inbound
Even during the summer doldrums, material handling and logistics companies continue to donate their time, money, and services to nonprofit organizations. Here are just a few recent examples:
Good deeds
▪ FedEx Truckload Brokerage, FedEx
Custom Critical, and FedEx Trade Networks
donated land, sea, and air transportation to
deliver two remote-controlled underwater
search vehicles and associated equipment for
the TIGHAR (The International Group for
Historic Aircraft Recovery) Earhart Project
expedition. TIGHAR’s research vessel departed Hawaii on July 2—the 75th anniversary of
Amelia Earhart’s disappearance—to search for signs of her plane.
▪ Service at home and abroad is a core mission for Millwood Inc., a producer of unit-load and packaging systems, materials, and services. The company provides monetary and volunteer support for several faith-based
organizations, including missionary and ministry groups and a homeless
shelter. Millwood also sponsors summer camps for children and teens in
several states.
▪ For the sixth consecutive year, DHL Global Forwarding assisted Iowa
MOST (Miles of Smiles Team) by shipping medical and office supplies for a
medical mission to Guatemala. Iowa MOST provides free surgical repair for
cleft lip and palate, among other maxillofacial procedures, to individuals living in the western highlands of Guatemala.
▪ The Raymond Corp. recently recognized
high school seniors who completed its two-year
Youth Apprenticeship Program. Held in conjunction with Broome-Tioga Board of
Cooperative Educational Services and the
Greene School District in New York, the program teaches students about manufacturing,
quality improvement, and material handling.
▪ For the third year, C.H. Robinson
Worldwide was the title sponsor of the Bike MS:
C.H. Robinson Worldwide MS 150 Ride. Participants rode from Duluth,
Minn., to the Twin Cities to raise money for the National MS Society. The
ride, which took place in June, raised more than $3 million; to date, more
than 550 employees, families, and friends have ridden with the company’s
bike team.
▪ Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Geraldine Knatz, Ph.D., has
received the marine conservation organization Blue Frontier Campaign’s
2012 Peter Benchley Ocean Award for “Excellence in Solutions.” Knatz, a former marine biologist and environmental engineer, has led efforts to clean up
the air and water around the port and is a leader in the “Greening Ports”
movement.
▪ The Union Pacific Foundation is granting some $210,000 to 23 Wyoming
nonprofit organizations involved in the arts, social service, youth development, and health care. The foundation, which is funded from the operating
profits of Union Pacific Corp., distributes funds to organizations in communities served by Union Pacific in 22 states. ;
Biofuels take to
the skies
Biofuels for highway trucks and
automobiles have been getting a
lot of press, but many people are
unaware that airlines have also
been investigating alternative fuels.
That’s no surprise when you consider that the price of jet fuel often
determines whether an airline is
profitable or not.
One of the leaders in alternative
aircraft fuels is KLM, which made
the first commercial biofuel flight
in June 2011. One year later, the
Dutch airline made what it says is
the longest biofuel flight ever,
when a KLM Boeing 777-200
added fuel made from used cooking oil to some of its tanks and flew
from Amsterdam to the U.N.
Conference for Sustainable
Development in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. The fuel meets the same
technical specifications as traditional petroleum-based material,
and no adjustments were made to
the aircraft or its engines, the company said.
Azul Brazilian Airlines, that
country’s third-largest air carrier,
recently launched its own biofuel-powered aircraft. In mid-June, the
company made a demonstration
flight with an Embraer E195 jet
powered by fuel produced from
Brazilian sugar cane.
The fuel, produced by Amyris
Inc., is made by using modified
microorganisms that convert sugar
into a renewable hydrocarbon. GE
provided the jet engine and tested
it for compliance with technical
and safety standards. According to
one analysis, the sugar-based fuel
could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 82 percent compared with conventional jet fuel. ;
