Mr. Matthews (right) readies a team in Taipei to load whale sharks onto a 747. All photos courtesy of UPS.

A whale of a load: Mr. Matthews loads beluga whales for their journey from Mexico City to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.

If you need an ancient army, a rock band or a few whale sharks moved across the globe, you might run into him.  His name is Bland; his job is anything but.

Bland Matthews, 40, is a strategic account supervisor for Atlanta-based United Parcel Service Inc.’s fleet of 264 planes.

UPS Airlines, the world’s ninth-largest carrier by owned aircraft, operates Worldport, a massive hub in Louisville, Ky., where Mr. Matthews manages the movement of high-priority air cargo.

In the past few years, as UPS’s vast international network and reputation for reliability has grown, the company has been entrusted with some unorthodox delivery requests for precious items, including a variety of Georgia-bound animals and artifacts. 

Most recently, UPS shipped a detachment of 2,200-year-old terra cotta warriors from their home in China to the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, Calif., the first stop on a four-city U.S. tour that includes an exhibition at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art Nov. 16-April 19.

In 2005 and 2006, the company conducted two charitable moves for the Georgia Aquarium, transporting whale sharks from Taipei, Taiwan, and beluga whales from Mexico City to Atlanta.

But it hasn’t been all whales and warriors for Mr. Matthews.  He’s had to work hard to get his career in the airline industry off the ground. 

He started with UPS in 1995 while studying for a political science degree at the University of Louisville.  As a part-time wing walker, or more technically, “ramp marshaller,” he started at the bottom of the totem pole, waving light wands on the tarmac to help planes safely park.

As the U.S. military moved into Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, there was talk of activating the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, an alliance of commercial carriers established by President Truman to provide airlift for the government in times of national crisis.

In preparation, Mr. Matthews was tapped to undergo extensive training as a “loadmaster,” a coordinator trained “to provide all necessary functions of an aircraft while it’s on the ground,” he told GlobalAtlanta by phone. 

Although CRAF, as the initiative is called, was never called up, Mr. Matthews has since shown a military discipline in using what he learned.

“He’s a serious guy,” said Dan McMackin, a UPS spokesman.  Co-workers call Mr. Matthews “Ninja Guy” at loading sessions because of his customary attire—black jumpsuit, kneepads and black gloves.

A UPS team painstakingly prepares 2,200-year-old terra cotta warriors for shipment.

“Safety is his absolute No. 1 priority,” said Mr. McMackin, who credits loyal, capable employees like Mr. Matthews as a primary factor in UPS’s worldwide success.  

Loadmasters, Mr. Matthews said, must know every plane the company operates.  On big projects, they manage the refueling efforts and distribution of cargo weight for flight, a big job whether moving marine mammals or giant pandas from Beijing to Zoo Atlanta.

Mr. Matthews never finished the aeronautical engineering program he enrolled in during his freshman year at the University of Notre Dame.  And when he changed his academic trajectory, he never thought he’d end up back in the aeronautical field.

Luckily, for this job he hasn’t needed the technical expertise the degree would have provided.  The ability to perform quick math and adapt to unpredictable situations have been more useful tools.

“One of the greatest things about being a loadmaster is that you have to be able to think on your feet,” Mr. Matthews said.

That skill came in handy during a 2005 trip to Pakistan, where officials receiving an earthquake relief shipment from an aid group in El Paso, Texas, spoke only Farsi.   On the way back, during a stop in Kuwait City, Mr. Matthews had to quickly convert gallons to liters to avoid a fueling mishap.

His biggest challenge to date—quite literally—was preparing six whale sharks for their journey across the Pacific in 2006.  Loading the two 12-ton tanks carrying the massive fish without the right balance could have tipped the 747, he said.

As far as loading goes, live shipments are similar to inanimate objects, but the in-flight treatment differs.

“The biggest difference is the handling of the shipment.  Most of our shipments don’t have to breathe, and most of them don’t have to be inspected by veterinarians during the flight,” Mr. Matthews said.

From 2001-2006, he worked in the airline’s charter department, which is used by customers mailing odd-shaped objects or cargo vast or plentiful enough to make it cost-efficient for the shipper to hire an entire plane. 

Through that service, UPS carries U.S. military equipment, humanitarian aid, and stage sets for musicians  touring around the world. 

Through freight forwarders, Janet Jackson, the Rolling Stones and other famous bands have used UPS’s charter service.  Sting and the Police flew their equipment on a UPS plane to Sydney, Australia, for the Jan. 24 installment of their reunion tour.

Mr. Matthews said the shipments he’s helped coordinate are testaments to UPS’s ever-growing global air connections and international prestige. 

“We’re positioned for the world economy pretty darn well because of the network that we’ve built and these kind of moves that we’ve showcased,” Mr. Matthews said.

Atlanta’s High Museum of Art has taken note, especially after seeing what the company did for the Georgia Aquarium in 2006.

Since then, UPS has successfully transported hundreds of works of art from the Louvre’s collection between Paris and Atlanta, said Cassandra Streich, a High Museum spokeswoman.

Building on that successful relationship, the High helped facilitate an agreement by which UPS would transport the terra cotta warriors to all venues during their trip to the U.S., culminating in the “First Emperor” exhibit the High is putting on in Atlanta in partnership with the British Museum.

“UPS has proven itself to be a remarkably responsive and effective carrier for international museum loans,” Ms. Streich told GlobalAtlanta.  “Also, we knew they would be particularly well positioned to handle this project because of their depth of experience in Asia as an official carrier for the Beijing Olympics” and prior success with the panda and whale shark shipments.  

The terra cotta army was first discovered near Xi’an, China, in 1974 by farmers digging a well. 

Further excavation uncovered a vast army of nearly 8,000 well-preserved, life-size warrior figures and hundreds of chariots, horses and other artifacts made of terra cotta.  They were buried along with Qin Shi Huang, one of China’s first emperors, to protect and entertain him during his passage to the afterlife. 

Mr. Matthews said it’s exciting that the High Museum has referred UPS to other museums, but he most relishes the chance to overcome hindrances for the benefit of the company and the client.

“I take it as a challenge,” he said. “It’s gratifying to take a project that no one has done before, and you create a plan and carry it out.” 

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Matthews coordinated the movement of an entire army field hospital from Reno, Nev., to New Orleans, La., in less than 24 hours.  He considers this his crowning achievement as a loadmaster.    

This year, as UPS celebrates its centennial as a company, its planes have flown aid into cyclone-stricken Myanmar and earthquake-devastated China. 

To Mr. McMackin, this shows the importance of growing the international air network—for both philanthropy and profit—in the century to come.

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Some strange UPS shipments:

- Two giant pandas, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, from Beijing to Zoo Atlanta

- A full plane of live lobsters from Boston to Los Angeles

- Formula One race cars from Mexico City to Sao Paolo for the Brazilian Grande Prix

- A helicopter

- Chunk of iceberg (about size of refrigerator) on UPS aircraft from Anchorage, Alaska to JFK and then coordinated movement on Venezuelan carrier to Caracas, Venezuela for exhibition at Children’s Museum.  It was wrapped in insulation.

- 30,000 lbs. of live animals (air feed only) -- one four-ton elephant (“Tai”); two zebras; four monkeys; several Toucans;  pair of Dik-Diks from Ontario, California to Honolulu, Hawaii  (Jan. ‘97 for Disney production George of the Jungle movie being filmed in Hawaii).

- Gutenberg Press

- Hot Air Balloons

-A railroad locomotive for the Smithsonian Institute

-Space satellites

- Several 747 loads of humvee jeeps to Persian Gulf for Desert Storm

Source: UPS Fun Facts to Know and Share