- by Katie A Lowe
At Associated Terminals, we cultivate a familial bond within our team which is why we are so delighted to partake in creating such fond memories with employees and their families while celebrating our beautiful Earth. This Earth Day we came together at City Park to not just enjoy the company of our team members, but to enjoy the beautiful community and environment around us. Team members and family members joined together on the lawn of the Louisiana Children’s Museum for a fun-filled Saturday packed with lots of games, relaxation, and a delicious barbecue lunch.
While some children chose to make their earth-friendly creations such as DIY birdhouses, others got their faces bedazzled at the glitter bar. Children and adults alike all seemed to love making life-size bubbles with Bubble Lady Linda, as well as getting their cartoon character drawn to take home a comical souvenir. Some highlights of the day were watching everyone play in the blow-up soccer arena, playing putt-putt golf, and enjoying dessert at our gourmet popsicle stand. We would like to thank the students and faculty of John Ehret High School for leading field day activities on this special day.
We are continuously committed to making a positive difference in the lives of our team members, as well as their families, and our surrounding community. We recognize that without the work of our excellent team every day, our success in this industry would not be possible.
Every day is Earth Day at Associated Terminals and Turn Services. Every day we commit to shaping a happy, healthy internal and external environment on the job. In our policy, it states our activities must “Protect the environment, prevent pollution, and seek improvements in the efficient use of natural resources.” Thus, we consistently comply with environmental laws and regulations, and aim to improve our management of the environment and resources.
Environmental consciousness also manifests itself in our Destination Zero mission statement, being “Zero Incidents, Zero Injuries, and Zero Harm.” Zero Harm outlines our pledge to recognize our responsibility to the communities we work with, while improving the lives of our team and their families that live on the other side of the levee. We strive to do so by monitoring our environmental impact at every turn, and throughout every single decision-making process. It is vital to us that we maintain our focus on protecting our waterways.
The United States Department of Transportation shows data that barges are far more efficient energy and gas wise than trucks, rails, and units. Despite utilizing such less amounts of fuel, one barge can carry the equivalent of 60 trucks worth of materials. According to the Eastman Study, one truck uses 164% of the fuel used for one barge. Reports show barges use around three gallons of fuel for every 1000 ton-miles traveled, the lowest of any shipment mode. Associated Terminals and Turn Services chooses to transport materials using barges opposed to all else when feasible, as it conducts a more efficient process while emitting only a fraction of fuels while doing so.
