Air shipping is the fastest form of long-distance shipping. It was only with the creation of dedicated air freight services that it became possible for an item or document to travel to a destination on the other side of the world in less than 36 hours. However, air freight, while fast, is also costly and doesn’t have the same type of storage capacity for freight that an ocean-going ship has. And while air freight is the fastest of all, even this mode of cargo transportation can experience delays. Here are the most common reasons why air freight is delayed and what precautions like tarmac temperature protection can do to protect against it.
Poor Airport Infrastructure
While the handling of passengers on and off aircraft has continually improved over the decades, the same is not true for freight handling infrastructure. Depending on the airport the freight arrives at, there may not be sufficient equipment or poor handling procedures for freight that can cause cargo not to be properly transferred. A lack of equipment to properly handle freight, especially if a large volume arrives at an airport without capacity, causes delays.
The ”Blackout Period”
This is more of a bureaucratic phenomenon specific to American air freight. Appropriate paperwork is submitted beforehand, so everything goes smoothly when a plane goes “wheels up.”
However, that paperwork also means that once the plane is down on the tarmac, the freight itself is listed as arrived and ready for pick up. This means that even though the cargo is listed as landed and available, that’s not actually the case, and it may be sitting somewhere waiting to be handled or otherwise unaccounted for by handlers, even though it’s listed as ready to go. This can cause some confusion in freight handling, further complicating and delaying things.
Unqualified Personnel
Unfortunately, the human factor can also play a role, especially in an area of labor that typically offers lower pay and no union protection. Only some airport facilities have dedicated, full-time staff from the airport itself who are experienced freight handlers. In some cases, third-party services are outsourced for savings, which can lead to personnel not familiar with the specifics of air freight, especially the bureaucracy and the more specialized freight, such as temperature-sensitive cargo.
This is why, should anything go wrong, tarmac temperature protection is essential. Tarmac temperature protection is an extra precaution when temperature-sensitive freight is left out of active environmental systems for protracted periods. If you’d like to know more, contact Protek Cargo with your questions and get a quote.
