Logistics, transport
Logistics and transport of technology to the place of installation are essential for successful and fast telecommunication installations. An ideal location for such an installation would be a warm and dry place right next to the road, or an easily accessible building with goods lifts.
However, because frequency planning plays a major part in the selection of broadcasting locations, such locations are often found in inaccessible areas on the tops of hills, on high buildings, towers or chimney stacks. Moreover, these locations become even less accessible due to weather conditions such as precipitation or cold weather on the one hand and hot summer weather and hot roofs or attics on the other hand. Considering the fact that it is impossible to plan the date of installation according to seasons and types of locations, it is necessary for a telecommunications installation company to be equipped with the appropriate technology and know-how which can help to solve such problems: both on a regular basis within normal installations and also in extraordinary cases e.g. when it is impossible to call off a downtime of a transmitter.
The first and most simple task involves the transportation of the technology to the location, which requires high quality modern vans providing sufficient space and comfort for the installation team. As a result, the team can fully focus on planning and installation instead of having to deal with "transportation issues" first.
Once the material is delivered to the destination, the next task is to transport the material to the installation place. There are only very few cases in which all that needs to be done is to unload the vehicle or load the material to a freight elevator. Most of our work involves the following cases: using cranes for moving materials, engagement of teams trained in moving heavy loads upstairs, moving material to tower tops or chimney stacks by using mountaineering equipment, suspending loads from helicopters, overcoming inaccessible terrain with 4x4 vehicles, snowmobiles or snow cats etc. Each of these cases requires the appropriate equipment and flawless event planning. If a crane has to be used, the land occupation permit needs to be arranged, along with crane and platform coordination, as well as additional contractors.
Outdoor equipment which often weighs several hundreds of kilogrammes requires a hydraulic arm lorry for loading and unloading. Another potential problem may be the necessity to move the material through the interior without the possibility to use common moving technology. Frequently, if means moving the material by straps up several storeys, or reaching roof openings, attics, tower tops or chimney stacks by using mountaineering equipment. As a consequence, the job of the installation technician is physically quite strenuous and even if all work safety measures are met, there is a high risk of injury. For installations in mountains or in off-road areas, powerful and reliable all-terrain vehicles are an absolute must. ATVs are substituted by snowmobiles or tracked vehicles in winter. If the technology installation is to be conducted in places which are inaccessible for a crane, it is necessary to coordinate and transport the load suspended from a helicopter. Using a helicopter is also very efficient in situations when the service technician needs to be quickly dropped off in an inaccessible area for a priority breakdown service intervention.
BACKBONE operates modern Ford Transit vans which are not older than three years and provide high comfort in the event of regular logistics and the transportation of technology and installation material all over Europe. In the case of a defect or accident, a vehicle can be immediately replaced with another one in order to eliminate idle time of an installation team. Consequently, the installation team is the model of efficiency. Furthermore, BACKBONE operates Ford Rangers for off-road purposes which prove to be highly capable of overcoming difficult terrains. For regular service jobs, the company uses mainly Škoda cars. The company also operates hydraulic arm lorries which are used for the transportation of outdoor technology. BACKBONE is also able to arrange transportation with snowmobiles and tracked vehicles.
Because the entire logistics and moving options are governed and organized by the company itself, BACKBONE is always able to offer its customers the most efficient, cost-effective and speedy solutions tailored to the customer's needs with the benefit of no unnecessary downtime. When it comes to the transportation of technology to the exact installation location, nothing can stop BACKBONE...