TNT, Agility, UPS, and Maersk make up the Logistics Emergency Team (LET) – an emergency response partnership created to support the humanitarian community by providing logistics expertise, human resources, and in-kind services often in the form of logistics assets.
Within 48 hours of receiving a request for support in an emergency response, the LET can be deployed to serve the humanitarian community in countries where member companies already operate, taking advantage of their knowledge of local infrastructure to increase the speed and efficiency of aid distribution.
In response to Typhoon Yolanda, which caused catastrophic damage in the Philippines, particularly in the areas of Samar and Leyte, the LET was immediately requested by WFP, through the Logistics Cluster, to assist with the international and national response operations.
Two Customs Advisors were deployed to Manila and Cebu (the main locations for incoming humanitarian cargo) and a 2,000m2 warehouse was made available in Cebu for the storage of inter-agency relief items. A forklift, with a month’s fuel supply, was deployed to Cebu Airport, where 10 LET staff assisted with palletizing the cargo in order to speed up emergency operations.
In the first few weeks of the response, international militaries provided air assets and capacity at various key airports to support of humanitarian operations. However, after one month the military actors began to scale-down their operations and the gap in equipment at various airports resumed, particularly in Guiuan, where all offloading suddenly had to be done manually. In order to address this gap, the LET mobilized two forklifts for Guiuan Airport, along with trained operators.
In Tacloban, 10 LET staff members were deployed along with two 10-wheeler trucks to aid with inventory on the airstrip and clearing cargo. A 2.5 MT forklift has also been provided to augment loading and offloading capacity. Three warehouse managers and inventory control staff have been deployed, on behalf of the Logistics Cluster, in the three principal locations in support of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) - the Airport, the Port and the DSWD Central Warehouse. An interim tracking system has been introduced in collaboration with the DSWD to streamline operations.
50 containers have recently been provided to facilitate the transport of relief cargo on the WFP-contracted MV Victoria, which will be providing inter-agency transport ex-Cebu to Roxas, Bantayan Island and Tacloban.
The Logistics Cluster, on behalf of WFP, extends its sincerest gratitude to the LET representatives for their rapid assistance, expertise and efficiency, not only recently in the Philippines; but also in all past emergencies in which the LET has continuously offered its invaluable support to the humanitarian community via the Logistics Cluster.
A special ‘thank you’ is due to the local LET staff supporting the Philippines Response, for their commitment, flexibility, and their vital local logistics knowledge.