inbound
Parents of college graduates often marvel at their progeny’s ability to master
complex subjects and earn advanced
degrees in the disciplines, while apparently forgetting how to complete simple tasks like folding their own laundry.
A team of researchers at the Delft
University of Technology in the Netherlands has bucked this stereotype by
taking the art of folding to new levels. While looking for ways to cut the costs
of repositioning empty shipping containers, the team envisioned a container
that could be folded flat when empty and then popped open when needed.
That concept became the basis for Holland Container Innovations (HCI), a
company spun off from the university in 2008 to promote what it calls the
“4Fold foldable shipping container.”
With the backing of French transportation and shipping colossus CMA
CGM, HCI has built a series of 40-foot prototypes that earned the Container
Safety Convention and ISO certifications, important steps toward widespread
adoption. The concept took another step forward in 2016 when the European
Union’s Research & Innovation program cited 4Fold containers as a way to
reduce empty transport costs and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Now, if only we could get those students to discover what happens to our
socks when they go missing from the dryer …
Foldable shipping containers cut costs
and carbon
Driving a truck is a tough job,
with challenges like tight deadlines, congested roads, and strict
hours-of-service (HOS) limitations. Still, some drivers find time
to be Good Samaritans as well.
Early in the morning of Oct.
25, 2016, Texas driver Adrian
Parada was fueling his big rig
at a Love’s Truck Stop in Fort
Stockton, Texas, when he noticed
a pickup truck had caught on
fire. Parada, who works for
El Paso-based Stagecoach
Cartage & Distribution, a unit
of Roadrunner Transportation
Systems, leapt into action, asking
a fellow Stagecoach Cartage driver to call 911 and dashing to the
flaming vehicle to see if the driver
needed help. While attempting
to escape the vehicle, the driver
stumbled, but Parada pulled him
to safety. Reports state there were
two explosions and that the driver
suffered burns to his knees, feet,
and arms, but he escaped further
injury thanks to Parada’s quick
action.
For his selfless courage, Parada
has been named a “Highway
Angel” by the industry group
Truckload Carriers Association
(TCA), which collects and verifies nominations by employers,
professional truck drivers, and
motorists who have witnessed
acts of bravery by drivers on the
road.
Parada joins the ranks of truck
operators who have offered services ranging from fixing a flat
tire to life-saving efforts such as
administering CPR … or pulling
someone from a burning vehicle,
TCA said.
Trucker pulls
motorist from
burning vehicle
Generating positive publicity can be a challenge for any organization, but the
job gets a lot easier when enthusiastic fans write country music songs about
your group.
That scenario recently played out for Women In Trucking (WIT), the Plover,
Wis.-based nonprofit that works to promote the employment of women in the
trucking industry.
Inspired by their work, professional truck driver—and part-time troubadour—Joe Martin composed a ditty he called the “Women In Trucking Song”
and performed it himself in a You Tube video that he posted in August. The
tune is a paean to WIT’s mission, featuring lyrics like:
“Got a group of ladies, in case you didn’t know.
They’re driving them big trucks, up and down the road.
I want to check ’em out, a group that’s absolutely stunning!
Talking about women … Women In Trucking!”
“It was a surprise when he sent it to me! We love it,” Ellen Voie, president
and chief executive officer of Women In Trucking, said in an e-mail.
The song was far from Martin’s debut. The bearded crooner has also record-
ed an exercise video for truck drivers called “Truckercise” and an ode to his
favorite breakfast food, “Bacon.”
It’s too early to say whether Martin’s song will take its place on the Top 40
charts alongside other classics of the genre, like Norma Jean’s 1968 hit “Truck
Driving Woman.”
Ode to the “Truck-driving woman”
