DC Velocity - October 2017

inbound

For most people, the month of September might symbolize the end of summer, the beginning of the school year, or the last time they can wear white pants until May without committing a fashion faux pas. But for transportation industry professionals, September means National Truck Driver Appreciation Week.

Every year, the industry honors professional truck drivers for their dedication and commitment with a weeklong series of special events. As part of this year’s celebration, which ran from Sept. 10 to 16, driver wellness program provider Rolling Strong of Riverside, Mo., partnered with the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and truck-stop operator TA and Petro Stopping Centers to host driver health fairs at locations across the country. At each location, wellness coaches were on hand to provide health advice and conduct screenings for weight, blood pressure, heart rate, and body mass index (BMI).

The St. Christopher Truckers Fund, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based charity for sick and injured truckers and their families, also stepped up with a perk for health-conscious drivers. The organization offered professional over-the-road drivers vouchers for free flu, shingles, and pneumonia vaccines at participating pharmacies.

Omaha, Neb.-based transportation and logistics company Werner Enterprises Inc. took a different tack to commemorate the week, providing drivers with gifts and complimentary meals, and honoring five elite drivers who have reached their 2 million- and 3 million-mile accident-free milestones.

Road warriors honored during trucker
appreciation week

America’s breweries operate some of the country’s most robust trucking and logistics networks, delivering millions of bottles, cans, cases, and kegs to thirsty consumers every day. In the aftermath of hurricanes Harvey and Irma in August and September, however, several breweries put their supply chain resources and capabilities to a more humanitarian use.

Beer trucks loaded with drinking water instead of alcohol have been making deliveries to storm-wracked areas as part of disaster relief efforts launched by Chicago-based MillerCoors, St. Louis-based Anheuser Busch-InBev, College Station, Texas-based Blackwater Draw Brewing Co., and Longmont, Colo.-based Oskar Blues Brewery. The brewers were not the only companies that jumped in to provide “canned aid,” however. Soft-drink producer Natrona Bottling Co. of Natrona Heights, Pa., also used its facilities to produce and deliver cans of clean drinking water in cooperation with Beaver, Pa.-based Beemac Logistics LLC.

“Providing clean water to communities enduring a crisis will aid in recovery and hopefully give some sense of comfort to those in need,” said Karina Diehl, MillerCoors’ director of community affairs, in a statement.

Beer giants brew up hurricane relief

Transport and logistics giants FedEx Corp. and UPS Inc. have stepped in to provide extensive disaster relief aid packages and support following the epic trio of storms that ravaged a half-dozen U.S. Southeast states and Caribbean islands in August and September and the earthquakes that rattled Mexico in September.

Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx has pledged $3 million in cash and transportation support, leveraging its logistics network to help numerous relief agencies respond to the disasters. The company works with the agencies to deliver supplies such as water treatment systems, blankets, cleanup kits, and comfort kits.

Atlanta-based UPS also announced wide-ranging disaster relief initiatives, including a commitment of $2 million in aid. In addition, the company flew air freighters to Puerto Rico under contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to deliver Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs) to victims and is coordinating with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to deliver tarps, hygiene kits, mosquito nets, liquid containers, and shelter tool kits to storm survivors in Cuba.

“Hurricanes Maria, Irma, and Harvey, together with the earthquakes in Mexico, have left behind an almost unprecedented need for humanitarian aid throughout the Caribbean and Southeastern U.S.,” said Eduardo Martinez, president of The UPS Foundation, in a statement. “When the International Federation of the Red Cross called to request assistance … we knew how important it was to answer that call.”