DHL Observations And Interviews
DHL
Observations and Interviews
DHL's hub, located at the Greater Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Airport was the setting of a July 1993 tour of DHL's nighttime hub operations. This is the U.S. domestic hub for
DHL's worldwide operations. Approximately 40 aircraft arrive and depart the DBL "superhub" every Monday through Friday night, but only about half of these aircraft are large enough to carry cargo containers and/or pallets. The other aircraft are much smaller and serve customers by loading packages loose in the cargo bay of these aircraft.
DHL has three aircraft parking ramps, all of which were observed in operation. However, due to the diversity of aircraft types, a detailed list of aircraft number and type had to be provided by DHL. DHL used one well-lit building for its sort operations. Conveyor belts were prevalent throughout the building, and these conveyors were the slowest moving ones observed in this study. The aircraft parking ramp area utilized by DHL was small, yet three separate ramps were used. Due to airport expansion, part of the ramp was under construction during this observation. The two ramp areas closest to the sort facility were well-lit, and aircraft were parked very close together. The third parking ramp was used to park DHL's smallest aircraft for the nighttime hub operations, but it was a common user parking area during the day. This area did not have as much light as the two main parking ramps.
Cargo Handling Equipment
No forklifts were observed at DHL's hub. All of the cargo was placed into cargo containers or onto aluminum aircraft cargo pallets and transported on pallet dollies pulled by tugs. The cargo containers were made of fiberglass and had canvas (tarp-like) door openings through which cargo was loaded and unloaded. These large openings allow any piece of cargo that can physically fit into a container to be placed inside of the container without wrestling it through a small door opening. Nearly all of the cargo sorted through
Observations and Interviews
DHL's hub, located at the Greater Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Airport was the setting of a July 1993 tour of DHL's nighttime hub operations. This is the U.S. domestic hub for
DHL's worldwide operations. Approximately 40 aircraft arrive and depart the DBL "superhub" every Monday through Friday night, but only about half of these aircraft are large enough to carry cargo containers and/or pallets. The other aircraft are much smaller and serve customers by loading packages loose in the cargo bay of these aircraft.
DHL has three aircraft parking ramps, all of which were observed in operation. However, due to the diversity of aircraft types, a detailed list of aircraft number and type had to be provided by DHL. DHL used one well-lit building for its sort operations. Conveyor belts were prevalent throughout the building, and these conveyors were the slowest moving ones observed in this study. The aircraft parking ramp area utilized by DHL was small, yet three separate ramps were used. Due to airport expansion, part of the ramp was under construction during this observation. The two ramp areas closest to the sort facility were well-lit, and aircraft were parked very close together. The third parking ramp was used to park DHL's smallest aircraft for the nighttime hub operations, but it was a common user parking area during the day. This area did not have as much light as the two main parking ramps.
Cargo Handling Equipment
No forklifts were observed at DHL's hub. All of the cargo was placed into cargo containers or onto aluminum aircraft cargo pallets and transported on pallet dollies pulled by tugs. The cargo containers were made of fiberglass and had canvas (tarp-like) door openings through which cargo was loaded and unloaded. These large openings allow any piece of cargo that can physically fit into a container to be placed inside of the container without wrestling it through a small door opening. Nearly all of the cargo sorted through