DC Velocity - September 2015

inbound

Here’s our monthly roundup of some of the charitable works and donations by companies in the material handling and logistics space.

; Hyster Co. has donated a W50Z walkie pallet truck to assist the American Red Cross in its disaster relief efforts. The truck is being used in the organization’s Atlanta warehouse. MH Equipment, a Hyster dealer in Cincinnati, prepped the truck free of charge for shipment to the warehouse, while Briggs Equipment, a Hyster dealer in Atlanta, donated 12 months of free maintenance.

; Ayal Latz, founder and president of Greensboro, Ga.-based 3PL a2b Fulfillment, and his wife, Kara, have donated an art studio to the Pete Nance Boys & Girls Club of Greensboro. Outfitted with easels, double sinks, and adjustable worksta-tions, the brightly colored room will provide opportunities for young artists to experiment with mixed media as they prepare for careers in advertising, fashion design, photography, and animation.

; Ocean freight consolidator Caro Trans hosted a golf outing to benefit Duffy Books in Homes USA, a charity that provides free books to needy elementary school students. At the event, which took place at the New Jersey National Golf Club in Basking Ridge, kids were allowed to choose titles from an age-appropriate listing of Scholastic books.

; Freight forwarder Pilot Freight Services has donated its services to deliver over 1,000 children’s books to Arizona Helping Hands, a nonprofit organization benefiting the state’s foster children. Pilot moved the books from Brainerd, Minn., to Scottsdale, Ariz., following their donation by the children’s publisher Sweetles.

; UPS Inc. has donated its logistics expertise, warehousing services, and labor to the Special Olympics World Games, held in Los Angeles from July 25 to Aug. 2. UPS Airlines transported the Flame of Hope from Athens, Greece, to the U.S., while other UPS volunteers oversaw the movement of cargo and sports equipment for the event’s 7,000 athletes and 3,000 coaches.

Logistics gives back

Every once in a while, we stumble across something entertaining in the world of material handling equipment. Yes, you read that right: It is indeed possible for “entertaining” and “material handling equipment” to appear in the same sentence. Here are two examples we came across recently:

; Meet me for lunch at the Forklift Café. According to their website, sisters Dorothy and Karen, proprietors of the three-year-old Forklift Café in Rochester, N.Y., learned how to cook for crowds while growing up in a family of 11 children. When Dorothy, who has worked as a chef and caterer, and Karen, a former small-business owner, had the chance to take over an old guard shack in front of the busy 1600 Lexington warehouse complex, they seized the opportunity to turn it into a breakfast and lunch spot that caters to warehouse workers and truck drivers, among others. (The website invites potential customers to “roll on in.”)

Given its location in front of a former Kodak DC that’s now home to several warehouse and distribution operations, the name Forklift Café was a natural. Equally fitting is the diner’s forklift-themed décor and its logo: a coffee cup balanced on the tines of a retro-look-ing lift truck, above the tongue-in-cheek slogan “A treat for your palate.” Check it out at www.forklift-cafe.com.

; How many candles can you fit on a forklift? The website hasn’t been updated in a couple of years, but www.eatsleep-forklift.com offers a mix of educational material (“A Healthy Dose of Planned Forklift Maintenance”) and fun. Our favorite: “It’s a Forklift Party!” This 2012 blog post by Joyce Schwob features photos of forklift-themed items for a birthday or retirement party. They include invitations, safety cone-shaped candles, and even cakes topped with a lift truck made of icing.