The mostly public entity ownership of HELP, which operates the PrePass weigh station bypass system, has entered into a new partnership with only vaguely publicly-disclosed goals.
PrePass announced a “new strategic partnership” with Alinda Capital Partners late last week. The goal is “to further advance HELP’s mission of highway safety and efficiency.”
A request by FreightWaves for additional information on the future role of Alinda was declined, with a PrePass representative referring back to the wording of the release.
Alinda already had a role with HELP. In the prepared statement, HELP said that Alinda in May had acquired CVO Holding Co. which was described as a HELP contractor. It also said CVO “will continue to provide contractual services to HELP.” It is not clear from the release whether Alinda would be taking a stake in the partnership or what its specific mission will be.
The company’s web page says of its mission: “We are long-term investors in infrastructure assets that provide essential services to communities. We are an active manager of our investments. We also provide growth capital for upgrades of assets and expansions.”
Alinda has “significant investments” in Heathrow Airport and the Virginia Container Terminal in Norfolk.
In the release, HELP CEO Karen Rasmussen issued the following statement: “The HELP Board viewed Alinda’s partnership proposal as an intriguing next step to providing even greater innovation and continuous improvements to customer service in achieving our mission of highway safety.”
The Alinda comment in the release also failed to disclose the nature of the relationship. Chris Beale, Alinda’s managing partner, said of the “strategic partnership” between the two companies that Alinda would “support HELP in its important safety mission and to assist HELP to expand its technology and safety offerings to government agencies and the trucking industry.”
“We are thrilled to enter into this strategic partnership with HELP,” said Alinda’s Managing Partner, Chris Beale. “We want to support HELP in its important safety mission and to assist HELP to expand its technology and safety offerings to government agencies and the trucking industry,” Beale said. “Alinda and HELP also strongly support the emissions benefits of bypassing safe, compliant trucks.”
HELP and its PrePass subsidiary fall under the definition of a 501(c)(3) public charity. But in the market for Weigh-in-Motion technology, it battles with fiercely with competitors, most notably Drivewyze. Its board of directors include representatives from a number of states and the trucking industry.