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Coyote Teams Up With UPS Foundation, Maersk & Nonprofit Logistics Leaders for Turkey Earthquake Relief

Our commitment to helping transport vital relief freight is just as strong for disasters on the other side of the world as it is here in the U.S.

We recently worked with the UPS Foundation, Maersk, Good360, Lift Nonprofit Logistics and the Kale Foundation to help coordinate a shipment of aid supplies to communities in Turkey that are still recovering from February’s devastating earthquakes.

It was truly a team effort to coordinate transportation across and on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and it’s a testament to the entire team’s collaborative spirit and commitment to making a positive difference.

Stepping Up to Meet an Ongoing Need

Two powerful earthquakes of 7.5 and 7.8 magnitude struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on Monday, February 6, 2023, destroying buildings throughout the region and killing more than 12,000 people.

But as the media’s attention has moved on in the wake of this catastrophe, the need for relief has not ceased. Communities continue to suffer from a lack of basic necessities, as infrastructures and supply chains have not yet returned to their normal state.

With this in mind, we pooled our resources and expertise to move 12 full trailers (458 pallets weighing over 127,000 kg) of relief goods including clothing, bedding, diapers, wipes, food, KIND bars, first aid kits, hygiene care, feminine care items, tents and solar power lights from the U.S. to Turkey.

The goods transported were distributed by Good360 and donated by Amazon, Hello Bello, Nice-Pak, KIND, CVS Health, AmerisourceBergen, Cora, LuminAID, Coyuchi, Sew Purposeful, YouGiveGoods (Fidelity), and NPO partners Hands in Service and United Way of Lee County.

We executed this complex move in the following steps:

  • Coyote procured carriers to move 12 trailers from Orlando and Jacksonville hubs into loading position at the LIFT Nonprofit Logistics warehouse the week preceding flight departures.
  • Once loaded at LIFT’s facility, Coyote secured transportation to move the trailers to South Carolina where the final cargo air build up was performed at Maersk’s Air Cargo facility at Greenville-Spartanburg Intl. Airport.
  • The shipment completed a transatlantic flight from Greenvile-Spartanburg to Frankfurt-Hahn in Germany aboard a Maersk-owned Boeing 747.
  • Maersk coordinated over-the-road delivery of the freight to Gaziantep, Turkey, where it was distributed locally by the Kale Foundation.

Identifying an Opportunity to Collaborate

This effort was set in motion when humanitarian logistics leaders from Coyote, LIFT, Good360 and Maersk met at the Natural Disaster Expo, a conference held in Miami in March to highlight solutions to environmental catastrophes.

It’s an example of the importance of keeping our eyes and ears open for opportunities to execute meaningful shipping projects we couldn’t pull off on our own and for continuing to build a community of like-minded logistics professionals.
Turkey earthquake relief freight team with 747

[Pictured left to right: Damian Morales, Good360; Michael Rettig, LIFT Nonprofit Logistics; Michelle Pearson, Maersk; Zach Gilstrap, Coyote Logistics]

“Projects like this show the power of supply chain experts and providers working together to maximize our collective impact,” said Zach Gilstrap, Humanitarian Logistics Manager at Coyote Logistics. “We’re proud to support the delivery of critical aid to Turkey with our global logistics capabilities, and we express our gratitude to all the generous organizations that donated supplies.”

Continuing to Build a Truly Global Response Team

We’re proud of the internal team and processes we’ve built to respond quickly and in a meaningful way in challenging circumstances both here in the U.S. and around the world.

And we are honored to both work with such dedicated and skilled collaborators in this effort and to continue to build bridges with them for future initiatives.

Learn more about how the UPS Foundation, Maersk, Good360, LIFT Nonprofit Logistics and the Kale Foundation support humanitarian freight and relief efforts.