b'10American Journal of Transportation ajot.comThe Pioneer of Integrative Solutions on Land and Sea. Cargo modernization at JFK: a long way offFacilitiesreconfigurationandaccessroadimprove-ments are just getting under way.By Peter Buxbaum, AJOT Stevedoring JohnF.KennedyInternationalnumbersmaskalonger-termnega- Maritime & Logistics Airport (JFK) in New York handledtive trend at the airport, where cargoQuarry Owners & Operators 120,532 tons of cargo in July 2021, avolumeshavebeenslippingoveraTug & Barge Marine Towing 36.1% increase over the year before,periodofdecades.CargovolumesProperty & Port Management and,impressively,11%overpre- reached1.8milliontonsin2004, pandemic 2019. Its a trend mirroredaccording to Statista, but have sinceGeneral & Marine Construction elsewhereintheeconomy,ascargodropped to 1.3 million in 2019 and volumes first fell, in the early months1.2millionin2020.JFKs40-year ofthepandemic,andthenspiked.old cargo facilities are too small and JFKs2021volumesbegantogrownottechnologicallycurrent,users in a big way in March, which saw acomplain, issues that are in the pro-40.6%year-over-yearincrease,fol- cess of being addressed by the Port lowed by 61.6% growth in April.Authority of New York / New Jersey Loadfactorsforimportflights(PANYNJ),withbuildoutsofnew have reportedly been pushed to 85%facilities and a longer-term program asaresult,andtruckingcapacityistoreconfigurecargooperationsatwww.carvercompanies.com scarce for airport transfers and localthe airport. In the meantime, the one-pickups and deliveries. Ground han- time biggest air cargo gateway in the dler terminals in JFK have been takingworld now stands at number seven in as much as five days to break downthe United States. Simpson, executive vice president atandothernearbyroadwaysiscur-importfreight,promptingFlexport,The current strain on JFKs infra- WorldwideFlightServices(WFS),rently being implemented by the New theSanFrancisco-basedfreightfor- structureunderscorestheneedforthe main cargo handler at JFK. York State Department of Transporta-warder and customs broker, to recom- cargo infrastructure improvement, butJFKsproblemsalsoinvolvecon- tion (NYSDOT), but it will be years mend using Boston as an alternative.also the possibility of growth. JFKgestiononitsaccessroads,mostbefore the projects are completed and, has a major opportunity to expand itsinfamouslytheVanWyckExpress- aswiththeairportcargoprojects, h ow toB uIld andjfK sa Ir cargooperations,givenitslocationway, JFKs main artery, where trafficbefore it is known whether they will C argoC apaCIty for thef uture and direct access to all of the majoroften moves at a languid eight milesbe efficacious. ButJFKsCOVID-19growthairporthubsworldwide,saidMikeper hour. A 2016 plan to expand thatInJune2021,thePortAuthor-itysignedalong-termgroundlease with Aeroterm, a provider of airport facility-related services, for the devel-opment of the first new cargo facility at JFK in two decades, a $145 mil-lion,350,000-square-footfacilityon 26 acres. After two obsolete buildings are demolished, they will be replaced withanexpandedfacilitythatwill include ramp capacity to handle three large cargo freighters simultaneously andadedicatedtemperature-con-trolled area for pharmaceuticals. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.Thisnewfacilitywillbeable to handle significant cargo volumes, easecooperationbetweenairlines operating within carrier alliances, and optimize the use of technology, equip-ment,andresourceplanning,said Simpson,whosecompanyissched-uled to operate exclusively out of the new facility once it is completed.Longer term, a complete recon-figuration of cargo operations at JFK is on the drawing boards. In 2020, a PortAuthoritypanelrecommended ashifttowardsconsolidatedcargo handling.Notingthatfacilities represent up to 30% of the cost struc-ture of handling, the panels report (MODERNIZATIONcontinued on page 11)'