Staffing challenges present issues for ULD management

[caption id="attachment_96506" align="alignright" width="516"] Panelists from UPS/IATA, dnata, DSV and ULD Care[/caption] The process of balancing unit load devices (ULDs) has become increasingly challenging since the collapse of scheduled passenger flights and networks after spring 2020. While container companies and airlines have responded with strategic improvements surrounding ULD movement, the high turnover of staff paired with the need for better ULD training present a significant challenge to operations, according to panelists during Wednesday’s third installment of Air Cargo World’ s webinar series. While some airlines have done well when it comes to demanding training, sufficient training for ULD handling is not standardized across the industry, Niels Larsen, president of logistics company DSV Panalpina North America, said during the webinar. He further noted that airlines should come together to present clear guidelines on the training of warehouse staff. Despite the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) documented ULD Regulations (ULDR), challenges to proper staff training remain, especially when employee turnover rates are high and employees are uninterested, said Bob Rogers, vice president and treasurer for industry group ULD Care. "I’ve done numerous [ULD] trainings, but [the ULDR] model doesn’t work because it doesn’t get it down to the broad mass of people, and I think this is the big challenge," Rogers said. “I know figures of over 100% of the [cargo terminal and ground handling] staff are turning over in a year. “How do you manage an effective training program for people who have got one eye on going to work at Starbucks, and really have no interest in [ULDs]?” asked Rogers. “The result is the ULDs are just collateral damage … this remains an enormous challenge for the industry.” In 1997, a fatal accident involving a DC-8-61F operated by Fine Air crashed after takeoff due to cargo loading irregularities. A similar accident took place in 2013, when a 747-400 BFC operated by National Airlines crashed shortly after takeoff due to the improper restraint of an all-terrain vehicle onboard. Both accidents were caused by the lack of trained staff in charge of ULD loading and unloading, despite clear guidelines, Rogers said. “Nothing has really changed, and we [can] almost predict that there will be another full-scale accident with cargo breaking loose during flight because of improperly loaded ULD,” Rogers said. “People [think] they can get away with loading it any old way, [and] while that continues, there’s an accident just waiting to happen.” Panelist Guillaume Crozier, divisional vice president of operations and development at ground handler dnata, further noted that the risk of improper ULD handling is well known and while some major airlines do have ULD training, the industry as a whole needs to continue learning. “That’s why we need to keep risk assessing,” Crozier said. “This is a never-ending topic, and we need to keep working together but also we all need to be extremely serious.”

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