Lockton, Clients Ship Aid to Gulf Coast

Concerned about the time it seemed to be taking to deliver essential aid to areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, Lockton Companies Inc., Kansas City, Mo., arranged direct and immediate shipment of supplies to southern Mississippi and beyond.

“Our Associates wanted to do something significant; we wanted to make a difference,” Lockton Chairman David Lockton said. “It was clear that supplies were not getting to all of the affected area fast enough, so we located the mayor of Pascagoula, asked him what items the city needed, loaded some trucks, and headed south.”

This past weekend, three truckloads of items were delivered directly to Pascagoula, Mississippi. Two of the loads were unloaded at the local Baptist church to approximately 1,500 residents. The third was offloaded at the National Guard distribution center, where a steady stream of people waited in line for the entire day. The three loads were distributed the same day they were unloaded.

“Last Friday, we knew we had to do something,” Kansas City Chief Operating Officer Mark Henderson said. “We are in a unique position: with clients in the transportation, food, and personal items business, we got on the phone, bought items at cost, and arranged for pickup through Yellow Roadway, Terry Dicks Trucking, Contract Freighters, Inc., and USF Corporation. We then had an Associate volunteer to travel to co-orchestrate distribution.”

Lockton plans to send at least three additional loads to areas such as Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi, and Slidell, Louisiana. Past and future deliveries to those in need are made possible by the significant contributions of the company’s motor carrier clients.

Lockton Companies Inc. is the largest independently owned broker in the United States, with 16 offices nationwide and clients in more than 125 countries.