WASHINGTON¡ªAs a consequence of shipper initiatives and input, the U.S. Department of Defense has clarified some nettlesome¡ªand very expensive¡ªprocedures for transporting military cargo. The Air Forwarders Association, American Trucking Associations, and multiple independent freight forwarders wrote to U.S. Transportation Command earlier this year in an attempt to change Air Mobility Command¡¯s interpretation of the policy from mode-specific to mode-neutral.
President Bush¡¯s signing of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal 2009 this week was greeted as a ¡°victory¡± for military vendors, personnel, and taxpayers, said Chris Alf, founder and principle of freight forwarder National Air Cargo in Buffalo, New York.
¡°The previous inconsistencies in the Department of Defense and the Air Mobility Command Freight Traffic Rules Publication 5 (AFTRP 5) regulations resulted in vendor confusion and inefficiency,¡± said Alf. ¡°U.S. Transportation Command¡¯s new Defense Transportation Coordination Initiative (DTCI) recognizes that the government saves money when it allows the commercial sector to pick the mode of transport in order to meet mandatory delivery dates.¡±
The current DOD regulation states that components moved by air freight forwarders for the Department and the military services should use the same mode-neutral, time definite delivery model successfully being used by the commercial transportation industry.
¡°However, some people in government interpreted the Air Mobility Command publication to ¡®require¡¯ air freight forwarders to ship cargo by air even when it made little economic sense and contradicted governing regulations¡± said Alf.
In addition to clarifying these inconsistencies in the transportation regulations, the law requires that the Secretary of Defense provide specific definitions for the various transportation carriers, and additional guidance and training to ensure that commercial best practices are used when shipping department cargo
In an interview with LM, Glen Joerger, a retired air force colonel and former U.S. transportation commander, said that this development is ¡°precedent making.¡±
¡°There has been historically more cooperation between the ocean carriage private sector and government than with the air carriers,¡± he said. ¡°The air cargo forwarding community is changing that.¡±
