Highlights:
- Moved 100,000 pounds of machinery from Chicago to the Hawaiian island of Molokai.
- The customer, who started searching for the right logistics team two years ahead of shipping, needed a precise step-by-step plan to be implemented immediately once its huge rotator biology contactors were assembled and ready for delivery.
- Each contactor, made to screen and clean wastewater, was 30 feet long, 13 feet wide and 12 feet high, and 50,000 pounds.
Challenge:
- Land route from Chicago to San Diego must consider permitting requirements of each state on the route, as well as key cities through which they would pass. Must know hours allowed for heavy shipments, weight limits on highways, and viaduct heights.
- Sea shipment from San Diego, California to Kaunakakai 2,390 miles away required a vessel in compliance with the Jones Act. Law requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be transported on ships built, owned, and operated by U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
- At destination, shipper needed to carefully store, secure, and balance the equipment until it could be transported to the work site to protect sensitive interior controls.
Solution:
Detailed planning.
- Max Lowe, ICAT Detroit’s vice-president of Client Services, began digging into the company’s requirements two years before the shipment was needed.
- While other logistics companies shrank from the challenge, Max worked with the manufacturer and our team of operations experts to design an efficient, cost-conscious route for the way west to California that minimized chances for delays and disruptions that could result from late-winter weather.
Big Picture:
There was simply no substitute for the experience of the ICAT Logistics Detroit team.
“We know how to pass the baton along the way to meet each situation and overcome obstacles,” said Neil Clavano, ICAT Logistics Detroit terminal manager. “When it comes to assuring the plans and performance for logistics success, we know which tools and techniques deliver the goods — and peace of mind.”