b'18American Journal ofTransportation ajot.com(DIGITALcontinued from page 8) try have come if US Customs hadnt62,000-square-foot building is devoteding cargo integrity through a series of the Internet is still considered a socialintroducedthe24-hourrulebackintoperishables,andtheotherhalfisstrategicinitiatives.Dedicatedcom-media,peoplewastingtime,people2002? [A requirement that ocean car- used for general air cargo, but that ismittees focus on identifying areas for not getting their job doneriers and NVOs electronically submitabout to change. IAH is exploring animprovementandadvancingeduca-Andthereisalsooftenadis- acargodeclaration24-hoursbeforeexpansionoftheperishablefacil- tionaleffortstoensurethatsensi-connectwithinlogisticscompaniesthecargoisloadedonthevessel].ity storage and handling center withtive cargo is handled with the utmost betweentheircommercialandITThe24-hourrule,they[USCus- itstenantsinanticipationofpoten- care, van Stekelenburg explained.sides of the business.toms] gave us eight months [for com- tial volume growth of fruits, vegeta- Thepushtowardswidespread I see a real gap between the com- pliance]. So, it makes you wonder atbles and fish, including salmon, andCEIVcertificationamonglogistics mercial side of businessesand thesome point whether there wouldnt beflower imports from South America,providers is a testament to this com-ITgroups,Heimbecksays.Adding,benefits to the trade to have a certainplus commodities from Mexico. mitment, aiming to elevate the over-And the IT group is bright, fascinatedenhanced regulatory compliance thatAsthisiswritten,Houston Air- all quality of the logistics chain and withcode,speaksatotallydiffer- said cargo had to be cleared in tran- ports,whichcontributes$40billionreinforce Puerto Ricos standing as a ent language, doesnt always want tositbeforeitarrives.Andwhileasannuallytotheregionseconomy,premier logistics hub for life sciences slow down and explain what the hell(DIGITALcontinued on page 22) doesnothavedeeppenetrationinproducts.a cookie [is] or an API [ApplicationJapan.WhileAll-NipponAirwaysInMarchthisyear,forwarder ProgrammingInterface]pushisandUnitedAirlinescantransportETH Cargo became the first member [while the] commercial side says, I(RECORDScontinued frombelly freight to Tokyos Narita, thereof the PRLSACC to achieve IATAs dont have time for you. I got to go dopage 14) isnodirectscheduledfreighterser- CEIV Pharma certification.sales and focus on the business. Cargo, Air Atlanta Icelandic, Ameri- vice. Still, the country will get moreInJune,FedExannouncedthat And like many of the industrysflight,BerryAviation,CavokAir,belly cargo lift in March 2025 whenbothitsrampoperationsatPuerto problems, the solution is better com- IFL Group, Kalitta Charters, LATAMZipair,alow-cost,transpacificcar- Ricos two airports in San Juan (SJU) munication. As Heimbeck puts it, WeCargo, Lynden Air Cargo, MNG Air- rier launches Boeing 787-8 passengerand Aguadilla (BQN) had received the havetobreakthroughandhavelines,NationalAirlines,PolarAirflights from IAH to Tokyo Narita.CEIV Pharma certification.businesspeople talking to the codersCargo, SkyLease Cargo and Ukraine IAH, which covers 11,000 acres,In2022,FedExinaugurateda and the coders talking back to busi- Air Alliance. has no shortage of space for new on- state-of-the-arttemperature-controlled nesspeople.Thecoderssaywhats Atlas Air, Inc. has a strong andairportcargofacilities. Amazon,forroom at its Ramp of Operations at SJU. possible and the businesspeople say,expanding presence at IAH. It oper- example, has an on-tarmac handlingIt has also extended a long-term lease This is what needs to happen. atesscheduledflightsunderacon- and storage building with nearby rampagreementatBQNwithdedicated tract with Amazon, and its jets sportaccess and has three other distributionspaceforactivecontainers,acquired t hec omplexity ofl ogistics Amazons Prime Air name and colors.centers several miles away to accom- newtemperature-controlledtrailers, Still the main reason that the logis- E-commerce volume in and out of themodate its booming e-commerce traf- and implemented its SenseAware tech-tics sector has lagged other industriesmarketandIAHissurging,andfic. Within a five-mile radius of Bushnology, which provides enhanced mon-inadoptingend-to-enddigitaliza- the huge volume of small packages isAirport, we have 11 new warehouseitoring and intervention options.tion is the onerous complexity of theresponsible for the only truck pickupparkswithmorethansixmillionForwarders Expeditors and Prime task. As Heimbeck explains there is aand delivery truck congestion at thesquare feet of available space underAir,SJUcargohandler,GMDand major difference between say Fintechairport, Szczesniak allows.the roof, says the aviation director.American Airlines are also CEIV-cer-and logistics. They [Fintech] can doWhatistriggeringthee-com- Additionally, there is room to park 20tifiedwhileotherPRLSACCmem-it because its a small finite numbermercedemandhere?Houstonisawidebody jets on the tarmac. But evenbers are expected to be so shortly, van whereeveryelementisanumber.growingmarket,hesays,Wehadwithexistingcargobuildings,occu- Stekelenburg added.Thedatesanumber,theamountisan estimated 140,000 people movingpancies are high and, in some cases,He went on to identify several key anumber.Okay,currencyisnotainto the Houston region last year.maxed out.trends that are emerging in the global number, but its a defined group. At the same time, air freightinglife sciences logistics market, including On the other hand, there is a lot ofofoversizedcargothroughIAHisl ongeRR unways increased demand for cold chain solu-moving parts to shifting a marine con- also on the upswing. Houston is theMeanwhile,Houston Airportsistions, greater personalization of medical tainer full of goods from one coun- nationssecond-largestmetropolitanexploringlengtheningIAHsdepar- treatments, AI and autonomous systems trytoanother.Theyre[FinTech]area for manufacturing, by GDP, heturerunways,addingmoreairplaneand the need for sustainability and resil-aheadbecausetheydontfacethepoints out. And as the heart of the oilparkingspotsandcreatingnewon- ience in logistics operations. complexity of a bill of lading [BOL].industry, a lot of big high-value stuffairport cargo warehousing facilities toThese initiatives are not only pre-Some of its port-to-port, some of itsgets made here and then it moves asaccommodate growth.paring Puerto Rico to compete more inland-to-port. Some of its inland-to- project air cargo.We are in our planning phaseeffectively in the global market but inland. Sometimes its one container,now to expand our cargo operations,also ensure that the island remains a sometimesitstwenty.Sometimese conomicd iveRsification and we will survey the market and seepreferred logistics partner for life sci-itsten20-footcontainersandfive But the local economy is diversi- whatthedemandlookslike,Szcz- encescompanies,vanStekelenburg highcubes[oversizedcontainers].fying in ways that benefit Houstonsesniak toldAJOT. A lot of airportsobserved.Some of them are refrigerated [reef- airports. The future of Texas is notdo not have the land or the labor to ers]Thecomplexityofinterna- just energy.Houston is home to theexpand. With a heavy influx of peoplem edicinec abinet of thew oRld tional transportation leaves Fintech inTexasMedicalCenter,thelargestmovingintoHoustonandwithourAskedwhethermorethan1,000 the dust. medicalcenterintheentireworld,airport acreage, we have both.milesawaytothenorth-west,in And what is inside the containerSzczesniakexplains.RightnextIfIAHcanmaintainitsrecentMiami,theaimofthecitysairport only increases the level of complex- door,theyarebuildingoutHelixcargo traffic growth, it will have the(MIA) to become an air cargo hub for ity.thedetailsinside[thecon- Park, a 37-acre multibillion-dollar lifecapacitytoabsorbit.Asanexam- pharmaservingLatinAmericawas tainer] just morphs into higher-levelscienceshubwhichisforecastedtople,passengerterminalsarebeingimpactingPuertoRicosownambi-information about the shipment. Butinject more than $5 billion annuallyupgraded and expanded and regionaltions, he replied:USCustoms,allcustomsagenciesinto the economy and create tens ofjetswillbereplacedbylargerair- Wedontthinkso.PuertoRico have demanded to have that level ofthousands of jobs. When completed,craft with more belly lift, he predicts.is primarily a manufacturing hub and detaildeclaredtothempreciselyinlocalsclaim,theentireventurewillThatsnoteventakingintoconsid- now also a logistics hub. The life sci-the customs entry process. Dont dobe driven by collaboration betweenerationthepossibilityofadditionalences industry represents 70% of the it.Youreasmuggler.Andso,itshospitals, universities and businesses.freighters adding IAH to their regularislands exports and 35% of its GDP. interesting, we have these ABI [Auto- It should also be a boon to IAHsschedules or signing up for charters.Puerto Ricos remarkable growth in life mated Broker Interface] systems thatair cargo community since medicineSaysSzczesniak:Wehaveascienceshaspositionedtheislandas candoexactlythat,butwhydontlives on the immediate availability ofmayor who is very supportive of thethe largest biopharmaceutical exporter we feed them with the PO [Purchaseexpensive, high-value, time-sensitiveairportsystembecauselastyearweof any US jurisdiction, with exports to Order] and the information about theproducts and equipment. We antici- movednearly$17billionworthofover 120 countries. Its for this reason transport?Butits[theinformation]pate there will be a significant increasecargo through Houston. The airport isthattheisland,gainingthetitlethe siloed right now, says Heimbeck. in the IAH and HOU. Truckers willimportant to the business communitymedicine cabinet of the world.also reap new premium-priced traffic.and the business community is impor- He underlined that this expansion k nockingd own thes ilos Houston is centrally located on I-10,tant to the airport.has showcased Puerto Ricos ability to So, the question remains how tothe major thoroughfare that links Loshandlecomplexlogisticsoperations, leverage all the tools in the logistics- Angeles and the East Coast, he adds.especially when it comes to the distri-tech toolbox to knock down the silosHoustonsairportsareaimingto(PROSPERScontinued from bution of pharmaceutical and medical constricting the industry?boostitsalreadystrongperishablespage 14) products via air cargo. Heimbecksaystheimpetustotraffic, Szczesniak tells the AJOT. WestrengthentheislandsairconnectionsWithanincreaseinboththe change might come from the regula- have a world class fumigation facilitywithkeymarkets,thePRLSACCisvolume and frequency of cargo flights, tors. Ashepointsout,Everybodyon the airport that happens to be rightalso focused on developing the PuertoPuertoRicohasbecomeacritical has to drive on the right side of thenext to our air cargo facility with U.S.Rico hub as a center of excellence andjunctionintheglobalsupplychain, road in the United States. And Itsagricultural department officers, whichexpertiseinpharmahandlingwithreinforcing its reputation not just as a not voluntary.makes it a one-stop building for perish- dedicated facilities. production center, but as a pivotal hub After all, how far along the pathables shippers and consignees.ThePRLSACCisproactivelyin healthcare logistics, van Stekelen-todigitalizationwouldtheindus- Hesaysthatonlyhalfofthataddressing the challenges of maintain- burg concluded.'