Very interesting discussion so far, but i think folks lost focus for a
minute. The University of Texas Medical Branch is located on Galveston
Island. There is only one route off of the island in case of a
hurricane.

Lets look at the problem from a logistical standout point. To make it
simple lets consider that we need to load and move 10,000 boxes within
a 48 hour period of time. If a pallet holds 40 boxes we will require
250 pallets. As others have stated a 48' trailer will hold 22 pallets.
Therefore we would required 12 trailers.

10,000/40 = 250 pallets

250/22 = 11.36 48foot trailers or 12 trailers.

Other items to consider how long will it take to
pull,inventory,palletize,shrinkwrap and load a pallet onto the truck.

Will you be able to find 12 trailers for rent? How many tractors will
you need to pull the trailers? And how far away will you take the
trailers. Now the one thing you won't need to do is unload the
trailers at their destination. make sure the trailers are locked,
sealed and under surveillance in a fenced-in area. preferable with
guards and video-surveillance.

How fast does it take to move 10,000 boxes? Well several years ago at
another employer in a far far place, my staff and I had to move that
amount in a three day period of time. We used 5 electric pallet jacks
(two were always recharging). The records were located on the fifth
floor of an office building. The move started on a Friday holiday so
we had no interference from office workers. It took coordination and
time.

I can't imagine doing that with a hurricane approaching.

What would I do? I would identify your vital and critical records.
Determine what their frequency of use is and if it is low move them to
a location that is not as vulnerable as Galveston. (which says a lot
for the Houston area). I would look into imaging or duplicating the
information if cost-justified. I would contract with some OTR trucking
companies in advance for the movement of the records if needed. and
finally I would establish a contract with one of the disaster recovery
companies such as BMS-CAT or Munters for their services before the
next hurricane season.

also consider where you items are located. here is a map that shows the area

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&ss=University%20of%20Texas%20Medical%20Branch&cp=29.31276~-94.777997&style=h&lvl=16&scene=3406385

http://shrinkster.com/b8h

be sure to click on the birds eye view

anyway those are my thoughts

peterk

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