air cargo

We won’t lie here: transporting cargo by air is expensive; however, if you invest well in the right international air cargo and container services and solutions, air cargo transportation will reward your outfit with several benefits.

Producers may agree to shorter order times if shipments that could experience delays are going to be transported by air. Manufacturers of clothing, electronics, and other goods will compete for bigger orders and, although they may transport the bulk of their goods by sea, will use air freight to replenish inventories if demand is higher than they anticipated.

Air cargo transportation enables you to diversify your strategy. You can implement air cargo to introduce products that have a short shelf life or deliver smaller volumes reliably in new markets. Air cargo transportation is especially useful if you’re operating in landlocked countries in which land transportation is somewhat hit and miss or countries in which procedures at the borders or gateways are long and uncertain.

Shipping samples is important if you’re a manufacturer that exports products. Whether you’re shipping technical drawings, patterns, product designs or something else, air cargo transportation is indispensable.

If you’re manufacturing under a contract, you must be able to send a prototype; the buyer must approve the prototype for you to pursue a head of production run; the head of production run must receive approval; and then you, the manufacturer, must proceed with a full production run. You may also need to provide samples for testing or for promotions.

Both the airways master bill, which is sent when the flight departs, and the customers declaration, which the brokers file after the cargo has been shipped, are essential for clearance. Some airports adapt their customs procedures to the cargo requirements, and will conduct transactions electronically and clear the cargo within an hour or two. They do this around the clock. Others follow the procedures of other international airports and may take up to a day to clear the cargo.

In the case of exports, documents are filed at the time the cargo arrives at the airport, and the inspection takes place at the same time. A lot of the scanners used are for bags and small packages, meaning cargo must be unloaded from the truck loose and built into pallets. At larger airports that deal regularly with large amounts of cargo, shippers can build their pallets off-airport and load them within a few hours because the airports have full-size scanners.

Cargo handlers should handle cargo securely and efficiently so that airlines can compete with each other. If the volume of cargo is small, the contractor should, while under an exclusive contract, provide the equipment for loading and unloading the aircraft.

One of the big problems faced is monopolisation of cargo handling. Depending on the airport, either the national carrier or a private company will enjoy a monopoly. Having your own equipment to load and unload cargo will be important if the relevant country introduces measures to reduce monopolisation and increased competition in terms of who handles cargo.

Many warehouses will have loading docks to speed up turnarounds and minimise vertical movement of cargo. Export facilities for exports have large areas for inspection, scanning, building palettes and gathering cargo for specific flights. Separate facilities for imports have offices and inspection areas to make customs clearance procedures possible and allow cargo to be segregated into truckloads. These warehouses will have temperature-controlled rooms for perishable cargo to maintain the cold chain between the truck and the airport.

Integrate these elements into an efficient operation and, often, cargo will pass through the airport in just a few hours. This keeps dwell time to a minimum and reduces the space necessary to handle specific volumes considerably.

We specialise in manufacturing and providing systems for loading and unloading unit load devices (ULDs) and other forms of cargo or goods safely and swiftly. Passenger suitcases, perishable goods and even motor vehicles are all goods you might wish to transport in a ULD.

We’ve been supplying global freight forwarders, transports and logistics companies with air cargo solutions for more than 40 years. When it comes to loading air cargo, you can lighten the load by choosing or our manual air cargo systems or air cargo automated systems.

Our systems feature pneumatic rise and fall technology in different versions. For trucks and trailers, the standard system is the built-in roller system, but we also offer modular rollerbeds that allow users to retrofit the system into their existing vehicles. You can even fit one of these rollerbed solutions in your warehouse, upgrading your warehouse floor and transforming it into an air cargo handling terminal without having to make any major alterations to the facility.

If you’re looking to save money in your provision of air cargo handling services, you might prefer one of our manual air cargo handling solutions.

If you wish to lighten the load even more when dealing with air cargo, you can invest in our automated air cargo solutions, the powered cargo roller.

Above we’ve introduced you to a selection of options you can invest in to support your air cargo logistics. Here’s a quick recap of the main reasons to choose one of our systems:

• safer, quicker loading;
• cost reduction;
• minimal or no damage to cargo from forklift trucks;
• flexibility of choice between automated and manual systems;
• compatibility with trucks, trailers, vans and warehouses;
• built-in or retrofit options;
• speedy installation to prevent long disruptions to operations.

If you have any questions about our air cargo loading solutions, or if you’d like to invest in one to support your air cargo handling logistics, let's chat. We’ll be happy to discuss your requirements and advise you on the best system for your operations.