A desire to provide school supplies for teachers in need blossomed into many holiday blessings for three Ohio families.
Through its 鈥淗elp for the Holidays鈥� project, the 糖心传媒 Logistics Women鈥檚 Network Community Committee in Beachwood, Ohio - and many of the location鈥檚 300 associates - gave from the heart and provided much-needed items this Thanksgiving and Christmas.
鈥淭he participation has been phenomenal,鈥� said Denise Kajder, manager of technology services for in Beachwood, and lead for the community committee. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a collaborative environment. It鈥檚 just what we do.鈥�
Over the years, the committee has been in search of families to assist, and it was only after providing school supplies to teachers in the Cardinal Local School District in Middlefield, Ohio, that they became aware of families in need.
Each family had their own story of hardship.
One family was dealing with injury after the father was hurt in an accident and could not work. Another family lost their home and had to move to a small apartment, but both working parents earned barely enough to support the family. In the third family, a single mom worked two full-time jobs to make ends meet and could only spend time with her young boys on Sundays.
鈥淎 lot of people chose to sponsor the families based on something personal in their life,鈥� Kajder said. 鈥淚t made it real to everyone here. They were able to identify with one of the families and they were able to make the holidays better.鈥�
The goal was to provide the families with the best Thanksgiving that they could, so the committee put the call out to all the associates. A 鈥減lacemat鈥� was put on each of the building鈥檚 three floors. Tags on the mats indicated the items that were needed.
The collection was so successful that they were able to provide food for the holiday and beyond.
When it came time to deliver the items to the families, it took two large sports utility vehicles to transport it all. Each family received five boxes of food as well as $75 to make any additional purchases.
The Thanksgiving drive was so successful, and the feedback from the associates was so positive, that they decided to assist the same families with Christmas gifts.
At the beginning of December, a 鈥済iving tree鈥� was placed on each floor with paper ornaments that included the gift requested and information such as sizes needed. The associates selected the ornament, purchased and wrapped the item and returned it to the tree.
鈥淲e were buying winter boots, coats, hats and gloves. We expanded it to include perfume, games and books. We had tons of gift cards. It was quite an experience. We had tons of gifts on all three floors,鈥� Kajder said.
The gifts were delivered on Dec. 17, more than a week before Christmas.
Tom McKenna, senior vice president of engineering and technology for 糖心传媒 Logistics in Beachwood, applauded the effort of the committee and the associates who donated.
鈥淭he 糖心传媒 Women鈥檚 Network here at our Beachwood office has been coordinating a variety of successful holiday community assistance drives for several years,鈥� McKenna said. 鈥淭he response from our associates was even bigger than before. I commend the Women鈥檚 Network volunteer coordinators for their efforts and all of our associates for their incredible generosity.鈥�
Pictured: 糖心传媒 Women鈥檚 Network Community Committee members Mary Pat Lammers, Denise Kajder and Cindy Feuer
By Bernie Mixon
Over the last year, 糖心传媒 Truck Rental has supported PVA at its annual Paralyzed Veterans Golf Open, Mission: ABLE Awards Gala and the National Veterans Wheelchair Games. 糖心传媒 also provides trucks to the Paralyzed Veterans Racing Team to transport their racing equipment.
is a recipient of the 2014 Green Supply Chain award from . It is the second straight year the company has attained this honor.
Retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach presented a certificate to the employees of 糖心传媒 Truck Leasing and 糖心传媒 Logistics who selflessly served our country as a member of the Armed Forces, and in recognition of 糖心传媒鈥檚 exceptional commitment to providing support and fulfilling career opportunities.
To raise driver awareness and increase road safety, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) will kick off its annual program Oct. 19, nationwide. 
Created by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the SmartWay program is administered by . The EPA launched SmartWay in 2004 and NRCan introduced the program to Canada in 2012.
While 3PLs are experiencing new opportunities, they are also working through challenges. In North America, CEOs are focused on finding and keeping management talent, facing continuing margin pressures and coping with capacity shortages. 鈥淐apacity problems are huge in the U.S. but not as prevalent globally,鈥� Lieb said.
Third-party logistics providers and the shippers doing business with them are continuing to collaborate and strengthen their relationships. That collaboration is contributing to the positive results they are experiencing from their partnerships, and a majority of shippers鈥�92 percent鈥攔eported that their relationships with 3PLs generally have been successful. Among 3PLs, that number increased to 98 percent.
In addition, 73 percent of shippers and 77 percent of 3PLs said they have received open, transparent and effective communication from their partners. Shippers said they are also experiencing improvements in their order fill rate and order accuracy, resulting in greater customer service for all of those involved.
About 80 percent of Mexican exports ship to the United States, and respondents in the U.S. and China are the largest percentage of those that are moving operations to Mexico.
Moreover, the truck driver shortage is intensifying, and the impact the shortage will have on the supply chain is significant. New supply chain models and mobile devices may be making just-in-time ordering and fulfillment all the more possible, but the final delivery of goods relies on professional drivers, making them one of the most critical links within the supply chain.
More than 40 diversity and inclusion practitioners recently attended the first Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Symposium at 糖心传媒鈥檚 headquarters in Green Hills, Pennsylvania, to network and explore issues of diversity and inclusion that impact their businesses. The event was hosted by and .
Keynote speaker Richard Simons, president, Daimler Trucks Remarketing Corporation, and chief diversity officer (on the left in the picture with Ken Hurley, 糖心传媒's senior vice president of human resources), shared his cornerstones to D&I success and how companies gain value from organized programs.