Inbound Logistics | July 2025

Specialized Transportation: Logistics on a Mission

DELIVERING RAIL SAFETY'S FUTURE

READY TO RACE BY AIR AND SEA Ford Performance recently

Ensuring train safety increasingly relies on advanced technology like AI-powered data centers. But before these systems can enhance rail safety, they need to be transported, a task

executed a high-stakes international logistics operation, delivering 35 Mustang Dark Horse R race cars and their teams to France for the inaugural Mustang Challenge Le Mans Invitational in June 2025. This marked the international debut of the IMSA-spec Mustang Dark Horse R and was the largest-ever group shipping effort by an American manufacturer to Le Mans. Ford split the operation into two parallel supply chains: one by air and one by sea. For the air route, 22 race cars and their support equipment were trucked to a prep facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina, before being loaded onto a Boeing 747 freighter bound for Frankfurt, Germany. This approach enabled the fastest possible delivery for teams needing extra prep time. Concurrently, an additional 20 Dark Horse Rs were sent via sea freight to Antwerp, Belgium, where they arrived ahead of the race weekend. These cars, mainly rentals for international customers, were united with the air-freighted vehicles near Le Mans before undergoing a two-day shakedown at Circuit Lurcy-Lévis, located just three hours from the track. The combined eet was then moved to the Maison Blanche support paddock for nal pre-race preparations. Executing the large-scale operation required deep coordination. Ford Performance partnered with Scan Global Logistics, a freight company that not only arranged transport but also stationed staff at the Mustang Challenge round at Laguna Seca to walk team representatives through customs documentation, export protocols, and nal paperwork. From factory to paddock, the logistics orchestration ensured that when the green ag dropped in Le Mans, every Mustang was ready to race.

demanding specialized logistics. Landstar recently undertook such a challenge, moving a cutting-edge data center from Jacksonville, Florida, to an Amtrak site in New Jersey. The data center is an imposing piece of equipment: 35 feet long, 13 feet wide, and 11 feet high, weighing 57,000 pounds. Its sheer size meant it couldn’t simply be loaded onto a standard atbed. This was a job for a specialized tractor-trailer, specically a double-drop extendable trailer with eight axles. The loading process alone underscored the complexity of the move. It took several hours for cranes to carefully lift and position the massive data center onto the specialized trailer. Once secured, the data center embarked on its journey to an Amtrak site in New Jersey, where it will become the “brains” of a system that uses machine vision and AI to analyze moving trains, detecting potential safety issues at speeds over 70 mph.

THE ANSWER IS FLOATING IN THE WIND Imagine moving structures as heavy as 2,500 tons each, not just across land, but into the sea with pinpoint precision. That's what GEODIS accomplished in a recent, monumental operation for the Les Éoliennes Flottantes du Golfe du Lion (EFGL) pilot project, one of the world's largest oating offshore wind farms. Designed by Principle Power for Eiffage Metal, these colossal structures are the backbone of a project advancing renewable energy. Standard transportation wasn't an option; the job required a bespoke solution. From April to June 2025, a dedicated GEODIS team was on-site at the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille in Fos-sur-Mer, France. Their task involved moving these leviathans from the Eiffage Darsette site to the Carfos terminal.

The sheer scale of the operation demanded an exhaustive engineering phase long before any movement began. This included meticulously designing specialized grillage and sea fastening systems to secure the foundations, performing precise ballasting calculations to ensure stability during the oat-off, and coordinating seamlessly with local port authorities. Stringent environmental and safety protocols governed every step. For the oat-off, GEODIS deployed a specially selected semi-submersible barge, chosen for its unique ability to partially submerge. The process was a carefully orchestrated sequence: the barge was ballasted—lled with water—to strategically lower itself, allowing the immense oating foundations to be safely and smoothly launched into the water. Despite the strict weather windows and conditions required for the delicate maneuver, GEODIS executed the oat-offs without a hitch.

164 Inbound Logistics • July 2025