from another station in Europe to Kiev, where the airline does not have passenger ights, to pick up the lions. The animals were transported in the belly of the plane, where WOW staff looked after them during the trip. When the passenger aircraft reached Doha, it was parked alongside Qatar Airways Cargo’s live animal facility. There, the animals were fed raw meat and provided water through their cages while waiting about four hours for the next ight. Ensuring that the process went smoothly took a full team effort— everyone from ramp operators and forklift drivers to the live animal facility team and charter teams that managed the rerouting of the ight. “This was a big logistical challenge, but it was a great feeling to see the video of the lions when they were released,” says Kirsten de Bruijn, senior vice president, cargo sales and network planning. More recently, Qatar Airways Cargo opened its state-of-the-art Animal Centre in Doha and relaunched its Next Generation Live product to transport less ferocious animals. The 5,260-square-meter facility comprises 140 dog kennels, 40 cat kennels, and 24 horse stables distributed in four zones with separate air ows. There are also custom spaces designed for day-old chicks, birds, sh, reptiles, and exotic animals. The center has airside and landside interfaces with multiple docks, a sophisticated HVAC system for optimal air quality, and the technological capacity to handle up to 47 unit-load device (ULD) positions, with specialized ULD rooms for various operations. whatever it takes As any shipper moving complex cargo knows, extraordinary challenges often demand specialized expertise. By working with providers dedicated to specialized transportation and project logistics, they gain partners with the ability to navigate and execute these demanding projects, ultimately ensuring the seamless movement of goods, no matter the circumstances. n
warehouse. “The installation location was at the opposite end of the country and we needed to nd a new transport mode to make the delivery on time,” Rotstein says. “We expedited the nal pallets via domestic air freight and accelerated the pickup and delivery process by sourcing local cargo vans. “These vans picked up the pallets within one hour of the request, delivered them to the airport, and then retrieved them from the airport for nal delivery. The shipment arrived on time, meeting the installers as scheduled,” he adds. Talk to the Animals Qatar Airways Cargo handles all kinds of cargo, including the wildest of wild animals. A few years ago, the company transported three lions, one lioness, and three cubs to nature reserves in South Africa after they had been living con ned in inhumane conditions in Ukraine. Qatar Airways’ “Rewild the Planet” initiative, a part of the airline’s WeQare sustainability program, is dedicated to transporting wild animals back to their natural environments, at no charge, at the request of wildlife protection organizations. The lion project began in October 2020, in coordination with Warriors of Wildlife (WOW), a nonpro t organization specializing in the rescue, relocation, and care of abused wildlife. It was so complicated it was delayed until April 2021. To accomplish the mission, the airline rerouted one of its passenger freighters Committed to rescuing and relocating wild animals, Qatar Airways Cargo operates its Cargo Animal Centre in Doha to help provide safe transportation for these animals.
“Leveraging a 3PL to source the optimal location can and will save money and help improve ef ciencies across the board,” says Rotstein. For example, he recalls working with a client who was printing and installing graphics for a major national grocery retailer. “The challenge was coordinating all shipments to arrive on the same day as the installers to complete the job as quickly as possible,” Rotstein explains. “The installers were third-party contractors, so any shipment delays would incur additional costs for our client and risk missing the retailer’s contracted deadline.” By leveraging internal software and pricing tools, Associated Logistics Group created a “heatmap” that identi ed the optimal warehouse locations to use as a spoke-and-hub system. “Shipments came inbound to the warehouses we sourced via a combination of full truckload, partial truckload, and LTL carriers, which were selected based on their location, price, transit time, and on-time record,” Rotstein explains. “The shipments were temporarily stored for one to two days, and then we coordinated nal-mile delivery to the grocery stores where the installers were ying in from out of state or driving from a previous installation to install the product the same day,” he adds. All went well—except for one missing batch the client still had at their
186 Inbound Logistics • July 2024
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