Career in Air Freight -- Air Express Transportation, Operation, and Management (Careers Ebooks)

Many companies, suppliers and parts manufacturers must ship the fastest way to meet the intense deadlines which are commonplace now in American industry - and air freight, also known as air express, is the quickest way of all to ship.

Every day, thousands of airlines, flying out of dozens of airfields throughout the United States, carry loads of cargo in their holds to destinations all over the country and indeed throughout the world. And thousands of air express carriers, such as Cannonball in Chicago, advertise guaranteed delivery of freight by the following day for all materials that it picks up. The shipper may have to pay a premium for such swift service, but in many cases, such as the situation of the intense pressure to ship out parts described above, it is happy to do so. Also, there are hundreds of companies which supply highly perishable food stuffs - fruits and vegetables, meat, fish and other commodities to distant destinations, which must arrive in the quickest way possible to keep their freshness.

Where companies are seeking to hold down their inventories of costly parts and equipment, they know that by using air freight, they can order the exact number of components required and still be assured of receiving the goods in time. This explains why in recent years the amount of air freight shipped annually in the United States has expanded to over 12 million ton miles, an increase of roughly 4 million ton miles of cargo from just a few years ago. A ton mile is one short ton carried one mile. Since 1930 which was the first year airliners began carrying cargo, the amount of air freight carried has risen sharply.

In fact it's hard to imagine the United States without air freight. Residents of Chicago and Philadelphia enjoy fresh oranges flown in from California. Computers in Detroit run on software that arrives daily from Phoenix; and auto makers in Detroit outfit their cars with parts arriving from all over the country.

This in turn cuts the cost of inventories and warehousing which in turn reduces the cost of production. Delivery as you need it is helping U.S. manufacturers to keep up with foreign competition. And it continues to expand the importance of air freight in the economy.

Today giant airliners carry passengers and cargo between major cities throughout the world. And planes and helicopters speed medicine and other supplies to the furthest reaches of land and jungle. The air express industry has grown enormously in the last decade or so, and the end of such growth is nowhere in sight. Air freight is still the preferred route for speed and when you consider that many air freight carriers advertise that they can deliver any shipment the following day to any point in continental United States you can see why.

Regardless of whether the cargo is foodstuffs, steel, books or machinery, sales agents, rate and billing clerks and customer and sales service agents offer their knowledge of tariffs, carriers and routes. This repository of experience and know how is unlikely to be replaced by computers or technology in the foreseeable future. So the prospects for expansion in this field are excellent.

This new Careers Ebook contains a wealth of unbiased information about careers in air freight, based on the latest national surveys. Careers Ebooks cover attractive and unattractive sides, opportunities, education necessary, personal qualifications required, earnings, descriptions of different job specialties, first person accounts by those in the field, and how to get started; including practical advice on what to do now. There are live links to schools and colleges, associations, periodicals and other sources of reliable information.