Streamlined Transportation Process Saves

By Lt. Russell Wolfkiel,
NTM-A Public Affairs Officer 

KABUL — In past efforts to build up the Afghan National Security Forces, the United States and coalition partners have sometimes provided material faster than the Afghan depot system could receive it. Depots were limited in how many containers per day they could receive and cargo would often arrive in surges with very little documentation, meaning it was not always possible to tell what was in them.

The result was that trucks delivering materials could end up lined up in front of depots for days at a time.

“We had an area seven football fields long full of containers with no space when I arrived here,” explains Capt. Kevin Sirucek from NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan. “How to get that into a depot that only receives 15 standard Connex boxes per day meant that we had a lot of problem solving to do.”

The delays ultimately came with a price tag attached. The cargo carriers charge $100 per day per truck while the trucks are delayed. With up to 300 trucks waiting on the road at any one time, the cost of delaying the containers was substantial.

But the cost wasn’t the only problem. “It’s a security and counterinsurgency issue to have our containers sitting on the road like that,” says Sirucek.

Coming up with a solution to the problem took some time and involved careful analysis.

“I went straight into our logistics doctrine and defined the problem,” says Sirucek. “I did mission analysis and figured out a course of action.” 

The solution Sirucek came up with was to divert all the containers into commercial holding yards rather than have them line up in front of the depots.

By moving the containers to a storage yard, the cost per day was reduced to between $25 and $80 per day for each container. This made for an immediate savings of over $2,000 per day. It also provided critical process and safety improvements.

“Using the carrier holding yard allows me to prioritize what is going to the depots,” says Sirucek. “I can tell them what containers are going out tomorrow and give them the seal numbers so they can first inspect the seal number for security. If the seal is wrong, the container is now a threat.  The security has been violated. We can avoid the worst case scenario of opening the container and finding there is a door activated IED.”

Coordinating with the depot and having the right team in place when the material arrived also greatly reduced the amount of time required to receive the goods. This allowed the depot to receive more containers and clear more space at the storage yard, providing further cost savings and better stock availability.

The effect on the Afghan National Army has been very positive. Lt. Col. Ibrahim Wardak, executive officer to the ANA Logistic Command, believes the new process is making a difference in operations for both the Government of Afghanistan and the U.S as well.

“We are so happy that material is coming to the depots. We are also concerned about the price of the transportation … By having the container in the wrong place, the U.S. Government was paying a lot of money for that.”

Having accurate records of what was shipped and what is coming in has also allowed for better material inspections and accountability for goods. 

“We were also able to establish a system of transportation discrepancy reports,” explains Sirucek. “So now we have a way to claim the damages. We can claim broken windows and damages and get U.S. Government money back for those.”

After refining the process and expediting the older containers, the new process is estimated to be saving U.S. taxpayers over $21,000 per day.

But Sirucek sees even more potential to streamline the system. For example, in the past material might be shipped to Kabul even thought its ultimate destination was somewhere else in Afghanistan. With the new processes in place, that duplication of effort can be eliminated.

“I am able now to have the visibility all the way back to the manufacturers who tailor-package the containers for the forward support depots. So when they port in Karachi [Pakistan], they are shipped directly out to the FSD and we don’t have that bottle neck here in Kabul.”

The final overall cost savings when the process has been fully streamlined is hard to calculate given the manpower savings, shipping cost reductions, fuel savings, security requirement reductions, and savings in packing material but, says Sirucek, “It’s gonna be huge.”

Tags: Afghan National Security Force, afghanistan, featured, finance, logistics, money, nato training mission, savings

Category: News - Logistics, News - News