Tuesday morning, and time to make the trip home. I was signed up to be one of
the two grooms that flew with the horses on Federal Express.
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It's 5:00 am, and the truck for the trip to Ft. Lauderdale was loaded and ready
to go. Kind of big for two horses, but oh well. |
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At FedEx in Ft. Lauderdale, getting ready to load the horses from the
truck into the pallet. |
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Looking up through the side door, Rupert and Cassandra are hooked in and
ready to go. They remained calm the entire trip; every time I visited
they were methodically stuffing themselves with hay. By the way,
Jimmy (see below) unhooked the lead ropes soon after take-off and rehooked
them (to the side, not underneath as shown here) right before landing. He
said the horses liked to look back, and were much healthier if they could
put their heads down. I did see them look around to the back a bunch on the
plane. |
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Here we're in the pallet, watching out through the front as we're
driven to the plane. The metal plate directly in front of the tug is a
scale; we stopped there and the pallet was apparently weighed (we got out
for that part).
In the background you can see the scissor lift that is used to lift the
pallets into the cargo hold of the plane. |
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We're in position to be rolled onto the scissor lift. Rupert's looking
out to see what's going on.
The sideways motion of the pallet is difficult for the horses, and the
degree of difficulty depends on the lift operator. In their defense they
mostly deal with inanimate packages. |
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In the cargo hold of the plane, the floor is covered with rollers so the
pallets can be easily moved. |
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This was the passageway to the front where we sat for most of the
flight. It was a tight squeeze, especially at the end where the doorway is
about three feet high by two feet wide. |
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This shows what the inside of the plane looks like. There are two rows
of pallets that run the length of the fuselage. This picture is a
composite of six different pictures. The horse pallet is on the right, a
traditional FedEx package pallet on the left. Only one of us at a time
were allowed to be in the cargo hold. I'm not entirely sure why; I wish I'd
asked. |
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Jimmy Duggan, the real flight groom, hired by Triton International to
take care of the horses during the flight. An incredible person, very
dedicated, very interesting. And he's Irish, too! Jimmy has all sorts of
flying stories. He's been to over 47 countries all over the world, and once
flew with a load of 82 horses. |
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Here we have unloaded in Memphis. The FedEx employees were all curious
about the horses, and we were able to tell the Nations Cup story over and
over. |
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In Memphis we were placed in an out-of-the-way corner for about four
hours, waiting for the flight to Seattle. Jimmy made sure we were in a
heated building. We were next to a sorting bay, but it was not scheduled to
be used until the evening shift. |
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Jimmy tries to catch up on some sleep, using a pad and sleeping bag he carries
with him. He had taken the redeye from LA the night before. I kept an eye
out so FedEx didn't hook him up and wheel him away. |
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Jimmy got a bottle of water, poured some into a bucket, and we
periodically offered the horses a drink. Usually they weren't very
interested, but they did finish off about two thirds of this bottle, mostly
during our layover in Memphis. |
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Hooked up and ready to find our plane to Seattle. |
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The FedEx operation in Memphis is mind-blowing. From
here, a few statistics: this is the world's largest cargo airport. Over
two hundred planes fly in and out daily, over a million packages are sorted
each night.
Daytimes are busy with 2-day deliveries, nights are for the next-day
packages.
FedEx makes an average of 8 cents per package. I don't know how many
packages fit in a pallet, but I heard that they make more money on a pallet
of horses because there is no individual handling involved. |
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Our plane to Seattle. |
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In the pallet with the horses, while it's being loaded on the plane. I
thought the rollers were interesting.
Also notice my new Ariat paddock boots that I bought at
Olson's Tack Shop. Olson's is a
sponsor of Jennifer and Amy Tryon, not to mention a bunch of nice people. |
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The above picture shows the seats on the plane. There are four, situated
directly behind the cockpit door. There is a door on each side, each with a
small window. James Duggan, flight groom extraordinaire, is on the right.
The sleeping man on the left is a pilot for FedEx, heading home after work.
Two other pilots can sit up in the cockpit, so there can be six passengers
(plus the two pilots). We were given a safety briefing before each flight,
including the use of the oxygen masks located overhead, and the smoke
goggles in the gray pouches. Notice we're all clean shaven, as directed by
FedEx, supposedly to help with the use of the oxygen masks in case of
emergency. However I saw at least one pilot with a thick mustache. Hmmm.
This is a composite image, assembled (poorly) from four different
pictures.
That's the end. We all arrived safe and sound in Seattle, tired but happy.
Just a note: I left this day with a great impression of Federal Express
and its employees. We were treated well and with respect the entire trip,
and everything went smoothly. This is partly due to the great experience and
dedication of James Duggan, but also reflects well on FedEx. Jimmy thinks they
could take steps to streamline the process and market to the equestrian
community, and add good revenue to their business without any major
retooling. |