With the cheers of the London Olympic Games just barely over, and many countries still in the midst of celebrating victories, broadcasting and logistics professionals were already moving on to the next event – the US Open in Flushing, New York. Planning for this highly orchestrated relay began months in advance of the first delivery. This is nothing new to SOS, as the forwarder has been actively involved in the Olympics since 1988. SOS Global Express’s team in the USA and UK worked alongside broadcasters from USA, Japan, Brazil, Europe, UK and Mexico to name a few. Several departments working on this project as well as different offices, communication became essential. For example some gear may have came in to London as Ocean freight but would then need to be packaged and prepped for the Charter flight, to make the USTA matches. Tight timelines are a common place for the SOS Global Express team, most shows and events are back to back but this particular shipment allowed for no oversights by any of the parties involved from the Airline all the way to the people packing up the gear at venues. Local hurdles The organized chaos of picking up the freight at the IBC (International Broadcast Center) in the Olympic Park began at 6am and continued around the clock until Wednesday morning. As trucks finished loading they quickly were shuttled to the airport. SOS was on the ground at the airport cross referencing case numbers being loaded and matching up paperwork as it arrived. A constant communication flow was established between, USA and London crews at venues, airport and local offices was maintained at all times.
Sky Lease Cargo
The Charter scheduled to take off at noon local time with deliveries scheduled for Thursday evening in NY. With tight timeframes delivery, customs and loading of the aircraft was needed to be as seamless as possible. Scheduled deliveries were to begin Friday morning; however the team was able to clear all the gear and delivered Thursday evening allowing broadcasters additional time to setup for the US Open.