“With emergency management specifically, we provide updated data and situational awareness to decision- makers for the disaster scenario,” Peck says. “That could be a live video of a flood zone or a high-definition survey of the disaster area to understand what’s happening and to help make damage assessments post-disaster.” Sometimes paying attention to what seems like something small can make a big difference, too. For example, rather than route trucks to shopping centers or other types of parking lots large enough for tractor trailers, Magann looks for city parks. That’s because they’re more likely to have shade trees that provide drivers and others with relief from the sun and heat. Most will have picnic tables, too. “A picnic table turns into an office instantly in the field,” he says. “You can easily have a conference with six people around them.” PUT SAFETY FIRST. Experts agree that safety is always the first consideration when transporting disaster relief supplies. For The Home Depot, that’s especially critical when moving merchandise into a region before a storm strikes. “The moves are highly orchestrated, and a lot of thought goes into delivering that product in time and safely,” says Larkin. “We don’t want one of our transportation partners to be unable to return out of a market because the winds suddenly picked up and we didn’t plan for that.” The retailer follows the same process when returning to the storm region with post-strike merchandise. Driver and asset safety is the top priority for Magann’s 3PL, too. “We don’t want to be a headline ourselves," he says. “We want to protect the driver, the product, and the driver’s truck.” COLLABORATE. One of the worst things well-intended organizations can do is “self-deploy” to a disaster zone. “When a disaster happens, there’s a lot of confusion,” Fulton
says. “When people self-deploy and don’t coordinate their activities, there’s duplication of effort that can drain resources other groups have counted on.” The best approach is to contact your industry association for information about how to help. “For example, a lot of grocery stores are members of FMI, The Food Industry Association,” Fulton says. “FMI does an incredible job of making sure that members are aware of what’s happening, communicating what’s
needed for those who want to help, and getting recovery information to members in the disaster region.” Disaster relief transportation is fraught with challenges, but for many, delivering relief communities need brings intangible rewards. “There is nothing more gratifying for us in the face of those storms and tragedies than to know that we did everything we could do to take care of our customers and communities,” says Larkin. n
ALAN, a collaboration of logistics industry associations, helped coordinate delivery of this truckload of relief supplies after a recent weather disaster in Florida.
ALIGN WITH ALAN The American Logistics Aid Network—ALAN—is a collaboration of logistics industry associations formed in 2005 to provide donated supply chain assistance to disaster relief organizations and other nonprofits. It coordinates logistics, provides education, and builds cross-sector relationships before, during, and after disasters in a way that delivers relief as quickly as possible. From its headquarters in Florida, ALAN works behind the scenes before a storm strikes, communicating with government and industry partners, reviewing the infrastructure and industries that are likely to be affected, and checking with nonprofit networks to determine what logistics resources they expect to need. After disaster strikes, it helps coordinate industry relief efforts, including connecting humanitarian organizations with critical contributions of transportation, material handling equipment, warehousing, or logistics supplies. “ALAN is about trying to democratize logistics access for nonprofits, regardless of their size,” says Kathy Fulton, ALAN’s executive director. “They don’t have to be a huge machine in order to request support from us. In fact, most of the groups we hear from are small and mid-sized nonprofits that don’t have their own logistics staff.” Companies interested in helping deliver relief to disaster areas can work through their trade associations or view the options in the How to Help section of the ALAN website at alanaid.org.
44 Inbound Logistics • February 2023
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