Trucks line up in the TruckPass lot as drivers wait for their dock assignment.

Today March 1 is a Red Letter Day for Atlanta, Georgia, air cargo, as Hartsfield Jackson International Airport stands above the crowd and makes sense of trucking operations supporting the South Cargo Area of the big airport.

       
TruckPass Is Revolutionary

      In what’s being hailed as a revolutionary process to reduce roadway congestion and eliminate driver confusion, today, March 1, 2017, Hartsfield-Jackson launches TruckPass, a reservation-based docking credential system.

      “Simply put, it’s dock traffic control,” said Doug Strachan, the Airport’s Innovation and Strategic Business Development Manager. “We’re taking what in some cases is a four-hour ordeal and turning it into a half-hour operation.”

      The goal, of course, is expedited loading and unloading of cargo.
      But with that comes improved customer service.
      Improved customer service could help ATL recapture lost business and attract new business, thereby achieving the Airport’s ultimate objective: growing air cargo.
      In 2016, ATL moved 648,595 metric tons of cargo, a 3.58 percent increase over 2015’s total. Although rankings for 2016 have yet to be released, Hartsfield-Jackson in 2015 was No. 12 in the nation among U.S. airports for cargo volume.

Top Five Is The Goal

      To land a spot in the top five, a key milestone set by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, the Airport will need to triple its cargo volume to about 1.8 million metric tons a year.
      “Indeed, ATL is committed to that goal.
      “The Airport—through its 20-year, $6 billion capital improvement program ATLNext—will add up to 1 million square feet of warehouse space, creating the capacity to accommodate future growth,” HJIA said.

Heading Delays Off At The Pass

       And with TruckPass, ATL adds another unique value proposition.
      “From my perspective, ATL is an important component in the global supply chain,” says Elliott Paige, the Airport’s Director of Air Service Development.
      “With that being the case, we have to make ourselves superefficient.
      “To remain globally competitive, we have to give ourselves an edge.
      “Trucks need to get in and out without delay.”

      ATL’s South Cargo area sees more than 350 trucks during high-demand periods per day. On peak days such as Wednesdays and Sundays, traffic can be immobilized.
      “The trucks are parked double-, triple-, and quadruple-deep,” Mr. Strachan declared. “So we went to the customer and asked, ‘How do we help you grow your business?’”

      In the same way airlines depend on air traffic control towers to safely maneuver aircraft in controlled airspace and airports depend on ramp control towers to maneuver aircrafts on taxiways, TruckPass will help maneuver trucks in the South Cargo facility.
      The system involves three simple steps. First, the truck pulls into the TruckPass lot at 1586 Sullivan Road in College Park.
      At the TruckPass Check-In Station, the driver provides the following: a cellphone number, name of airline, import or export and a reservation number (if applicable). The driver then either goes straight to his assigned dock or waits for a text message while parked in the TruckPass lot, a temporary holding area with controlled entry and exit.
      At the dock, the clock starts.
      “In addition to creating order out of chaos, we will get all kinds of metrics on dock utilization,” Mr. Strachan declared, noting that less time spent at each dock means more dock throughput.
      “In essence, we’re wringing every last drop of efficiency out of these buildings,” he said.

      “The precision-driven process will save fuel and time while increasing operational efficiencies.
      “Those efficiencies, coupled with positive word-of-mouth, could pave the way for 15 percent growth in air cargo,” Mr. Strachan said.

      “The air cargo community looks forward to this opening of the TruckPass lot and the efficiency gains it will create,” said Hope Chavez, President of the Atlanta Air Cargo Association.

      For Elliott Paige, TruckPass is only the beginning of a multipronged approach to growing air cargo.
      In addition to increased capacity as a result of ATLNext, Paige said Hartsfield-Jackson is working on a strategy to improve the standard of service with ground handlers—all part of an effort to make the Airport more customer-centric.
      “We often like to say change is in the air at Hartsfield-Jackson,” Elliott Paige said.
      “But sometimes, change on the ground is just as important.”
Geoffrey

Click To Read previous coverage on this initiative

Rocky Start For Amazon Prime Air

      For two days in November 2016, an ABX Air pilot strike grounded flights for DHL and Amazon. Last week, ABX pilots and the airline—owned by Air Transport Services Group (ATSG)—reached a settlement agreement that returns the pilots’ right to take compensatory days when they are forced to work on off days covering flights due to staffing shortages.
      ABX Air Captain and Executive Council Chairman Rick Ziebarth said:
      “By sticking together and standing up for our families, airline, and customers, we won an agreement that restores our time off to rest so we can work and fly safely.”

Atlas In Pilots' Crosshairs

      In the meantime, pilots at Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (AAWW), Amazon’s other cargo contractor and DHL’s largest one, are also bargaining for a “fair contract, while struggling with severe staffing shortages.”
      Atlas pilots say the company’s refusal to come to an industry standard contract is driving many pilots to seek opportunities at other carriers, such as FedEx and UPS.
      “In January 2017 alone, the pilot attrition rate at Atlas Air more than doubled compared to the monthly average for 2016, with 30 pilots leaving for other airlines and 6 pilots not showing up for their hiring class.
      “AAWW,” Atlas pilots said, “recently acquired Southern Air and is attempting to force Atlas and Southern pilots to merge the Atlas Air contract with Southern Air’s concessionary contract, which was negotiated during bankruptcy and falls far below industry standards.”

No Bed Of Roses At UPS, Either

      Elsewhere, UPS aircraft mechanics filed a request with the National Mediation Board to be released from mediated negotiation with the company as workers critical to the UPS supply chain move closer to a strike.
      UPS depends on these mechanics—some 1,200 in total, located in 90 gateways across the U.S.—for maintenance on its air cargo fleet.
      “This request,” the mechanics said, “comes after more than 3 years of UPS refusing to agree to a new contract with mechanics.
      “Instead, UPS is calling for massive cuts to retiree and health benefits, a critical issue for mechanics who do physically demanding and often dangerous work around jets, toxic chemicals, and exhaust.
      “UPS is investing in its fleet and preparing for a future where home package delivery is increasingly common,” said Kevin Gawlik, a 20-year aircraft mechanic at UPS’s Rockford, IL, gateway.
      “But UPS must also invest in the workforce that keeps those planes flying.
      “No one wants to go on strike, but we are ready to if necessary because UPS mechanics and our families deserve better from UPS.”
Geoffrey

     “Africa is a large and diverse continent, and the venue for the FIATA World Congress in 2019,” reports David Logan, CEO of the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF).
      “This is a continent with massive reserves of natural resources and a fertile environment that allows for the cost effective production of food.
      “More recently, many countries have started to realize the potential to manufacture goods, and many companies such as those in the automotive industry have invested substantially over the past several decades. As such, VW, BMW, and Ford all have major investments in plants in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria, to name a few.”

Air Cargo Is Also A Vital Resource

      “In some countries, air cargo is the only feasible means to service some markets (such as in some of the more remote mining locations in the DRC, for example) and companies like Kenya Airways have grown exponentially as they have tapped into intra-African trade and the need to move people and goods into, through, and out of the continent.
      “South African Airways also has extensive continental coverage and uses Accra and Dakar as a springboard for the long-haul sector into the U.S., to either  Washington or New York.”

Speeding Flow Of Goods

      “Maybe in the near term at least Africa will not be as seamless as the EU, but hold on for a minute.
      “Africa has embraced a number of trade facilitation measures and a number of governments and NGOs are working tirelessly to rid certain trade lanes of various barriers to the free flow of trade,” Mr. Logan insists.
      “Most intra-African trade is by road and as attractive as this is, it can be fraught with interruption.
      “However, these recent initiatives have liberalized corridors to the extent that transit times have reduced by 20 percent on average. The trend seems set to continue; the University of the North West in South Africa has undertaken some pioneering work as they electronically monitor cross border trade movement per journey. The results to date are exciting.
      “Airfreight definitely suits the movement of equipment for the extractive industries and the movement of retail goods. In some routes, it is cheaper to move a container for merchandise by air than it is to move it by road!”

Where Is The Action?

SAAF On The Move

      SAAFF, a member of FIATA, was formed in 1921 and is a national association with members throughout the Republic of South Africa.
      While SAAFF attends to matters of national interest, its constitution permits regions to form chapters of the association to deal with local issues. Five regions have qualified to establish their own chapters: Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, and Border.
      Learn more about SAAFF here.
Geoffrey

Vol. 16 No. 20
Groundbreaking President Zhao
Chuckles for February 27, 2017
Trump Effect: Part 2
Life Is Uncertain, Eat Dessert First
A Cut Above
Mahé Mahé As ATC Goes Air Seychelles
Fat Tuesday