Logistics and Transportation Industry

In recognition of the severe impact of natural disasters, such as the Indian Ocean tsunami, and the significant role of the logistics and transportation industry in disaster response, the CEOs of four leading industry players launched the Logistics and Transportation Industry Humanitarian Workstream (LTHW) at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in 2005. The LTHW group includes UPS, TNT, DPWN/DHL and PWC Logistics, four of the companies most involved in humanitarian relief activities. The World Economic Forum acts as the facilitator.

The LTHW has three main activities:

1) Development of joint Logistics Emergency Teams (LETS) that mobilize to respond to sudden-onset natural disasters and leverage the different resources and competencies of each of the participating companies

2) Development of industry-wide "ground rules" for logistics and transportation companies’ work in disaster response, including responsible public relations, guidelines for in-kind donations, etc.

3) Information and experience-sharing regarding industry participation in disaster response

Guided by the group’s strong emphasis on cooperation with humanitarian actors, the LTHW recently presented the Logistics Emergency Teams concept to the head of the UN Logistics Cluster. The group expects to have a full set of Logistics Emergency Teams operational in South East Asia by the end of the year. For more information on the LTHW, please contact: lthw@weforum.org

The LTHW represents the first industry-wide commitment of any kind for humanitarian relief, and is the model that the HRI is planning to replicate across other industry groups, including Healthcare, IT/Telecommunications, Engineering, Construction, etc.