For decades, unit load devices (ULDs) have been an unavoidable but often overlooked cost in air cargo. Pallets and containers move the world’s freight, yet airlines frequently lose track of them, lease excess units, or pay to reposition empty equipment. In a sector squeezed by fuel costs, capital pressures and fluctuating demand, that inefficiency is increasingly untenable.
Bernhard Kindelbacher, CEO of ACL Airshop, argues that the industry is finally starting to treat ULDs not as passive hardware but as data-rich assets. “What we can do is ‘IoT-ise’ the pallet — making sure it tells us where it is, then use predictive analysis so the right pallet is in the right place, in the right condition,” he told Air Cargo Week. “Airlines and handlers can use this information to make processes more efficient, faster, and ultimately serve customers better.”
From manual tracking to predictive management
Despite air cargo’s digital ambitions, much of ULD management is still manual. Airlines depend on spreadsheets, phone calls and fragmented ground records to know where their stock is — or isn’t. That lag costs money.
“One important topic is whether we have the data available in the right format,” Kindelbacher said. “We still use a lot of manual processes, but not enough real-time actions. Sharing data across the chain would increase efficiency in each process, while also giving transparency and ideas to the next partner.”
The case for change is simple. An airline that misplaces ULDs must either lease additional units at short notice or purchase new ones. In both cases, capital is tied up unnecessarily. Mismanagement can also delay flights, creating aircraft-on-ground risks. By digitalising tracking, carriers gain the ability to repatriate pallets more quickly, optimise network planning, and reduce both leasing costs and operational risk.
Examples from the field
ACL Airshop has worked with carriers facing precisely these challenges. “Normally when we work with airlines, we see that they have pallets lying around in multiple stations and don’t know exactly where they are,” Kindelbacher explained. “With our technology, we can identify the position, we can repatriate faster, and make the stock visible. That reduces costs — you don’t have to lease extra pallets or purchase new ones — and you also reduce aircraft on ground incidents.”
The company has invested in IoT-enabled devices that transmit location and condition data in real time. Layered with predictive analytics, these tools provide early warnings when a unit is likely to be needed elsewhere or is at risk of being stranded. The result is a shift from reactive ULD management to proactive planning.
A wider industry challenge
Kindelbacher places ULD management within the broader struggles of air cargo digitalisation. While platforms and visibility tools have advanced in booking, pricing and tracking freight, the ground layer still lags. “We still use a lot of manual processes,” he repeated. “The improvement could be that we all share the data among each other in the chain, using it to increase efficiency in our own processes, but also to give transparency and ideas to the next partner.”
That collaboration remains difficult in a fragmented ecosystem where ground handlers, airlines, leasing companies and repair providers each use different systems. But pressure is mounting. Rising fuel costs, higher interest rates and the cost of capital are forcing carriers to squeeze every available saving out of operations.
“Innovation has to be practical,” Kindelbacher said. “It’s about solving real problems — misplaced ULDs, excess leasing costs, inefficiencies in repair. Those are the things that weigh on airlines, and that’s where digitalisation can make an immediate impact.”
The potential is significant. The value of the misplaced/lost ULDs is estimated at around $55 Mio (5 percent of the global fleet). However, a multiple of this amount is spent to search, retrieve, find, look for alternatives; in some cases, revenue cargo has to be left behind.
Digitalising ULD management is not glamorous, but it is foundational. Without accurate, real-time visibility of assets, the rest of the industry’s digital ambitions risk falling short.
“It’s about collaboration across the ecosystem,” he said. “If data is shared in the right way, everybody benefits – efficiency goes up, costs go down, and customers get a better service.”
