Global Warming - What are International Air Freight Companies Doing to Alleviate It?

The international air freight industry is at the center of some controversy surrounding global warning and what can be done in order to prevent it from increasing?

For many years it has only been scientists, environmental charities and eco warriors who have been concerned about the greenhouse effect and for the majority of us we did not think that us or our grandchildren would be troubled by the results of us polluting the earth.

But things have now changed and most world leader's have put the environmental problem at the top of their agendas and this has moved the subject very much into main stream public debate. There have been green taxes implemented as well as getting people to buy unleaded petrol instead of the leaded version. As we are now seeing we are all being affected by the damage done to our environment and so we now need to do something about it before it is too late.

However the air freight industry is being challenged to become more green and there are a number of International Air Freight Companies who have introduced what is known as "offset policies". So what this means is that every time some cargo is flown around the world the International Air Freight Company in question is investing a certain amount of money into environmental projects as well.

But there are some critics of these companies who say that this is simply not good enough and that they should in fact be trying to reduce the carbon emissions that their aircraft produce rather than just doing something good for the environment in order to balance the books.

Reports are showing that carbon emissions were expected to reach 25 billion tons in 2006 and of this amount between 4-7% would be caused by air travel which includes air freight in this figure.

An agreement signed by many European countries known as the Kyoto Protocol Agreement are committed to reducing the carbon emissions for signatory countries and it aims to do this by setting limits for 2008-2012. Unfortunately the USA declined not to sign the agreement.

But there is hope that this agreement along with the offset policies being adopted by a lot of the international air freight company's will produce the changes that this planet so desperately needs.

Evert DuToit is a writer and website publisher from Pittsburgh, PA. For more information about the air freight industry, and international air freight, visit us at airfreight.information-pages.biz.

Air Freight Is Under Attack by Environmentalists

Five or ten years ago having strawberries in the middle of winter was seen as a real treat ad they were so expensive.

Nowadays however, the supermarkets are not only able to offer a wide variety of fruits out of season, they are also able to slash the prices on them. This means that eating raspberries in December is an affordable option for more and more people.

The reason they are able to do this is because it has become cheaper and easier to fly fruit into the UK from around the world.

Whilst many people are only too happy to indulge in these off season delicacies, the air freight industry has come under attack recently by green campaigners. These people are concerned about the impact on the environment of importing out of season produce into the UK.

They argue that the air freight industry is producing unnecessary levels of pollution as a result of the demand for off season fruit and vegetables. Some have even gone so far as to demand a ban on the air-freighting of certain foods.

Although most politicians are not in favour of such a ban, some have suggested introducing a food miles scheme. This would involve labeling food to indicate how many miles it has traveled before reaching the UK.

The labels would be in effect an indication of the environmental cost of eating or buying certain foods. The idea is that food labels would allow the public to make an informed choice about what they buy rather than imposing choices on them.

So how has the freight industry responded to these charges and ideas?

Freight representatives have argued that:

1. The pollution generated by air transportation only accounts for a small amount of the UK's total carbon emissions.

2. The freighting of out of season produce only accounts for a tiny percentage of the total food produce imported into the UK every year.

GBS Freight is a freight forwarding company based in the UK that transports cargo around the world by air, sea and roa

The Air Freight Industry and Food Miles Debate

The air freight industry is under attack by The Soil Association and other green campaigners who are worried about the environmental impact of importing out of season produce into the UK from abroad. They claim that the damage caused by pollution from flights transporting food around the world supports their call for a ban on the air-freighting of certain food.

The freight industry has responded strongly to this argument by explaining that the gases produced by air freight transportation only account for a small percentage of the UK?s total carbon emissions. Plus the transportation of out of season food stuffs into the UK represents a small proportion of the total food produce flown into the country.

Furthermore, organic food which is being particularly targeted by The Soil Association requires around 15% less energy to farm than the same amount of non-organic food.

The issue is clearly a contentious one. Climate change is a very real problem as freak weather patterns around the globe are demonstrating. As a result, green issues are at the top of the political agenda of all of the major parties in Britain.

This is a reflection of the concern that the public at large has been shown to have for this issue. The government is therefore under pressure to address the electorate?s concerns and make some changes which may affect the freight industry in a negative way.

One of the measures that they are considering is labeling food to show the amount of miles it has had to travel to get to the UK. These ?food miles? as they are called are meant to be an indication of the environmental cost of bring a particular item into the country. The other option that they are considering is the proposal put forward by The Soil Association to ban the importation of organic food by air freight.

GBS Freight is a freight forwarding company based in the UK that transports cargo around the world by air, sea and road.

By Whom And How Are Air Freight Rates Calculated?

The pricing of air freight is governed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) who continues to provide an "Official Rates Policy" which they publish under the title of "The Air Cargo Tariff" (TACT) along with their rules governing transportation. The air freight rates are generally derived from meetings that are held between IATA Regional Tariff Committees and which are subject to international inter-governmental agreements on rate levels by route or country. Those air freight companies who wish to introduce or apply a new rate require the permission of IATA and these rates can often be subject to the relevant country's government approval. But now generally they are used as guide lines and often no attempt is made by either IATA or governments to enforce their use.

However today IATA tariffs are being increasingly ignored by the many air freight companies on the major routes because there is so much competition, but they still continue to provide a general guideline for those lesser developed markets around the world. Often where most commodities are concerned an air freight rate of a charge per kilo of cargo is applied (and discounts are provided for volumes over 100 and 500 kilos).

Although there are specific commodity rates available these are the exception and are lower than normal rates as they are designed to encourage certain types of cargo to be air freighted on specific trade routes. What would happen is a given commodity and its rate would be filed by the air freight company to IATA and they in turn would obtain permission to apply that commodity rate on a given route to the relevant countries' government.

Also in addition to the specific commodity rates there are class rates which are for such commodities as human remains, live animals and perishable cargo (fresh food etc) and there are specific rules that need to be applied for calculating the charges for each type of commodity that is shown under this list. But generally the rules are based on the country of origin, were the goods are destined for and what type of product it is.

There are also air freight handling rates which are based on weight for non unit load traffic and per unit for unit loads and these rates used to be set by IATA but more often than not are now set between the handling terminals.

However the majority of air cargo leaving the UK uses "net" airline buying rates and these are confidential air freight rates and these rates follow a similar structure to the IATA rates in that there is a rate per kilo but they are subject to a minimum charge.

Evert DuToit is a writer and website publisher from Pittsburgh, PA. For more information about the air freight industry, and the factors that affect air freight rates, visit us at airfreight.information-pages.biz

What is Air Freight Charter?

Air freight charter consists of a number of different commercial organizations that provide freight handling services around the world using airplanes and can mainly be found within the private sector which is a highly competitive environment.

Air freight charters services are operators who have their own aircraft and use the belly hold to carry cargo as part of a door to door service for shippers and importers of goods around the globe.

There are some air freight charter services which can arrange for the transportation of heavy or outsized cargo and this can be done in one consignment for the customer so avoiding delays and losses to them when a piecemeal shipment needs to be sent.

There are also air freight charter services which can arrange for the transportation of relief or aid cargo at times of international emergencies and disasters as scheduled airlines will most likely not have access to convenient airports so for many Aid Organisations the chartering of an aircraft is the ideal solution in order to get both equipment and personnel to locations fast.

There are many companies around the world who use air freight charter in order to have fresh produce or perishable goods delivered to the required locations on time as they often have aircraft specially designed to take such goods and it also avoids the delays associated with scheduled airlines.

Many people are now using air freight charters in order to transport "must go" cargo around the world in order to meet deadlines. This is especially important if a penalty clause applies to late delivery or a company is suffering large losses because of delays.

Also air freight charter is being used for the transportation of dangerous and hazardous goods which need to be segregated from other cargo and kept at their optimum condition. Plus it is also being used for the transportation of livestock as there are many air freight companies who have planes which have been adapted to carry such animals as rhinos, antelopes, horses etc., and it is important that the livestock is transported in a short period time (to prevent them too much stress) as well as providing them with conditions that are comfortable whilst on route.

Another reason for using air charter freight is that you can by pass airline procedures and be able to fly to the airport which is closest to the destination where your goods need to be.

So as you can see there are many reasons for using air freight charter when moving goods around the world.

Evert DuToit is a writer and website publisher from Pittsburgh, PA. Find out more about the air freight industry and specifically about air freight charters at his website at airfreight.information-pages.biz