Air Freight

Client

A global supplier, importer, and exporter in the medical device industry

Challenge

In March 2020, a J.M. Rodgers customer sought assistance managing an unprecedented surge in consumer demand for the health care products they sold as the global coronavirus pandemic reached its peak. This surge in demand and global supply chain breakdowns resulted in increased costs and greater complexity in coordinating the timing of their deliveries to customers.

Solution

Members of JMR’s senior import operations team reviewed the current routing process and began to examine every possible solution to get the A/F cargo to the customer faster and more cost-effectively. Due to the cargo’s final destination being in a remote location, the customer had always routed cargo into a smaller airport hub for years. Little did the customer know that the load wasn’t flying to this airport but was instead flown to a major airport, consolidated, and trucked to the air cargo holding hub at the smaller airfield.

J.M. Rodgers negotiated with a different airline in Asia to secure a lower rate on the promise of volume, then dealt directly with a line haul trucker that made frequent moves to the remote location.

Results

This new supply chain achieved much faster delivery times and, on average, saved 5 days in door delivery by controlling the right at the first port of entry and avoiding the need to wait for the airline to consolidate and push to a separate airport. Additionally, the rate negotiations with the airline and the trucking company directly led to significant savings of approximately $2,500 per shipment, totaling over $125,000 for the customer.