Carrier Profiles
Making a Difference
In expediting's brief history, there have been instances when the industry has been called to action to help in disaster situations. Perhaps the most notable example was the relief effort that both the expedited carriers and individual owner-operators participated in following 9/11/2001.
Most recently, the virtually unprecedented rash of storms that hit the Southern United States saw expediting and trucking come to the rescue once again. This relief effort involved thousands of professional drivers and, months later, the cleanup continues.
Four unwelcome guests - Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne - slammed the Sunshine State in six short weeks. One state hasn't had four hurricanes in a single season since Texas was hit back in the 1880s.
Charley, a category 4 storm, got the ball rolling when he struck the southwest Florida coast on unlucky Friday August 13. Frances followed barely three weeks later, coming ashore in Palm Beach County. Jeanne hit practically the same spot and took a similar path on September 26. In between was Ivan, which cut a swath of devastation through the Caribbean before roaring ashore near the Florida-Alabama border on September 16.
""It was two and a half months of nothing but hurricanes and cleaning up," says Landstar Express America's Director of Recruiting Darin Mark. "And, it was an experience I'll never forget."
Darin is still catching his breath from his duties as the Landstar Systems, Inc. representative who coordinated with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Transportation (DOT) and other agencies.
"Landstar Systems, Inc. is one of the primary carriers contracted to Department of Transportation for the transportation of essential materials in disaster relief," he says. "There is a close relationship between the DOT and FEMA."
"The folks from the DOT said they have never experienced any disaster of this magnitude. It was hundreds of owner-operators, trucking companies and their drivers all coming together. For those drivers, it meant sitting and waiting in less than desireable locations awaiting dispatch, ready to assist people who needed the help."
"When the first of the four hurricanes that hit Florida was predicted, we were put on alert. I handled efforts from Lakeland, FL and we also had Landstar representation in West Palm, Punta Gorda and other staging areas across the state."
"We worked out of the front lobby of an airport in Lakeland. We coordinated with FEMA, Florida state officials, the Florida National Guard and others. It was quite an operation with all of these entities working together. The needs were so many and very diverse. There was never a typical day, it was always something different. We had many early mornings and late night sessions."
Every time a storm came through, more than a million people had to leave their homes. Millions more were left without electricity, sometimes for weeks. Jeanne alone turned out the lights on more than 2.8 million people in 56 of the state's 67 counties.
"A typical day for me was to get in early in the morning," says Darin. "Representatives from the various agencies were in the field assessing the damage and needs. They would report back with those needs and then FEMA and the other agencies would direct where the materials would be sent. They would tell us, 'We need this much water or we need this much plastic sheeting."
"Throughout this whole operation, there were thousands of trucks in the theater. Trucks would arrive in Florida with loads from across the country and bring it into a main staging area and then be dispatched to another staging area. Other trucks would report in empty and be loaded with the essential materials."
He continues, "Landstar carrier group Owner-Operators and Landstar Express America Owner-Operators came out in force as well as other third-party carriers. We had vehicle sizes that included cargo vans, straight trucks, tractor-trailers, step decks, flatbeds and other specialized equipment. Anywhere from one truck to hundreds of trucks would be dispatched to those locations. There were even airlifts taking in supplies."
The emergency supplies needed so desparately by Florida residents included baby formula, baby bottle nipples, ice, diapers, water, bug spray, tons of Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), generators, forklifts and many other items.
Ivan's wild winds and storm surge ripped up sections of the Interstate 10 bridge over Escambia Bay. The storms uprooted trees, ripped off roofs, flooded homes. And they wreaked havoc with normal life - school attendance, sports events, arts events, political activities and work.
Darin says, "We also worked out of Jacksonville Naval Air Station where we had over two hundred truckloads of water on site. We would get an order for fifty trucks to go to Pensacola or thirty trucks needed in Ocala."
"We had many calls for reefers. Jim Block, one of our Landstar Owner-Operators took his reefer down to one of the islands and he sat there as a storage unit for ice and food."
"We had another reefer straight truck owner-operator who positioned himself next to a doctor's office that had been destroyed. The doctor conducted business from under a tent and had access to the medicines stored in the reefer."
An important part of dispatching the trucks was our concern about sending a truck into harm's way. We had to determine if we were dispatching a truck to one of the smaller communities whether the truck could make it in, if the roads were passable, if bridges were washed out.
Darin states that during his time with the relief efforts, he escaped the worst of the hurricanes that were assaulting large portions of the state: "What we went through was nothing compared to what the folks on the east coast and southern Florida experienced. Just as they were recovering from the first hurricane, another storm would roll through."
In all, more than one in five Florida homes suffered some sort of damage, according to news reports. The number of insurance claims is expected to top 2 million - far more than the 700,000 claims filed after the highly destructive Hurricane Andrew in 1992. In dollar terms, state officials estimate insured losses at $18 billion - $12 billion from Charley, Frances and Ivan and $6 billion just from Jeanne.
Darin says that an unexpected phone call reassured him that his efforts and those of the thousand of drivers were making a difference:
"I remember a call from an American Red Cross worker who had gotten my name from a driver. I had done nothing more than dispatch that truck with supplies to her location, but she was in tears when she called to thank me for sending that truck. She said that you will never know the impact of that one truckload had on so many people. Calls like that definitely make the long days and nights of frustration well worth it."
"This was the first time I've been involved with DOT and FEMA. They are two fine organizations with great men and women working hard to help. There was a minimum of government bureauacracy and they really got the job done. Our truck drivers were outstanding. Everybody pulled together to help their fellow man."
"I have to tell you how proud we should all be of the job our professional drivers did. They were often dispatched to remote locations, sitting out in the middle of tarmac somewhere, with no shade, with nothing more than a couple of porta potties and maybe finger food."
"Their dedication and patience is to be commended and those drivers will probably never know the numbers of people who were helped through their efforts."
The hurricanes and tropical storms of this year's abnormally active storm season prompted 21 disaster declarations for 13 states and Puerto Rico.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency accepted its one millionth registration for disaster assistance on October 4. The aftermath of the hurricanes has been the largest relief effort FEMA has ever undertaken.
Darin says that the work is not done and that there is still an ongoing effort with trucks delivering building materials, tracking down dropped trailers, etc.
"Trucking and expediting really came through for the disaster victims. I'm extremely proud to have been associated with the agencies involved and of course, the owner-operators and drivers who gave so much of themselves to help others."