In fact, it will be Alma's job to help the Boomerang Box leave Miami for its Spring Fling mystery trip!

Alma knows a lot about shipping products from Miami because, as an Account Executive for APL, it is her job to help customers throughout the state of Florida manage their shipments.

Alma can help customers get their cargo east across the Atlantic to Europe; or north up the East Coast of the United States to Baltimore or New York; or south to the countries of South America; or west to the Pacific Ocean and Asia. She can help cargo move by land or sea, and works with customers to make sure that their cargo travels exactly where it needs to go in just the right amount of time.

Alma has held her job working with APL's Florida customers for three years. Before that, she spent 12 years working in other areas of APL - in Finance, Logistics, Operations, Documentation, and Customer Service. So it's probably not surprising that she knows just about everything there is to know about shipping cargo out of Miami!

When Alma began her job, APL had been without an Account Executive for six months. As a result, she had to work closely with customers to gain their trust and to show them that she knew all about the shipping industry. It's a good thing she's good at geography!

Do you want to try on Alma's job? Here's a challenge for you. Let's imagine you have a customer with a load of Florida oranges that need to be shipped in a refrigerated cargo container to somewhere in the world. (Usually, the customer would tell you where to ship these oranges, but just for now, let's pretend that YOU get to choose where the oranges will go.) How will you get them to another country from the port of Miami?

1. Go to the APL Web site at www.apl.com.

2. Click the button marked SCHEDULES at the top of the page.

3. Find the box marked NORTH AMERICA TO: and select your choice of destination: Asia, Australia, Europe, or Latin America. Click on the continent you choose in the North America To: box.

4. Once you've clicked on a continent, you get to choose the city and country your oranges will travel to. First, choose Miami, Florida, USA as your origin port on (you will see origin ports on the left hand side of the page). Then, select any city of your choice from the destination column on the right hand side of the page.

5. Click DISPLAY SCHEDULE at the bottom of the page.

6. How many days will it take to get from Miami to the port you've chosen as your destination? Are there different schedule choices? If so, you'll probably want to choose the one with the shortest shipping time so that your oranges will arrive at their destination in tip-top shape.

7. How will your oranges get to their destination? Can you trace their route? (Hint: If you click on the blue highlighted code letters underneath the SERVICE column, you will see a map tracing the route between Miami and your chosen destination. Your oranges may travel on several different ships, using several different shipping services. Can you piece them together? Hint #2: If the starting point listed on your schedule is a port other than Miami, that means the oranges will travel by truck or train to that port before being loaded on a ship. Can you use a map to trace the land route?)

8. Now, write a short shipping report using this information. Please list the continent, country, and city you chose for your destination, tell how long it will take to ship your oranges from Miami, Florida to this destination, and draw a map showing the route your oranges will take to get there.