inbound
Hurricane Florence swamped North
Carolina and much of the southeastern
U.S. with floodwaters that closed highways,
ports, and warehouses. A full recovery will
take months, but several logistics industry
companies have already stepped up with
offers of assistance to speed up the process.
The American Logistics Aid Network
(ALAN) has been working to connect organizations in need of warehouse, transportation, and other supply chain services with
potential donors from the earliest days of the
giant storm. By mobilizing those logistics
services, ALAN helps supplement nonprofit
organizations’ capabilities to reach disaster
survivors with critical supplies.
Norfolk Southern Railroad has announced
that its Norfolk Southern Foundation will
donate $100,000 toward recovery efforts in
North Carolina, including $50,000 to the
American Red Cross and $50,000 to the
Food Bank of Central and Eastern North
Carolina’s relief efforts. The foundation will
also match its employees’ gifts of $50 or
more to the American Red Cross or to
any Feeding America food bank, according
to Norfolk Southern, which operates over
1,187 route miles of track in North Carolina.
Atlanta-based transportation and logistics
giant UPS Inc. has committed $1 million
to support recovery efforts following the
devastating flooding, infrastructure damage,
and utility outages. Through a combination
of cash grants, in-kind transportation movements, and technical expertise, the company
and its charitable arm, The UPS Foundation,
will both provide urgent relief and support
long-term needs ranging from rebuilding to
personal and financial recovery assistance,
UPS said. “We’re seeing immediate needs
in these communities across a wide range
of humanitarian areas in the aftermath of
Hurricane Florence,” Eduardo Martinez,
president of The UPS Foundation, said in a
statement. “UPS is collaborating with FEMA
and its nonprofit relief partners on multiple
fronts to ensure help reaches those who need
it urgently.”
Logistics community steps
up to support Hurricane
Florence recovery
Kids’ activity book traces cookies through
the supply chain
As president and CEO of the industry group Women In Trucking
(WIT), Ellen Voie wears many hats. Last month, she added another
chapeau: publisher. In mid-September, her group announced the
publication of “Scouting for Cookies,” a supply
chain-themed activity book for children.
The book aligns with WIT’s mission of promoting the employment of women in the trucking industry and builds on its partnership
with the Girl Scouts to raise awareness among
youngsters about career opportunities in trucking. But the book has an even closer connection
to Voie, since the initial content for the book
was created by her niece—Kaylissa Voie.
The 20-page booklet traces the experience of
a young girl named Adelynn, who learns how often a truck is used
to move goods throughout the supply chain. Activities in the book
include coloring, drawing, word searches, math, and geography.
“This activity book was created to give children a way to learn more
about how the cookies they eat with their milk started out as grain in
a field, became a mixture at a bakery, then moved into the boxes, and
were finally delivered by a scout,” Ellen Voie said in a statement. “We
want them to have a personal connection with that truck on the road
and how it relates to their own snack. It’s fun and educational and
something everyone in supply chain can use to teach children about
careers in the transportation industry.”
Where do you turn when you need a new temperature-controlled
warehouse that can rapidly freeze up to 79 million pounds of cranberries? For the agricultural cooperative Ocean Spray, the answer was
Americold Realty Trust, an Atlanta-based cold chain specialist.
For Ocean Spray, the well-known producer of fruit juice, snacks,
and cranberry sauce, Americold was the logical choice. The two have
been logistics partners for nearly 40 years.
In late August, Americold announced the official opening of the
new facility, which will be mainly used for the distribution of Craisins
brand dried cranberries. Located adjacent to Ocean Spray’s production facility in Middleborough, Mass., the site has 165,000 square feet
of temperature-controlled space across three rooms and a loading
dock. Collectively, the three rooms, which operate at 0 degrees F, can
accommodate about 60,000 totes, which equates to nearly 80 million
pounds of berries.
This new facility represents Americold’s fifth in the state of
Massachusetts. It joins 155 other warehouses owned and operated
by the company in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and
Argentina.
Baby, it’s cold inside
