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By Joel Childs
The scenarios have become all too common:
• Your company's central data center in Chicago is being evacuated
for at least three days due to a nearby hazardous chemical spill,
and now you need to expedite backup tapes and computer equipment
to a contingency site in Milwaukee ASAP.
• A flood has damaged paper copies of your vital customer files
in Atlanta, and you need to ship them quickly and at a constant
temperature so your service provider in Fort Worth can salvage the
information through a freeze-drying process.
• You need to ensure that your shipment arrives at your customer's
production facility by 6 a.m. the next day or face stiff penalties
for each minute the product is late.
Whether or not your company has been faced with a similar situation,
one thing is certain: you can't afford not
to have a predetermined contingency plan for handling emergencies
of all types. The consequences could be detrimental to your
organization, your customers - and your bottom line.
In these crisis situations, it is almost a sure bet that you will
be required to expedite shipments of supplies or products to and
from your facility. That is why having a working knowledge of your
critical-needs transportation options before a crisis arises is
so important. Understanding what services are available and what
options will work best in a particular situation can make the difference
between success and failure.
There are multiple ways to expedite shipments and numerous cost-
and time-related issues that you need to consider. For example,
you could pay $8,500 to charter a jet to ship 200 pounds of data
tapes from Tampa to Memphis in less than six hours, or you could
opt to spend under $1,200 and ship them via air freight to arrive
by 10:30 a.m. the next day.
While your final choice of service will depend a great deal upon
the nature of the emergency, your needs and those of your customers,
here are some key factors that you should analyze before choosing
an expedited service for time-critical shipments:
Exclusive Use of Vehicle
Using a dedicated vehicle provides nonstop, door-to-door service
and ensures single handling of the shipment. Both factors directly
impact total delivery time as well as the integrity, security and
continuous delivery of the shipment. When a truck is contracted
on an exclusive basis, there is no off-loading from one vehicle
to another or from a vehicle to a cargo handling system to another
vehicle. Such transfers take time and increase the chances of loss,
damage or delay to the shipment.
Exclusive-use vehicles can be especially important when transporting
valuable or sensitive equipment, specialized substances and other
loads that require extra attention. With exclusive-use vehicles
and careful handling, in fact, there may be no need to crate the
load. This in itself can save considerable time and money. It may
more than make up for paying for the whole truck, even when you
have a small shipment - and provide a long list of other advantages
that add up to greater precision and reliability.
Tracking Ability
When so much is riding on a shipment - arriving where it's supposed
to be, when it's supposed to be there - the communications and tracking
capabilities of your carrier become an important consideration.
The best on-board systems provide two-way, real-time communications
so that shipment information and exceptions can be relayed immediately.
In an emergency, about the only thing for certain is that the situation
can change very suddenly. If unexpected problems crop up en route
- a road washes out, an airport becomes fogged in - sophisticated
communications capabilities become critical. On-board communications
systems give you the ability to quickly determine the shipment's
location and alter the shipment's final destination or divert the
truck.
For greater peace of mind, you should also choose a carrier that
provides proactive communication on your shipment's progress every
step of the way - from pickup to final delivery. Be sure to inquire
about the methods and timeliness of tracking communication. Does
the carrier offer tracking by phone, fax or email? What about realtime
tracking via the Internet? Can the carrier notify you instantly
of potential delays to your shipment and specify alternative delivery
methods while the shipment is en route?
Availability
Because emergencies often happen at the worst times - nights, holidays,
weekends - you need to investigate your options for carriers that
have a dedicated team of customer service personnel on duty 24 hours
a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Generally, with expedited carriers that use dedicated trucks and/or
planes, there is no cutoff time for services; the vehicle(s) can
be dispatched whenever and wherever they're needed.
Special Handling Requirements
In some cases, critical freight may have special requirements. For
example, data tapes require temperature-control capabilities; computers
and electronic equipment often need to be transported by trucks
equipped with liftgates, air-ride suspension and extra padding;
and high-value products necessitate extra security en route. Not
all expedited carriers offer "transportation protective services"
or have trucks or trailers with temperature control or liftgates,
nor do they have drivers who are specially trained and certified
for hazardous materials shipments or restricted or controlled commodities.
Having a short list of carriers that you know provides special care
and handling can save you precious minutes in an emergency.
Domestic Versus International Capabilities
If your contingency plan includes emergency deliveries from outside
the United States, it is important to ascertain whether your carrier
can properly handle the increased complexity of international shipments.
For instance, make sure that the carrier has solid customs clearance
procedures in place and can assist you in filling out the necessary
paperwork. There are also commodity restrictions and prohibitions
associated with international shipments that you'll need to work
through in advance. An experienced carrier can assist with these
issues in each of your prospective destinations.
Expediting Service Options
Taking these factors into consideration, here is a brief description
of the different expediting options that are available - and the
pros and cons of each:
1. Surface Expedite
Surface-expedited shipping means transporting time-specific shipments
nonstop, over the road. It can offer a number of advantages versus
air expedite - when time and distance make it feasible and price
is at the top of your list of considerations. Non-stop expedited
trucking, with time-specific pickup and delivery times, is often
cheaper than air freight by as much as 70 percent for shipments
as small as 500 pounds. What's more, surface expedite is usually
faster than conventional air freight for distances up to 1,000 miles.
When choosing an expedited provider, be sure to inquire about multiple
vehicle sizes to ensure that the carrier has the right fleet available
for your shipments. For instance, if your contingency plan calls
for transporting large generators in the event of a power outage,
you'll need to make sure your carrier has flatbeds or other vehicles
capable of hauling the load. You may also want to consider relying
on an exclusive-use expedited carrier with stop-off capabilities,
meaning that your shipment can be transported to more than one destination
on the same truck.
2. Air Expedite
Within the realm of air carriers, there are basically three options:
counter-to-counter service, air freight and air charter.
Counter-to-counter service, offered by a number of commercial airlines,
is designed to fly the "baggage" that someone drops off at an airport
counter to a destination city where someone else picks up the cargo
at the counter. It is a service that can work well for small, easy-to-handle
shipments - as long as they're not bumped from the flight. Passenger
luggage takes priority, followed by U.S. mail and other items for
which the airline has contracts. Also, by definition, counter-to-counter
service is tied to scheduled airline flights and is subject to the
complications that can be involved with connecting flights and cancellations.
Solid arrangements have to be made in advance for both drop-off
and pickup - or your freight goes nowhere.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, security measures for cargo tendered
to commercial aircraft have not increased. However, the scrutiny
has. According to FAA regulations, shippers must now be "known"
by the broker in order to tender packages or freight to commercial
airlines. A known shipper is one that has a customer record with
the broker, along with either an established shipping contract or
an established business history.
Air-freight companies, on the other hand, are dedicated to freight
shipments, and they've developed centralized hub and spoke systems
specifically for that purpose. However, this operating environment
also requires additional handling of your shipment and increases
the chances that it will be misrouted or damaged - which can present
you with yet another crisis.
Air-freight carriers limit how late they can pick up or deliver,
and they also impose limits on service provided during nights, weekends
and holidays. Even if the pickup is made, it is possible that the
freight will not move that day if you've missed the cutoff time
(usually two hours prior to departure).
Unlike air-freight and air counter-to-counter service, air charter
provides exclusive use of a plane whenever and wherever it is needed;
there are no predetermined flight schedules or hub systems to work
around. Also, because a dedicated flight provides its own timetable,
trucks can be staged at both the origin and destination airports
so that there is absolutely no waiting. With both counter-to-counter
and air-freight service, coordinating the ground component can be
more difficult. For emergency shipments, it's vital to think door-to-door,
not just airport-to-airport.
Air charter can be your best - albeit most expensive - answer for
extremely urgent shipments over long distances. In this case, one
of the most important questions is how well the aircraft is matched
to the job. Are you getting (and paying for) the right aircraft,
or just what happens to be available? Charters vary widely in cost,
based on the size and speed of the aircraft as well as the distance
traveled. A small, single-engine propeller airplane may cost less
than $1,000 to charter; a DC-8 could run more than $50,000, even
for a domestic run.
For less time-sensitive deliveries, a hybrid air-freight/air-charter
service might be your most cost-effective air-expedite option. With
air expedite, however, there are cargo restrictions to keep in mind.
International Air Transport Association (IATA) regulations ban explosives,
along with flammable and toxic gases. The quantity of substances
such as poisons, oxides, corrosives and flammable solids is also
carefully controlled. Also, dimensions can be a major concern with
air shipments, not only in terms of finding appropriate aircraft
but also in making sure that forklifts or other material handling
equipment and appropriately sized door openings are available.
3. On-Board Couriers
One more alternative to keep in mind when a critical situation occurs
is courier service. This may be the best solution for a small but
very valuable or sensitive shipment that absolutely must get through.
On-board courier service offers carefully selected personnel who
make the pickup, board a commercial flight to the destination airport
and carry the package as on-board baggage. From the airport, the
courier personally delivers the item to its final destination. Basically,
courier service is about security - entrusting a select individual
with a shipment that is important enough to warrant this level of
personal attention.
As specialized as it is, courier service can be cost-effective
as an alternative to chartering an entire plane for one package.
It can also be timely in terms of having a dedicated person available,
essentially anytime, anywhere. But again, keep in mind the "known"
customer policy that is in effect with commercial airlines-if the
courier did not pack the contents of the shipment, there are additional
security issues to consider with possible delays.
Service Selection and Testing
While all expedited carriers are in business to speed shipments
on their way, they offer different types of services, and they have
different service records for potential buyers to review. As with
any purchase, you need to select carefully. Have your shopping done
in advance so that you've already identified your "mission-critical
carriers" and will know whom to contact immediately during a crisis.
Of course, in the event of a natural disaster, even your best-laid
plans for transporting critical shipments may run awry if the road
to your destination is impassable or the local airport is closed
indefinitely. It helps to think through a host of different scenarios
and draft alternate transportation contingencies for each one.
One last - and perhaps most important - piece of advice: test the
transportation component of your contingency plan up front to find
out if there are any problems with the process. For example, if
you have measures in place for a toxic spill that call for evacuating
your facility at Point A, retrieving backup data tapes from a remote
location at Point B and delivering them within eight hours of the
event to the contingency location at Point C, your critical-shipment
carrier should be part of your simulation to ensure that the plan
can be flawlessly executed. The cost of a "test run" will in all
likelihood be minimal compared to the effect on your bottom line
if your expedited transportation plans fail in a real emergency.
Keep these factors in mind when analyzing
your expedited transportation options:
Exclusive use of vehicles
• Nonstop, door-to-door service
Shipment tracking capabilities
• Proactive communication and shipment tracking
Availability of carrier
• 24/7, weekends and holidays
Special handling requirements
• Pads/straps, temperature control
Domestic vs. international capabilities
• Delivery within or outside the U.S.
Surface vs. air expedite
• Cost, critical times and delivery locations
About the Author
Joel Childs, vice president of marketing for
FedEx Custom Critical, has more than 25 years of experience in transportation,
marketing and operations management. Childs joined FedEx Custom
Critical in 1988 and served as marketing manager and as director
of safety and contractor relations before assuming his current role.
Childs is active in a number of organizations in his industry, including
the Council of Logistics Management. Childs graduated from the University
of Akron and holds an M.B.A. from the C.W. Post College of Long
Island University.
For more information on this topic contact
the author at joel.childs@fedex.com
or visit www.fedexcustomcritical.com
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