迈阿密机场携手Kalé Logistics部署全球首个AI航空货运社区系统

MIAMI BEACH — Miami International Airport has signed with Kalé Logistics Systems to set up the world’s first AI-based air cargo community system designed to streamline data exchange and communication between supply chain stakeholders on a centralized platform, with the goal of eliminating time-consuming paper-based transactions and manual scheduling that contributes to truck congestion.

Kalé offers cargo community systems and cargo management systems for ground handling companies at more than 125 airports and also runs single digital ecosystems at more than 75 maritime ports.

The air cargo community system integrates the whole supply chain with various modules designed to simplify various tasks such as scheduling truck pick up and delivery at airport terminals, transmitting electronic delivery orders, making electronic payments and filing customs documents. The idea is for airlines, logistics companies, motor carriers, customs brokers, warehouse operators and regulators to exchange data on a common platform that automatically routes the information to the correct party rather than relying on fragmented manual processes and systems, each with their own unique procedures. 

Existing systems are credited with simplifying management of landside operations, providing granular insights into cargo flows, facilitating regulatory processes and improving end-to-end shipment visibility.

“This is about making Miami International Airport more future-ready: simplifying and expediting the movement of goods through our global gateway, supporting the businesses and jobs that depend on international trade, and ensuring that our airport remains an industry leader not just in cargo volume, but also in efficiency and sustainability,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava in a news release announcing the project.

The mayor spoke about the benefits of the air cargo community system during a press conference on Tuesday at The International Air Cargo Association’s biannual convention here.

Miami International Airport handled a record 3.4 million tons of freight in 2025, up 9.4% since 2024. It is has surpassed Chicago and Los Angeles as the busiest non-express cargo airport in the continental United States and the largest in the world for international capacity, excluding narrow-body aircraft.

MIA’s cargo traffic is made possible by about 190 cargo-only flights per day and more than 1,600 daily truck trips. Airport and country officials say that coordinating truck trips so that truckers don’t arrive unannounced and create long queues while they sort out paperwork and payments will significantly improve efficiency and carbon emissions. 

Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Association, said he’s concerned about who ends up paying for the system.

“One of the things we are not going to sit still for is some user fee that charges freight forwarders anytime a shipment goes into Miami International Airport,” he said, noting that a charge per airway bill would expensive very quickly. The AfA has pushed the federal government to provide dedicated funding for cargo infrastructure modernization and Fried said any money provided could also help pay for IT systems that effectively create capacity through efficiency improvements.

“We’re for more efficient throughput. We just don’t think we should be footing the bill for it when it’s inherently a governmental responsibility,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we’re not willing to contribute in some fashion, but we need to be at the table now.”

Atlanta-based Kalé will implement the system in three phases, starting in January with community workshops to introduce the system and gather input from stakeholders on their requirements. That process will take about nine months, Emir Pineda, director air service development for Miami-Dade Aviation Department, told FreightWaves.

“We believe that little by little, the community will come on board. This is new, so it will take some time to understand it and for them to implement it within their current operations. We think realistically it’s kind of a three-year program” to build the system and onboard users, he said.

Some airports only deploy a handful of modules, but MIA plans to implement the whole cargo community system, starting with electronic document sharing and truck traffic management, Kalé CEO Amar More said in an interview.

Kalé’s system will sit on the front end and have application programming interfaces, or middleware, that connect to each entity involved in moving cargo through MIA.

Why It Matters: Cargo trucks traditionally arrive at airports with limited information about the load and its availability for pickup, causing congestion at busy times. The new platform is expected to improve information sharing, advanced planning and truck scheduling, and help reduce waiting times at MIA. It will also allow MIA to have new visibility into cargo flows and truck traffic and connect with other airports for better planning of international imports and exports. The increased efficiency essentially will squeeze more capacity out of existing infrastructure, which is important to maintain growth when there is little room for physical expansion, said Pineda.

“Today, as a freight forwarder or a trucking company in Miami, you’re accessing one system at a time. A truck that goes and drops off at one ground handling facility can’t easily coordinate its next move to pick up cargo at a different facility,” More said in an interview. 

Artificial intelligence will guide the parties through their workflows. Using traffic pattern prediction and wait time data, it will tell truckers, for example, how much time they can expect to spend unloading at their first destination and when to optimally schedule an appointment at the next ground handling facility for pick up, he explained.  Truckers can query a generative chatbot in English or Spanish, to get information, such as whether a shipment is ready for pick up.

AI will also help terminal operators identify trade flows and patterns, perhaps alerting them in September to expect an influx of electronic shipments because a technology company is launching a new product.

In another AI use case, a documentation agent will allow users to upload a PDF copy of a document and it will convert the information into the format the receiver’s system can accept. 

Kalé systems are currently operating at airports in Atlanta, Boston and at the Worldwide Flight Services facility at JFK New York, with implementation underway in Philadelphia and at Chicago-Rockford.

Some of the most established air cargo community systems are in Europe. Brussels airport was one of the first to implement such a system, powered by Nallian. It requires companies doing business at the airport to connect to its shared platform. 

Participation in the United States, so far, is voluntary. More said the adoption rate is about 90% at the WFS facility in New York, with other locations at about 60% to 70% participation levels. 

“The best community systems in the world have 98% to 99% adoption and that’s where the airport actually takes leadership and says, ‘Look, this is good for the overall community. If you have any concerns, let’s address those concerns. But, let’s get this done for everybody’. It’s a little bit of pain for 10 or 15 days, but then it falls in place,” More said.

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

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