Shipping From China To UAE: Splitting 5.2m Oversized Molds Into Two Air Freight Plans
I have been doing shipping from China to UAE for many years. Oversized cargo is always the biggest test for a freight forwarder like us. Last month, Karim, a client in Dubai, came to me. He had a batch of very large injection molds. Three pieces. Each piece was 5.2m long, 1.8m wide, and 2.5m high. Each piece weighed 3.2 tons. Total weight was 9.6 tons. Karim said the cargo had to be loaded onto the plane within 72 hours. He asked if I could take it. I said, don't worry yet. Send me the size list first. For such large oversized cargo, we cannot put all three pieces on one flight. I said we could split it into two flights: one direct flight and one transit flight.
Direct Flight Plan
Two molds went by direct flight, from Shenzhen direct to UAE. This route has full cargo planes. I made a plan based on the side door size of the 777F. The side door is high enough. In theory, it can fit. But at the last minute, the airline told us the original 777F would be changed to a 747F. When I heard that, my heart dropped. The 747F side door is also high enough, but its nose door height limit is a bit lower than the side door. Cargo that can pass through the side door may not pass through the nose door. The cargo must be able to pass through both doors when it is built on the pallet.
I immediately contacted my colleagues at the pallet-building area to rebuild the pallets overnight. They took off all the original wooden pallets and switched to 5cm thick air cargo roller pallets. Finally, we could bring the height down to a safe range. While they were rebuilding the pallets, my colleague on site called me and said one mold had a lifting lug that was too big, a few centimeters extra. After putting it on the pallet, the total height was still a bit risky. I told him to cut it off with an angle grinder and redo the protection. An angle grinder is a common tool in the operation area. After cutting the lug, the height came down, and we finally felt safe.
That night, I watched the pallet rebuilding until 2 a.m. After the pallets were done, they sent me photos. I confirmed everything was correct. The whole pallet was moved to the airport cargo terminal by trailer and handed over to the airline. Two hours before the cut-off, the two pieces were delivered to the cargo terminal and locked onto the next early morning direct flight.
Transit Flight Plan
The third mold went by transit flight. I originally planned to fly it from Shenzhen to Beijing, then transit to the UAE. But before the cargo was shipped, Beijing airport gave us feedback: at that time, they did not have a 5.2m oversized air cargo pallet. Normal pallets are only 3m long at most, so it could not fit. Oversized pallets rotate around, so sometimes an airport just does not have one in stock. We asked around in Beijing. The fastest plan was still to get one from Shanghai the next afternoon. Karim could not wait.
I changed the plan right away. The third piece would not go through Beijing. I found out Tianjin airport had an oversized pallet in stock. We changed it to a domestic flight from Shenzhen to Tianjin. That same night, there was also a cargo plane to the UAE. I checked the domestic cargo planes from Shenzhen to Tianjin. There was a model that could carry the oversized pallet, and the timing worked. That night, the cargo took off from Shenzhen airport and landed in Tianjin in more than two hours. Our colleagues in Tianjin were already waiting at the airport. The oversized pallet was ready in advance. As soon as the cargo arrived, it was built onto the pallet and loaded.
So, two pieces went by direct flight, and one piece went by transit flight. After 68 hours, all were loaded. That was 4 hours earlier than Karim's 72-hour requirement. Five days later, all three oversized molds arrived safely at the designated warehouse in the UAE.