DC Velocity - September 2019

inbound

Here’s our monthly roundup of some of
the charitable works and donations by
companies in the material handling and
logistics space.
b Thomasville, N.C.-based less-than-
truckload carrier Old Dominion Freight
Line Inc. has joined the American Red
Cross’s Disaster Responder Program and
pledged $250,000 to the cause. Disaster
Responder members—along with their
employees and customers—pledge finan-
cial and in-kind donations in advance of
disasters, providing the Red Cross with
infrastructure, trained volunteers, tech-
nology, and other resources necessary to
support those in crisis.
b Truckload carrier CFI
has added to its fleet of
trucks with custom-designed
truck-wrap graphics honor-
ing those who serve their
communities. The compa-
ny introduced a special unit
honoring Joplin, Mo., first
responders that features pic-
tures of actual fire, medical,
and emergency-service personnel. The
rig is piloted by CFI professional driv-
er Larry Dohogne, a trained fire and
EMS responder who volunteers with local
agencies and served in the military.
b West Coast forklift dealers Raymond
Handling Solutions, Raymond Handling
Concepts, and Handling Systems Inc.
teamed up to fight childhood poverty
during Red Nose Day, an annual event
sponsored by Comic Relief, a U.K.-based
charity. The dealers raised more than
$10,000, which will be distributed to
select national and international chil-
dren’s organizations.

b XPO Logistics Inc. has partnered with Girls With Impact, an online entrepreneurship program for teenage girls, to help participants explore the personal and professional rewards of business leadership. The company’s financial commitment to the nonprofit will allow 15 high-school students to take after-school classes through a “mini-MBA” program this year.

Logistics gives back
Videos dispel myths about propane

Which power source you choose for warehouse lift trucks can have a big impact on cost and productivity, but making that decision can be confusing. To help with that decision, a proponent of propane-powered forklifts has released a series of videos that aim to educate material handling professionals about common misconceptions regarding indoor usage, emissions, and cost of the widely used fuel.

Produced by the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC), the three-part series includes videos that feature:

1. An explanation of propane’s quick refueling process—simply swapping out an empty propane cylinder for a full one—and its ability to minimize downtime;

2. A discussion of propane’s versatility, including its suitability for working both indoors and outdoors; and

3. A comparison of the acquisition and operating costs for propane to costs for other fuels, including the argument that capital costs for a propane forklift are 30 percent less than those for an electric truck.

“The videos shed light on a few of the key benefits linked with propane that, if overlooked, can prevent facilities from operating at maximum efficiency,” Jeremy Wishart, PERC’s director of off-road business development, said in a press release. “Ninety percent of Class 4 and 5 operators are choosing propane forklifts over diesel or electric to handle their material handling needs, and this video series will help facility managers understand why.” Using a cell phone while driving is an increasingly common—and terrifying— habit that has quickly risen to become a leading cause of traffic accidents.

Whether you’re a civilian on a daily commute or a professional truck driver hauling a long-distance load, the reasons are clear. Most of us automatically reach for our phone the moment a message arrives, and then fumble to answer incoming texts immediately. Here’s the problem with that: When you check a message while traveling at 55 m.p.h., you end up driving blind for about the length of a football field.

But just as technology created this problem, it can also provide a
solution, according to Dolphin Technologies GmbH, a Vienna, Austria-
based startup that has launched a cryptocurrency called “Mobilio.”
Drivers who use the Mobilio app are rewarded for not using their
mobile phone while driving, accumulating valuable credits for safe miles
driven, according to Dolphin CEO Harald Trautsch. Users will soon be
able to spend Mobilio tokens in the “Mobilio Marketplace”—which
will include insurance companies, retailers, and other participants—or
trade them on cryptocurrency exchanges for tangible value in the “real”
world, the company says.