INBOUND
Here’s our monthly roundup of some of the charitable works and donations by
companies in the material handling and logistics space.
b The Port of Los Angeles plans to award up to $1 million in nontaxpayer-fund-ed community grants to support nonprofit organizations that benefit the LosAngeles Harbor community. To be considered for grant money, applicants mustbe nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status requesting funds forprojects that promote local workforce development, education, the environment,or the LA waterfront. Interested local nonprofit organizations can apply by visiting portoflosangeles.org. Applications are due by May 11.
b Employees of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based Storage Battery Systems
conducted a food drive in December to aid the Falls Area Food Pantry in its mis-
sion to fight local hunger. All together, the employees collected more than 2,200
pounds of food, which was delivered to the pantry in early January.
b For the 14th straight year, transportation and logistics services giant XPO Logistics Inc. joined philanthropic organizationElves & More to provide bicycles to 1,000 children in NortheastOhio during the holiday season. XPO volunteers helped assemblethe bicycles and used company trucks to distribute them to areachildren.
b In 2019, employees of UPS Canada raised $1.1 million (CAD) for United Wayin Canada through fundraising initiatives and sponsored events like charity planepulls. Their efforts earned UPS Canada its 18th consecutive “Thanks a Million”award, an annual award given by the United Way to organizations that haveraised $1 million or more in support of the nonprofit’s initiatives. n
Logistics gives back
Heavy traffic ahead
Urban road congestion is one ofthe perennial challenges of last-miledelivery, and the problem is gettingworse. From 2017 to 2019, the average time lost by American driversincreased by two hours—reaching 99hours per year—due to continued economic and urban growth, according to astudy by transportation analytics provider Inrix Inc.
To identify the top U.S. troublespots, Kirkland, Washington-based Inrix analyzed congestion and the severity of it in the nation’s top 66 urban areas. For thesecond consecutive year, Boston ranked as the most congested city in the U.S.,with the average commuter in the metro area losing 149 hours per year to congestion, according to the 2019 Global Traffic Scorecard. Boston was followed byChicago (145 hours), Philadelphia (142 hours), New York City (140 hours), andWashington, D.C. (124 hours). At the other end of the scale, Wichita, Kansas, hadthe lowest levels of congestion among U.S. cities, with drivers losing less than twohours a year.
“Congestion costs Americans billions of dollars each year. However, it appears
to be stabilizing in some of the country’s most congested metros – with delays
rising roughly 3% nationwide since 2017,” noted Trevor Reed, transportation
analyst at Inrix, in a release. “The continued innovation and investment in smart-
er roadway management is showing early signs of progress.” n
The logistics professionals at
Lake Success, New York-based
transportation solutions provid-
er Transervice Logistics Inc. are
used to solving difficult chal-
lenges in areas like dedicated
contract carriage, fleet leasing,
and contract maintenance.
But they faced a different typeof challenge in November, whenthey teamed up with the nonprofit literacy support groupThe Book Fairies in an attemptto break the Guinness WorldRecord for the longest line ofbooks.
On Nov. 14, Guinness WorldRecord Day, more than 150 volunteers unpacked 500 boxes,counted and measured 31,000books, and laid them end toend with just an inch overlapat two Wyandanch, New York,elementary schools. A surveyorand independent witnesses wereon hand to monitor the event,which was held to raise awareness of the nonprofit’s efforts tofight illiteracy and donate literature to underprivileged communities across Long Island,the New York metro area, andoverseas.
In the end, their efforts paidoff. The team built a line ofbooks 3.81 miles long, breakingthe 2017 record of a 2.6-mile-long line of books set in Illinois.
“We were delighted to sponsor The Book Fairies’ amazingGuinness World Record Daycompetition and even moreexcited to be part of the volunteer effort to help the organization achieve this incrediblehonor that puts the spotlighton its good works,” said SeanSchnipper, Transervice’s marketing and social media manager, in a release. n
The longest line
