UNITED VAN LINES WAREHOUSE TRANSFORMED INTO “COOKIE CENTRAL”

ST. LOUIS – More than 103,250 cases of Girl Scout cookies found a temporary “cupboard” before being delivered to hungry fans in the St. Louis community. A-Mrazek Moving Systems, St. Louis, Mo., an agent of United Van Lines, the nation's largest household goods transportation company, provided storage in its 80,000-square-foot warehouse and transportation for the 848,888 pounds of cookies.

Beginning in February, 67 A-Mrazek employees and crew members started committing time to this project. Once it was time to begin distributing the cookies, A-Mrazek handled the logistics of transporting the cookies from its warehouse to the other distribution centers in Arnold, Festus, Farmington, St. Clair, Hillsboro, Ballwin, South St. Louis and Kirkwood. Beginning at 6 a.m., eight 53-foot tractor-trailers shuttled the cookies from A-Mrazek's warehouse to the distribution locations throughout the day. Once a truck was empty, it would return to A-Mrazek's warehouse to load up more cookies and deliver them to the centers. After all distributions had been made, A-Mrazek's team had invested more than 1,780 hours on the project.

“We are proud to have helped the Girl Scouts distribute their cookies for almost a decade now,” said David Sabada, president of A-Mrazek. “Organizing logistics and transporting important shipments is what A-Mrazek is all about. And I am sure many people would agree that teaching leadership and responsibility to young ladies through the Girl Scout program is invaluable.”

A-Mrazek distributed cookies to more than 1,237 Girl Scout troops. When asked about the greatest challenged faced, accounting manager Betty Miller shared, “Strategically placing multiple cases into a single vehicle can be quite challenging; it's similar to a giant jigsaw puzzle.” Miller said this years' largest distribution went to a troop out of Farmington, Mo., who sold 265 cases (3,180 boxes) of cookies.

Founded in 1904, A-Mrazek Moving Systems, Inc., offers a full range of moving and storage services throughout the country and the world. The company has more than 45 employees, 25 household goods drivers, 13 special services drivers and five local performance crews. More information about A-Mrazek and its services can be found at www.a-mrazek.com.

United Van Lines transports electronic equipment, trade show exhibits and displays, works of art, and specialized freight, in addition to household goods. United, with headquarters located in suburban St. Louis, maintains a network of 1,000 affiliated agencies in 135 countries around the world.