Troubleshooting in Chemical Logistics: All Chem Goes Back to School

There’s no getting around it: chemical logistics calls for strategic troubleshooting. Hauls require forethought and ingenuity, and when the unexpected strikes, carriers need to think on their feet to orchestrate solutions.

In our four-decades-plus of experience doing just that, we’ve earned our reputation for creative pivots and smart troubleshooting on behalf of our customers. That’s why, when a complex project struck at an East Coast college for our transportation partner, Univar Solutions, they knew to call All Chemical to help!

Calling for Troubleshooters

It all started with a call from Univar. “Hey, we’ve got a half dozen loads we’re hauling out of Illinois. We need everything delivered to a local college this summer. Can you help?”

The Univar rep, Amanda Strohl, filled us in on the details: a strict timeline, plenty of restrictions and ordinances specific to college property, complex chemical logistics and terrain issues, plus a finicky product with some environmental risk.

As we gathered more information, we learned the college had recently installed a new energy system, and they needed this bulk chemical product offloaded safely in order to charge the system. But the more Univar told us about the restricted parameters of the job, the more we realized we needed to see for ourselves.

All Chem to the Rescue

Our Director of Operations, Jim Notarfrancesco, drove out, together with seasoned driver trainer Gerry Madonna, to get the lay of the land. Sure enough, the job came with a number of complications:

  • An insufficient offloading area with no space for a typical bulk chemical offload
  • Multi-level terrain barriers between the equipment and the offloading area
  • Tightly constructed, older architecture at the location making maneuvering difficult
  • Containment issues requiring customized pipe fittings to prevent spillage
  • Steam fitters on site who were unfamiliar with the tankers, pumps, and hoses the job required

But for us at All Chemical, troubleshooting complex chemical logistics is what we do. Our motto, “When in Doubt, Jim it Out,” was made for moments like this!

So, we got to work. We called on a couple of our most experienced drivers to navigate the tricky hairpin turns and corners it would take to get the tankers into place—even, at one point, parking a tractor at the base of a hill and running lengths of hose to it to pump the product up the hill, through a basement window, and straight up eight feet to reach a fitting in the ceiling.

Then, Jim came up with our next clever solution—using our own tankers with pump systems that would allow us to offload the product faster. We even retrofitted customized lengths of pipe with the elbows and valves (with the help of those onsite steam fitters) needed to create a closed fitting for the actual offloading process.

Once we’d picked up the product for them and transported it, we oversaw the offloading ourselves and installed drums and other spill prevention measures, disposing of any residual according to the highest level of environmental containment regulations.

Long story short, we got the job done in just three days during the summer term, and the whole endeavor went off without a hitch.

The college was thrilled, and so was Univar. Amanda said, “the customer was extremely happy and thankful that everything went as planned.”

The moral of the story? You can trust us to troubleshoot safe solutions for successful chemical logistics outcomes—not just once, but every time.

So, if you need a reliable partner for your bulk chemical logistics needs—one who’s resourceful and committed to the highest safety standards—don’t hesitate. Contact All Chemical today!