Disaster supply chains depend on ALAN to get the logistics right

When Hurricane Katrina barreled across the Gulf Coast in late August 2005, devastating New Orleans and the surrounding area, the trail of destruction meant one of the largest rebuilding efforts from a natural disaster in the nation’s history was needed.

That rebuilding, though, was slowed by an infrastructure in shambles—roads, electricity, flooding was overwhelmed. Getting supplies into and out of the area was difficult.

The University of Michigan’s Stanley Griffis, the John H. McConnell Professor of Business Administration in the Department of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University, wrote earlier this year on the lessons that supply chains can take away from storms like Katrina.

“Procter & Gamble, for example, had to ship in food, set up a phone center and even dig a well to supply employees’ water. Moving their coffee supply operations temporarily to Kansas City from New Orleans, the company eventually had operations back up within a month,” he wrote. “That’s just one example of organizations dealing with supply chain issues in the midst of devastation caused by a hurricane, whether it’s Katrina, Sandy or Harvey.”

Organizations step up to help

It is not just organizations such as Procter & Gamble that are impacted by a natural disaster. Non-profit organizations such as the American Red Cross and government entities like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) rely on supply chains to perform the life-saving operations they undertake after any disaster.

Fortunately—and unfortunately—for these organizations, Katrina highlighted a gap in the supply chain. The result was the formation of ALAN (American Logistics Aid Network).

“We were formed in 2005 when a bunch of supply chain industry leaders were together at a conference and they all saw the challenges that were happening along the Gulf Coast—chief among those challenges, or I guess among the recognitions, was that the system for providing belief to communities affected by crisis really did not take into account the capabilities of private sector resources,” explained Kathy Fulton, executive director of ALAN. “All of those industry leaders saw that as an opportunity to give back, to use our profession’s assets and skills and knowledge to make a difference.”

Related Podcast

 

Talking Supply Chain: ALAN ensures disaster relief supplies arrive on time

When hurricanes or other disasters strike, logistics become a lifeline for thousands, in some cases even millions of people. And the trucking, logistics and supply chain industries are always ready to help, often working side by side with FEMA and other organizations like the American Red Cross, to provide the supplies communities need not only to survive the immediate aftermath, but to rebuild. But, trucks don’t just arrive at the site of a disaster. They are part of a well-coordinated logistical plan and one of the key organizations involved in these efforts is the American Logistics Aid Network, or ALAN.

Listen in

Fulton, who joined the industry nonprofit in 2010 as director of operations before taking over as executive director in 2014, talked about the mission of ALAN on a recent episode of Supply Chain Management Review’s Talking Supply Chain podcast.

“Our reason for existing is to make it easier for businesses to donate their logistics services or equipment,” Fulton said. “We know who the nonprofits are, who are responding and doing the good work in an area, but maybe just need a little bit of supply chain assistance. We help the nonprofit community to access the generous support of the logistics and supply chain industry professionals.”

ALAN relies on donations, primarily from industry, to support its operations, to assist in any disaster situation. It does not accept supplies but assists nonprofits with logistics and supply chain-related services, including connecting trucking carriers with capacity to agencies in need.

Fulton told a story about a request ALAN received in 2017 during a series of western wildfires.

“We got asked by this animal rescue group if we could help them evacuate their animals. It’s not something that’s typically a fit for us, so we wanted to kind of dive in and understand a little bit more,” Fulton said. “Well, they said, ‘Hey, we’re going to need flatbeds and we’re going to put the tigers and the lions on their cages on the flatbeds.’ And it almost went past me, and I’m like, wait, you’re talking lions and tigers. Are there bears here too? We were able to identify a provider to do it. Fortunately, the fire shifted, got pushed back enough so that we didn’t have to take the animals out of their habitat. But it’s nice to know that there are people willing to do that, should we need them.”

Typical needs

Fulton said dry vans, flatbeds and refrigerated vehicles are always in need. Water is the most common item shipped but there can also be construction supplies for rebuilding. She noted that more nonprofits are now assisting in home repairs following disasters, so they are in need of services that can help keep costs down.

Refrigerated trailers are often used to help set up mobile cooking sites in communities that may be without adequate water and food supplies.

ALAN is always looking for both companies with capacity to donate or for monetary donations to support its efforts. In fact, Fulton said the biggest need ALAN faces is a somewhat surprising need.

“Transportation is by far the biggest and the hardest to fill, which kind of surprises me when I think about just the generosity of our community,” she said. “We know things just aren’t aligning, but there seems to be a little bit of a disconnect. So if you’re out there [and] you want to get involved and you’re a transportation provider, please contact us. We’re actively working on building out our network of transportation providers just so we can help our nonprofit partners better.”

ALAN offers a Supply Chain Intelligence Center as well as a Disaster Micro-Site, both of which are updated with information related to potential and ongoing recovery efforts. There is also an extensive FAQ section on the website that answers many of the questions companies have before getting involved.

If you wish to get involved, reach out to ALAN at alanaid.org.

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