b'16American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comLATAM Cargo 767-300F plane being loaded with cargo at Miami International Airport.(EXPANSIONcontinued fromkey to this success. He states that 13 page 12) freight airlines directly connect Bogota the following tonnage figures in thisand Medellin to Miami. There are also story are metric. fivedifferentpassengerairlinespro-Even before the upcoming expan- viding cargo space in their bellies. At sion,whichistobeexpectedtobethe same time, there are six cargo air-completedin2027,inlinesconnectingQuito 2021, Miami was alreadywith Miami, in addition receiving69%ofthetotwopassengerser-UnitedStatesperish- vices out of Quito.able air cargo volume,Intheperishable which totaled 621,292fruit and vegetable cat-tons. egory,MIAreceived Naressaidairport69.3% of US air imports cargo volumes in 2021ofthiscategory.This and 2022 were the firstamountedto73,343 toeverexceed2.45tonsin2021.Mostof million metric tons (2.7this volume came from million U.S. tons). Fol- Latin America,particu-lowing a record volumelarlyfromCentraland in 2020, Miami Interna- South America. tionalsawanincreaseIn the fish and sea-of 18% in 2021 to 2.5Dimitrios Jimmy Nares,foodimportcategory, million tons. This three- Miami Dade Aviation Department Miami received 58.1% year span represents the three greatestof all US air imports of this category, yearsfortotalcargovolumeinthewhich was 246,131 tons. history of the Miami airport, which isExistingon-airportrefrigerated(BALANCEScontinued fromthe receiving end for customers who owned, operated, and managed by thespace with a combined total of 43,293page 14) need to be getting the fruit to market.Miami-Dade County government. square meters, the most among all USto do what they can to stick to schedule. We have had a lot of shipments Relative to national air transporta- airports, enables the processing of suchthat ended as insurance claims as the tion figures, flowers are the dominantlarge volumes of perishables at MIA. c reatiNgP roduceF astl aNes delays were too long and the produce perishable category for Miami airport.AlsoexpeditingMiamiInterna- Produceisthemostperishablewas not saleable. In those cases, well Miamiin2021received88.7%oftional Airports perishable trade is thefreight handled by the ocean lines. Atinsuredshippersorcarrierscovered flowers imported by air into the U.S.heavy presence of Federal inspectorsthe TPMconference, Treacyencour- most of the immediate losses. This was 297,536 tons, valued at $1.58representingCBP,USDAandotheraged the shipping lines to create fastWiththeproblems,theproduce billion.Accountingformostofthisinspection agencies. Of all U.S. air- lanesforproduce,expeditingget- industrybeganshyingawayfrom volume are exporters in Colombia andports,thegreatestnumbersoftheseting outbound reefer containers off theexporting.Certainly,U.S.exports Ecuador. Nares said connectivity is ainspectors are in Miami. dock and then discharging them first atare down. While figures may show a two percent sales increase in produce exports,if10%to15%inflationis considered, the produce industry may actually be facing up to a 10 percent decrease in exported volume. Rather thanfacetransportationproblems, somegrowersleftfruitsandvege-tables unharvested in the field or on trees to minimize their losses. It will take a while to get our con-fidence back to exporting. And export-ersofcitrusandapples,havelargely remained in the export game. Those pro-viding cherries and vegetables couldnt afford the risks of shipping delays. Treacy encourages IFPAs produce industry members to select their ship-ping lines based on more than price. In the times of shortages those good part-ners bring fewer challenges than those working in the spot markets. Treacyishopefulthestability remains, and service gets back to, or above, what it was before.customs brokers&freight forwarders The reefer niche allows shipping www . jfmoran.com: 800.944.1041 lines to charge a profitable premium. I cant see them walking away from this business, although one or two did (BALANCEScontinued on page 19)'