Exuberance With No Limits . . . Say Howdy Texas style to your friends at United Cargo. Click on photo to zoom & enjoy some face time.

       “The theme of last year’s team meeting was ‘Unstoppable,’ and you really did prove to be unstoppable in 2017,” said Jan Krems, President of United Cargo, kick-starting the team’s recent Annual Worldwide Meeting.
       More than 300 attendees traveled from all across the globe to The Woodlands near Houston and listened intently as Jan put 2017’s achievements and 2018’s plans into perspective. “For this year’s theme, we wanted something to inspire us to take the next step beyond ‘Unstoppable.’ That’s why we chose ‘United Cargo: No Limits!’”
       “The concept of ‘No Limits’ has a number of meanings for our team,” Jan explained later. “First, since we’re gathered in Houston, it celebrates the area’s key role in the exploration of space, along with the courage and ingenuity of the men and woman involved in this great adventure.
       “Next, it represents our team’s attitude as we look toward 2018 and beyond. We’re gratified that we were able to reach many of the goals we set for ourselves in 2017: earning over $1 billion in annual cargo revenue for the first time since 2012, boosting volumes and revenues more than 18 percent year-over-year, and making great strides towards our long-term aspiration and expectation to be the best belly cargo carrier in the world.
       “So the question on everyone’s mind, and the subject of many of our breakout sessions and networking conversations, was ‘where do we go from here?’ We had nearly as many great answers and ideas around that subject as we had attendees, and the entire team is really excited about what we’ll achieve in 2018 with the ‘No Limits’ mindset.”
       The ‘No Limits’ mantra and space exploration connections seemed to be on everyone’s minds and lips throughout the conference—displayed in signage, videos and presentations, discussed throughout six separate breakout sessions, and finally culminating in a fascinating and visually dazzling keynote address from former NASA astronaut Joe Tanner. 
       Taking a last look back at the year that was, Jan added, “Of all the unstoppable achievements of the United Cargo team in 2017, there’s one I’m most proud of. That was our role in shipping over 1.7 million pounds of relief supplies to Texas and Puerto Rico following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.”
       This year’s charity “give-back” session, a highlight of every worldwide meeting, connected United Cargo’s hurricane relief efforts with their award-winning PetSafe program. Attendees teamed up to create 100 beds, toys, and other articles that were donated to a local shelter that aids homeless pets in southeast Texas, and enjoyed personally connecting with the grateful pooches as well.
Geoffrey Arend