ULD CARE Latest News April 2016

Some of you may have noticed the absence of a newsletter last February. We unfortunately had to skip one cycle but we are pleased to say that we are now back with a great deal to talk about.

The first few months of 2016 have not only been busy ones for ULD CARE but also have seen some interesting industry developments.  Some of you follow these as they happen via the ULD CARE LinkedIn page which now has about 150 followers, a number which is growing month by month.  In case you are not already connected to our LinkedIn site, you may click on this icon to join the ULD conversation.

In no particular order, here are some of the developments from the last few months:
 
Development of the new ULD CARE website is proceeding nicely with a planned launch shortly before the August conference.   While the existing website is only three years old, the new one will be significantly improved by offering more content and compatibility with both computer and handheld devices, therefore better meeting the needs of our “ on the go”  followers. We expect to be able to populate the site with a great deal of new and useful information as well as still making available the substantial collection of material already on hand.  Most importantly, it will be easier to navigate on the new website and find the information you are looking for.
 
The new website will also feature a comprehensive portfolio of operational guidance material, articles and other medium which our readers will be able to download and put to work in their own organizations.  This is a new direction for ULD CARE and is one where we have high expectations of being able to deliver increased value to our membership.
 
Considerable effort has also gone into finding a way to launch the ULD JOB AID by ULD CARE and the product itself stays pretty much as it was demonstrated in Bangkok last year.  The challenge we face is finding organizations which are prepared to put up some seed money to partially financially support the launch of this exciting development. This is certainly taking longer than we anticipated but we will get there in the end.

ULD CARE also continues to try to expand its reach towards other ULD stakeholders. Following an initial face-to-face meeting at the ULD Regulatory Forum in Montréal last September with two very involved individuals from FIATA (International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations):  Marc Bibeau, President and CEO of the OEC Group and Bill Gottlieb, also from the freight forwarding industry, ULD CARE enjoyed a 30 minute slot at a recent FIATA global assembly in Zurich. The SOS ULD video and some additional slides were presented to the assembly by Marc.  We are hopeful that there will be some long-term engagement between ULD CARE and FIATA.

 

With all these activities under our belt, ULD CARE is now starting to place serious focus on the Los Angeles Annual Conference, just four months away (August 29 to September 1, 2016).  Like every Olympics, we have every intention of trying to make this “the best yet”, so please make sure you have the dates marked off in your diary.

This year’s conference will be held at the Sofitel Beverly Hills Hotel. The preliminary program outline will be available by the end of May but information on registration and hotel special rate will be provided next week to the members, giving everybody plenty of time to get the necessary approvals to attend this event.  To get you in the mood for LAX, you may want to check the Spouse, Partner & Family Program, available on our website.

Adding to the list of already confirmed sponsors for the event, ULD CARE is very pleased to announce that the IATA ULD Board Fall Meeting will be held in Los Angeles (same hotel – afternoon of 01SEP and 02SEP all day) immediately following the Annual Conference.  We would like to acknowledge the generous sponsorship of PALNET for making this possible.

INDUSTRY NEWS – FAA

The FAA Cargo Focus Team has recently issued an updated outreach document providing guidance on cargo and ULD operations.  ULD gets 8 mentions in this 50 page document and ULD CARE recommends this document to all our readers.

Read it here >

INDUSTRY NEWS – IATA

Under the IATA umbrella, there is also a considerable amount to report. The annual World Cargo Symposium (WCS), held in March in Berlin, was a great success from a ULD perspective. ULD kicked off with a strong statement of intent during Tony Tyler’s Opening Plenary remarks:

The industry’s commitment to safety is also captured by our increased focus on the use of ULDs. This has come under heightened scrutiny since the publishing of the 2013 National Airlines Bagram accident report. ULDs are aircraft components and all industry stakeholders need to recognize this fact and treat these units with the appropriate level of care and expertise.  To assist the industry with awareness, we are launching a new campaign to improve safety and quality so that our people on the ramp or in the warehouse are safer, and the $330 million annual bill for ULD-related damage can be reduced. We have some striking visuals for this campaign which you can see at the IATA booth, and hear about in detail at the ULD Track tomorrow.”  

This was followed up by a very successful ULD Track, indeed standing room only.

On top of this, WCS saw the launch of the IATA ULD Safety Campaign, a new initiative from IATA intended to drive greater awareness of ULD using the tag line “ULD it’s not just a box…”
 
More details are available on the IATA website including downloadable poster artworks and a YouTube video. ULD CARE fully endorses this initiative and will be doing all possible to support its widespread use.  As a first step, we encourage all our members to include the link to the IATA ULD Safety Campaign on their websites.
 
Last but not least, at the IATA Accredited Training Schools (ATS) conference held alongside WCS, the subject of ULD training was given a comprehensive introduction to delegates from this industry segment. The first few such schools are already starting to roll out ULD training programs.  Actions to rectify the widespread lack of awareness and understanding of the flight safety essentials of ULD can only be applauded and, as these training programs start to gain traction and expand ULD knowledge across the industry, we are confident that this will deliver improved safety and efficiency.  This initiative can only benefit the industry as a whole bringing ULD training to a much greater audience than has ever been possible before.
 
From a ULD CARE perspective, the amount of ULD content and enthusiasm at WCS can only be seen as a very welcome endorsement of many years of hard work to raise the profile of ULD in the cargo industry. This represents both an opportunity and a challenge for ULD CARE.  We are to a very great extent pushing on an open door with lots of opportunities to pursue but on the other hand we do have to recognize that our resources are quite limited. To our members and readers, our message is the following:  “Now more than ever is a good time to be promoting ULD safety and efficiency.  You have more tools  than ever to use, and it is much more likely that your audience will already have heard a certain amount about ULD, a far cry from maybe five years ago when every call was a cold call and every door was closed to us.”

To conclude this newsletter and before going into this month’s featured articles, may we ask our readers to complete a short survey.

On behalf of IATA, we would like to invite the ULD community to participate in a quick (no more than 5 minutes) online questionnaire to express your opinion about the IATA ULDR Manual and how IATA can provide you with better and more relevant products in the future.  

Kindly complete the survey by Sunday, 15 May 2016. Your opinion counts!  Thank you.

 

 

We hope you enjoy this month’s featured articles:

Straps 2016:  A New Era

Before and after – This article talks about the various aspects of cargo straps and the major change that occurred on 01JAN2016.

Read more >

 

The DO’s of ULD Handling

The aim of this article is to provide those who work with ULDs with a reference tool for best practice guidance.

Read more >