Bennett Motor Express, LLC Carries New Hope to Cancer Patients

February 1, 2008 (ATLANTA)

It’s often said that the best things come in small packages, but for the Roberts Proton Therapy Center at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, it came in a 225-ton package, delivered by Bennett Motor Express, LLC (“Bennett”).

That package is a particle accelerator (cyclotron) that will be used for proton therapy, a pioneering form of radiation treatment available to cancer patients in only a handful of cities around the country. The potentially lifesaving treatment delivers higher, more controlled doses of radiation to minimize damage to surrounding healthy tissue and vital organs, and is particularly useful in pediatrics.

“When cancer patients come to see us for cancer care at Penn, they will now have access to the most advanced radiation therapy­including proton therapy­along with cutting edge chemotherapy and surgical care,” said Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

The massive particle accelerator’s delivery required Bennett to use 75 trucks (two of which weighed 120 tons each and one 19-axle vehicle), to secure extensive permitting from the State of Pennsylvania as well as the City of Philadelphia, and even to construct a temporary road to the site to finish the job.

“Moving the equipment required the expertise of a company like Bennett, which is one of the few transport companies that possesses the specialized knowledge and vast experience to move a machine of this magnitude and fragility from port to site,” said Joe Robbins, who coordinated the move.

The rare technology originated from Antwerp and landed at the Port of Philadelphia on its way to the Roberts Proton Therapy Center, the largest and most fully integrated proton therapy center in the world, according to Dr Hahn.