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The resource magazine for cargo professionals

Summer 2013Vol. 21, Issue 1

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THE CALM BEHIND THE STORMLynden exclusive shipper for Discovery Channel programs

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ou’re not in charge of your own destiny when you’re on a boat,” saysCaptain Keith Colburn during a partic-

ularly rough patch at sea. The TV program Dead-liest Catch pits crab boats like Colburn’s Wizard and their crews against the deadly Bering Sea dur-ing king crab season. It is this chaotic environment that makes the show must-see TV for millions of Discovery Channel viewers.

It falls to Lynden International to get the rough footage of the program back from remote Dutch Harbor, AK and delivered to the producers of the show in California for editing and broadcast. In contrast to the unpredictable marine environment of the Deadliest Catch, the Lynden team is solid, steadfast and reliable. And Lynden knows Alaska. “All the digital program film comes through our Anchorage office for overnight air delivery to the Original Productions offices in Burbank,” says Ac-count Executive Greg Obeso. “The film is on hard drives, so they are small boxes, but obviously of great value. Everything is time sensitive.”

Lynden also moves cameras, film, wet suits, helicopter mounts, and any other equipment needed for production of the program. With some cameras valued at $400,000 each, the shipments receive the highest priority and white glove treat-

ment. Almost everything is a rush according to Obeso. “Once the shows are in production, every-thing is shipped on a ‘we need it now’ basis. Crew members are onsite waiting to film,” he says. “If they have broken equipment, they need the parts immediately. Every wasted minute costs the pro-ducers money.”

That kind of stress leads to frayed nerves and tense moments. As the transportation provider, the Lynden team does its part to keep things calm and focus on solutions. “We hear things like divers are hitting the water in three hours, or weather is moving in. Urgency is the norm with these ship-ments,” Obeso says.

January is the busiest time with shows in pro-duction and Lynden handling shipments from dif-ferent producers to locations in Winnipeg, Nome and Dutch Harbor. Lynden’s variety of transpor-tation modes is a distinct advantage. “We have used Lynden Air Cargo’s 4-day-a-week scheduled service from Anchorage to Nome and, at other times when the freight is not so time sensitive, we have trucked and barged freight via Alaska Marine Lines and Lynden Transport,” explains Internation-al Agent Owen Mitchell.

A special Lynden customer service team and

Executive Perspective IW

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LYNDEN SIGNS PURCHASE AGREEMENT TO BUY NORTHLAND

n keeping with the customer service themeof our cover story, I thought back to our annualcompany meeting held this spring in Seattle.

Our theme was “The Competitive Edge.” Operation-ally, we divide our “edge” in the market into three core areas: People, Processes and Execution.

At Lynden we take pride in being customer driven, and our customers choose us because we consistently meet or exceed their requirements. We depend on our carriers for consistent service and our internal technology for process efficiency and accuracy, but most important, we depend on our people to provide the integrity and quality that our industry and clients have come to respect and depend upon. Lynden hosts a carrier forum at our annual meeting made up of our top global carriers as well as those that are new to Lynden markets. The forum takes months of planning and many of the participants serve you, our clients, as well as interact with our front-line operations staff. Our

carriers repeatedly tell me how very well our forum is managed and executed and how our people are truly “genuine” and very “business focused.”

This speaks to the type of service we provide for the producers of the Discovery Channel pro-grams and countless other clients. It is gratifying to hear that our employees’ efforts are recognized by those we work with. We believe that just about any transportation problem can be solved in the hands of the right people, with the right tools and the right experience. Our em-ployees deliver quality service while putting the customer first and they do their best every day. That’s not only our mission, it’s the Lynden way of doing business.

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serve our customers, our employees and the communities where we operate,” explains Larry Stauffer, President and CEO of Northland. “We have seen significant growth in our business over the past decade, and bringing two great companies and teams together will help improve and expand service in the communities we serve.”

If the sale is completed, Northland will be an independent operating company within the Lynden family of companies. The current Northland man-agement team will stay in place.

“Other barge lines have plans to compete with us in Southeast Alaska communities where Alaska Marine Lines and Northland are the two primary freight carriers,” says Lynden Chairman Jim Jan-sen. “In communities where we have overlap, we will work to improve frequency and service. North-land has a great reputation and adds Western Alaska and Hawaii to Lynden’s service. We are excited about providing integrated statewide Alas-ka service, more frequency and greater combined capabilities to Lynden customers.”

ynden has entered into a purchase agree-ment to buy Northland Services, Inc., atug and barge carrier providing service

between Seattle, Alaska and Hawaii. A lengthy, complex process remains before the purchase can be completed. The proposed transaction will be submitted for regulatory review and other con-ditions that, if completed, would likely result in closing in late 2013. In the meantime, Northland remains an independent company with majority ownership by Endeavour Capital, a private invest-ment firm.

“Lynden provides an ideal situation to better

Laura SandersVice President, Operations

“…bringing two great companies and teams together…”

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One of Lynden’s more interesting assign-ments was flying a large gold nugget into Nome for the Bering Sea Gold series. For Ax Men, freight has been flown and barged into Southeast Alaska and, for the Whisker Wars program, Lynden took care of a large international shipment to Germany for the taping of the world beard competition. “Over the years, we have chartered flights and arranged transport of tri-pods, production equipment, dive tanks, air compressors, arctic gear, ATVs, yurts and more,” Mitchell says. “We even flew gear to Adak in the Aleutian Islands where a boat met us to pick it up.” Lynden’s worldwide presence – es-pecially in Russia, Canada and the Yukon – is a plus for producers as they scout new locations for programs.

Both Obeso and Mitchell agree that the work is challenging, but also exciting and fun. “It’s definite-ly something different than the normal shipments we handle,” Obeso says. “We consider ourselves the ‘calm behind the storm’ to keep things rolling during production. Reality television is fast-paced and deadline-focused. We work well under pres-sure and try to ease the load of the producers in the field.” For Obeso, who worked for years in the seafood industry, one of the most memorable ship-ments wasn’t delivered to a remote filming site, but to a suburban location. Lynden flew 200 pounds of coveted blue crab from Alaska to Burbank for a Deadliest Catch season premier.

Continued from page 1email address is set up to handle the daily and often three-times-daily shipments during produc-tion. The group is available 24-7 to respond to requests and issues.

In addition to Deadliest Catch, Original Pro-ductions produces Ice Road Truckers, Ax Men, Bering Sea Gold and even a program called Whis-ker Wars. Before Lynden came onboard, another freight forwarder was handling transportation for the shows. At one point freight was grounded in Sand Point, AK, which is 600 miles west of An-chorage and only accessible by boat or plane. “They were facing a two-week wait to get the freight out so the forwarder contacted us and we got it on another airline’s backhaul flight the same day,” Mitchell says.

By coincidence, Obeso was in Dutch Har-bor at the same time working on projects for the seafood industry. “I happened to meet Producer Sheila McCormick through mutual contacts while she was filming land shots for the Deadliest Catch. I mentioned that the company she was us-ing was calling Lynden for help and that she could just call us directly in the future,” Obeso recalls. “That started this great working relationship that we have today.” Lynden began handling ship-ments for Deadliest Catch and six months later, the producer of Ice Road Truckers called. They were transitioning the program from Prudhoe Bay to Manitoba to begin filming in Canada. Lynden’s office in Ontario was a selling point as shipments could be routed into Winnipeg through Ontario in-stead of Anchorage. Lynden also offered customs brokerage, importing and exporting.

This signed photo from Captain Rick Fehst is from Greg Obeso’s personal collection as well as the signed photo from Captain Keith Colburn on the cover. Several Deadliest Catch captains have toured Lynden’s facilities in Anchorage.

Lynden’s Owen Mitchell (left) and Greg Obeso in Anchorage.

The Seattle-based Northwestern searching for crab in Dutch Harbor, AK.

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t may be the only time that 10 and 20 add upto seven. British Airways World Cargo, ranked10th among world cargo carriers, and Iberia

Cargo, ranked 20th, now occupy the No. 7 spot as IAG Cargo. Eighteen months ago the two cargo carriers merged to become International Airlines Group (IAG) Cargo, a new global company cater-ing exclusively to the cargo community.

The new company is a subsidiary of the Inter-national Airlines Group (IAG), which is the world’s third-largest airline in annual revenue and the sec-ond largest airline group in Europe. In 2012, IAG

purchased British Midland International (BMI), a highly successful cargo operation, adding a third company to the roster. The acquisition of BMI is the first of what could be many more planned by IAG as it grows the new cargo business.

“Our mission is simple,” says IAG Manag-ing Director Steve Gunning, “we want to be the world’s leading air cargo provider.” The new com-pany is well on its way. Since the merger in 2011, it has established a completely different type of cargo business, one centered around its custom-ers’ needs and their specific business growth.

Combining the cargo operations of several airlines into a new company is a bold move, but one that offers the cargo community unprecedent-ed options both in lift and global reach. “We have the British Airways network in North America, Asia and Africa combined with Iberia’s strength in Latin America as well as its short-haul and long-haul freighter network. In all, we offer a global network connecting over 350 destinations across 80 coun-tries and 747-8 freighter and narrow-body freight-er capacity to key trade lanes,” explains Joseph LeBeau, IAG’s Vice President of North America.

The new company also provides customers with a single sales force and an integrated and expanded range of products. Product portfolios have been aligned to make products consistent in Lima, London and Tokyo. “I have been with British Airways Cargo for 17 years and this was a major shift, but one for the better,” LeBeau says. “Our customers have embraced the IAG brand and they see the benefit to their bottom line. Tradition-ally, cargo business has grown behind passenger business. For instance, Las Vegas is a strong passenger market, but not such a strong cargo market. IAG Cargo was developed to grow car-go, not just on the back of passenger activity, but as its own separate operation. So far it’s been a terrific success.”

IAG’s major focus has been adding capacity to open new markets and trade lanes to custom-ers. For the first time, cargo can move from Hong Kong to Costa Rica or from Madrid to London all in one system. For former British Airways Cargo customers, the reach into and out of Latin America is new. “Our business from Asia into Latin America has grown significantly due to this new connec-tivity,” LeBeau notes. “Now our customers have

British Airways WorldCargo and Iberia become IAG Cargo

A DIFFERENT KIND OF CARGO

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destinations into Latin America and South Amer-ica they didn’t have before. We’ve been pushing the boundaries of our service to offer more ca-pacity on over 90 key routes across Europe, and have added new routes to our already extensive network – like Barcelona to Milan and Zurich to Paris. This means customers can get more cargo to more places more often.”

This spring, IAG introduced three new flights between London and Seattle, bringing the weekly total on the Seattle route to 10 flights. Seattle is a growth market for IAG, with its strong high-tech and aerospace industries. Last year, the London-Seattle route generated 4,660 tons of cargo in-cluding everything from aircraft parts and cherries to consumer goods.

Although customers are enjoying many new benefits of IAG Cargo, LeBeau and his staff are always searching for ways to make the customer experience better. The staff recently launched a pilot program in the U.S. called the IAG Cargo Connector. “We operate an IAG van in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles that moves around the airport picking up premium cargo shipments of 300 kilos and under. Once the shipment is booked, we pick it up from the freight forwarders, bring it back to our facility, scan it and get it onto our Iberia or British Airways aircraft free of charge. We are aim-

ing for quicker connection times at the hubs.” As a result of the Cargo Connector service, weekly pre-mium shipments of pharmaceutical, climate con-trolled and other “Prioritise” shipments have grown by over 50 percent in these locations.

British Airways’ and Iberia’s past successes and specialties have carried over to the new IAG Cargo. “We are still very strong in temperature controlled shipments, live animals and other spe-cialized freight,” LeBeau says. He remembers an unusual shipment of 200 tons of trash British Air-ways Cargo shipped from Chicago to Italy to test garbage disposal equipment. “The invoice value was pretty low on that one,” he quips. But then there are the more valuable shipments of racing cars and racing horses moved from circuit to cir-cuit, or athletic equipment for the 2012 Olympics and band equipment for The Who and U2 concerts.

“No matter what we move and where we ship it, we make sure it is treated with the ultimate care and attention to detail,” LeBeau says.

At almost the two year mark, IAG Cargo is firmly established as a cargo contender. Last month, it took a significant step by offering online booking services to customers via iagcargo.com and the company’s Heathrow-London hub was named best air cargo terminal in Europe at the Asian Freight & Supply Chain Awards in Beijing.

Joseph LeBeau

More cargo to more places moreoften

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n employee-centered workplace is onein which all individuals, programs, pro-cesses and systems are focused on help-

ing employees become fully successful. Individu-als who feel valued will provide excellent products and service, which will result in the achievement of organizational goals. In such an environment, everyone wins: workers, management, custom-ers, vendors and other stakeholders.

Unfortunately, this scenario does not occur naturally. Rather, management must make a con-scious decision to create an environment in which everyone and everything is aligned with employ-ees’ success. Below are 10 actions organizations can take to create or enhance a positive workplace that motivates employees to perform their best. Some practices can be implemented immediately, with little or no cost; others will take some time and effort. Please note that these actions are not one-time fixes; rather, they represent a long-term way of interacting with employees. Short-term “so-lutions” for long-term issues are seldom effective, and workers can tell the difference.

1. Assess your employees’ level of satisfaction with their supervisors. For example, consider issues such as whether the supervisor lis-tens to what they say, and how he/she treats employees when they make mistakes. Take immediate action to correct any deficiencies.

2. Ensure that every employee sees the orga-nization’s “big picture” and his/her contribu-tion to it. Employees who feel connected to the organization have a vested interest in its success.

3. Learn employees’ names and use them of-ten. As a corollary, learn a little about their families and outside interests. Ask them about things that are important to them per-sonally on a regular basis. Be genuine when you ask; people know when you are being disingenuous.

4. Recognize employees’ contributions to the organization in ways that are meaningful to the individuals involved. Research shows that the most effective forms of recognition are those that create memories for workers and their families.

5. Ensure that employees view organizational procedures and decision-making processes as fair. Research shows that even when em-ployees do not like the outcome of a given decision, they are likely to accept it if they believe the rules that led to that outcome are fair – e.g., transparent, free of bias and open to employee input.

6. Ensure that values such as trust and re-spect are a core part of your organization’s culture. This outcome arises when each employee knows what those values “look like” in terms of his/her behaviors on the job and when leaders exemplify those values every day.

7. Provide employees with a meaningful voice. This means they feel that they can offer their opinions freely and safely, even when they disagree with management, and they believe that their views will be taken seriously.

8. Incorporate appreciative approaches in the workplace. Seek out things that people do well, and build on those strengths. Ask ques-tions that have them searching for positive answers instead of negative ones.

9. Ensure that all employees are in the right jobs and their talents are appropriate for the work they must do. Few things are more miserable than doing a job for which one is not a good fit.

10. Hold every manager accountable for helping employees become fully successful.

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TEN WAYS TO CREATE AN EMPLOYEE-CENTERED WORKPLACE

Pat Lynch, Ph.D., is President of Business Alignment Strategies, Inc., a consulting firm that helps clients optimize business results by aligning people, programs, and processes with organizational goals. Contact Pat at Pat@BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com or at (562) 985-0333. Website: www.businessalignmentstrategies.com. Copyright 2009 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

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Learn employees’ names and use them often.

InsideInformationNews briefs fromaround the LyndenInternational system

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New Honolulu facilityLynden International’s Hawaii business is

booming. To accommodate the growth, the Ho-nolulu Service Center consolidated its customer service and operations team into one facility ear-lier this year. “Our new space is better suited for freight movement and efficiency with added ca-pacity for ocean freight,” says Jeff Bell, Western Regional Manager. “We expanded our dock doors from two to 14 and now have a private yard and upgraded security system for customers.” greet him (see picture above). Mothers and chil-

dren were dressed in their traditional Huli regalia to put on a welcome reception and to show respect for the generosity of the Lynden people.

The gifts included school supplies, sports equipment, tools and clothing. They were split into 12 parcels for delivery to charitable organizations.

Lynden participates in Intermodal South America in Sao Paulo

Lynden International and its South American partner Servimex showcased Lynden’s products and services at the Intermodal South America event in Sao Paulo this spring. Intermodal South America is the second largest trade exhibition in the world. Lynden’s booth was staffed by Hans Schenk, Business Development Director Latin America, and Ricardo Sato, Manager-Lynden Brazil, along with the Servimex Team of Fabio Monteiro, Commercial Director-Owner, Clarissa Bernardi and Julio Cesar Souza. “It was a great opportunity to meet customers and develop new contacts in this market,” Schenk says.

Fabio Monteiro (left) and Hans Schenk at the Intermodal South America event.

The Inside ScoopWhat customers are sayingabout Lynden International

“The great customer service is why I prefer to use Lynden.”

Julie YoumansEvent Coordinator

ProLingoOrlando, FL

Lynden launches www.lynden.com/lintLynden International launched a redesigned

website last month, www.lynden.com/lint. The site incorporates feedback from customers and indus-try experts and was designed by Lynden’s market-ing team to improve content and make navigation easier for current and new website visitors. The site offers user-friendly “solutions” pages about U.S. and global transportation and logistics capabilities. In addition, customers can learn more about Lyn-den service from the brochures and case studies included in the new site. “We spent more than a year researching and fine-tuning the changes,” ex-plains Director, Marketing & Sales Support Dorene Kolb. “Our goal was to make it easier for custom-ers to find us online and then to find what they need on our site within two clicks of the mouse.”

Gifts bring smiles in Papua New Guinea The Papua New Guinea community of Tari re-

ceived a plane-load of gifts from generous Lynden employees earlier this year. Lynden International’s sister company, Lynden Air Cargo, is completing a gas pipeline project in Papua New Guinea and operates Lynden Air Cargo PNG Ltd. there.

Lynden Chairman Jim Jansen flew into Lae Airport with the gifts where a crowd gathered to

Worldwide HeadquartersP.O. Box 84167

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Lynden in the Spotlight

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SYSTEM MEETING RECOGNIZES TOP PERFORMERS FOR 2012

L ynden International’s annual SystemMeeting was held April 4 and 5 in Seattle.The event provides an opportunity to look

back at the previous year, recognize the compa-ny’s vendor and carrier partners and to honor its top employee achievers with a variety of awards.

One of the most highly prized awards is the Stanley Cup presented to the most valuable Ser-vice Center. It was awarded to Lynden Canada Co. for the highest revenue growth, customer sat-isfaction and system operations requirements for 2012. Moscow was named the top international Service Center and Anchorage and Nashville were each recognized for Operational Excellence. The Lynden International Logistics Co. (LILCO) Operational Excellence Award was presented to

the Vancouver office. The following Top Gun Service Centers were

recognized for outstanding sales performance: Boston, Toronto, Moscow, San Juan and BWI-Projects. Anchorage District Operations Manager Jeff Pennell won the Hall of Fame Award for pro-viding long-term success in the company and in-dustry. Pennell has worked for Lynden since 1986. LaDonna Blackwell of the Houston Service Center received the Rainmaker Award for an individual or owner who meets growth goals, is profitable and delights customers.

“It was a big night for Moscow and for our en-tire Projects Division, however, the biggest surprise was the Rainmaker Award,” says Blackwell, Direc-tor of Global Projects in Houston. “I appreciate

being recognized for my individual contribution, but this is shared with the very hardwork-ing crews in Hous-ton as well as our Projects Division. I couldn’t do what I do without them.”

LaDonna Blackwell and Lynden International President Dave Richardson with the Rainmaker Award.

Mark Barker, Vice President of Lynden Canada Co., accepts the Stanley Cup.