Air Freight From China Will This Be a Lionel First?

I really do hope that they don't use this airport for the air freight. 

 

       
       


LOL… good help is hard to find.



K.C.

Marty is correct, they have done this on a very limited basis in the past.

Very expensive vs ocean container freight.

That's nothing compare to the handling they will recieve by UPS/FedEX/USPS..specially during the busy Holiday Season..

Here is some information relating to weather to ship via sea or air freight from China. 

 

Steve, Lady and Tex

Mike Reagan stated several times at York that they would air-freight in the VL BBs in order to make the 2014 delivery commitment.  I'm sure as the date gets closer the speculation will pick up in intensity.

Having been in the business of importing goods ranging from antique automobiles to automotive replacement parts (both large and small) from both Europe and Asia since the early `70's, the final condition of the landed goods is primarily dependent on the prep and packing done by the shipper.

In containerized (sea) shipments the shipper, and ultimately the recipient, pays for cubic feet. Thus when filled, the goods in containers make sardines in a can look like loose bagged potato chips. If the product is packed with no room to move or shift it will usually arrive damage free. Less than full containers can be more costly to ship and offer a greater chance for damages. Often goods will sit in a foreign port awaiting the remainder of an order to fill a container before it is loaded on a ship.

Air shipments merely offer the advantage of speed and the ability to ship in smaller quantities than a container, but the goods can still suffer damages in transit.

Additional delays can occur in getting the goods cleared through U.S. Customs at the busy ports (ie. Long Beach), and then after clearance awaiting transportation to the vendor's warehouse (NC in Lionel's case).

I had a client in Cleveland who purchased goods made in Taiwan. I used a bonded carrier who brought the sealed containers directly from the West Coast dock to U.S. Customs in Cleveland (not a very busy port of entry) where they were cleared in less than an hour and then delivered to the recipient.

While i'm sure Lionel (and the other manufacturers) have importing down to a science, there are still many variables in the supply chain that can go wrong. It's not quite a simple as it appears.

jackson

 

I don't recall the exact products at the moment.  But from time to time, Lionel has shipped products (mostly locomotives that were promised for Christmas) by air.  Port of entry into the US was Seattle.  I still remember seeing the products had the air-freight label and the airport destination codes on the outer shipping carton.

 

I don't think it's been done recently though...  More like back in the early 2000's that I'm thinking... Back when Lionel's suppliers were in Korea.  

 

Nowadays,  Lionel has been so late shipping product, that air-freight wouldn't be worth the added expense at this stage of the game.  Really... If something is already a year plus late, what's a couple more months on the boat?     But if they were to do it today, I'm sure a flagship product like the VL Big Boys would be good candidates for shipment by air freight in order to meet a 2014 delivery commitment.

 

David

Gee, since the "new" legacy 990s are at least a year overdue I wonder if they will air freight those when they are ready for distribution???

There were some rumours circulating at the time that the baggage handler video first appeared, that those boxes were the new Legacy units, and that they had to be returned to the factory. 

We would not have to deal with these people if all of our trains were made here and not in China. I know everything would be a little bit more expensive but at least we don't have to worry about our stuff get damaged by water (like the PRR S-2 turnbines) and bagbage handlers throwing things on to the plane. The thing we will have to worry about is the guys from Fedex and UPS throwing our trains.

       
       


Thanks for the link, Steve.

One comment caught my eye while reading the comment section of your link…

“ The 3rd easiest rule of thumb is the cargo itself. If the cargo is electronics or something that may be damaged by moisture go air. Ocean containers are not 100% air tight. So over the course of the journey ocean containers can get moisture inside.”

I guess time will tell if the failure/rust problem will outweigh the shipping costs…Did I say that right?   You all know what I mean

Thanks for reading, and all the great replies.

K.C.

It would probably be a good idea on Lionel's part if they did blame the baggage handler at this point.

This applies to packing stuff and shipping it by domestic carriers as well.  I have very few broken shipments as I make SURE the contents can not move inside the box.  If shipping double-boxed, make SURE the inner box is securely held in the bigger box as well.  If anything can move, it's a lot easier for it to beat itself to death.

 

 

The container has to MAKE IT TO THE SHIP first!