My name is Pablo Camarena and I had the opportunity to help with the transportation logistics of the hot air balloons for the International Balloon Festival Leon, Mexico 2022.
My contribution, along with our entire team at Crossmotion Logistics, was in the operation of the project to import around 90 hot air balloons originating in the United States and their subsequent return to their country of origin.
The project consisted of finding key partners for the transportation of the balloons in 53-foot direct boxes from 6 strategic points: Spartanburg, SC; Houston, TX; Salt Lake City, UT; Albuquerque, NM; ST Louis, MI and Albany, NY.
One of the biggest challenges during the project was to schedule all the pickups in 6 boxes and arrive at the border within 5 days, everything had to work with great precision due to pickup schedules, handling hours and scheduling of arrival at the border. Another big challenge was to cross all the boxes together due to the type of import regime.
The first stage of the project was successfully completed, delivering all the balloons in a timely manner, as required for these events of worldwide importance. One of the key points for the success of the logistics operation, was the great team that was made together with the organizers of the festival and its customs agency team, because without the precise communication and the desire to go ahead in the best possible way, the required result would not have been obtained.
Personally, it was a great challenge that I loved to carry out and filled me with pride once I saw the balloons fly in the sky, since the FIG is the largest event of its kind in Latin America and the third most important worldwide, which puts Leon and Mexico on the map during the festival.
The project concluded with the return of the balloons to the same 6 points in the United States as quickly as possible, as many pilots have commitments with their balloons, dates to meet and that's what logistics is for, to keep the world spinning.
Photograph by Carlos Batalla Fig 2022
