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Issue 8 2013 Freight Business Journal


While we’re on the subject of pirates in this issue (see our film review of Captain Phillips, page 14) naval security forces in the Horn of Africa have discovered a truly deadly weapon in their never-ending fight. No,


it’s not


the latest sub-machine gun or rocket-fired grenade – it’s Britney


(Don’t) hit me baby one more time


Spears. Apparently, a blast of Oops! I


Did It Again or Baby One More Time is enough to keep even the most desperate and ruthless attackers running for cover. (According to one newspaper report the ship’s speakers can be aimed solely at the pirates so as


///FREIGHT BREAK


not to disturb the crew.) Apparently, Britney is such


an effective deterrent that on board security have rarely had to resort to firing their guns. Some folk have suggested


upping the ante and resorting to Justin Bieber – but that might be against the Geneva Convention.


Pony express


Horses can be cute but they’ve always had their drawbacks as indoor pets, for obvious reasons. Until now, that is. US charity Gentle Carousel has just delivered six miniature therapy horses from Florida to Athens on three separate Lufthansa A321


flights in early


November, with the help of Goldair Handling. Gentle Carousel horses travel


all over the US, but Greece is the only country which hosts these extraordinary animals. They will be based at the Magic Garden estate just outside Athens and from there will travel to hospitals, orphanages and care homes throughout the country, providing unique therapy for 25,000 people and especially children every year and have been


All lit up but nowhere to go


We’re grateful to the EU Observer website for drawing our attention to the plight of Beja international airport in southern Portugal.


It


boasts a brand new terminal complete with all the services you might expect from a major air gateway like check-in desks, car rental services and even tourist information office – not to mention a 3.4km long runway. There is just one snag – Beja International is effectively empty, having handled just 5,000 passengers on 200 flights since it opened in 2011. Hopes of attracting in Ryanair were dashed when the cheapo carrier decided to focus on nearby Faro.


The cargo industry may


however come to the fledgling gateway’s rescue – the airport’s owners are stepping up their efforts to woo freighter operators as well as aircraſt maintenance operations. Beja wouldn’t be the first disused,


or virtually unused, airport in Europe. For many years, the doors to the passenger terminal Vatry airport about 150km east of Paris remained locked while a customer was sought. (This gateway has had some success in attracting cargo carriers, though.) Many years ago, in the mid-


1980s, I was driving through the United Arab Emirates. Seeing signs


Business Opportunity


Small NVOC / Family Owned Bifa / Fiata Member - Looking to Purchase Retirement Sale or otherwise - Similar Size NVOC / Freight Forwarder / Small Haulier


Looking to Grow our Existing Client Base Confidentiality Guaranteed Need not be Profitable


to one of the local airports (it may have been Ras Al Khaimah but I can’t be sure aſter all this time) and fancying a coffee break, I diverted off the highway. I was served pretty promptly at the airport coffee stall, and then had a wander around the quite bustling little terminal, noting the Gulf Air desk advertising three days a week flights, magazine stalls, restaurants and everything you might expect in an airport. But something seemed strange;


I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Eventually it dawned on me – everybody else in the place were airport or airline staff. I was the sole member of the general public on the premises.


DP World’s London Gateway port isn’t the place to make rude remarks about women drivers – around 20% of the terminal’s operational staff are


Privatisation of the Post Office hasn’t got off to a very good start, at least not chez nous. One Friday morning recently, I was asked by the lady of the house to dispatch an urgent package to France and, not wanting to trek to the nearest DHL outlet over two miles away or wait in all day for a pick-up, I opted for my favourite standby, the friendly local post office and Parcelforce’s Global Express


successful in helping victims of violence, bad health and neglect. Gentle Carousel seems to have


finally cracked the problem of transforming the horse into a domestic animal, but that hasn’t deterred people from having a go with the full-sized versions over the years. I remember a tale of family in a downstairs council flat in Manchester back in the 1970s


Lady drivers


female. Hundreds of staff have been recruited from all over the area, and from all walks of life. They include Kim Sherriff, who formerly worked at Brentwood


freight forwarder Merrick but who has now retrained as a terminal operator. And there is at least one ex-beauty therapist among the new recruits. This is Essex aſter all.


Pratfall as Postman Pat goes private


service. The woman behind the post office counter assured me that, in exchange for my £42, it would be delivered Monday, or Tuesday at the latest. Postman Pat even runs to an online tracking service these days. Except that Tuesday came


and went, and there was no sign of the package at its destination. Or on Wednesday morning. Meanwhile I was having to fend


off calls from increasingly frantic French people,


some of who


even called into question my credentials as a freighting expert. (I think somebody was in line for the guillotine if the package didn’t turn up.) Eventually, aſter several phone calls to mysterious nooks and corners of the British and French post offices, the package was finally delivered – a full week aſter we despatched it.


Reply in strict confidence to: PO Box 101 FBJ


Station House Aigburth Station Mersey Road Liverpool L17 6AG


Or email po101@fbj-online.com


who complained about the fearful noise coming from their neighbours above. On investigation, Council officers discovered - you’ve guessed it – a horse contentedly bedded down in the sitting room. And isn’t there some Youtube


footage of a bloke and his steed being ordered off a train at Wrexham a couple of years back? Presumably they wanted to go to Horsham...


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