Matt Weitzel: 0:00

This episode of the GSE Podcast is brought to you by Fort Brand, not your everyday GSE provider. We go beyond belt loaders and bag tractors, offering towbarless pushbacks, de-icers, and airport maintenance equipment, all available on demand across North America and the UK. Whether you need electric units to support your ESG goals or traditional equipment for today's rant, Fort Brand delivers flexible leasing with the option of full-service maintenance to keep your fleet at peak performance. When you partner with Fort Brand, you get more than equipment. You get expertise, reliability, and a commitment to keeping your operation running smoothly. Visit Fortbrand.com to learn more. This is Patrick Dennison. This is Jake Klein. This is Daniel Burtis. My name is Dean Swabish, and you're listening to the GSE podcast. All right. Well, welcome to the GSE Podcast. I am here at Mallaghan's facility in Newnan, Georgia. And I am with ASAK Solutions, Arnold Sue from ASAK Solutions. Arnold is the CEO and co-founder of ASAK Solutions. And Arnold, thanks a lot for coming on the podcast. Thanks for having me, Matt. Not a problem, man. So excited to have you on. We've known each other for quite a while and just kind of want to dive into, you know, what ASAK does, how they are a ground handler out of JFK and kind of how you've kind of grown this business. And from what I understand, have a great reputation inside of our GSE business. So why don't you kind of kick it off and kind of tell me a little bit about yourself and how you what was your road to co-founding ASAK?

Arnold Sue: 1:54

Well, well, thanks for having me again, Matt. Appreciate the uh the time. But yeah, so uh I'm Arnold Sue, CEO, co-founder of ASAK Solutions, known as ASAK throughout the industry. I'm headquartered in JFK. I'm a JFK native. So been in JFK this is 18 years. So September actually made 18 years for us there, for me, myself. Started off at aviation high school. So I went to aviation high school for uh aviation maintenance, did all five years of the program, got my AMP license, and never used it. So shortly after I graduated high school, you know, just excited to be around aircraft. Following graduation, I joined the military, Air Force, or the Air National Guard, and simultaneously went to JFK Airport for my first job. So uh got the uh first airport ID, which I felt like a big deal, right? Right out of high school, got the first airport ID, and I went to work for Evergreen. So I was with Evergreen Eagle. Um wasn't easy juggling military and and a and a civilian job, but uh JFK, you know, was always there to support anytime I came back home from being deployed, training trips, etc. So that's how I ended up in the airport. So where all were you deployed at? So uh I was in uh Afghanistan, I was in UAE, and I was in Qatar. So I had uh three overseas tours. Wow. And you and you're still in the military? Yep. So I'm still in the military. So also 18 years, so two more years to go. I see the light, it's close to the end of the tunnel. That's incredible, man. So how did the idea for ASAK come about? So we're working with Evergreen, we transitioned to uh some other large ground handlers. I transitioned with them as they uh took over the business model and uh in the airport. I was originally working with the UPS account and a ground handler came along, replaced Evergreen Eagle, another ground handler came along and replaced, you know, where we are today. So I used to actually work prior to Nada.

Matt Weitzel: 3:41

Oh, okay. And so you just saw an opening for a ground handling business based out of JFK?

Arnold Sue: 3:49

Well, no. So, you know, working side by side with leadership, you know, close friends that taught me a lot into business, truly used my AP background to make my way and navigate through the airport. Was working on GSE when nothing was going on with the part-time work that was at the UPS account, painting dollies, changing casters. I am a certified welder with the military. So I started welding, doing a little bit of fabrication. Then I kind of became the TDY guy, went out, set up some stations, openings, fixing equipment, things like that, all around the country for the company I was working for.

Matt Weitzel: 4:21

That's amazing. So you can also work on the GSE if you needed to.

Arnold Sue: 4:25

Yeah. Although never worked on an aircraft, I think the discipline definitely comes from that background. You know, if you could if you can wrench, you can wrench without a doubt. Okay.

Matt Weitzel: 4:32

And then your co-founder is Alminko.

Arnold Sue: 4:35

Yeah, so Alminko is the uh co-founder, first turned, you know, friends, neighborhood friends, worked in the airport together. He actually came to the UPS account and we we just worked together throughout the time. Grew a closer bond. Um, our friendship definitely grew, obviously, when you work with someone day in and day out. And so you started ASAK Solutions in what year with him? So we we uh we formed the company in 2017. We began filing for our permit and and our privilege permit and JFK Airport. We got approved in 2019, right before COVID. Okay.

Matt Weitzel: 5:03

So you're you're on the airport, and do you have a maintenance facility on the airport?

Arnold Sue: 5:08

Well, it's yeah, today we have we do have a uh maintenance area on the airport, man. We have one off the airport, uh about a half a mile off the airport. So off airport property. Okay. And and in those maintenance facilities you're working on on GSE? Yes. They're both uh both GSE facilities. Uh the one off the airport focused on no non-motorized painting, welding, any heavy maintenance, you know, engine, engine swap conversions, anything like that. On the airport, we're kind of reactive to our current business model. Okay. What about your ground handling business? So uh in 2022, we were awarded a permit, Terminal 7, JFK, us and another ground handler. So today we we handle all the wide-body aircraft at that terminal. Ground handling on the passenger side is about 65% of our business. So that includes below the wing, above the wing, passenger service, cabin cleaning, bag room operation, aircraft fancier service, everything that entails turning that aircraft. That's what we focus on and that model. Wow. So you're full service. Full service, yeah. Full service, but GSE has a special spot. Um, of course, you're only as successful as the equipment and labor. You know, you know, uh, manpower is important in our in our work.

Matt Weitzel: 6:12

For sure. And then I didn't know this, but I think I overheard you saying something today where you all are also in Chicago as well.

Arnold Sue: 6:19

Is that true? Yeah, we have some uh we have some cargo operations that we do there. Nothing pertaining to an aircraft, just cargo CFS work. So we the other 35% of our business model comprises of cargo, you know, import, export. We do some e-commerce work, fumigation. We're the only on-air port fumigation facility that we know of, at least on the East Coast. Um, and I believe it's throughout the country. We also do some niche work with the ARC at JFK. We handle their equine trucking. So uh they they load out the horses in the stalls, we drive the trucks to and from the aircraft. So we have we have a couple of interesting lines of business, unique for sure. And I think that's what sets us ahead. I didn't realize that there was horses getting on airplanes. Yeah, there's tons of horses. So really last year uh over 6,000 horses came in and out of that building. Yeah. Wow, that's incredible.

Matt Weitzel: 7:04

So I'm guess I'm guessing just for the tracks around the area and things like that.

Arnold Sue: 7:08

Uh you'd be surprised. Different, different, you know, breeding. People just do travel with horses. They move horses around by season. International travel is huge, but we do support a lot of the local brokers and the shows that they support. You know, we have the launches show that just passed, that was in Liberty State Park. And the prior years before the construction of Belmont Park, we used to figure, you know, we used to work with the horse races there. So I would say it's it's it's a fair amount of horses that support shows and et cetera, but a lot of it still supports people moving around horses. That's all.

Matt Weitzel: 7:35

Yeah. Yeah. And I was well, that that's that's uh super interesting. I never thought that'd be bringing up horses on the GSE podcast, but here we are.

Arnold Sue: 7:42

I'll tell you what, if you looked at a horse operation and and if you looked at the behind the building to see what happens behind the scenes, you know, we're outfitted with an import and export quarantine facility. And and and behind the building, actually, if we didn't have this kind of background, we have integrated scales and a static rack, and we put the horse stall, which is a ULD, and we put it on top of the of the scale. And the only way to get it on top of the scale is by using a K loader. So we actually use a Commander 30 and a Commander 15. So who would have thought, right? Uh it's it's all it all comes full circle.

Matt Weitzel: 8:12

Wow. That that is incredible. I would have, yeah, I would have never guessed that the equipment's being used for that, but it totally makes it makes a lot of sense.

Arnold Sue: 8:19

Innovative for sure, right? You know, you integrate scales and the legs of a static rack and use a regular LD7 lock to hold the ULD in place. It's it's you know, thinking outside the box, but it makes the operation efficient. Definitely one of a kind. Uh, we visited facilities that are similar in other countries. And uh what we have, I think, is truly unique.

Matt Weitzel: 8:36

Yeah, how'd you even get involved in something like that? So in the in the know-how to be able to do that.

Arnold Sue: 8:43

Like we got I got introduced to the gentleman who owned the arc. It is a private facility. Okay. Um, and I actually sold him as first K loader. So I sold him at first Commander 15. We were doing some rehab on used equipment when we first started ASAK in 2017. And we got introduced to the person who owns the ARC, and that's right when this facility opened up. Um and he too started with one truck, one trailer. And he came to us and said, Hey, I need a loader, I need a K loader to get this from my truck onto the stuff, onto the uh scale, if you would, or onto his ramp that puts the import for the horses. So we went out, saw the operation, and you know, for him, he's looking at it as, you know, from a real estate perspective and from a horse perspective, but you know, the the integral parts of the operation comes from a ramp background, you know, it's simple. Put a k loader there. You know, we get it done, put a k loader. There you go. So we started working with him on later on the relationship grew and it is what it is today. I mean, it their increase, their volume also increased significantly at the arc. That's what we call home. Today our offices are headquartered upstairs on their second floor. Our warehouse is a part of the building, and we we share a lot of uh similar, a lot of facilities that we share together today.

Matt Weitzel: 9:56

Yeah. Well, that that's awesome. Thanks for sharing that with me. And that's a really cool story. I like that. I was, you know, we always do a GSE story. I think that's a pretty good GSE story, but maybe you'll have a better one at the end. But uh, but that was a really good one. So let's talk a little bit about ground sport equipment. It is a GSE podcast, after all. So, uh, how do you all determine, you know, what you're going to buy when it pertains to ground sport equipment? I think I know a little bit about you know what you all do. And I I know you all lean towards electric. Is that true?

Arnold Sue: 10:24

Well, today, today that's that's the model now and for the future. In the past, a ground handler's model comes from being able to cross-utilize equipment. This this that's no secret sauce. That's just basically where the performer lays. And I think that in the future of what we have now, especially with the Terminal Six, I know you're gonna bring it up, but with the Terminal Six, it's all the GSE pooling idea that's coming to play in JFK. Um, in both of the new terminals, the new Terminal One and Terminal Six. So I think that the the performer is gonna change greatly for the model of a ground handler. Traditionally, you'd have your performer equipment and labor, and moving forward, it's gonna be about labor.

Matt Weitzel: 11:00

Yeah. Yeah, that's true. Well, I mean, especially with Terminal Six, as you said, you know, we have a podcast coming out about that. You're, you know, ASAK is one of the ground handlers that'll be involved in that project. And and as some of our listeners know, T6 has been awarded to Fort Brand, and we will be providing the equipment. ASAK will be one of the ground handlers there, and you'll be doing the maintenance as well for on the equipment. Is that correct? Yeah.

Arnold Sue: 11:24

Fort Brand reached out. We have the facilities, the labor. Of course, we have the maintenance technicians and a vision of what a future maintenance technician in the airport should look like. Share that mixed with the Fort Brand sauce of the innovation um and expertise. I think we have outstanding product that we offered Terminal 6 and happy to be here for the future. I mean, it's truly what the next ground handling model will be and equipment model without without a fact, without a doubt.

Matt Weitzel: 11:48

Yes, yeah, for sure. I was just talking to the CEO of JMP and he was saying how how happy he is with with ASAK. And I know that Fort Brand is as well. We're really excited to to expand our relationship with ASAK. So right now with your operations, I think you're using a lot of Tiger GSE. Is that right? The electric bag tractor.

Arnold Sue: 12:11

Yeah. Uh when we started the contract in 2022, we sought out and we we wanted to use infrastructure, it's always an issue. We all know that. With knowing what the future held for the current terminal we operate, we went out and we decided, hey, you know, how can we start a green initiative? And we actually launched a green initiative. We we went out to the GSE Expo and we said, we're not leaving the expo without issuing a purchase order. We we liked what we saw with the with the Taylor Dunn Wave product. We we bought some conversion kits, we bought some brand new tractors. To date, we we have a lot of them in play right now. About 90% of our baggage tractors are electric and they are all WAVE. Uh and we we like the product. Um, really, it's a learning curve, but it does offer a lot of safety features. And I think that the operators came around to realize it's really not that bad.

Matt Weitzel: 12:55

Yeah, and so you've been converting MA50s as well using their the Tiger conversion kits?

Arnold Sue: 13:00

Yeah, we use the MA30, MA50 body uh chassis, and we retrofit. It was a simple kit. When you have the labor that's there available to you, it's it's really not a hard task.

Matt Weitzel: 13:10

So what what went into making these ground support equipment decisions on who you are going to purchase?

Arnold Sue: 13:15

Reliability and support. They go hand in hand. If a company or if an OEM is there to support you, you you most likely will lean that way as a as an end user. Being able to pick the phone up and call somebody that can have an answer. And at the end of the day, you know, you only you only buy so much extras and it really it really affects the performer for every dollar you spend on an expense. The return on investment is truly a relationship. Be able to pick the phone up, get support when you need it, or at least have an answer. You know, 72 hours is our policy to have a piece of equipment out of service. And if you don't live by that, you know, you start losing revenue pretty quick.

Matt Weitzel: 13:49

Yeah, for sure. And so you brought on Phil Bouvet at some point. What year was that? Phil came on in 2023.

Arnold Sue: 13:57

Okay. So he's been there a couple years. Yeah, Phil came on. So we worked together for a long time. Phil, we we worked with uh past ground handler together. Phil took a break from the industry. We remained friends. We go down, I visit him down to Florida and his retired life. He looked pretty bored. So I figured I'd go out and get Phil. So Phil's back, no longer grumpy. I'm proud to say that. And I know he's gonna listen to this and laugh. But uh yeah, he's back on the team and his expertise definitely helping us move forward to the future.

Matt Weitzel: 14:22

Yeah, for sure. I mean, that guy knows a ton about ground support equipment. He's been doing it almost his entire career. So he would he was a great hire, I bet.

Arnold Sue: 14:31

Yeah, and and you know, it's all brand new stuff. I mean, you can have 35 years in this business, uh, innovation, technology, equipment's changing all around you. You know, where we're sitting today, everything's changing around us. Nothing's the same. The chassis may be the same, but the operating theory behind it, the the safety, the safety that's in that's embedded and the technology with telematics now, it's it's it's a whole new piece of equipment. So it may look the same. Operator can tell us different. And I think that the customers at the end of the day, when the passengers in the aircraft have have they can feel safe when they're getting the aircraft loaded and departing.

Matt Weitzel: 15:04

Yeah. So what's gonna end up happening to the equipment that you have right now at Terminal 7? Once Terminal 7 closes, and then now you're you're a T6?

Arnold Sue: 15:14

Well, that's not only the goal for us to be the premier ground handler at Terminal 6 amongst our peers, but we we're looking for other operations that we want to go into. We're in active RFPs at other operating terminals at JFK. Not all the terminals are doing a GSE pooling operation right now or an electric GSE pool pooling operation, but we're looking outside the airport. There's definitely some things that are are are grabbing our attention uh outside of America, South America, Caribbean Islands. We're looking to see how we can repurpose that equipment, maybe convert some, but you know, maybe shift to areas that have some infrastructure problems that can't meet the requirements to charge the equipment.

Matt Weitzel: 15:52

So, where do you see the future of ASAK going? Is it going to grow outside of JFK and your Chicago operation then? Without a doubt.

Arnold Sue: 16:00

I believe that when uh everyone sees what we have to display, we're truly preparing ourselves the right way for Terminal Six. Um and it'll be a showcase. It'll be a showcase for the world to see. USA for sure. America has to come and see what we have going on. It's making some waves, and I think that the rest of the country will follow. Major airports for sure that have concept have congestion and real estate issues, challenges rather than not issues. They they'll see what we have to offer.

Matt Weitzel: 16:23

Yeah, it's fantastic that you know your ground handlers can be on the forefront of this new initiative of pooling. And you will be one of the few ground handlers in the U.S. that have any kind of experience with it.

Arnold Sue: 16:34

Well, I think it's communal. I think all of the end users, the feedback is valuable. Of course, we won't be the only one. There's two brand new terminals, both have pooling, both have electric equipment. But I think that we have to treat it like community. Any airport is truly a community. If if we don't, if we look at the other ground handlers like the competition, we won't survive this industry. We have to work together to get the job done for sure.

Matt Weitzel: 16:54

Yeah. So what do you think the difference between ASAK and other ground handlers are?

Arnold Sue: 16:59

I would say attention to detail. We really pay attention to what matters to the customer. Being a smaller company and a large airport gives us the ability to make those decisions rather quickly. If a customer wants something specific, if they have an issue, if they have a recommendation, you know, it doesn't always have to be bad. They have a recommendation that's that can truly improve the operation. We're there to make that decision rather quickly versus larger companies who have to go through those loopholes to get a change. Yeah.

Matt Weitzel: 17:24

Yeah, for sure.

Arnold Sue: 17:25

What does the future of GSE look like in your opinion? Well, I think it starts with the technicians. I think that the manufacturers manufacturers will continue to kick out these products that are innovative, smart, great design. But if we don't have the technicians to to truly follow up with that manufacturing process, I think the future of GSE is going to kind of it would be nowhere, right? You you have to have maintenance done. So I think we need to look to see how we can encourage the younger generations to be interested in wrenching, turning a wrench, troubleshooting. And I think that's more geared, you know, EGSE is more geared towards the younger crowd where they can plug in a laptop, do some diagnosis along with the help and assistance from an OEM, and they'll be able to troubleshoot and work with the older generations to say, hey, this is how we can figure out this problem, right? You know, the gen sets really will change, but everything else still, you know, still kind of remains the same, right? The hydraulics, you still have some of those traditional components. So I don't think you're gonna phase out the older mechanics and technicians, but I think, you know, including the younger generation and what we have today, it's definitely gonna be an asset. Is it harder and harder to find good technicians? Oh, yeah. You're competing with with airlines for sure. They have all the added benefits. Pay rates in a big city take, you know, is a big difference. You have city and municipal jobs. So it's hard, but you can be creative. You can look outside of the local talent pool to see how I can find extra find people with talent or qualifications.

Matt Weitzel: 18:50

What else is going on with the Terminal Six project? Like, what are your thoughts on it? Do you see this as other airports are going to be heading towards this, or do you think this is gonna be just a specific JFK thing? Like what is your opinion on that?

Arnold Sue: 19:05

No, I I think throughout throughout my experience in the industry, I I think everyone's talked about this. You know, it's spoken about before. For sure, West Coast has thought about it, Dallas, areas like that. Large airports definitely thought about they wanted to do it. I think the time wasn't right because of technology. Now, now with telematics, it enables us to move forward with something like this. And we can display that anywhere, right? I mean, you can put it up on the screen visiting another airport and show them what's going on live. Uh, there's all kinds of 4D, this different platforms that you can that you can display what's going on in the airfield. It doesn't have to be live cameras or anything like that. You know, it's there's a lot of data there. It's how we extract it and what we choose to do with that.

Matt Weitzel: 19:43

Yeah, I think telematics is a huge part of this pooling thing. Uh, you know, it wouldn't be possible without it, really, because you wouldn't know how to utilize that equipment properly.

Arnold Sue: 19:53

Yeah. It's very easy to say that it's going to work, but sometimes you have to add layers of labor to make things like this work. I think telematics eliminates that. And being able to include the status of a battery, status of a piece of equipment, maintenance, and you be able to track all of that with telematics, different OEMs, being able to tie into each other. It's really a home run. How will ASAK ensure that this T6 launch is as smooth as possible? Well, we have a live lab today, right? That's the difference. We're not a brand new organization with a brand new company who's doing GSE. We have a lot of experience. We have a live lab today to test things out, test the software out, test the hardware out, and users can give feedback. So I think that's important to continue to exercise this equipment and go through the the movements and the routine use of it rather than wait until the day the operation starts to see if it works or not. Being able to do that today and until Terminal 6 opens, every day that goes by is important.

Matt Weitzel: 20:50

Are your operators excited about all the brand new electric equipment and brand new equipment just in general?

Arnold Sue: 20:56

Well, I think it raises an eyebrow, right? You say certain words to an operator like safety, their eyebrow raises up. It's not that they're not safe, but when they know something's watching it, it's a different story. It's different when you have an operations manager or two walking around, you know, being, let's say, police officers. But now if everyone's responsible for their own actions with user access, with access control rather, I think it it makes a user interested in what's going to what's going to happen in the future.

Matt Weitzel: 21:21

Will ASAK be doing training with their operators to help them understand, you know, how how all this telematic stuff is going to work and what actually kind of data you are going to be pulling and all that kind of stuff?

Arnold Sue: 21:32

No, I don't think it's necessary. I think nothing changes with the operation of the equipment. You know, and our formal training, on our onboarding and our routine training, those rules would be applied and programmed into the telematics and it's just going to monitor what they do. But we're not looking to put anybody's jobs in jeopardy here. But again, it's to more reinforce safety, reinforce procedure, and put the standard operating procedures that you put in place, you know, and make sure that they're that they're being followed.

Matt Weitzel: 21:57

Yeah, because you already have all these procedures already in place today. It's just that now you'll be able to actually like visually see them like on a dashboard.

Arnold Sue: 22:05

We'll be able to reward the employees who follow the program, right? We'll be able to say, hey, you know, there's an incentive. This is a good thing. You know, you are following the rules, you're turning the aircraft safely. This is what you're this is what you get employed for, right? This is what we're here to do. Which right, we're here to make sure that the aircraft goes out safe and on time. And I think this is reinforcing that.

Matt Weitzel: 22:21

That's a great idea to incentivize them, right? Rather than make it be a bad thing, right? It it's make it a great thing.

Arnold Sue: 22:27

The cop never pulls you over and says you're doing a good job driving, right? Uh this is a good time to be able to do that. This is the reverse psychology of it. And if we instill that in our labor and our and our manpower, I don't think anybody will say something's wrong with that. They're really happy. They'll be happy that they finally somebody's seeing what they're doing every day, paying attention to it. AI plays a good, you know, big role in it as well. This interior-facing cameras, front-facing cameras, and think and and those items, you know, all reinforce that.

Matt Weitzel: 22:53

And it'll make those operators, you know, proud of, you know, proud and they can tell their friends and their family, oh, I just got this incentive because I did, you know, did my job well. I I I am good at what I do.

Arnold Sue: 23:04

Yeah. Something to take home for sure. You know, that's just making it, making it public, making sure that everybody understands that people are doing the right thing, that that the labor force is doing the right thing.

Matt Weitzel: 23:12

So you kind of growing up at JFK, right? I mean, kind of your entire career started at JFK. Do you think that's kind of helped you with what you just kind of described to me about incentivizing these people? Like starting from kind of the bottom at JFK, is that is that kind of what what helped you, you think, be who you are today?

Arnold Sue: 23:31

It certainly helps, without a doubt. We I understand the operation. I still exercise my my my skill. My skill sets sharp. You know, we go out every day, Al Mingo and I. We can work in aircraft if we chose to. We stay, we have all the qualifications. We still push aircraft, we still tow aircraft, kloader, tug, belt loader. We understand what it means to be an operator. So, you know, supporting the employees the way they need to be, um, supported, making sure they have the right tools available to them. It's important to us. We go out there, we run a piece of equipment, we find something wrong with it, we fix it. But we understand why something's wrong with it or what the operator's conveying to the maintenance team. So you're very involved in the day-to-day. No, I would like to say yes. Uh it's fun for sure. I I find myself it's harder to get out there, but when I do, I enjoy it. You know, someday it's nice to to put the boots on and put the vest and go out there and work next to your employees for sure.

Matt Weitzel: 24:20

Yeah, it's pretty cool that you can you can you've been in those people's shoes, right?

Arnold Sue: 24:24

Yeah, it's a team, right? You you know, there's a team members at the end of the day. And I think I could go to a break room and we could we could shoot it, you know, we could hang out and talk about it all day long and you know, we share some of those common stories. It's like, you know, it's a battle buddy, let's say that, right? You go out there and you you're able to relate. And I think when when they see that you can operate a piece of equipment or work just like them, I think that's a different engagement that you have with your uh employee, a different relationship for sure.

Matt Weitzel: 24:48

Who gets to push the first aircraft back at T6? It ain't gonna be me. It's not gonna I want to be there for it. I already I already told Jared, our CEO, I was like, I gotta be there for day one. I gotta see this thing. I gotta see this thing happen. They're not gonna let me run and operate a pushback, though. I can guarantee you that.

Arnold Sue: 25:05

No, you know, the equipment's starting to arrive already. So we we took delivery of our first two pieces of equipment for Terminal Six at JFK. It's it's in it's in our possession now. And as we start the stage equipment that's coming in from the OEMs, we'll ensure that it's working and it's running properly, charged, you know, all the access control works, the telematics work. And again, that's all part of being prepared, which we're certainly a little ways away from the project beginning, the first quarter of next year. But I would say that Ford Brand was definitely proactive and uh receiving the equipment rather sooner than later.

Matt Weitzel: 25:34

Can you already start to see the structure? I mean, is it already is it far enough along where you can see where the chargers are and all that kind of stuff, or are we not there yet?

Arnold Sue: 25:42

No, so it's hard to get walkthroughs in the area. It is an active construction site. Okay. But you know, the building is the building is sealed for the first phase. Uh they're working on interior finish. Work walking the outside of the field, it's kind of hard. You know, it's again, it's an active construction field, but you know, there's active aprons today that they have there, aircraft parked there that operate at Terminal 7. They use it as a remote parking spot. So it is pretty cool to say the word T6 actively in everyday operation. I hear it all the time, right? It's pretty crazy to hear the word terminal six, T6 parking, T6 hardstand. It's pretty cool.

Matt Weitzel: 26:15

So can you tell us what those two pieces of equipment were that have arrived?

Arnold Sue: 26:19

Yeah, we received the uh two B950s for electric from Oskosh. Wow. Yeah.

Matt Weitzel: 26:25

So there's only a few of those. I think there's about uh maybe a dozen in the entire world, I think.

Arnold Sue: 26:29

Well, I took delivery of both. And I'll tell you what, driving them around the parking lot to get them to where I wanted to stage them. It was truly interesting. Not hearing, not hearing the engine. Yeah, it was interesting for sure. So that that was an eye-opener, and of course it was a big deal for us. I took a lot of pictures of that and we'll we'll send some pictures out for sure to show that we started the process.

Matt Weitzel: 26:48

Yeah, I got to drive one of the B950s, electric B950s. It's so smooth, it's so nice. And I electric pushbacks to me just make sense.

Arnold Sue: 26:56

I actually called Christian when I accepted the second one. It was on a Sunday, and I called and I and I I praise them for the unit.

Matt Weitzel: 27:03

So yeah, it's it's a real it's a good looking unit. And like you said, it's super quiet. It's it's it's really strange to be driving a pushback and there's just there's no noise whatsoever.

Arnold Sue: 27:12

Yeah, I gotta say, I'm excited to see, I'm excited to take delivery of all the different OEMs that are coming in. Truly unbiased. I think that OEM's doing a great job today widening their thought process as far as design go. Um, I think you're gonna see a lot of similarities from OEM to OEM, but I'm definitely excited to take delivery of everything.

Matt Weitzel: 27:30

Yeah, well, this has been awesome, man. It's so informative. Like, do you have a good GSE story for us? I mean, it can be about horses again if you want. No, oh good. I think the horses is over. I think that I already elaborated upon the hair.

Arnold Sue: 27:42

Are we done with the horses? Yeah. No, I I think my I think the best times that I've had growing up in the GSC side and GSE support was parts for GSE has always been a has always been a pain point. Getting parts, parts availability and working in the East Coast, relatively everything's kind of close, uh especially up in Northeast. Uh so you know what I would say it was most interesting having to drive parts around, right? Think about that. If if a station needed a part and you had a part in JFK, the instant reaction was get in a truck and drive it there, right? So my boss would always do that, and he was in he was in control of the region and he would that's how he supported his region. If they couldn't get a part, the unit wouldn't sit out of service. We we'd go get a part from a different state or a city and take it down to the station that needed it the most. And that was important. Fast forward to today, I think that the commerce world changed a lot. When I see a lot more OEMs setting up a platform to support that that need, where it's kind of like the Amazon experience, if you would, right? You need a part, you know, maybe some next day action, you never know. That that's important, right? Being able to support the product. So driving down to Dulles with tires in the back of a pickup truck to support a pushback that blew a tire on a Saturday evening. Those are stories that you would never forget, having to do that, right? Take a five-hour trip with two pushback tires for a B-1200 or a GT-110 and the back of a pickup truck. Kind of, those are things that I look at now that I'm, you know, I have the power to say, okay, let's make sure we have extras in places if I ever expanded outside of JFK. And when I do, I think we'll be armed with the right tools to do that.

Matt Weitzel: 29:12

So, you know, I we talked a lot about JFK, but I mean that's where most of your experience is. I bet you've just met, I bet you just have a community of people that that you've met throughout the years at that at JFK. Is that right?

Arnold Sue: 29:26

Yeah. Uh it's it's it's a large airport, but so small. Uh it's truly a community. Uh, I never, you know, we talk to people from other airports, from other countries, even, you know, and they say we talk about the airports that we work in that we call home, and there's so many community functions. We have all of these, you know, we have all these organizations that support the airport. Port authorities, very, very supportive of tet of the stakeholders, engaged every day. There's community calls. And I I just don't hear that coming from other airports. The people, just like myself, it's just another uniform. You know, ASAK is another uniform that might that might. That my troops are putting on. And I would never tell anyone to to to not think about it like that. So changing, forever changing companies, people are buying other people acquisitions, MA's. And you know, who knows? Maybe one day I'll be wearing a Fort Brand shirt.

Matt Weitzel: 30:14

Yeah, well, I never really thought that I'd be wearing a Fort Brand shirt, but here, but here we are.

Arnold Sue: 30:19

So and it's uh it's it creates a relationship, right? Uh you you know, you work next to someone and they go work for another company or start a company and you're still working in the same import, it gives you access to support. You know, you can call somebody up and say, hey bud, can you help me out? I mean, that's how it should be. It should be treated like a community.

Matt Weitzel: 30:36

Yeah. And I mean, I talk about it all the time on this podcast about the GSE community, but it seems like just hearing you talk today, you know, we've been kind of hanging out and we did a a tour of the Mallahan facility and you've been talking to a bunch of different folks here. It seems like you know everybody at JFK.

Arnold Sue: 30:52

No, it it's it's pretty receptive, right? JFK is receptive, but I would say the even the GSE community is very receptive to ASAK, even before Phil. They were receptive to ASAK. Before Phil, they were receptive to ASAK. Maybe they hate me now because of Phil. I never know. But you know, it was uh truly receptive. Uh going to all the shows, the GHI show really turned into a GSE show. But it's good to see everyone. Everybody's out, active, everybody's participating in events, providing feedback, open forum conversations are excellent. I think it provides it showcases what people are doing in different areas of the industry. Um so being able to be active, you know, I I think I say you'd be truly blessed. We worked hard to be where we are today. We're sponsoring events and and being part of a community is is great.

Matt Weitzel: 31:33

So you'll be heading down, I imagine, to Panama for the GHI, the 2026 GHI.

Arnold Sue: 31:39

Yeah.

Matt Weitzel: 31:40

So that'll be that'll be a big one for you. You said you're looking to expand kind of into like that Latin America region. Is that is that a show you're looking forward to? Yeah.

Arnold Sue: 31:50

Latin America, South America. And I think a lot of the other I think a lot of companies who have older equipment to include GSE providers, you know, that's kind of where they're focusing attention to get some of the older equipment or retrofitted kits out to say, hey, we can support what you have today. And I think it's gonna be a go show for everyone. I think we'll all get some new customer base, and I think I'm looking forward to looking forward to a good time. Have you been to Panama? Never. Looking forward to it.

Matt Weitzel: 32:14

Yeah, I went in, I think 2019, they had the GHI Americas there, and we got to go to the Panama Canal, which I was very excited about because I'd always heard about the Panama Canal.

Arnold Sue: 32:25

I think Panama needs to be ready. Yeah, be ready for GSE. Be ready for GSE and and some ground handlers rolling in, be a good time for sure.

Matt Weitzel: 32:32

Yeah, it's gonna be awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Is there anything else that that you want to cover today? Do you feel like we've kind of we've kind of hit all the major points, or is there something else you want to put out about yourself or ASAK? No.

Arnold Sue: 32:43

All good. I I just you know, I I I want everybody to understand that it's communal. It's it's it's a communal approach when it comes to the GSE pooling, open mind. I think it's a communal approach, and I think we came to a point now where I think everybody's realizing that that's real. Permits are being handed out. We're exercising equipment that's gonna be used in the future, and it's real. So just look forward to a communal, you know, more communal setting rather than a competitive one.

Matt Weitzel: 33:06

Yeah, and I think what we'll do is I think we'll plan another podcast. And this is what I'm gonna do with JFK Millennium Partners as well, is let's do a follow-up podcast. You know, maybe June, July, August, something like that, and kind of talk about the struggles that you had with this or how great it's going, or both, right? Hopefully it's both, and kind of talk about, you know, do a recap of how it went.

Arnold Sue: 33:33

I I think that you'll be able to get all of the ground handlers that are involved with both terminals on a forum like that. And I think that's we we we're all friends, you know, all of the guys, you know, everybody's familiar. Uh anyone listening to this would definitely know the names. Yeah. We'll be able to chat, and I think it'll be a funny one for sure.

Matt Weitzel: 33:48

Okay. That sounds awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I appreciate it. Well, thanks for having me. All right, thanks. Bye-bye. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the GSE Podcast. We hope you found it informative and engaging. If this episode resonated with you, please share it with your colleagues and peers in the ground support equipment community. Your support is invaluable to us. We'd appreciate it if you could take a moment to rate and review our podcast. Your feedback not only encourages us, but also helps expand our reach within the GSE community. Keep an eye out for more episodes as we continue to explore the dynamic world of ground operations, bring you the latest trends, insights, and stories from the industry. Thank you for listening to the GSD Podcast. Until we meet again, stay grounded and keep pushing forward.