The Log Book is a weekly rundown of human-interest stories related to the transportation industry. This week: CMA CGM works to restore millions of oysters in Chesapeake Bay, J.B Hunt supports the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Goodyear starts accepting nominations for the Highway Hero Award.
CMA CGM plans to restore 5.5 million oysters
Global shipper and logistics company CMA CGM Group announced this week it plans to partner with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) to join the Chesapeake Oyster Alliance, a group of 75 organizations in Maryland and Virginia that are working toward adding 10 billion oysters to the bay by 2025.
For the Chesapeake Bay, oysters provide water purification, filtering up to 50 gallons a day per oyster. The oyster reefs in the area also provide an underwater habitat for more than 300 species, which have seen a decline in population over the years due to oyster overharvesting, disease and pollution.
In the announcement, CMA CGM stated it has committed to adding 5.5 million juvenile oysters to help reach that goal.
This week, in an effort to reach that goal, 50 CMA CGM staff members constructed 75 future homes for 100,000 juvenile oysters to deliver to the CBF’s oyster gardening program volunteers. These volunteers will hang these homes from docks and after a year, will place the adult oysters in restored reefs to continue rehabilitating the oyster population.
“CMA CGM is proud to play a role in this important initiative to help restore the ecosystem and biodiversity of the largest estuary in the U.S.,” said Heather Wood, CMA CGM’s director of sustainability for North America.
“The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is doing incredible work in conservation, and we are fully mobilized to help them reach their goal of planting 10 billion oysters in the Bay by 2025. This operation also highlights the commitment of the CMA CGM Group and its staff members to protect biodiversity,” said Wood.
J.B. Hunt gives $1.25 million for suicide prevention
On Tuesday, J.B Hunt Transport Services Inc. announced it has contributed $1.25 million towards the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) to help educate communities on mental health and suicide prevention.
“We have an enormous opportunity to prevent suicide, but we cannot do it alone,” said Robert Gebbia, CEO of AFSP.
“We are grateful for J.B. Hunt’s commitment to bring suicide prevention education into communities across the country, and optimistic about the positive impact our collaboration will make in reaching our goal to reduce the annual suicide rate 20 percent by the year 2025,” said Gebbia.
The supply chain solutions company plans to leverage the partnership with AFSP to build its own suicide prevention education program at J.B. Hunt and within its local communities.
A few days prior to the announcement, the company joined AFSP for its Out of the Darkness Walk on Sept. 26, to observe National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.
At the September virtual event, Mark Greenway, senior vice president of human resources at J.B. Hunt, explained that in January, the company partnered with WebMD Live to launch a national telehealth service for mental well-being, which saw a 400% increase in the number of calls from workers who wanted to talk about how to deal with isolation after the pandemic.
Green also announced that J.B. Hunt plans to launch a digital health and well-being benefit through the mobile app Spring Health in 2022 with hopes that employees will use it as a daily tool to express how they are feeling and coach them through those thoughts with mental health professionals.
“The effects of suicide are felt across all cultures, ages, races and genders,” said Stuart Scott, executive vice president and chief information officer at J.B. Hunt. “Now, more than ever, we want to lend support to new, inclusive and innovative ways to positively impact those who are at risk for suicide or struggling with their mental health.”
Goodyear opens nominations for Highway Hero Award
On Tuesday, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. announced it has opened up nominations for the 37th Goodyear Highway Hero Award to honor truck drivers who continue to put the good of others before their own.
“We designed the annual Goodyear Highway Hero Award decades ago to honor the heroic efforts of professional truck drivers who act as first responders on the highway,” said Gary Medalis, Goodyear’s director of product marketing.
“These drivers are at the center of the trucking industry and are seldom recognized for their important role in keeping the global supply chain moving. The Goodyear Highway Hero Award is our way of shedding light on the merits of this profession and rewarding those who go above and beyond in their duty.”
The last winner, U.S. military veteran Paul Mathias, earned the award in 2019 after jumping out of his truck to help save a mother and her two children after their vehicle was struck by an SUV at a red light. Mathias was able to help the mother perform CPR on her son and daughter until emergency services arrived at the scene. The son survived while the daughter tragically died during CPR.
“We are proud to add Paul Mathias to our list of Goodyear Highway Heroes,” said Medalis at the 2019 event. “His leadership, courage and willingness to help a family in crisis exemplify the spirit of this award.”
Due to COVID-19, no winner was selected in 2020.
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