Trucking Industry Steps Up to Provide Relief to Haiti

When TEC Equipment's President and CEO Dave Thompson lands the company's corporate jet in Haiti Thursday morning, he'll have two hours to find an orphan girl that a Portland, Ore., couple had adopted just days before the devastating earthquake hit

Jan. 12. Because the Air Force has control of the area and needs that space, he'll have a challenge ahead of him, especially since communication and other infrastructure is down throughout the country.

"If he doesn't complete that mission, he'll have to come back empty handed," said Dave Schwanke, corporate marketing manager for the Portland-based Volvo and Mack dealer.

But TEC has already completed another mission by offering up the company jet to get a team of seven doctors, nurses and health professionals from Medical Teams International to Haiti.

When the earthquake first hit, TEC's employees started making individual contributions, but the company wanted to do more. When word got all the way up to Thompson, he decided the company should use its corporate plane that's not used 24/7. They got in touch with Medical Teams International. "We stepped up with an offer, and they nabbed it," Schwanke said.

Meanwhile, the company's 400 or so employees across 12 locations donated money to pay for the jet's round trip flight, which requires 4,000 gallons of jet fuel, start-up costs, and various fees. TEC has committed to matching their donations, dollar for dollar, and so far employees alone have raised $15,000 for the cause, which is $30,000 with the match. According to Schwanke, the total cost of the flight is $35,000.

In the last week, dealers like TEC, trucking companies and manufacturers alike have pitched in to help the relief effort in Haiti following the devastating earthquake that hit last week.

Some of those efforts include:

* FedEx Express has transported 150,000 pounds of relief supplies to the Dominican Republic; 25,000 pounds of equipment, including 25 solar-powered water purification units and six solar-power panels, to Haiti; and 150,000 pounds of family care kits. The company plans to transport additional shipments of medical supplies on behalf of Heart to Heart and Direct Relief International. FedEx has also contributed $425,000 in in-cash grants to the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Direct Relief International and Yele Haiti.

* NFI, which provides logistics services, delivered a truckload of Polartec fabric to Goodwill Industries in Miami, Fla., as part of the effort. Goodwill will produce blankets out of the fabric and send them to Haiti to keep earthquake victims warm and comfortable.

* Logistics provider Interstate Transport not only helped with the loading of cots of pillows to be delivered, but also provided emergency transportation services to the Department of Homeland Security.

* UPS contributed $500,000 in cash and up to $500,000 of in-kind services for the shipment of needed supplies. The funds will be divided between The American Red Cross, CARE, UNICEF and other organizations that assist with long-term relief activities.

* Oshkosh Corporation has donated a total of $50,000, half of which will go to the Red Cross and half will go to Doctors Without Borders, an international medical humanitarian organization.

* Eaton Corporation has given $100,000 to the American Red Cross International Disaster Relief Fund to support humanitarian efforts. The funds will provide long-term relief through supplies and technical assistance. The company will also match employees' donations to the United Way Worldwide Disaster Relief Fund.

* Dot Foods, a food redistributor, is partnering with Food For the Poor and its food manufacturer partners to generate 100 truckloads of food products and transport them to Haiti. Dot will match all employee donations made to the Haitian relief effort.

* Paccar made a $250,000 donation to the American Red Cross to support relief efforts. The company also donated a Kenworth vehicle equipped with a dump body to assist in the clean-up of the earthquake.