for site surveys; road restrictions; time of day and day of the week restrictions; weather; and elevation, among others,” Rotstein notes. Additionally, when transporting high- value shipments across
Initially, the plan was for four breakbulk containerships to unload at Constanta, a port on the Romanian coast of the Black Sea. But the war turned Constanta into one of the busiest ports in the world, and the barges had trouble making it down the drought-drained Danube River. They rerouted to Port Reni, a previously barely used facility that was fast becoming a major port for Ukrainian imports and exports. Working under daily drone and missile
the border, there is always added risk,
especially now. Cargo theft on Mexico-U.S. shipments was estimated at about $300 million in 2023. “Purchasing additional insurance, shipping during daylight hours, selecting the safest routes and GPS
Transporting $100 million worth of gas pipes to Ukraine demanded eight months of meticulous planning by Logistics Plus and its regional partners.
tracking every step of the way helped us ensure the integrity of our shipments,” Rotstein says. On another project, manufacturing and border delays caused one of several time-sensitive shipments to be two days behind schedule. “To solve this problem, we ended up replacing our heavy-haul carrier at the border with a team drive at the last minute, and we re-assigned the previous single-driver hauler to a separate shipment that was picked up the following day,” Rotstein says. “Even though it took an extra few hours past original pickup time to bring the new carrier onsite and start loading, the end result was reducing the nal- leg transit time by half and an on-time delivery,” he adds. reliable partnerships Project logistics in general typically calls for more than one mode of transportation, and sometimes there is a need for temporary third-party warehousing with coordination of inbound, outbound, nal mile, and other third-party vendors. For many shippers, identifying the best location to centralize a project requires a partner capable of comparing various combinations of transport modes and different start and end points to nd the optimal site for a temporary project warehouse or assembly location.
threats and actual attacks—a factory across the road was blown up while they worked—the Logistics Plus crew got the pipes on trucks destined for sites throughout Ukraine. Every pipe reached its destination. “It took a titanic effort from our entire team,” Ostapyak says. “It required a lot of communication, working with different vendors and the daily and constant air sirens and threats of attacks. We work in other war zones, but this was the largest scale by far.” Technology plays a big part in guaranteeing project logistics success. With the right technology, “the business intel on delivery schedules is better,” Ostapyak explains. But he’s quick to add that the most important success factor is the people. A exible mindset is a must: “Our teams have to be able to make decisions quickly, in split seconds, and not have to run up complex chains of command,” Ostapyak says. “We have to be nimble to address problems as they arise—or before they arise.” Space: The Final Frontier Space exploration is now in the hands of private enterprise, and so is the delivery of components that make commercial space ight possible. Associated Logistics Group, a 3PL based in St. Paul, Minnesota, handles the complexities of
the “space” space, which can include cross-border freight. “One recent aerospace project required sourcing over-dimensional material from all over the United States and Mexico and delivering it to a centralized hub in the United States—an assembly site for the nal product,” says Teo Rotstein, the company’s director of transportation. “It was being assembled on a just-in-time basis so shipments were delivered in a precise order and time.” “Making sure shipments arrive on time for these massive projects is critical,” he adds. “Planning ahead and proactive communication is the name of the game. It means getting creative, pivoting quickly, and leveraging technology, carrier networks, and sweat equity. “This ensures a successful outcome no matter the obstacle,” Rotstein notes. “Being ‘zero fail’ is very important.” These massive shipments require coordination of cranes and of oading teams—“that bill by the hour and are not cheap,” he notes—and the project’s deadline depended on zero delays. “When logistics providers coordinate heavy haul/over-dimensional freight, especially when crossing an international border, there are a lot of variables to take into account for estimated transit time: delays at the border; transloading at a border warehouse; permit purchases in Mexico and the United States; need
184 Inbound Logistics • July 2024
Powered by FlippingBook