Transporting fire trucks from Canada to St. Lucia

Global charity Firefighters Without Borders (FWB) received a donation of two fire trucks from Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services in Canada which needed to be transported to the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia.

Evolution Time Critical’s parent company, Metro Logistics Group, has worked alongside FWB since 2017, delivering more than 100 shipments to various locations around the world.

FWB asked if we could meet this logistical challenge and we were happy to provide our expertise and cover all of the shipping costs to get the trucks safely to St. Lucia.

Severe disruption caused by the global pandemic and a tricky customs situation

• The size of the American LaFrance A150 ladder truck, with a total length of 10.5 metres and weight of around 32 tonnes plus equipment.
• Ensuring safe marine transport to St. Lucia during the evolving global pandemic, with severe disruption to trade and supply chains.
• Formulation of an international project logistics solution for large, specialised equipment comprising a sequence of different transport modes.
• Management of the unique bureaucratic requirements of shipping a fire truck classified as a gift or donation, which caused challenges with US customs.

Our flexible and creative team found a way

This project relied heavily on the agility and flexibility of our team. Once the shipment and destination were confirmed, we developed a plan to transport the truck on a flatbed trailer to Halifax, Canada, before shipping it down to St. Lucia.

Extensive disruption due to COVID-19 meant that the intended cargo ship was no longer heading to the island and was replaced with a smaller vessel which could not accommodate the truck: an alternative plan was required at short notice.

Our new solution was to re-route the flatbed by road down to Florida, where there were ongoing and regular marine transport services to St. Lucia.