Universal Asset Management see significant time, money and labor savings with FedEx Freight Box

As a commercial aircraft acquisition leasing and full-life and aftermarket support services provider of airplane parts, freight handled and moved by Memphis, Tenn.-based Universal Asset Management (UAM) can be trickier than many other types of freight, due to its size, weight and density, among other factors.

Along with buying and selling large commercial airliners, UAM also disassembles, recycles, and sells parts throughout the United States for airplane end-of-life planning and disassembly.  And it is only one of five-to-seven companies in the world that can handle the full lifecycle of an aircraft and carry to the end of its useful economic life and then disassemble it and sell components back into operating airlines around the world.

With such a global presence, coupled with the size and shapes of these parts, UAM had historically transported aircraft parts and components through fairly conventional methods. In UAM’s case, it was through building pallets at its job sites and subsequently scheduling a less-than-truckload (LTL) pickup.

UAM CEO Keri Wright explained that the company’s aircrafts are disassembled with a watchful eye on recycling every aspect of an aircraft, from the carpet to the floor to plastics to rubber to aluminum.

A good amount of UAM’s business is done out of its 450,000 square-foot warehouse in Verona, Miss., with its partial aircraft disassembly center in the Tupelo Regional Airport.  “We look for every way possible to recycle, and when we moved to Tupelo, we had a major focus on how we can be more green,” she said.

This is when UAM came to the realization that its tried and true method of using wooden pallets, which it had used for close to ten years, was no longer meeting the company’s needs for various reasons.

“We use massive amounts of wood as pallets and as braces for these massive pieces of steel and titanium,” she said. “And when I walk through the warehouse something that is always on my mind is how can we be more green and do things better?”

What’s more in certain cases, it became clear that after a period of 4-5 years, many wooden pallets had worn out and could not be reused.

These factors led to UAM deciding to make a change, with Wright explaining that the company was actively looking to find ways to save time and money, as well as be greener.

That is where its long-standing relationship with FedEx moved to another level, with its usage of FedEx’s Freight Box, which created opportunities and efficiencies UAM was lacking with its wooden pallets and boxes. The Freight Box is essentially a pre-assembled box that comes in two sizes.

“A good core of our business is our ability to deliver aircraft components to airlines around the world in the fastest way possible,” Wright said. “There is no faster way to do it than when you are sitting in the back door of FedEx like we are based in Memphis, as we consider them a logistics partner and a customer, as we sell them aircraft and aircraft components to them to support their fleet, and we buy aircraft from them that have come out of service.”

Wright said the benefits of the Freight Box were apparent fairly quickly, in that it was strong enough for freight shipments, coupled with reducing the amount of wood needed to make pallets.

But that is not to say that it has eliminated the usage of all wooden pallets either, according to Wright, as in some cases they are still used due to the weight of certain components or products shipped, with the weight of those things needing to be in something stronger than what the Freight Box allows. This is for things like 777 landing gear, which Wright said require massive amounts of wood, as well as steel and titanium.

“We use an incredible amount of wood,” she said. “And when we see it walking through the warehouse it is on your mind as far as how we can do things better. While some of this can be replaced by a Freight Box, there needs to be more ways we can do that, and this is one step.”

While wood is still part of UAM’s playbook, CEO Wright said that the tangible and measurable benefits of the Freight Box have had a positive overall impact.

One benefit is not needing staffers to build boxes, which has resulted in a $10,000-$15,000 savings per aircraft disassembly off-site. What’s more, the number of these disassembly processes typically ranges between 10-to-20 per year, with the subsequent savings adding up quickly.

Another significant benefit cited by Wright centers around timesavings realized. When building a wooden crate, the typical amount of time required averages roughly 45 minutes to an hour. But that has been winnowed down to around ten minutes, with the FedEx Freight Box, which requires only the opening of the box.

Looking ahead, Wright said UAM is vetting other ways in which it can leverage usage of the Freight Box.

“That is in terms of how we maybe can use other products with it,” said Wright. “The value really comes when, with wood, you have to use two people, equipment and tools, and also buy wood from a lumber yard to build a box. We now have a balance of durability and savings, and the Freight Boxes are great for freight and freight transport. We are testing them in our warehouse to see how long they will sustain compared to the plywood boxes. I think there are going to be things we are going to be able to do with small modifications and reinforcement to ensure longevity for just as long, if not longer than our plywood boxes, and that brings incredible value. There is nothing more heart breaking when after 4 or 5 years wood can no longer be re-used, coupled with cardboard boxes coming pre-made, which decreases expenses and saves time.”

Wright said that UAM is also looking at modifications for the boxes so they will be able to use them to hold hydraulic pumps. 

“As we do that that will be a great thing to work together with FedEx and say ‘here is what we did to modify it and what works for us and what does not work for us,’” Wright said. “The basic premise is having a real quick solution and when you are out on the road and can bring a bunch of boxes and not bring people, lumber, and tools, it is amazing and incredible and has also allowed us the ability to be more competitive with our pricing, because we don’t have to worry about buying a $10,000 lumber load whenever we get to where we are going.”