Truckers passing through Mississippi have an opportunity to donate as little time as one hour to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
“I need some trucks, really bad,” says Steve Boudreaux, director of safety and compliance for the Mississippi Trucking Association.
Boudreaux is working with three groups that have distribution points around Jackson, Miss., to coordinate transportation for supplies needed for relief and recovery efforts throughout southern Mississippi. Mississippi suffered the greatest devastation when Katrina hit the Gulf Coast Aug. 29.
Boudreaux fields calls from Mississippi Emergency Management Agency evacuee shelters requesting supplies. It’s his job to line up trucking companies willing to donate trucks, trailers and drivers.
“It’s not too bad so far,” he says. “But my resources are starting to dry up. People can only do so much.”
Because aid is needed in so many areas, Boudreaux can dispatch trucks on runs that take as little as an hour, he says. Carriers simply need to call him in advance, and he will have the load waiting for them; arrangements will be made to have it unloaded when it reaches its destination.
“I can pretty much set them up however they want,” he says. “I get a load hauled. They get a big heart.”
To donate trucks, trailers and drivers, call Boudreaux at 601-354-0616.
