A ll logistics scenarios are not created equal. While every transportation move is crucial for shippers, some pose extraordinary challenges. These out-of-the-ordinary moves may involve fun projects, like supporting a superstar musician’s national concert tour. They may be required by tragic events, such as serving a war-torn country. Sometimes the challenge is to move oversized, sensitive cargo such as aerospace equipment, or even wild animals. Whatever the case, logistics providers specializing in project logistics handle the most complex moves with creativity, diligence and, most importantly, passion for their missions. These stories of impressive moves under intense pressure highlight the ways shippers and providers can work together to get the job done. Star Power Shomotion, a trucking company based in Denver, specializes in large-scale music events. During this past year, Shomotion delivered the “skeleton” stages that were built to support the biggest tour to hit popular music in decades: Taylor Swift’s record-setting Eras tour. The company has worked with everyone from the Rolling Stones to Kenny Chesney, and from Beyonce to Metallica. But Swift’s tour “was the biggest phenomenon I’ve ever
to 200 staff members who all move as one entity, as opposed to the traditional driver’s solitary life. Our drivers eat as a group, and with the entire tour crew.” It’s common for tours to tip their support teams, including drivers, who typically get about $5,000 to $10,000. But Swift gave her drivers $100,000 each, with a handwritten note, as thanks. “That large amount was unbelievable,” Scherkenbach says. Because it works on such large- scale projects, Shomotion maintains $1 million in cargo coverage, ve to 10 times what a typical company carries. Scherkenbach’s core staff of about 30 drivers peaks to 120 or so with sub-hires during the busy seasons. Scherkenbach began as a driver himself, for John Mayer when Mayer was touring colleges. Though he no longer drives, he still nds it rewarding to see the results of his efforts: “After watching the stage get set up over four or ve days, to see the energy of the audience and know you played a small part in something that brings so much joy to people is very satisfying,” he says. Serving the War Effort Logistics Plus, a third-party logistics (3PL) provider based in Erie, Pennsylvania, recently delivered $100 million worth of gas pipes to Ukraine. The work was especially important to the company’s chief operating of cer Yuriy Ostapyak, a Ukrainian-born American. The project included of oading ships onto 1,000 trucks to avoid mines in the Black Sea, working unusually quickly because of the risk of missile attacks and navigating the always-changing logistics fogged by the war. Logistics Plus, with of ces in more than 50 countries, including Ukraine, worked with the pipe manufacturer to deliver the infrastructure, a project that took eight months to complete. “This cause is near and dear to me,” Ostapyak notes. “Other Western companies were pulling out of the Ukrainian market while we were going in. We do the projects others shy away from.”
seen in about 20 years,” says Michael Scherkenbach, president of Shomotion. When working on concert tours, the primary challenge for logistics providers is the service level. “There is no margin for error when you service a ticketed event,” Scherkenbach explains. “There is no ‘Sorry, we will be there tomorrow.’ You will never haul another concert again if an artist misses their show.” That means having 24/7/365 awareness and response should anything go wrong. “Charter an airplane; tow a tandem tractor-trailer if it breaks down; cross- load on the roadside—we’ve done all of those,” Scherkenbach says. He recalls the time one of his trucks was taking its mandatory break at an interstate rest area when another truck veered off the highway, jumped a median, and totaled his rig. “I had to send ve box trucks to recover the load and move it to the next show,” Scherkenbach says. Yes, it arrived on time and the show went on. These jobs are different in another way. A major act’s tour can require teams of 25 drivers or more. The drivers, with occasional subs, stay with the tour for weeks and months at a time. “From a security standpoint, the drivers are all vetted and the artist expects that group to stay with them,” Scherkenbach says. Because of that, “drivers work as a close-knit team or family,” he notes. “They travel with anywhere from 20
Concert logistics provider Shomotion hauls crucial tour equipment for the biggest names in music, including Taylor Swift and Beyonce. These moves require 24/7/365 responsibility.
182 Inbound Logistics • July 2024
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