We need each other

Ok now that I went on about my respect for our drivers I must take the time to emphasize that we ALL NEED EACH OTHER.

Yes, as Paul Arpin would say- " We are nothing without our drivers "  that said we all must recognize that with out the full circle of people involved the driver would not have jobs to put on his trailer and without the proper information he can not do his best.

So in the end we all need each other, the salespeople, the men and women that survey the move, our packers, our agents, our customer care people, our dispatchers, our mechanics and safety departments and yes even our claims department.

In order to have a successful move we ALL need to do our part.

I think of it as we are each a spoke in the wheel, in order to have complete efficiency we need all spokes in tune and at their best.

Respect- take the time to treat each other with respect because we ALL NEED EACH OTHER.

Achievements

It is NOT what you achieve in life BUT
it is who you become during the process of those achievements.

REMEMBERING PAUL ARPIN

http://www.bluetoad.com/publication/?i=97260&p=26

WHY?

I often get asked by many people in the moving business why jobs are late or why an agent may have to pick jobs up or why there was not more labor out on a job , why , why, why-

I understand these questions from people outside of the business or new people just being introduced to the business, but what frustrates me is these questions coming from me from people who have been in the business for decades.
They cock their heads to the side like a dog does when they hear a sound or a whistle and just stare at you.

Where do I even begin.

For one we live a business that is more and more seasonal. In February we booked 8 million lbs of tonnage and in June and July we booked 18 million for EACH of those months- and in a few months we will back to 8-9 million lbs.
It is impossible to rev up for just those few months and think that you will be able to have the same service available to you. It is a miracle that we do what we do. We do what we do because we still have a core of people, agent, drivers and employees that care and work their asses off to try to take care of our customers.

That said the numbers speak for themselves. When you stuff that much work into a short time period you will have breakdowns, both physical and mechanical that will have domino effects on other jobs. Not to mention that you will have more agents picking up work because you just do not have the manpower to get all directs.

I also get that you have to "get it "when it is their. Because we are such a seasonal business you have to take as much as you can to make as much as you can in that short time table.

Paul Arpin would always say that it does not matter how big you are you will never have enough trucks in the summer months to cover all the work. He was so right.

By the end of July people are tired- PEOPLE are tired. Some people tend to forget that we are in the MOVING business and in the end it is the hard work of our drivers that we are built on. And being human they get tired, their trucks get tired and need service.

This is tough industry getting tougher and WE in the industry need to work together to make it better and help our drivers. They are the backbone, sure we need salesman and people getting the work no question- absolutely- but once they GET the work then what?  and more than likely at the end of the day that salesperson goes home at 5 while the driver is finishing loading his truck and getting ready to driver another couple of hundreds miles to do it all over again the next day.

We also need to get the right information in the hands of the people actually doing the work- the worse thing for a driver is to show up the day of a load to find out that there is a shuttle needed or that it is not 8000 lbs but more like 18,000 lbs, - these things happen every day and the driver is left having to figure it out.

Paul Arpin "got it" because he WAS a driver he knew what they do and respected them. We still have a good foundation of people that " get it" and I hope we continue to grow that.
Our current CEO and President David Arpin , Paul's son, also ran the road and was on the trucks. David dispatched with his father when I first started and hired me to take over operations. I respect David as I did his father.

Come August and September every year I always look back in wonder on what we accomplished.
How agents, drivers, employees and all people come together to do the impossible.
Move thousands of families all over the country and all mostly within a 15-18 week period- crazy-

So yes we are unfortunately late on some jobs and may be out later then we want on some loads and may not have the correct amount of labor on all jobs but we ALL do our best and thank GOD for the people that still care and at the end of the day still SEE the customer and their needs and their stress.

It is too easy to stay on the sidelines and and play Monday morning quarterback and ask why this and why that, either get in the game and see people for what they do everyday and try to help this industry and all of the hard blue collar people that are in it OR get out.

As Abraham Lincoln said ,and later quoted by General Pattern-

LEAD ME, FOLLOW ME OR GET OUT OF MY WAY.

Just don't waste my time asking why all day....we have work to do.

1962

1962

• The Beatles' first record, "My Bonnie" with Tony Sheridan, is released by Polydor.
• Adolf Eichmann is hanged in Israel.
• The Rolling Stones make their debut at London's Marquee Club, Number 165 Oxford Street,
• John Lennon secretly marries Cynthia Powell.
• Dr. No, the first James Bond film, premiers in UK theaters.
• October 12 - The infamous Columbus Day Storm strikes the U. S. Pacific Northwest with wind
• gusts up to 170 mph (270 km/h); 46 dead, 11 billion board feet of timber is
• blown down, with $230 million U.S. in damages.
• October 14 - Cuban Missile Crisis begins: A U-2 flight over Cuba takes photos of Soviet
• nuclear weapons being installed. A stand-off then ensues the next day between the United
• States and the Soviet Union, threatening the world with nuclear war.
• October 22 - In a televised address, U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces to the nation the existence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.
• October 28 - Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that he has ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.
• The term "Personal computer" is first mentioned by the media.
• The films "American Graffiti" and "Animal House" are set in 1962.
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) begins color telecast for 3.5 hours a week.
• Diet Rite is the first sugar-free soda introduced.
• Pull tabs on cans are introduced.

Remember the little things

When I review some of the failures in our jobs most of the time it is the small things that make the difference.

In operations I see dispatchers that work very hard and care about their job but because they have so much to do and a lot things to remember to check some times it's the small things or the one question left unanswered that makes the difference.
And in the end that one thing or that one question may have made the difference in a happy customer and a good move.

Same thing with our drivers, time and time again it is because the driver is rushing at the end of a move or the end of a long loading day that makes the difference.

It's the small things that the customer remembers.

A driver may do all the hard things and do a absolute professional job on wrapping and caring for their goods but they just did not take the time to LISTEN to the customer's concerns or to mother that one piece that they cherish.

Sometime it is all about slowing down for that moment in our very hectic day to show that we care.

Remember the small things.

SUMMER