Running on Ice: Air cargo upgrades at JFK include cold storage
In this edition: JFK gets upgrades for air cargo, DHL makes headway with health services investments, and Tillamook rolls out new ice cream flavors. The post Running on Ice: Air cargo upgrades at JFK include cold storage appeared first on FreightWaves.
All thawed out
John F. Kennedy International Airport has gotten a much-needed glow-up in the cargo area. Recently, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey unveiled a $270 million consolidated cargo handling center at (JFK) – the first new airfreight facility at the airport in 25 years.
The expansion and update bring operations from four separate cargo zones into one spot. The facility spans 350,000 square feet over 26 acres and replaces two older terminals. This is phase one in a larger redevelopment plan for JFK’s cargo area. As part of the overall extra square footage, the new building has 3,000 square feet of cooler space for environments of 2-8 C and 15-25 C. These are the first on-airport areas at JFK specifically designed for items such as pharmaceuticals and fresh goods.
According to a Supply Chain Digital article, “JFK plays a key role in international cargo flows, handling everything from high-value goods such as electronics and pharmaceuticals to perishables. The airport processed 1.67 million tonnes of freight in 2024, which is 5% up on 2023 and 25% more than in 2019, making it the eighth-busiest cargo airport in the US and 21st globally.”
Temperature checks
Health care supply chains continue to grab the spotlight. This time it’s DHL Express. The international express services provider has expanded its next-day delivery capabilities by adding a Brazil-to-U.S. lane within its enhanced Medical Express Service. This service facilitates the transport of samples from Puerto Rico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru to central U.S. destination labs in less than 30 hours from the time of patient draw.
As FreightWaves reported, Brian Bralynski, senior director of life sciences and healthcare, DHL Express Americas, said: “Given the complexities of export processes, tax payments, and ANVISA (Brazil’s health regulatory agency) approvals necessary in Brazil, our integrated system allows DHL to initiate export approvals before samples arrive at our facilities. This enables DHL to extend later collection times for investigator sites, allowing more time to schedule patient visits while still exporting on the day of collection.”
DHL is investing $2.2 billion over the next five years to enhance its logistics capabilities in the life sciences and health care sector. The organization is also trying new strategies for boosting efficiency within the network. The most recent example is a DHL-operated aircraft departing Miami to its Cincinnati hub in the morning instead of the evening. As a result, over 65% of ambient patient samples now arrive at central U.S. labs for testing one day sooner.
Food and drug
Tillamook County Creamery Association is sweetening up in the frozen aisle just in time for summer with two new limited-edition ice cream flavors: Salty Caramel Pretzel and Apple Crisp.
In addition to these seasonal debuts, Tillamook is making two previous limited-edition hits — Orange & Cream and Campfire Peanut Butter — permanent fixtures in its product lineup.
Supporting its momentum, Tillamook cited Circana data that named the Oregon-based creamery the fastest-growing family-size ice cream brand in the U.S. across multioutlet retail channels for the year ending March 23.
Expansion in the already sizable market is going to continue. The global ice cream market was estimated at $77.8 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow from $79.4 billion in 2025 to $139.7 billion by 2033.
Cold chain lanes
This week’s market under a microscope heads to the Pacific Northwest, where both reefer outbound tender volumes and reefer outbound tender rejections are elevated. Reefer outbound tender volumes have increased 7.69% week over week. On the other hand, reefer outbound tender rejections have risen 372 basis points w/w for a ROTRI of 13.24%.
Reefer rejection rates have remained in a bit of a yo-yo effect to some extent as levels have ranged from 5%-29% since the beginning of the year. Shippers can expect lower carrier contract compliance as rejections continue to increase. Secondary and tertiary carriers on the routing guide can expect to see increased volumes in their network as the ROTRI continues to climb.
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Shelf life
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Wanna chat in the cooler? Shoot me an email with comments, questions or story ideas at moconnell@freightwaves.com.
See you on the internet.
Mary
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The post Running on Ice: Air cargo upgrades at JFK include cold storage appeared first on FreightWaves.
