Teamsters get cargo to Fargo
By Mikkel Pates
The Forum
In one fell swoop, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and friends flew in five semi-loads of lettuce, fruit and other flood relief items to Fargo on Thursday.

The supplies came to the North Dakota Air National Guard’s 119th Fighter Wing in Fargo in a C5A aircraft.

The plane came from California under the command of the Air National Guard based at Stewart Air Base in New York City. It is the biggest four-engine cargo transport in the Air Force. On the ground, it measures 130 feet from the ground to its tail tip.

On top of that, a convoy of eight more semi-trailers are expected in Fargo on Sunday, said Dean Cypher, president of Teamsters Local 116 in Fargo.

"Even after the water goes down, people will need a lot of things," Cypher says. "There’ll be one semi of cleaning supplies, another of canned food, two semis with assorted men’s and women’s clothing and three semi loads of water."

Five Fargo area trucking companies donated 48-foot trailers for the effort. The trucks will go through the Salvation Army system in Fargo. Some will be sent directly to distribution centers in Grand Forks.

The relief started with a Teamsters’ e-mail from Local 116 to locals throughout the country.

"I figured it would happen," Cypher said of the response. "Whenever there’s a national disaster and the call goes out it happens. It’s a great organization to be a part of."

The relief is being coordinated by California Emergency Food Link, a relief organization in Sacramento that employs Teamsters, said Kevin Meyer, Local 116 secretary-treasurer.

"That’s all they do," Meyer says. "Any disaster, they go out and get donations for food and other items. They did a bunch of that in northern California with the floods."

Col. Mike Haugen, commander of the 119th Fighter Wing, said the effort was mostly a surprise.

Haugen heard about the possibility on Wednesday evening but it wasn’t confirmed until Thursday. National Guard volunteers were scrambled to help unload the plane.

The C5A normally doesn’t come to Fargo, Haugen said. Coincidentally, there were four landings of C5As in Fargo last week with equipment deliveries from Germany. Special equipment had to be brought in from Minneapolis to unload them.

Cypher said the Teamsters chose to unload the planes in Fargo instead of Grand Forks because of the availability of facilities to handle perishable foods.