With so many ongoing pressing issues for airlines, ULD management is seen by many as being secondary to the core passenger and cargo operations, therefore this area receives minimal management attention. As a result, airline ULD operations tend to be poorly funded and inefficiently run, which leads to financial losses. That's where Jettainer steps in - to make ULD management a top priority and mitigate the key challenges of traditional in-house ULD management, which are explained below.

key challenges… 

transportation inefficiencies - Empty and damaged ULDs often sit in stations around the world for several reasons such as the lack of accurate, proactive, and real-time monitoring, and limited management and control of the entire ULD fleet and its associated status. This results in excessive positioning and an imbalance of the "right ULD type" availability, and very often necessitates the purchase of new containers. The exact cost is difficult to determine, but experience dictates that it's expensive and risky.

lack of station incentives - Most airlines do not have internal monitoring and charging structures to measure the performance of internal and external ULD users and suppliers, such as ground handling agencies. Therefore, they lack the ability to provide proper incentives that reward the avoidance of damages, demurrage, and losses.

labor and administration expense - There is significant labor and administration expense involved in repositioning and managing ULDs. Consider all the activities involved in managing these non-core assets, including phoning stations and sometimes customers to determine availability of empty ULDs, coordinating their collection, ensuring the right type of ULD boarded a plane and is made available where and when required, entering data, coordinating repairs and transportation, reconciling inventories, and much more. No airline has a full account of all the expenses associated with ULD management.

lack of standardization - There are over 150 different types and variations of ULDs listed by IATA. The majority of these are specific to certain airlines and integrators. An average carrier has in excess of 20 types of ULDs in its system. The top 8 types of ULDs account for 50% of the total market. Many variations are compounded by the manufacturer's desire to lock in airlines for post-OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) servicing. In our experience, the number of ULD types in service can be reduced dramatically without a decline in service quality.

ULD availability - A common problem is the lack of availability of the right type of ULD where and when it is required. In the event that ULDs are not available, cargo may go unshipped or passengers may be delayed, potentially damaging customer relationships, reducing revenue generation and profitability. The process is also labor-intensive and can result in loss of cargo or the order itself.

traffic imbalances - Airlines often have domestic point-of-sale and natural imbalances in ULDs are a result. This, in conjunction with lack of standardization, leads to constant ULD supply inefficiencies at many stations. Taking advantage of synergies among multiple carrier networks smoothes traffic patterns, and improves both utilization and service levels, and reduces the need for repositioning.

low asset utilization - The nominal degree of asset management efficiency drives the need for a large ULD fleet. When airlines can't account for their ULDs, when they need them, they purchase more.

undefined cost structure - Airlines have limited understanding of the true costs of their ULD supply chains due to historically complex accounting practices and organization structure.

insufficient management information and outdated information technology - One reason for the lack of visibility and efficiency in ULD management is that their operation is not a core process of the airline's business. This often leads to low investment in resources to improve processes and technology.

absence of pooling – Though pooling is an evolutionary process for different airlines, utilization of assets can be improved significantly through pooling the ULDs of multiple carriers at points of overlap in each carrier's network. By combining inventories of multiple carriers at hub locations, inventory levels can be reduced without a decline in service level.