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Secure Your Load Team

BACKGROUND

One aspect of the Washington State Department of Ecology’s “Litter and it will hurt” campaign is reaching out to businesses in Washington state. We want to engage companies, employees, and customers to take action to help achieve campaign goals.

The campaign invites parties in the private sector to become campaign partners by implementing secured load policies and practices. We will provide creative ways for organizations to pass the litter prevention message along to employees and customers. Participants will become part of the “Secured Load Team,” receiving a certificate of appreciation signed by the Governor.

BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT OBJECTIVES

• Increase secured load practices among companies in the business of hauling.
• Engage the private sector to educate people who haul their own things about the importance of properly securing their loads.
• Create partnerships with large employers to educate their employees about securing loads, litter, and the litter hotline.

AUDIENCES

The focus of the private sector engagement strategy is to reach customers and employees of businesses that have a stake in litter and secured load issues. As such, our efforts will aim at the following types of businesses.

• Commercial businesses that own fleets of trucks, such as:
• Hauling companies.
• Landscape companies.
• Construction companies.
• Companies that have self-haulers as customers, such as:
• Self-serve hauling companies (for example U-Haul).
• Auto services.
• Home improvement stores.
• Large employers, such as:
• Companies with large numbers of employees in Washington state.

ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES & TACTICS

Ecology plans to put three strategies in place as part of our private sector engagement plan. While they involve working with both businesses and customers, the strategies will educate people about the need to secure loads, provide tools to help people secured loads, or raise general awareness of the litter campaign and litter issues facing Washington.

Strategy #1 - the Washington Secured Load Team: Engage commercial businesses that own fleets of trucks to have them create secured load policies and educate their employees about the issue.

Strategy #2 - Secured Load Retail Partners: Partner with companies that have self-haulers as customers; have them educate their customers about the importance of securing loads and promote the use of secured load tools and equipment.

Strategy #3 - Employee Education Program: Work with large employers to promote litter prevention messages and the hotline to their employee base; make securing loads normal, routine behavior.