Chicago O’Hare

Stealing your own freight: O’Hare cargo delays force drastic measures

A forklift moving stacks of boxes in a warehouse.

Desperate logistics service providers in Chicago are resorting to a number of new tactics, including bribery and undercover extraction missions, to avoid worsening congestion that is trapping shipments for more than a week at O’Hare International Airport’s cargo terminals, according to industry executives.

Shipment volumes at O’Hare have exploded in the past 18 months as businesses turn to air transport for critical imports of personal protective equipment, replenishment of depleted inventories...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/stealing-your-own-freight-ohare-cargo-delays-force-drastic-measures

Maestro choreographs way around O’Hare cargo gridlock

Boxes and loose cargo spread around warehouse floor.

Maestro International Cargo, a local company that provides airside ground handling services for airlines, is shuttling import shipments off the ramp to a new warehouse three miles from Chicago O’Hare International Airport to alleviate huge backlogs at airport terminals.

The 164,000-square foot facility, located three miles away in Des Plaines, Illinois, opened in June and officials held a grand opening ceremony July 27. It has 16 dock doors and two ramps. It also is open 24 hours a day to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/maestro-choreographs-way-around-ohare-cargo-gridlock

Cargo handlers move to airport suburbs to escape O’Hare congestion

An airport worker with a yellow vest walks towards an airplane and a ground tug.

Ground service providers drowning in shipments delivered by airlines are responding to massive gridlock at Chicago O’Hare by permanently relocating some warehouse operations outside the property  to increase capacity in what could increasingly become a model at major U.S. airports that haven’t prioritized investment in cargo facilities.

Alliance Ground International (AGI), with stations around the country, and local ground handling agent Maestro International Cargo this month are both opening...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cargo-handlers-move-to-airport-suburbs-to-escape-ohare-congestion

Fed up with cargo congestion, freight forwarders flee O’Hare airport

Aerial view of O'Hare Airport cargo terminal.

Cargo congestion has gone from bad to worse at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, forcing importers to wait several days to retrieve shipments and prompting two large logistics companies to migrate airfreight operations an hour west to an uncrowded facility in Rockford, Illinois.

There is so much cargo piling up at O’Hare that airline-handling agents for the first time in memory are actually renting warehouses in surrounding townships to hold the overflow until it can be sorted for customer...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/fed-up-with-cargo-congestion-freight-forwarders-flee-ohare-airport

Rockford Rocket: Cargo business blasts off at Chicagoland airport

White jets with brown and blue tails at airport passing in opposite directions. Amazon and UPS planes.

The e-commerce juggernaut and crowded international gateways are making many secondary airports attractive alternatives for freight transport providers, but few are growing like Chicago Rockford International Airport.

Located about 70 miles northwest of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, Rockford Airport (RFD) last year increased cargo throughput by 15% to a record 2.7 billion tons of cargo landed weight (aircraft plus payload) and recently began a $43 million infrastructure expansion to meet escalating...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/the-rockford-rocket:-cargo-business-blasts-off-at-midwest-airport

Delta Cargo shuts Chicago airport facility for 9 days

A pallet of cargo on a hydraulic lift gets moved into the side door of a white Delta Air Lines airplane.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) has shut its cargo facility at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport through Dec. 2 for what a spokesperson said was due to “an unforeseen staffing issue.”

In a message to customers on Monday, Delta Cargo said it is not accepting, delivering or transferring any shipments. Dispatch of inbound and outbound trucks is also unavailable, effective immediately, it added.

Atlanta-based Delta operates one international cargo-only service from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany,...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/delta-cargo-shuts-chicago-airport-facility-for-9-days

Geodis opens European market to US e-tailers

Geodis

Europe’s online shoppers continue to desire high-end and specialty American-made products, but the difficult decision of whether to pay for expensive express service or go with cheaper, less definitive shipping through postal services cause many of these sales to fizzle.

That is why third-party logistics services provider Geodis said it has recently launched an e-commerce shipping service that provides a more comfortable price point and transit time between express carrier and postal services.

Geo...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/geodis-opens-european-market-to-us-e-tailers

Cargo-friendly airports shine during COVID crisis

Big cargo plane being unloaded in the rain at airport.

Secondary airports geared toward cargo are proving their value during the coronavirus pandemic as a faster alternative for delivering goods. 

Airports outside major metro areas have always had a speed advantage over international passenger gateways such as Chicago O’Hare and New York’s JFK airport. An onslaught of freighter aircraft full of medical supplies for the COVID response has magnified congestion at those hubs and forced shippers to consider other options.

Good infrastructure, customer...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/cargo-friendly-airports-shine-during-covid-crisis

Delta to reopen O’Hare cargo facility

Delta Air Lines cargo worker driving a forklift.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) will reopen its cargo warehouse at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Thursday after a two-day closure for undisclosed reasons, according to a customer advisory from Delta Cargo.

The airline said Monday evening it was shutting the facility indefinitely, meaning no new cargo would be accepted or released and shipments already on site would remain in storage until further notice. Inbound flights from London Heathrow and Frankfurt, Germany, were exempt from the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/delta-to-reopen-ohare-cargo-facility

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