Air cargo truckers finally get a seat at the table

by TRUCKERS VA
(UNITED STATES)

For years, trucks have been doing some of the heavy lifting behind the air cargo industry without always getting much of a voice in how that system operates.

That may be starting to change.

A new organization called the International Road Feeder Association (IRFA) has been launched to represent the companies that move air cargo by truck between airports, cargo terminals and other locations around the world.

And while the name might sound like another industry association destined for a conference room somewhere, the problems IRFA is targeting are very real for the drivers and companies actually doing the work.

The trucks behind the airplanes

Here's something many people outside logistics don't think about: air cargo doesn't magically appear at an airport.

Sometimes the freight has to move by truck before it ever gets on an airplane. It may also need a truck after it comes off the airplane.

That's where road feeder services come in.

IRFA says these operations are an increasingly important part of the air cargo ecosystem, with about one-third of European air cargo beginning or ending its journey with a road feeder service.

In other words, those trucks aren't just supporting the air cargo system.

They're part of the air cargo system.

So what's the problem?

One of the biggest issues IRFA wants to tackle is something that sounds boring until you're the driver sitting there waiting:

Airport truck slots.

When there aren't enough properly managed loading and unloading slots at cargo terminals, trucks and drivers can lose hours waiting around.

And those aren't just wasted hours on a clock.

They can create missed flight connections, delayed pickups and service failures that ripple through the entire supply chain.

That's the kind of problem truckers understand immediately.

You can be ready. The truck can be ready. The freight can be ready.

But if the system isn't ready for you, you're still sitting there.

IRFA wants to standardize the game

Another major goal is developing a recommended standard contract and service-level agreement for airlines and road feeder operators.

The idea isn't necessarily to dictate every commercial deal. Instead, the proposed framework could give airlines and trucking companies a common starting point for contracts, tenders and service expectations while allowing individual companies to negotiate their specific commercial terms.

That might sound like paperwork.

But good paperwork can prevent a whole lot of bad arguments later.

And then there's the technology problem

IRFA also wants to develop data standards for cargo moving by road so that shipments can have better real-time visibility.

That's becoming increasingly important as supply chains become more connected.

Customers don't just want to know that their freight is somewhere between two airports.

They want to know where it is.

Better data could help airlines, handlers, trucking companies and other stakeholders understand what's happening on the road

instead of treating the truck as a black box between terminals.

Don't forget the driver

Here's where this story gets particularly interesting for truckers.

IRFA isn't only talking about contracts and technology. The association also wants to improve driver access to facilities at airport cargo terminals.

That's important because drivers aren't robots that magically teleport freight from one loading dock to another.

They need bathrooms. They need reasonable access. They need places to work and wait. And they need an operating environment that doesn't make an already demanding job harder than it needs to be.

The association also sees better driver facilities as one way to help address driver recruitment and retention challenges.

The green trucking conversation is coming too

Sustainability is another item on the agenda.

IRFA wants to support the development of more charging infrastructure and hydrogen refueling stations at airports, which could help road-feeder operators move toward lower-emission equipment over time.

But there's an important reality here:

You can't tell trucking companies to transition to new equipment while giving them nowhere to fuel or charge it.

Infrastructure has to come with the technology.

The bigger story for truckers

Here's the Report Better News angle:

This isn't really just an aviation story.

It's a story about trucking finally getting recognized as a critical piece of another industry's infrastructure.

When the truck is late, the airplane can be affected.

When the terminal can't handle the truck, the freight can be affected.

When the driver doesn't have reasonable access to facilities, the person doing the work is affected.

And when nobody representing road-feeder operators has a strong seat at the table, those problems can be difficult to fix at the industry level.

The bottom line

The International Road Feeder Association is still new, and its biggest challenge will be turning a list of good ideas into standards that companies across the industry actually use.

But the message behind its creation is worth paying attention to.

Air cargo may fly through the sky, but a whole lot of it still depends on trucks getting the job done on the ground.

Giving those trucking companies a stronger collective voice could mean better coordination, fewer wasted hours, better visibility and, potentially, a better working environment for the drivers who keep the whole thing moving.

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The airplane gets the attention. The truck gets the freight there.

Maybe it's time the people running those trucks get a bigger voice in the conversation.

Source: Air Cargo News reporting on the launch of the International Road Feeder Association, with additional industry reporting used to verify the association's founding members and priorities.