Trucking Before And After FEMA
Editor's Hurricane Andrew relief run back in 1992 had no glitches – and no government involvement.
Jim Winsor
Executive Editor
Hurricane Katrina has kept many fleets very busy, some hauling ice. It seems FEMA contracted for perhaps as much as 1,000 tons of ice to help survivors in Biloxi and New Orleans areas. Much of it ended up in warehouse frozen storage (at taxpayer's expense). November's HDT had some great articles about trucking's role in the disaster.
I reported in my October column about a case where a fleet was fined $850 by Louisiana State Police for being 500 pounds overweight on one axle even though gross weight was OK. The trucker had no way to weigh his load because power was out except at the police weigh scales.
That column prompted more e-mail. Maurice Tetreault, general manager for Abenaqui Carriers, North Hampton, N.H., wrote: "We were contracted by Eagle Dairy/FEMA to haul loads of diesel into Tyler, Miss. While these loads were over on gross weight by 2,900 pounds, we encountered no problems with the first few moves. All went fine, except for the state of Connecticut where we got a $162 ticket, even with all our correct paperwork. The governor was certainly interested in what I had to say. It may take me 2.5 hours to travel to court on this one, but I look forward to it on principle alone."
Things were a lot different back in 1992 when I had the privilege of participating in a relief haul to survivors of Hurricane Andrew in Florida. That's the storm that literally wiped out Homestead, just south of Miami. No such thing as FEMA back then, just great trucking volunteers and police who knocked themselves out to help, not hinder.
Citizens in the Harrisburg, Pa., area responded to local radio announcements about the plight of the Homestead survivors. Businesses and homeowners alike donated tons of relief supplies, dropping them off at churches, YMCAs and other central points. The public-spirited executives of Roadway Express dispatched local drivers to pick up the donations and deliver them to Roadway's terminal in nearby Carlisle, right off I-81 and next to the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Roadway dockworkers stuffed a 48-foot semi to the roof bows with all the donations. Roadway's senior local driver, Uly Bell (now retired) volunteered to make the Florida run. There was no fuss from the Teamsters over giving this charity run to a local driver rather than a regular OTR relay driver. I was second man in the cab.
Our only ID besides the huge ROADWAY trailer lettering were small hand-made signs spelling out "Andrew Relief." We got "thumbs up" at all weigh stations, along with encouraging, flattering CB chatter. Remember, this was long before satellites and cellphones.
Running the Roadway "system" was an eye-opener for me. When we reached Kernersville, a major terminal and service point outside of Winston-Salem, Roadway's service team took our rig through its service/inspection lane. While we laid over, the truck was cleaned, fueled, serviced and safety-inspected in 15 minutes. An Indy pit crew couldn't have done it any better.
We were a "hot" load in the Roadway system and we were treated accordingly.
When we got on the Florida Turnpike, we paid no tolls. Troopers spotted us coming and we had a police escort straight to a large warehouse. Twenty-five volunteers were on hand to strip the trailer and sort everything into various piles for medical supplies, clothing, food, toys and bedding.
From there, local people took over the final distribution. Uly and I headed for Roadway's Miami terminal where our rig was once again fueled and serviced. Was I impressed. This was a top-notch LTL carrier just doing its everyday job. The only thing out of the ordinary was the police escort.
Oh, and by the way, government had nothing to do with any of this – from start to finish. Which is, no doubt, why it all went so smoothly. n
