There just has to be a better way.

That thought has been nagging Thomas Huchler for years as he watched shippers spend hours cutting and nailing wood and securing ropes to brace odd-shaped high-value freight in ocean containers. Still, he witnessed too many instances of damaged goods.

So Huchler, who has spent more than 20 years in the freight forwarding industry in Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Germany, came up with the idea of a large inflatable cushion that molds itself around the cargo. He believes his product, the CargoCushion, will bring safer transportation for goods such as X-ray machines, other medical equipment, turbines, cars, presses and heavy machine parts.

"I'm beyond the stage where this is just an idea, " said Huchler, who works for Emo Trans in Miami and lives in Weston. "I'm experimenting with different materials and plastics and hope to have this completed in the next couple of weeks. Then I will have a real prototype built."

Huchler's CargoCushion took second place in the Business Plan Challenge. Judges praised the originality of the idea and the fact that it solves a real problem in the market as well as its global market potential.

At least one large multinational company has shown interest in his idea. "I am a typical entrepreneur and want to move this baby forward. Would a big company move too slowly, with all their committees and their meetings?" Huchler asked.

Of course, the advantage of a big company is it would have the resources to manufacture. He is also meeting with a smaller company that claims it can make it.

After the prototype, his next hurdle is finding the right material. "I know there is a market, " Huchler said. "I am spending a lot of time on this because I need to get it right."

A typical 20-foot long container would need three to four cushions, one on each long side, one on the back and maybe one behind the door. The 40-foot containers would also need three or four, but the cushions would be bigger.

Huchler hopes to make the cushions reusable and is considering a leasing program that would make it cheaper for the customer and allow the cushions to be inspected between each use.

The judges said his plan should have included start-up costs. Huchler estimates that would be $20,000 to $30,000 at this point.

"Launching a company is a never-ending journey with many mountains and many valleys, " Huchler said.

Among the mountains: Finding the right chemical composition for a material that will form itself around the freight but is durable and consistent enough to make it across an ocean -- a trip that can take several weeks.

What he's found easiest is winning support for the idea from freight forwarders and industry associations.

He has met with dozens of transportation specialists and showed them a demonstration using a small model. One freight forwarder told him a recent $30,000 to $40,000 damage claim he faced probably would have been prevented by the CargoCushion.

Huchler sees a wide market among freight forwarders, large shippers and manufacturers of odd-shaped machinery. The U.S. exports $90 billion worth of Huchler's target freight and there are 26,000 U.S. manufacturers of such products, according to the International Trade Administration.

But a key component of his plan -- and the piece the judges were most excited about -- was the global expansion possibilities. Any country that exports these kinds of products is a market for CargoCushion.

Says Huchler: "The market is ready."

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