Jim Wilbrandt, President, IACAC

Death of Daniel Edward Mahal; services planned for Wednesday

Posted on July 20, 2015 | by Jim Wilbrandt

We received the following sad news about the passing of Dan Mahal, brother of Steve Mahal of RAM International. Dan's career in the industry took him to three places, Northern Airfreight, Hellmann Worldwide and Expeditors International. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.

His wife passed away before him and they leave behind two daughters without parents. Hug your kids a bit tighter today.

Daniel Edward Mahal, age 52, of Lombard

Daniel Edward Mahal, age 52, of Lombard died July 17, 2015.

A Memorial Visitation will be Wednesday from 3:00 pm – 9:00 pm at Brust Funeral Home, 135 S. Main St, Lombard. Daniels’s Memorial Mass will be Thursday at 10:00 am at Sacred Heart Church, 114 S. Elizabeth St, Lombard.

Daniel is survived by his two daughters, Miranda and Janah; his mother, Virginia; and his two brothers, Rick and Steve.

Daniel is preceded in death by his wife, Adriene.

Daniel lived life to the fullest and helped others with his contagious optimism. He valued his family above all. Daniel added to it when he married the love of his life, Adriene and had two daughters, Miranda and Janah. Now he is reunited with Adriene in Heaven.

For more info 888-629-0094.

President’s Letter: July, 2015

Posted on June 30, 2015 | by Jim Wilbrandt

The Annual Golf Outing is being held at the beautiful Bridges of Poplar Creek in Hoffman Estates on Tuesday, August 11th at 8:00. Please get your foursomes/groups in before the rates jump up on August 1. You can sign up on line or download the registration form and email it back to either Mark Stoyas or myself. If you cannot attend the golf, how about the luncheon? The luncheon will take place around 1 or 1:30 depending on the pace of play. We are also looking for any donations for raffle prizes. Donations, can be from gift cards, bottle of wines (liquor), tickets, airline tickets, etc. The donations are raffled off at the end of the luncheon. Remember, the net proceed from the money raised helps fund the IACAC Scholarship fund. Please contact Mark Stoyas at mark@basicent.com or myself at jim@basicent.com for registration, donation or sponsorship.

IACAC SCHOLARSHIP

The International Air Cargo Association of Chicago (IACAC) is a non-profit organization which raises money throughout the year to award scholarships to worth recipients for their continuing education.
We have now opened the application period for our 2015 scholarships. Applications are due no later than September 30, 2015. Winners will be notified in writing by October 31, 2015, and the scholarships will be awarded at our November luncheon on November 10, 2015.
This year, we anticipate being able to award multiple scholarships to worthy applicants.

ELIGIBILITY:
• Applicants must be enrolled in a two or four year program with a GPA of 3.00 or higher.
• Graduate degrees or professional certificates are not covered by the scholarship.
• Applicants must be a family member of either an individual member or an employee of a corporate member whose membership is in good standing for 2015.

TO APPLY:
• Download and complete the 2015 IACAC Scholarship Application
• Applications are due no later than September 30, 2015.
• Provide the most recent transcript of grades. If you are a 2015 high school graduate, please submit your most current report card and college acceptance letter.
• Write 500 words on each of the three topics below (total of all three essays = 1500 words):

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word "Future"?
What is the most surprising turn of events you have ever experienced?
What was the bravest moment of your life?

QUESTIONS CAN BE DIRECTED TO OLGA LEBEDYEVA, SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE CHAIR, BY EMAIL AT OLGA.LEBEDYEVA@AIRMENZIES.COM.

60 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY

IACAC will make YOU FEEL LIKE DANCING THE NIGHT AWAY!! To celebrate our 60 year anniversary we will be holding a 70’s party in September. Get ready to dig out the old leisure suits, bell bottoms and pet rocks and come celebrate with IACAC. More information to come.

President’s Letter: June, 2015

Posted on May 29, 2015 | by Jim Wilbrandt

IACAC Annual Golf Outing

We are only two and half months away for the Annual Golf Outing and we're back at the beautiful Bridges of Poplar Creek in Hoffman Estates on Tuesday, August 11th. It is a best ball tournament with a shotgun start at 08:00. The golf outing raises money for the IACAC Scholarship Fund. We are proud of all the sponsors we have already secured (and their names and logos will be appearing on the website). However, there are still some holes, bridges and blades of grass that are available to be sponsored.

In addition to the money that is raised through registration fees, we have a raffle during the luncheon, the proceeds from which also go to the scholarship fund. We are looking for donations of any kind, including gift cards, bottle of wines or liquor, sporting event or concert tickets, airline tickets, etc.

If you would like to donate or sponsor, please contact Mark Stoyas at mark@basicent.com or myself at jim@basicent.com.

To register, click here.

June Luncheon: DGM Chicago

At an air cargo congestion forum held last Thursday (more on that later), a representative from Swissport indicated that in their Chicago facility, 64% of dangerous goods shipments that are tendered for shipment are refused. At second presentation, fully thirty percent are refused again. It seems that our timing for this particular topic is perfect.

The DGM organization, founded in 1987, is devoted to packing, storage, consulting, classification, and professional training in the field of moving dangerous goods. All of DGM’s activities are performed in accordance with the global safety standards: The rules and regulations of IATA/ICAO – IMO – 49 CFR – ADR – RID, for the safe handling and transport of hazardous goods also referred to as dangerous goods.

DGM are just completing a move into a new building and will be offering new service that will be of interest to the Chicago air cargo community. Please come to Holiday Inn Elk Grove Village on Tuesday, June 9th at 1130 to hear the DGM team speak of the new service and current services.

Air Cargo Congestion Forum

IACAC, along with the Chicago Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association, held a very successful event to begin talking about how to alleviate issues of congestion at cargo handling facilities at O'Hare. Nearly one hundred people attended from freight forwarders, truckers, airlines and ground handlers. A working group is being formed that will meet regularly to start to talk about the challenges we face and work together to find solutions to them.

My thanks to Scott Case of Position : Global, Brandon Fried of The Airforwarders Association, Warren Jones of CNS and Dan Gadow of New Barton Air Cargo Services for their work. Kudos as well to Adam Rod and the City of Chicago's Department of Aviation who provided the room and offered his insights and knowledge on what is happening around the airport.

Well my pick to win the Derby is still running I believe. Thank goodness I didn’t lay down any money. It should be fun to see if American Pharoah will win the Belmont Stakes next weekend.

Truck congestion at O’Hare – We want your comments

Posted on March 31, 2015 | by Jim Wilbrandt

It's not the queue to get into the cargo areas of O'Hare, but it's what it looks like all the time right now.

Things are a mess at O'Hare right now, and we want your feedback.

The lines to access the cargo areas are horrible. Once you're in the facility, the service doesn't get people handled quickly, politely or respectfully.

Air cargo is the most expensive mode of transport, but the way it is being handled right now at O'Hare is far from a premium service.

The IACAC, along with the Chicago Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association, are working to find solutions to this problem. We make no promises, but we are at the earliest stages of engaging all the stakeholders to better share our concerns and suggestions to take steps towards improving things.

If you have specific comments or suggestions, or would like to share something that you've experienced, please leave a comment below and we'll include these concerns as part of our discussions.

President’s Letter: April, 2015

Posted on March 31, 2015 | by Jim Wilbrandt

Who is ready for the weather to break? It seems every year we get a taste in March of 60’s then BAM!, right back to freezing. Hopefully the weather will start warming up for good very soon.

There are many things going on right now impacting our community and I would like to call your attention to two of them that are critically important.

Irving Park & York Road Closure

This month, IDOT took two weekends to close Irving & York to put up overhead beams for the Canadian National tracks. You'll remember that we warned everyone that if there were problems with trucks hitting those beams that IDOT would take drastic measures, including closing the intersection.

IDOT has closed the intersection.

All vehicles are being routed via Touhy Ave to Mannheim Road. IACAC, along with the CCBFA, are talking with the City of Chicago to find solutions alleviate the congestion.

We need your help to find solutions to pickup and drop-off congestion at airlines.

The economy's recovery has been great, and it means more air cargo business for everyone. However, the economy's recovery, plus West Coast port congestion, plus constructions in and around O'Hare have created a complete and utter mess trying to pickup and deliver cargo at airlines.

Police are sending drivers away whose trucks are backed up on Mannheim Road; it is not unusual to wait hours to pickup or drop off cargo. Lockouts are being missed, trucking companies are forced to pay overtime to their drivers and worst of all, service to the community that uses air cargo as an "expeditious" means of shipping is being affected.

We need your help.

Click here to read more and leave comments or suggestions.

We are planning to have a meeting with key stakeholders, including the City of Chicago, the CCBFA and, if necessary, CNS, the Airforwarders Association and the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) who can help bring everyone to the table to find a solution.

March Madness Networking Draws 80+ Attendees

As we head into the Final Four weekend, three #1 seeds made it through, but everybody's brackets in the early stages were, to say the least, a wreck. I heard on ESPN that only one person in 11.3 million submissions correctly picked the first round outcomes. IACAC March Madness Event

I want to thank everyone who attended the event and made it a success.

April Luncheon Features Wally Deveraux of Southwest Cargo

For those who work with Southwest or who travel the trade show circuit, you know Wally very well. He is the Senior Director of Cargo & Charters for Southwest Airlines. Wally is one of the great people in the industry who understands the business and can articulate Southwest's position as they are growing and expanding their network domestically and internationally. That's right, Southwest flies outside the United States.

Given all the congestion and heartburn that we're facing at O'Hare right now, maybe taking a look to Chicago's other airport makes sense for our businesses.

Looking ahead: August Golf Outing, December Holiday...Luncheon(?)

As you may have noticed on the home page, the IACAC turns sixty years old this year. It has been a remarkable journey and the fact that the organization has remained alive and continuously operating for that long solely with volunteers is something to be proud of.

We've got our August golf outing scheduled and have already been soliciting sponsorships for holes and other things. If you're interested in being a sponsor, it's never too early to commit and get the advertising and messaging that comes with it. For more information, contact either myself or Mark Stoyas for more information.

In December, we're wondering whether or not we should step up our game in honor of this milestone. Some of the ideas being discussed are:

Do we do a luncheon, or a dinner?
Is it a more formal affair (something just short of black tie)?
Do we do it in a hotel ballroom and open it up to a much larger audience?
If we go the ballroom route, the tickets will be much more expensive, and will people still attend and support the event?

It goes without saying that we will be continuing our support of the Marine Corps' Toys for Tots drive as well as having our usual raffles of great prizes. Watch for a survey in the next month or two to solicit your feedback.

President’s Letter: March, 2015

Posted on March 5, 2015 | by Jim Wilbrandt

March is finally here and we are getting ready for some warmth. Not sure if you are like me, but it just seems that the older I get the longer the winters are. As we all know in Illinois, once winter is over, our next season starts ROAD CONSTRUCTION.

The truck detour route for the York and Irving Park Road construction will commence March 14, not April 1^st,like previously mentioned. There will be a height restriction enforced during the construction at 12 ½ feet. During the construction a new railroad track will be installed, pavement removed and replaced at a lower elevation to all the detour route to be lifted sometime in late spring and placing embankment of stone and dirt to relocate the railroad tracks to their final position. If everything goes as planned and without any weather delays or catastrophes the truck detour could be lifted by Memorial Day weekend. For a formal map of the detour route, please go to our website www.iacac.com.

February luncheon recap

Thank you to Mr. Matt Hart, Executive Director of the Illinois Trucking Association, who discussed the outlook of the trucking industry in Illinois at our luncheon on Tuesday, February 10^th. Matt brought his insight from Springfield and discussed some issues that are being bounced around from broadening taxes on trucking companies and warehouses and the repeal of the Commercial Distribution Bill under Senate Bill 662/ House Bill 371. Everybody seemed to learn something new who attended this luncheon.

No March luncheon; March Madness instead

There will be no luncheon in March, but we will have an evening event. Join us March 19^th from 6 PM -10 PM at the Wyndham Garden Elk Grove Village/O’Hare. This will be a co-sponsored with the Young Freight Forwarders Association (YFFA). Appetizers and soft drinks will be provided and plenty of TV’s to watch the first round of the NCAA tournament. So after a long day of work (or watching the games on a live feed) come join us for some fun, laughs and networking.

Follow this link to register.

Our next luncheon will be Tuesday, April 14^th and our guest speaker is Wally Devereaux, Senior Director of Cargo and Charters at Southwest Airlines.

Advertising and sponsorships available on iacac.com and in The Pallet

If you are interested in advertising on the IACAC website or newsletter, please contact us. We have many levels of sponsoring and pricing options to accommodate all budgets.

Renew your 2015 IACAC membership now!

Posted on January 16, 2015 | by Jim Wilbrandt

Happy New Year, everyone!

Last year was one of the most successful years on record for the IACAC in terms of membership, funds raised for our scholarships and engagement in our social and professional activities.

Let's make 2015 even bigger.

The way that happens is with the continued participation and engagement of our existing members and adding to that base as well.

Our dues are EXTREMELY reasonable and we welcome forwarders, airlines, individuals, ground handlers, truckers, sureties...anyone involved with, or who has an interest in supporting, the business of air cargo.

We have two tiers of membership that you can see on this page.

Membership rates are very simple:

INDIVIDUAL: $50.00 per year
CORPORATE: $100.00 per year (this covers two people per company who wish to be involved including the right to vote, benefits that are extended to IACAC members, etc.)
CORPORATE EXTRA: $30.00 per additional named member

Note that for companies this is not the number of employees you have, but rather the number of employees you envision participating in our events on a regular basis who would like to accrue the benefits of membership.

Three ways to pay your membership:

IACAC Website:

Visit this page and follow the process and it'll take you into Paypal for the checkout.

Credit card via Paypal:

If you're already a member, we've created this simple Paypal button for you to select your membership type. Note if you're doing corporate for more than two people, select the "Continue Shopping" button which will send you back to the site and select the additional people from the drop down menu. You will then be taken back to your cart where you can add the necessary number of additional people and then finish checking out and paying.

IACAC President’s Letter – January, 2015

Posted on January 2, 2015 | by Jim Wilbrandt

By now you've probably noticed (or not) that there is a new byline on the President's letter for 2015.

My name is Jim Wilbrandt, and I am proud to introduce myself as the IACAC President for 2015. I was elected to the position at our monthly membership meeting in November.

As we reflect back on this past year, the association has taken off. With the launch of the new website last February, a cold wet golf outing in August, the annual Toys-for-Tots Christmas Party and numerous guest speakers, has increased our membership by 40%.

As the incoming President, I will like to take the baton that Mitch and the past board have passed and continue on the right path to increase membership and the focus on the airlines and air cargo community. We envision collaborating more with the other trade associations who share similar interests as ourselves such as the Chicago Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association and others.

I would like to again personally thank Mitch for reinventing the association and bringing in a new attitude. I look forward to working with him and the board to continue his vision. I also like to thank Chris Aguirre, Laura Brown, Kate Koenig and Jennifer Crotty for their past services on the board. You all will be missed and wish you luck on your new endeavors. We hope to see you at the luncheons and functions this year.

The kickoff luncheon will be held on Tuesday, January 13th at the Holiday Inn on Landmeier and Busse Road in Elk Grove Village. This event is just more than a networking event, but also a town hall meeting for the board and members to converse on the direction of the Association. This is your Association, so we want to hear your input. What kind of speakers will you like to have? Events? After hours events?

Register for the luncheon here.

So far we have the following scheduled for this year, Southwest Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Brandon Fried, our Annual Golf Outing on August 11 and the Toys-for-Tots Christmas Party on December 8. Please keep these dates open for these educational and fun events.

If you ever have a comment or have a question regarding the association, please feel free to contact me at jim@basicent.com or call my cell phone at (847) 704-0360.

Author: Jim Wilbrandt