Williams Global Freight P/L, a family owned and operated independent freight forwarder based in Brisbane has been appointed as the logistics provider in Australia for the movement of the Batmobile, one of the greatest cars produced for a Hollywood film and featured in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) starring Michael Keaton.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Movie World, The Batmobile is on loan to Auckland’s Speedshow ’09 and will be a feature of the event.
Due to its size the Batmobile needs to be transported in an enclosed 40 ft shipping container which will mean a tight squeeze due to the Batmobile being so wide.
It also means that staff at Williams Global will have to use a serious of ropes in order to move around inside the container without standing on the Batmobile.
“We specialise in project movements that are outside the box, but this one is going to be particularly tricky as the vehicle is so wide," says Jason Williams, General Manager of Williams Global Freight P/L.
"We only have about 2cm clearance on either side to play with, so we don’t have a lot of room once the Batmobile is inside the container.”
“We’ll need to be very accurate when maneuvering it into place…the last thing we want is Batman on the phone complaining that we dented his car, not to mention the fans we’d have to answer to!,” Williams jokes.
“I can assure Batman and his legions of fans, that the Batmobile will return in the exact same condition it left!”
Williams Global also has to work to strict timeframes as the Batmobile needs to be moved as late as possible from its home at Warner Bros.
Movie World and returned back to the theme park as soon as possible. This means load planning at both ends must be accurate to avoid any unnecessary delays.
On arrival in Auckland, Jenner Cargo International (Williams Global’s strategic partner, also a specialist in this type of move and logistics partner to Speedshow 09) will ensure smooth unloading and delivery to site and return.
Williams also says that being awarded the job showed that independent Queensland logistics companies can still mix it up with their multinational counterparts.
“In fact we are finding a lot more interest in our services these days as companies are searching for a more down to earth approach to doing business, rather than the price/turnover focused approach often taken by the larger companies," he says.
"We are still market competitive on price, but we actually care about our client’s success because their success is inextricably linked with our own.
"The economic downturn has had its impact and while companies do not want to spend more than they need to; they are fed up with wasting money when their service providers don’t take the time to understand exactly what they need. We prefer to get it right the first time.”
The Batmobile will be loaded in the container on September 8 and depart for Auckland on September 11. It will be on display at Speedshow 09 (www.speedshow.co.nz) from September 19 to 21.