Freight forwarder Dimerco has won global bids to provide supply chain services for a “leading helicopter assembly, refitting and operation company in China.”

The contract involves shipping nearly 30 Bell 407 helicopters from Canada to China by the end of 2020. This would entail moving the cargo by air ride truck first from Montreal to Toronto, then by air to Tianjin and onto the final destination in Xi’an, again by air ride truck.

This would cut the time to deliver a helicopter shipment weighing 10 tonnes to just 7 days. 

A spokesperson for Dimerco said that the contract recognised the company’s experience in moving helicopters, as well as its 50-year track record in international logistics. 

“Dimerco’s dedicated local teams in North America and Greater China have long–term partnerships both with the relevant airlines and air ride truck operators, so that space booking and transportation will be seamless. We will also coordinate operations with our customer’s customs broker, ultimately achieving door-to-door transportation from Montreal to Xi’an within just one week,” the spokesperson confirmed.  

Unloading the helicopters from aircraft pallets to the air ride truck in Tianjin will pose the highest risk, and Dimerco says it will offer a “customised solution that leverages risk management to keep this high–value cargo safe.” 

The solution will include a cargo insurance protection policy that would cover the risks associated with loading and unloading the helicopters, as well as the long–haul transportation to final–mile destinations in Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Hainan and Tibet. 

“Without doubt, our unrivalled experience of transporting helicopters, together with Dimerco’s global network and dedicated local teams, enabled us to develop a cost-effective, optimized logistics solution that won the confidence of our customer and secured this valued contract,” Dimerco’s spokesperson concluded.