PHOENIX — HELP Inc., owner and provider of PrePass weigh station bypassing and other advanced truck safety and toll payment technologies, and Alinda Capital Partners, one of the world’s largest and most experienced infrastructure investment firms, have joined together for a new strategic partnership to further advance HELP’s mission of highway safety and efficiency.
HELP, a non-profit 501(c)(3) public charity, is governed by a board of directors comprised of an equal number of state government agency and trucking industry representatives, ensuring that solutions and services that support and enhance public safety are balanced between safety and freight efficiency. Upon receiving HELP board approval in late May, Alinda completed the acquisition of HELP’s contractor, CVO Holding Co., which will continue to provide contractual services to HELP.
Founded in 1993, HELP was the first non-profit public-private partnership dedicated to advancing the safety and efficiency of the commercial transportation industry.
As of July 30, PrePass has provided over 818 million safe truck bypasses of open weigh facilities throughout the U.S., saving the motor carrier industry over $6.1 billion in operating costs. In the same timeframe, PrePass reduced truck-related pollution by 722,718 metric tons, the equivalent of taking 128,903 automobiles off the road, according to Karen Rasmussen, HELP’s chief executive officer.
Alinda, formed in 2005, has made significant investments in leading transportation assets such as Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom and the Virginia International Gateway (VIG) container terminal in Norfolk, Virginia.
Heathrow recently won U.K. parliamentary approval to build a third runway to approximately double Heathrow’s capacity, and VIG is embarked on an expansion in partnership with the Virginia Port Authority that will nearly double the terminal’s capacity.
“We are thrilled to enter into this strategic partnership with HELP,” said ChrisBeale, Alinda’s managing partner. “We want to support HELP in its important safety mission and to assist HELP to expand its technology and safety offerings to government agencies and the trucking industry. Alinda and HELP also strongly support the emissions benefits of bypassing safe, compliant trucks.”
“The HELP board viewed Alinda’s partnership proposal as an intriguing next step to providing even greater innovation and continuous improvements to customer service in achieving our mission of highway safety,” Rasmussen said. “We are excited about the evident synergies of the HELP-Alinda strategic partnership and look forward to a close working relationship that will benefit all our stakeholders – government, the trucking industry and the motoring public alike.”
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