The Log Book is a weekly rundown of human-interest stories related to the transportation industry. This week: Ally Logistics helps support reefs off the coast of West Maui, Carrier Logistics donates to an autism awareness group and CMA CGM drops the first of two buoys to help monitor the whale population off the East Coast.
Ally Logistics launches ‘Road to Reef’ campaign
In partnership with the Coral Reef Alliance, Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Ally Logistics recently launched its “Road to Reef” initiative. The technology-focused logistics provider will pledge $1 for every load it books toward restoring a 1,000-square-foot watershed in the Wahikuli region of West Maui, Hawaii.
According to founder and CEO Dan Manshaem, this gives Ally Logistics an impactful, yet obtainable, way of lowering the industry’s carbon footprint and meeting the company’s mission of “moving freight better.”
“Nobody likes to talk about the negative environmental impacts of trucking,” Manshaem said. “The fact is that diesel internal combustion engine-powered semis aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. … Growing volumes of freight will continue moving down our highways. More semis on the highways means more diesel emissions, more carbon into the atmosphere, which means more environmental consequences. While cleaner propulsion systems for semis are finally moving from pipe dream to reality, it’s going to be many years before they are available at scale. Until that day comes, the industry needs to find alternate means of making an impact.”
The Coral Reef Alliance is a nonprofit that uses science and community engagement to reduce threats to coral reefs.
At the reef in Wahikuli that the company is sponsoring, when it rains, sediment tends to run off the lands and overtime smothers the nearby corals by lowering access to sunlight. With the donations from Ally, the Coral Reef Alliance will be able to plant native trees and plants to trap the sediment, allowing the corals to restore their population over time.
“It’s initiatives like this that really scream to our customers and carriers that we are more than just a stereotypical broker — we thrive on being better,” said Alyssa Krynicky, director of employee experience. “I think it just says a lot about our people and the values we embody each day. We are working towards something much bigger than just ourselves here.”
For leadership, this program falls right in line with Ally Logistics’ innovative culture.
The company was one of the first to join the industry’s latest “End Non-Competes” movement and just this week announced it would add a Mother’s Lounge for its working mothers in its new office expansion and partner with the app Pumpspotting to support each mother’s baby-feeding plans.
“At Ally, we’re hyperfocused on creating a positive impact on the lives of our employees and industry,” said Chief Strategy Officer Spencer Toth. “The ripple effect of these efforts has been extremely encouraging but we knew we couldn’t stop there. This partnership marks a new era for us, and our team couldn’t be more excited.”
Carrier Logistics supports Autism Speaks
At the company’s 50th anniversary event, Elmsford, New York-based Carrier Logistics announced it has donated an undisclosed amount to the research firm Autism Speaks.
The donation was made in honor of PITT OHIO’s vice president and chief marketing officer, Geoffrey Muessig, who spoke at the event for Carrier Logistics, a provider of management solutions for asset-based LTL carriers.
PITT OHIO has been supporting Autism Speaks since 2000, when employee Scott Greacen, a father of two boys diagnosed with autism, introduced Muessig and the LTL provider to the nonprofit.
“Since Carrier Logistics was founded in 1972, we have been more than a provider of leading-edge solutions that benefit our clients with technology for managing the complex processes that are required in LTL and last-mile operations,” said President Ben Wiesen. “Our commitment to ‘doing well by doing good’ also means we give back to the community by regularly donating to various charities as part of the Ken Weinberg Memorial Fund, named for our founder. We are proud to carry on that tradition with this donation to Autism Speaks in honor of Geoffrey Muessig.”
The donation will aid Autism Speaks’ efforts to improve research for autism spectrum disorder, including awareness outreach events.
CMA CGM helps deploy whale monitoring system
Global shipping provider CMA CGM Group has partnered with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to position two acoustic monitoring buoys off the East Coast to help detect whales along heavily trafficked ocean routes.
The partners recently dropped the first of the two buoys off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, and will drop the second off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, within the next week, according to the company.
Along with programs to reduce speed around the animals’ habitats, CMA CGM is deploying more technology to improve marine mammal protection, including the use of Repcet, a system that alerts merchant ships of whale positions in real time, and the European project Sea Detect, used to detect cetaceans and floating objects. It has also partnered with Life-Piaquo consortium to reduce the noise of maritime traffic over time.
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