Case Study: Midnight air charter prevents assembly line shutdown
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Belleville, MI 48111

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Headquarters
info@ascentlogistics.com
1.800.614.1348
2068 E Street
Belleville, MI 48111

Case study

Midnight air charter prevents assembly line shutdown

9

Hours door-to-door delivery

1K

Miles by air

1.7K

lbs of freight

Phenomenal job from your team!

– Logistics Manager, Leading Automotive Manufacturer

The challenge

At 11:45 PM, an urgent request came in from a leading automotive manufacturer. Its assembly line was hours away from running out of wiring harnesses, and without them, production would halt the next morning. With finished vehicles on the line, the potential impact could mean millions in lost revenue. The freight was in Texas (1,000 miles from the company’s facility) and would not be ready for pickup until 1:30 AM, leaving little time to recover, fly and deliver it to the plant before operations came to a stop.

The solution

Our charter team responded with speed and precision. Leveraging our owned fleet, USA Jet Airlines, we had an aircraft already positioned in Texas and ready for immediate dispatch. This rapid response was made possible through strategic coordination with our trusted partners and proactive planning that places aircraft near key customer locations, ensuring we’re always ready when critical freight needs to move.


To get the freight to the airport, we arranged ground transportation from the pickup location. As final shipment information came together, the manufacturer made several last-minute changes to the cargo size, weight and pallet count. These changes could have caused major delays, but our proactive team stayed in close contact with the driver, provided real-time updates and confirmed that the bill of lading matched the final load before pickup.


Once the freight was released, everything moved fast. It was picked up, transported 15 miles to the airport, loaded onto an MD-80F and airborne within two hours.


Our team managed every leg of the journey, coordinating a full door-to-door solution. After landing, our USA Jet crew assisted with unloading, and we arranged local ground transportation to deliver the freight directly to the customer’s plant 45 miles away.

The result

The freight arrived just in time to keep the line running and prevent a costly production shutdown.


The manufacturer’s supply chain lead called it a “phenomenal job” and appreciated how much coordination went into making it happen. When the timeline was tight and the pressure was on, they knew they could count on Ascent to deliver.


Over years of partnership, we’ve built a strong understanding of this customer’s operation. The trust placed in our team allows us to move quickly, communicate clearly and take action without hesitation. In this case, the customer avoided a line stoppage that could have cost millions in lost production.

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