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Managing a series of medical and nutrition shipments into Darfur
| Case detail | Summary |
| Operation | Multiple humanitarian shipments managed over a short period |
| Cargo | Nutrition products, medical goods and temperature controlled cargo |
| Examples | 20 pallets and approximately 25.6 tonnes of nutrition products; one medical movement of approximately 3.9 tonnes |
| Caliber scope | Customs clearance, destination transport, final mile coordination, operational follow up and reporting |
The challenge
The corridor from Chad into Darfur is not a standard trucking lane. Customs in Chad, transit documentation, the Adré border, local approvals, weak infrastructure, the rainy season and the security situation in Sudan can all change what is feasible from one day to the next.
Managing several shipments in quick succession made the coordination challenge more visible. Each shipment had its own cargo requirements and paperwork, while the same corridor was affected by changing road and weather conditions.
Reconfiguring a nutrition shipment
One container held 20 pallets and approximately 25.6 tonnes of Plumpy’Nut nutrition products. After arrival at N’Guéli, heavy rain made it unsafe to unload the container with a forklift. The team moved the container to another yard, stripped it manually and reloaded the cargo onto trucks. This required additional customs formalities, transit documentation, approvals, manpower and coordination.
The original trucking plan was also no longer suitable. The combination of cargo weight, soft ground, poor roads and seasonal Wadi crossings created too much risk. Caliber and the local partners redistributed the load across three smaller canter trucks that were better suited to the conditions.
Maintaining temperature control
Other movements included medical shipments that required dedicated temperature controlled transport from N’Djamena toward El Geneina. One shipment contained approximately 3.9 tonnes of medical goods, while other combinations required several temperature controlled trucks. The transport plan therefore had to protect both physical access and the required cargo conditions during the inland movement.
Keeping multiple shipments under control
Import permits were not always ready when cargo arrived. Air waybill references and release orders did not always match the final execution plan, and additional customs or transit documents sometimes had to be arranged at short notice. Any one of these issues could stop a shipment if ownership was unclear.
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Caliber provided one point of operational control by:
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Coordinating customs clearance, destination transport and final mile activities.
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Following up missing documents and explaining delays and revised arrival times.
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Changing truck types and load distribution when field conditions required it.
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Coordinating temperature controlled vehicles for sensitive medical cargo.
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Keeping the customer informed without requiring it to chase each local provider.
The result
The operation did not depend on one fixed transport plan. Caliber repeatedly adapted the execution model as rain, road conditions, documentation and cargo requirements changed. The nutrition shipment was moved to a workable unloading location and redistributed across vehicles suited to the corridor. Medical movements were assigned dedicated temperature controlled capacity.
Caliber enabled the customer to manage several complex movements through one operating model, while using the partners and equipment that each situation required. It also demonstrates Risk Shield because every adjustment reduced the chance that one local issue would stop the wider operation.
