Shipping to Crisis Areas
Disasters have disruptive effects. Conflicts, such as wars, often damage infrastructure, with transportation commonly a voluntary or involuntary target. While most emergencies can be handled by local resources such as local response units, police, healthcare, etc., a full-scale crisis situation like war requires a broader humanitarian aid network.
When there’s a crisis situation, whether it’s a natural disaster or a man-made situation, the need to get help on-site requires a quick response. Safe and rapid transportation of goods is essential to minimize the effects of any crisis situation. Transporting goods to crisis areas is not straightforward, and it requires a certain amount of expertise and a solid partner network. Even if we’re not talking about regulated goods like weapons or hazardous materials, the bare accessing the crisis area has challenges.
Solving a big puzzle in no time
Handling an urgent transportation request is like solving a great big puzzle, with the significant difference that there’s hardly any time pressure in getting your usual puzzle done. Commonly, in crisis situations, the needs emerge quite rapidly and reaction time must be on point. Let’s demonstrate the situation with a true story.
JetLogistics got a request to give a quotation on transportation to Poland, just general goods, but the challenge was the volume (15 trucks) and time window (asap). The goods’ end destination was Ukraine, but this delivery leg was to Poland, close to the Ukrainian border. The request came in on a Monday, around 1 PM during the afternoon. Within the same day, within office hours, this client got a reply with a transportation plan and a quote. That’s fast by any standards. Within that week, the whole transportation process was done and goods were unloaded at the destination as agreed.
How was this managed? Not by rushing or acting franticly, hurrying would have only led to a big mess. The key to solving this type of situation is a solid experience, a functioning partner network, and working in an orderly fashion. It is actually a very undramatic and structured way of how some of the most urgent transportation are actually arranged, fast but not in a hurry.
Specific challenges in transporting to a crisis area
The common denominator with transportation needs to crisis areas is that there’s an abrupt need for something, that is a little out of general scope. Whether it’s the sheer volume of goods needed or the transportation routes that need to be adjusted or created altogether. Also arranging shipments to crisis areas most often requires specific needs in either equipment or staffing, getting diplomatic clearances to access the area, and there’s from slim to no lead-time to spare.
Putting together these requirements clarifies what kind of a partner one needs. Someone who can deliver challenging cargo quickly and easily with the help of a hand-picked partner network. With specific expertise that allows safe management of critical deliveries.
JetLogistics is an agile partner in challenging situations for aid organizations and the defense forces as well. We have decades of experience in handling critical deliveries, and complex transportation to crisis areas. We are professionals in assisting national defense forces and related partners with their transportation and logistics needs.