. Many manufacturing businesses have moved to Thailand from China, due to rising costs. Fernandez said: “It is an exciting time for the region, and from this office we will be looking to serve both the passenger market and cargo operations.”

Puerto Rico firms seek CEIV certificates – updated

Chris Lewis

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December 5, 2023

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Puerto Rico firms seek CEIV certificates – updated

The Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC) is sponsoring eight local logistics companies in obtaining International Air Transport Association (IATA) CEIV certification.

The Puerto Rico Life Sciences Air Cargo Community said certification would be an important opportunity for San Juan Airport to be recognized globally for quality in handling both raw materials and finished products, as well as improvement of services, employee development, and the development of internal and external communication.

The Community, launched in April 2023, Now has over 40 members, including pharmaceutical and medical manufacturers, forwarders, airports, airlines, Customs.

Meanwhile, Copa Airlines Cargo is now offering direct flights connecting San Juan to Panama with a Boeing 737-800 Converted Freighter (BCF) It operates to Las Américas International Airport in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and then on to Tocumen International Airport in Panama City.

The community has also launched a data dashboard, developed by Rotate, which provides a comprehensive picture of the local air cargo market. Analysis includes international air cargo imports and exports, as well as air trade demand between PR and the US, and air cargo and mail traffic by airline.

Community Board member David Olan, said: “We will use this tool to manage risk, present information to our corporate offices, and drive quality in our Puerto Rico Life Sciences Hub.”

Kiosks take the pain out of Hong Kong collections

Chris Lewis

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December 5, 2023

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Kiosks take the pain out of Hong Kong collections

Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) is opening 12 new Automated Service Kiosks (ASKs) to speed up collection of import cargo from its SuperTerminal 1 facility. Hactl – – Hong Kong’s largest independent cargo handler – is the first cargo terminal operator there to introduce such a system.

Under the current manual, paper-based system, freight agents or consignees collecting import cargo from Hactl first visit the airline to obtain a Shipment Release Form (SRF), which authorises Hactl to release the goods to the bearer. On presentation of the SRF at the imports reception counter, Hactl staff visually verify the SRF bearer’s identity against their identification documents, check the SRF’s authenticity and trigger the release of the cargo via COSAC-Plus, Hactl’s cargo management system. They hand-write the SRF bearer’s name, ID number, and time of SRF presentation on the SRF, which the bearer then presents at one of the terminal’s cargo collection points. Hactl processes some 1,000 SRFs every single day.

Under the new system, the agent or consignee obtains the SRF from the airline, but then visits one of the 12 ASKs near the cargo pick up areas. The SRF bearer presents their ID, which the system automatically authenticates using technology already widely employed by government bodies. Its validity is also checked, the details of the shipment collection are recorded, and the physical release of the cargo is then automatically triggered via COSAC-Plus.

If the cargo is unitised, the system displays a pick-list from which the SRF bearer can select the pieces to be collected, in order of priority. All personal identifiable information collected by the system is encrypted, and is purged after a set period.

Hactl executive director – operations, Paul Cheng said: “The old import release system is labour-intensive and often causes queues at peak times. Manual checking of IDs, and completion of the SRFs by hand under pressure, also have the potential for errors.

“ASK is the first phase of our import cargo collection digitalisation journey. It speeds up the whole collection process, and gives customers greater control over the order in which they collect their shipments. It will eradicate queuing, improve accuracy of ID and SRF checking, and release valuable Hactl personnel for more productive duties.

“For our airline customers, the ASKs represent a further enhancement to our already strong security, helping to ensure cargo is only ever able to be collected by the legitimate party.”

Stansted sorter speeds FedEx’s UK imports

Chris Lewis

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December 4, 2023

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Stansted sorter speeds FedEx’s UK imports

FedEx Express Europe has launched a $25 million import sorting system at its Stansted Airport facility near London able to sort 6,000 packages per hour, double the number of the previous system. Barcode scanning provides instant updates to the FedEx operations team and customers receiving the goods. It can also intercept and redirect shipments subject to post-Brexit customs regulations to a separate area. Parcels can be loaded into a number of different types of vehicles for onward connection.