Queen’s Baton Relay: DB Schenker’s employees adventure so far
30/03/2018
On March 13, 2017 HM Queen Elizabeth II placed a message inside the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018) Queen’s Baton. Since leaving Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s Baton has crossed oceans, cities and deserts, carried by incredible athletes and thousands of everyday people.
Among them, 6 of our DB Schenker employees were chosen to participate in the Queen’s Baton Relay for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. So far, Dale, Sarah, Daniel and Kelly have participated in this amazing adventure.
On the 4th of March, Jodie Elisara had the honour to participate in the Queen’s Baton Relay. She carried the Queen’s Baton in the Northern Peninsula area, New Mapoon in Cape York.
Jodie, DB Schenker Business Development Manager QLD commented “The towns were so excited and keen to celebrate, with the local school kids joining me for my section of the walk and singing and dancing around me it will be a memory I will never forget. Thank you to my colleagues who nominated me and Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC) for making a dream come true. Memories of a lifetime”.
Jodie is a mum of 3. Since her diagnosis of bowel cancer in January 2017 she has become extremely passionate about early diagnosis of cancer and concern at hospital waiting times for simple diagnosis procedures.
She started her career at DB Schenker in 2011 as Account Manager. She became supervisor for Aeroparts in Queensland which included additional account management responsibilities and support to the sales team. In 2014 she took the role of Business Development Manager.
DB Schenker’s journey continues
DB Schenker’s final nominated Batonbearer is Ron Koehler, CEO AU/NZ. Who will be carrying the Queen’s Baton on day 098 of the Queen’s Baton Relay in Australia, on the 2nd of April, through the streets of Runaway Bay, Queensland. Just two days from the official Opening Ceremony of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
A closer look at the Athlete and Equipment Operations at the GC2018 DB Schenker Warehouse
With just few days remaining until the Opening Ceremony for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, DB Schenker is ready to help deliver this important sporting event. An 11-day event that requires expertise and months of preparation which our dedicated sports division DB SCHENKERsportsevents is successfully providing.
Over 900 sporting stars from countries and territories such as Botswana, Wales, South Africa, Isle of Man, Scotland and Ghana already have their feet on Australian soil. Adam Tovell, DB Schenker Project Manager (Athlete Equipment Operations Supervisor), GC2018, provides insights into the complexities behind logistics of the Games – before, during and after.
A closer look at the Athlete and Equipment Operations at the GC2018 DB Schenker Warehouse Adam’s role looks after the truck schedules for Athlete’s arrival and departures for all airport movements, pre-game training camp movements, and Athletes’ equipment schedules for all competition and training venues.
Athlete’s equipment movements The Athlete’s equipment movements run to a very specific and time sensitive schedule. Sports equipment come in many different shapes and sizes, such as bikes (track cycling, road race and mountain bikes), javelin and pole vaults, wheelchairs and hand cycles and many other items which all have to be treated and transported differently. On a standard day, an Athlete brings their item to the loading zone at a designated time depending on the venue schedules, it is then loaded by Games staff, secured, sealed and ready for transport to the scheduled venue. Once the truck arrives, it is then processed through security screening then proceeds to the loading zone where Games staff unload and hand over equipment to Athletes in preparation for training or competition. This process happens repeatedly throughout the operational period ensuring a fantastic experience for the Athletes. DB Schenker Sports team delivers Athlete’s equipment to a total of 17 competition venues and 14 training venues, by the end of the Games our team estimates a total movement of 39,000 items. When asked about the challenge of organising logistics for an international sporting event, Adam said: “An event of this size is constantly evolving and has a large number of stakeholders. This means that information is constantly changing. It is important to be flexible and efficient with your planning to ensure that you are prepared to accommodate multiple changes on a daily basis, particularly when dealing with scheduling and supplier changes. This is the most challenging and enjoyable part of the role.”
Reverse logistics What happens after the Games? What goes into the venues also needs to come out. Adam explained how important reverse logistics is to a multi sports event. “All 6,500 Athletes and Team Officials depart over a 48 hour period with different departure times. We work closely with the Games arrival team to align truck schedules with their flight departures. Again, this is an extremely important process as we must ensure that trucks arrive on time at the Athletes Village to make sure that their equipment/luggage is loaded and transported to reach the airport in time to make their flight home” explained Adam. Adam commented “Outside of the Olympic Games and the Football World Cup, the Commonwealth Games is the biggest sporting event to take place in Australia this decade. It is a tremendous honour to be involved so heavily in an event of this magnitude and prestige.” A big thank you to Adam and the Sports & Event Team at GC2018 for taking the time to share these interesting insights happening at the DB Schenker GC2018 warehouse.
DB Schenker @ Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton Relay
04/03/2018
What an exciting month for three of our DB Schenker Batonbearers at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. Sarah Schmitz, Daniel O’Shea and Kelly McKellar carried the Queen’s Baton across the streets of Launceston, Tourquay and Renmark Paringa.
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