A Fond Fairwell. to a Great Person and an Outstanding Salesperson! Message from the General Manager Truck Operations, Canada.

Transcription

1 JULY 2014 Message from the General Manager Truck Operations, Canada Jason Wheeler A Fond Fairwell to a Great Person and an Outstanding Salesperson! An exciting summer is upon us with expansion planned for two new locations in BC. Our Terrace facility is currently being renovated and we have started to recruit staff for all positions with the aim of reopening later this summer. Terrace has huge market potential with the container terminals in Prince Rupert, LNG in Kitimat, pipelines planned, and logging exports to China. We have maintained a resident equipment tech in Terrace for the last few years and we have a sales person based there that sells both trucks and equipment. Kelowna is the other new location with a small parts and service facility planned for the West side of town. This will help to increase our footprint and deliver superior customer service to our customers based in the central Okanagan and in BC s 3rd largest city. The BC trucking industry continues to grow and Inland is poised to grow with it. While we have always been strong vocational truck suppliers, we have been putting a lot of time and resources into becoming the highway truck of choice in the BC market. This has meant that we have had to look at how we can work with customers to improve their uptime. Doug Richardson and Larry Seabach have taken on the challenge of streamlining our internal service processes, improving our overall customer service training, and providing a working solution to being able to provide our customers with a timely triage service. All indicators are pointing towards a strong finish to this fiscal year. With all these projects at hand we will be burning the candle at both ends, but the results will be worth the effort. Have a great Summer everyone! There comes a time when we must bid farewell to someone who has contributed so much to both our own business and to our industry. Milena Bileck is that individual, and she has decided to retire and move on to another exciting phase of her life. Milena came to Inland Kenworth in 2003 after spending 25 years in various positions at Thermo King. She started at Inland as a Medium Duty Truck sales representative and quickly proved she had what it took to be a great sales person. While in that role she secured the largest single order of medium duty trucks (41 - T170 s & T370 s to Budget Truck Rentals) Canadian Kenworth had received as of that date. She was promoted to full product line sales a couple of years later and again proved she had the right stuff. She has been invited 5 times to the KENWORTH WORLDS BEST and has been the top sales person at the Langley branch since taking on that role. Milena announced she would be hanging up the spurs effective March 31st although she wanted to complete the deliveries of all the trucks her customers had ordered from her. When word spread that she was leaving, several other customers rushed in to place their orders before she departed. Again, her commitment to her customers shines through as it will most likely be mid-july before she s actually going to get that relaxation she s looking forward to! On June 7th, while attending the British Columbia Trucking Association s annual conference in Kelowna BC., Milena was awarded one of the most prestigious BCTA awards: Honorary Life Membership. This award is reserved for very special individuals who have made such a significant contribution to the Association and the industry. She has served as a member and Chair of numerous committees, including the Associate Executive, Conference and Truxpo Committees. She has also been an active member of the BCTA Executive Board of Directors and the Executive Committees, as well as the BC Professional Driving Championships Committee. As an active and enthusiastic BCTA member for over 25 years, Milena has volunteered her support on numerous other industry events and fund raisers. In 2005 Milena was also presented with the BCTA left to right Louise Yako, President BCTA John Bileck, Milena Bileck Greg Munden, Chairperson BCTA Service to the Industry award for her tireless contribution to the BCTA and the trucking industry as a whole. Milena has enjoyed an impressive career and has earned so much respect and admiration within the BC trucking industry and here within the Inland group. It s safe to say Milena will be sorely missed. Please join me in wishing Milena all the best in her well-deserved retirement. Submitted by Ray Cotton

2 CAMPBELL RIVER BRANCH BranchSPOTLIGHT News from CAMPBELL RIVER Just a few pics from our GRAND OPENING in Campbell River. We had local 99.7 radio station on site, Shoo shoo the clown, Bounce- O-Rama and Equipment Rodeo and of course the monster Skid Steer. We cooked and served 400 hamburgers and 150 hot dogs. It was, from what I could see, our biggest event we have ever had here. A huge effort put in by all the Staff. It was a MONSTER event! Submitted by Carl Sweet VERNON, BC Retirement News from PENTICTON We have joined the global market place in sales! We have just recently sold an off-brand skidder to the New Zealand market. The pictures show how the machine had to be dismantled and put inside a sea can for transport to the other side of the world. Once the axles, tires, blade and all the guarding was off we had to hire the local crane company to lift the 30,000 lb skidder. There was only ½ an inch of room to slide the machine - no room for error! We had to use our Tigercat skidder to push this off-brand unit in for the one way ride to the other side of the planet. Since this sale the client now has been asking for many other types of off-brand machines that we can supply into the New Zealand market! After 40 years with Inland Kenworth Rick Rysz has decided to retire. Rick started with Inland at the original store in Penticton as a farm equipment assembler in Rick transferred to Vernon when the store opened in 1978 Rick was a great employee/mechanic and was always willing to share his knowledge with the rest of his crew and any apprentice that asked for assistance. Rick made the comment, I started in Vernon when the building was new and they are now residing it 36 years later so it is time to retire. Good luck Rick and thanks for all your years of hard work and dedication your willingness to make Inland a better place will be missed. Submitted by Rick Datoff

3 Tech Training Inland Kenworth Montebello hosted twelve students and one teacher from Los Angeles Trade-Tech (LATTC) on a facility tour / open house on May 22nd. The students at Los Angeles Trade-Tech are in the process of becoming certified diesel mechanics and will be looking for full-time employment in the coming months. The focus of the event was to further align ourselves with this trade school that will hopefully provide us with a good source of entry-level mechanics. I went to LATTC and graduated as a diesel tech 20 years ago, I have been involved with their activities and have been a member of their Diesel Technology Advisory Committee for the past 10 years. Their instructors have years of experience and many students get placed right after they graduate. said Jaime Larios, Service Manager at Inland Kenworth Montebello The tour started with a brief history of The Inland Group, the expansion in Southern California, and finished with explanations of the various services performed in Montebello. Jaime Larios and Eric Mariscal, Night Foreman, gave detailed explanations regarding engine in-frame repairs, DPF systems, LNG / CNG systems, the lube pits, and the Body Shop. The students and teacher were impressed and left with a good sense that making the decision to become a diesel mechanic would be a good career; especially at Inland Kenworth FIFA World Cup Brazil To celebrate the opening game of the 2014 World Cup, employees at Inland Kenworth Montebello were invited to wear their favorite national team or club team jersey. Approximately twenty employees wore a wide variety of team jerseys. Teams represented were Barcelona, England, United States, Chelsea, Arsenal, LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders, Brazil, Real Madrid, Chivas USA, and the local favorite Mexico! We also broadcast the first match between Brazil and Croatia on the various televisions around the Parts & Service Departments. Employees and customers appreciated the televised coverage and the festive atmosphere. News from MONTEBELLO Mud Run Submitted by Zachary Bourn LATTC really appreciates the long standing relationship and partnership that we have had with Inland Kenworth. Mr. Jaime Larios and his staff have always gone out of their way to ensure that visits from our Diesel and Related Technology students are a meaningful learning experience. Mr. Zachary Bourn also took time out of his busy schedule to speak to our students and give them an overview of Inland Kenworth and the work performed at the Los Angeles/Montebello location. These types of events expose students to the opportunities in the heavy-duty sector, while allowing our industry partners to provide us with feedback and direction on all of the emerging trends for our industry. said Jess Guerra, Department Chair- Transportation Technologies, LATT Los Angeles Trade-Tech and Inland Kenworth Montebello are currently putting together an internship program for students. The students would spend two days a week at Inland Kenworth whereby they would learn the necessary hands on skills required to succeed as a diesel mechanic while earning class credit. We should have the program running in about 45 days. The Mud Run is an annual event held at the U.S. Marine Base located near San Diego, CA. The course includes militaristic obstacles and tests each participant s endurance. Each team of five runners work together during the course and must complete the race together. At the end of the competition, participants are treated to a celebratory party. On Sunday June 8th, five employees from Inland Kenworth Montebello participated in the World Famous Mud Run held at Camp Pendleton. The employees were Johnathan Marcenari, Moses Soliz, Carlos Martinez, Miguel Partida, and Jesse Villaroel from the Service Department. The group of Johnathan, Moses, Carlos, Miguel, and Jesse finished the course in 2 hours and 6 minutes. All proceeds from the event benefit the U.S. Marines, Sailors and their families stationed at Camp Pendleton.

4 News from SAN DIEGO On March 28th, we had a customer appreciation/retirement party. We had tacos, drinks and cake from 11am-2pm in front of the branch. We ve wanted to do a customer appreciation lunch for quite a while, so we thought that Nancy, our Outside Sales Lady, retiring was the perfect excuse! It went very well and we had a good showing about 100 stopped by to have a quick lunch and chat with staff. Submitted by Jennifer Cortez Chuy Raygoza, Used Truck Salesman, smiled for the camera while customers helped themselves to tacos, rice and beans. Nancy, Outside Sales Lady, chats with hungry customers. Nancy, Outside Sales Lady and John, Parts Manager smile for the camera. While both have been with Inland- San Diego since our opening a little over 2 years ago, John and Nancy have known each other for 18 years. 8 CUSTOMER SERVICE HABITS Claudia Manzo Carson Receptionist/Payables In November 2013 Carson rolled out the 8 Customer Service Habits initiative. Right away the compliment forms were handed in showing the levels of service our team was committed to. At the end of January we had 35 compliments and selected our first grand prize winner of $500. Claudia Manzo was our winner! Claudia started with Inland KW in December 2012 as our Receptionist/Payables. Claudia is the smile you see when you first enter our building and is the smile you hear over the phone when calling into Carson. Claudia prides herself on not only providing excellent service to our customers but has been and extraordinary support to our entire staff. Claudia s efforts impact our business every day. Claudia s good energy, support and willingness to help anyone in need is a valuable asset. We are privileged to have you as part of the Inland Group and Carson team. Congratulations on a job well done. Submitted by Rob Vaughn APRIL 2014 EMPLOYEE SURVEY RESULTS The employee engagement survey was sent out in April again this year. This was the fourth time we have asked all employees to participate in the survey. Although the participation rate was a little lower this year than last year, the results continue to reflect a trend of increased employee engagement. Part of this increased engagement may be due to a focus on Question 5. Throughout the Company, as part of the response to feedback from past surveys, we have all been trying to improve our written Job Descriptions, and improve our efforts at completing Performance Reviews. Question 5 states My Direct Supervisor Has Given Me a Very Clear Understanding of My Job Responsibilities at Inland. For those employees who answered I Strongly Agree, the rest of their scores on the other questions are at minimum ½ point more than the employees who did not respond this way. Please see the chart which illustrates responses to the first six questions. What this means is employees who have been given a clear understanding of their job responsibilities are essentially more engaged, happy employees. If you are one of the employees who could not answer this question with I Strongly Agree, I encourage you to ask your supervisor for a short meeting to make sure you have the opportunity to develop a better understanding of your job expectations. Another good time to seek this type of clarity and have an open discussion is during your annual Performance Review. Submitted by Kent Brownlow Thanks again to all who participated in the survey! Your feedback is greatly valued and appreciated. Congratulations as well to the Branches that won the participation gift card awards Carson (2 awards), Farmington (2 awards), Parker Pacific Langley, Prince George, and Whitehorse!

5 From The Archives

6 News onsafety & Fire extinguisher training took place at the Prince George Branch in Janaury. Not everyone knows the proper use of a fire extinguisher. We had new employees as well as employees who have been here for 35 years. We had 29 employees take part in the correct procedure. Now we just have to remember "PASS" and we are set. P - Point A - Aim S - Squeeze S - Sweep from PRINCE GEORGE Captain Cure Here in Prince George on May 10 - May 11, the 22nd annual Relay for Life fundraiser to help raise funds to cure cancer was held. The stadium was filled with 147 teams and about 1450 participants who walk for 24 hours. At midnight there is a candle light service to remember those who have been affected by this disease. More than one employee from our branch participated in this relay. Pictured is one of our mechanics, Dale Trenholm (the hat with the horns) with his team Captain Cure who raised $5, For every $ this team raised they walk a block down our main street in their beach wear. What a sight to see! By the time the 24 hour event wrapped up, the Prince George relay had raised $520,000. CHARITY Submitted by Vivian Biederman Pictured is Amanda Langevin and Dan Kokesch Wearing Jeans for Charity The ladies in the front office wear jeans to work every Friday and paid $2.00 each to do so! The money was saved over the year and at Christmas they found a family to sponsor. Customers and staff helped out with donations of food and money to buy more gifts. They family was very overwhelmed and very greatful to know that there is still people out there who care. Crane Training Left to Right Amy Hartley, Kendall Magnant, Amanda Langevin, Erica Podd is one of the safety items to be completed by all the branches. Pictured above is our train the trainer Duane Ladwig, training our employees, Hugo Timmers, Isaiah Stevens, and Shaun Hendrickson. Duane shows hand signals which the employees follow as per the guidelines. Thanks goes out to all those who help fight to cure cancer. NEXT ISSUE Tom Willcox has been working with us at Home Office in Sales & Marketing during the summer months while he has spent the winter months attending the University of Memphis on a Track & Field scholarship. Congratulations to Tom on his graduation in June, and his new Bachelor of Arts degree with a focus on Public Relations! Congratulations to all our employees for passing this training. Tom is now working with Ian Carpenter for the next few months, assisting with the implementation of our new Customer Relations Management (CRM) system. Tom has also volunteered to be the guest editor for Inland Info s next edition due to be published in October Please send your interesting articles and pictures to Tom directly at twillcox@inland-group.com