For many of us, summertime means shedding the last of the excessive clothing layers and planning our next vacation. For trucking and other transportation companies, it means planning for the beginning of hurricane season.
For the past few years, the activity seen during hurricane season has transcended, especially across the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast. This year, like the ones prior, forecasters are expecting a heightened level of activity yet again. Because of this, many of the biggest transportation companies have already started taking precautions for upcoming weeks.
Amazon
One of the many companies already considering the future is Amazon.com Inc. In Atlanta, they have created fulfillment centers for emergency supplies that can help them weather the storms. While this will be the first hurricane season that the company will step into with these emergency centers in place, they have already foreseen its success and plan to incorporate them into more cities as part of their hurricane and natural disaster plan.
However, as of now, Amazon has chosen to concentrate on the Atlanta area due to the “two major north-south interstate highways that run through the center of the city, I-75, and I-85, as well as the east-west I-20 and I-285, called the Perimeter. Plus, the city has the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and a large number of trucking companies based in the metro Atlanta area,” explained Transport Topics.
Amazon has asked organizations ahead of time for hurricane supplies that they have now already received and loaded into their storage hub in Atlanta; these items include what they would send to disaster areas via truck or plane when the time comes.
This way, when emergencies occur, they will waste no time since the supplies they are receiving from their partners (including the American Red Cross, Direct Relief, and International Medical Corps to name a few) are already in hand. “It usually took us a couple of days [to get ready to send supplies to where they needed to be,] and now we can do it in one,” explained Abe Diaz, the Global Accessory lead at Amazon.
Maersk
However, Amazon is not the only company making waves. Maersk, a Danish integrated shipping company, has noticed a greater number of hurricanes in recent years.
Rob Townley, the head of Maersk’s Special Projects and Logistics division, explained that since the hurricane season is expected to hit harder and faster, “it is more important this year perhaps than any in recent history to plan ahead with suppliers and logistics service providers to put contingency plans in place as early as possible to mitigate the effects of seasonal climate risk.”
Since supply chains are heavily depended on throughout the world, from providing provisions and stocking up supermarkets to delivering emergency equipment, there is massive pressure on them to get their loads to wherever they need to be.
By working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency, and other logistical support groups, they can support up to 19 Caribbean nations while making their runs.
UPS
UPS Inc. consists of hundreds of UPS facilities in Atlanta that serve the public. That is why their main concern is to have their doors remain open to customers and companies alike in case of a hurricane. According to Rick Garcia, the director of building and systems engineering at UPS, the first thing you would lose in a hurricane emergency is the power, making that their first concern.
In response, they have placed generators near each of their facilities and plan to keep fuel for them on hand. They also plan on making use out of the hundreds of drop boxes that have been placed around the country. Each one contains an abundance of emergency supplies to satisfy any of their needs during this time.
One of the most important things that all of these companies depend on heavily is the ability to see or hear the weather forecasts. Tracking the storm can put them at least a week ahead of it, allowing them to prepare properly and batten down the hatches.
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