4 DC VELOCITY MARCH 2018 www.dcvelocity.com
inbound
When talk turns to career aspirations, parents
often urge their young daughters to reach
for the stars. But the trade group Women In
Trucking (WIT) has been working to promote
a more terrestrial alternative: piloting a big rig
right here on Earth.
Taking a page from the
“get ’em while they’re
young” playbook, the
Plover, Wis.-based nonprofit has made it its mission to raise awareness
among youngsters about
career opportunities in
trucking. In 2014, for
example, it teamed up
with the Girl Scouts to
design a “Trucks are for
girls” transportation patch. Now it appears the
group is targeting an even younger crowd: Last
month, it announced that it had collaborated
with European toymaker Haba to introduce a
plush WIT-themed doll.
The 13-inch-tall doll, named “Clare,” comes
clad in an “I Heart Trucking” T-shirt, red collar shirt, blue jeans, boots, and a Women In
Trucking baseball cap. The story of her journey
into the driver’s seat of her very own 18-wheel-
er can be found on the package. To promote
the doll’s launch, WIT will make Clare the
centerpiece of its “I Heart Trucking” photo
contest this summer. Themed “Clare’s First
Road Trip,” the contest will invite professional
drivers across the country to submit photos
featuring Clare from the road.
According to a WIT press release, Clare is
the product of a chance meeting between Ellen
Voie, WIT’s founder and chief executive officer,
and Lea Culliton, president of Haba USA, in an
airport lounge. The talk turned to designing an
empowering toy for girls, and a partnership was
born. “The world is wide open for girls today,
and I’m thrilled to be providing a toy that tells
them that whatever they want to be is just
great—whether that’s a teacher or an ad exec
or a professional driver,” Voie said in the
release.
Clare will be available at travel centers across
the country in April as well as on Amazon.com
and at http://www.HABAUSA.com.
Here’s our monthly roundup of some of the charitable
works and donations by companies in the material handling
and logistics space.
; Ceres Barge
Line, an East Saint
Louis, Ill.-based
barge freight management, logistics
services, and consulting firm, and
Federal Marine
Terminals (FMT), a port stevedore at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, both donated a portion of the revenues
generated by a recent shipment to the Mary Crowley Cancer
Research organization. The shipment took place last month
when Ceres’ bright pink barge, Big Hope 1, traveled from
the Tulsa Port of Catoosa up the Mississippi and Illinois
rivers to deliver a large refinery storage tank. The money
will go toward helping expand treatment options for cancer
patients.
; Fremont, Calif.-based third-party logistics service provider (3PL) RK Logistics Group has teamed up with the
City of Fremont’s Community Services Department to provide scholarships for low-income children, enabling them
to participate in summer recreation programs. The 3PL’s
$3,800 charitable contribution will help the city provide
scholarships for up to 48 children.
; Material handling equipment supplier Raymond
Handling Concepts Corp.
(RHCC) raised $17,328
through its fourth annual Pink Pallet Jack Project
online auction to benefit two
breast cancer charities: the
Tina Fund in Greene, N.Y.,
and Northwest Hope and
Healing in Seattle.
; The UPS Foundation, the
philanthropic arm of Atlanta-based transport and logistics
giant UPS Inc., will award more than $2.4 million to non-
profit organizations to encourage global volunteerism. The
funding includes grants to nine organizations, supporting
initiatives including disaster preparedness and recovery,
youth literacy and skills development, and veterans training.
; Automobile maker Toyota Motor Manufacturing,
Indiana, has given $100,000 to the University of Evansville
(Ind.), including $90,000 to launch the school’s Logistics
and Supply Chain Management (LSCM) program. The
program will be introduced in the fall of 2018.
Logistics gives back So long, Teddy. Hello, Clare
