October 2007
The Dolan Doodle
V. Dolan Trucking, Inc.
Volume 1, Issue 7
What does being on time mean? By Randy Hartlieb
All of us know that being late for an appointment whether, it’s with the dentist or doctor, isn’t
accepted well by the receptionist. Sometimes your appointment will be canceled or you’ll
have to re-schedule it. If you notice, their nice warm welcome has now become unfriendly
and they seem irritated with you. Your tardiness has now created a chain reaction that could
have been avoided. They need to reschedule your appointment and move other appointments around to keep their day on track. This may seem like an exaggeration, but the point is
Safety First
that if you’re late you affect someone else’s schedule. That someone is “Our customers!”
When that happens the office gets a phone call from our very unhappy customer(s). Being late to the
plant or to the job is happening too often and it’s becoming an issue that needs to be addressed.
Several weeks ago Erik, our Vice President, distributed a voicemail to all company drivers regarding “being
on time …” Your dispatch time is the time that you are to be AT the plant checked in, weighed in, and in
line to be loaded (with the exception of quarries that have restrictions i.e. Dutra San Rafael). This doesn’t
mean you’re “leaving the yard”, “waiting at the light a block from the plant,” or “pulling in the gate”; believe me, we’ve heard these excuses and more. Remember the sign when you’re leaving the yard “All
eyes are on you…” Tom Brandal, while recently getting his hair cut, was approached by a Petaluma Police
Officer (being around for over 50 years, you get to be known in your hometown). He was told that the Officer had recently given one of “his” trucks a ticket for speeding.
V. Dolan Trucking has surpassed the competition in our area of operation! We are providing excellent customer service, competitive rates, clean and safe equipment, and most importantly SAFE QUALIFIED DRIVERS.
You all have heard this before, you are the image of V. Dolan Trucking! When our trucks show up to the job,
our customer expects you to be on time and ready to work providing the SERVICE they deserve. In some of
my recent negotiations with customers, being the low bidder wasn’t always what they are looking for; they
want to know that the job is going to get done and that we’re going show up and on time. Look at these
numbers- our hourly rate ranges between $88 to $95 dollars per hour. When we are dispatched to a NBC or
Argonaut paving job, their hourly rate for their whole crew and equipment is $1000 to $1200 per hour; that’s
an average of $18.30 per minute. Listen, being late to load or show up to the job is a HUGE DEAL, because it
costs “somebody money”, oh, and guess who pays for crews standing around waiting for a “late” truck?
Being on time is professional, let’s all work on this area that needs some improvement. Thanks!
Some things to keep in mind:
-
Plan your route ahead of time
Allow adequate time in the yard for your pre-trip inspection
If you’re not sure of your dispatch directions, don’t wait until you are leaving the
yard to ask somebody.
Allow time for traffic; if you’re not sure please ask a co-worker, Ken or I.
Communicate with your dispatcher!
Comic Corner ~ Secret of a Long Marriage
At a meeting of the church men's group, the upcoming 50th wedding
anniversary of Brother Ralph came up.
The minister asked brother Ralph to take a few minutes and share some
insight into how he had managed to stay married to the same woman all those
years.
"Basically I treated her with respect and spent money on her, but mostly I
took her traveling on special occasions," was Ralph's reply.
"Like to where?" the minister asked.
"Well, for our 25th wedding anniversary I took her to Beijing, China."
"Wow! What a terrific example you are to all the members of our group," said
the minister. "Can you tell us what you're doing for your 50th?"
To that Brother Ralph replied "I'm going back to get her."
Diesel Engines-
Fact vs. Fiction
Fiction: Diesel engines must be warmed up utilizing long idle periods, especially in cold weather.
Fact: Today’s truck and engine manufactures often recommend a warm
up time of less than 5 minutes.
Fiction: Idling is cost effective because it saves fuel.
Fact: Idling for more than 10 seconds uses more fuel than restarting the
engine.
Fiction: It’s better for the engine to run at low, idling speeds than to run at regular speeds.
Fact: Running the engine for extended periods of time at low speed (idling)
causes more wear on internal parts than running the engine at normal
driving speeds.
Letting your engine warm up is important for safe operation of your truck.
If we could reduce the idle time of the companies trucks by one hour per year per truck it would save the
company approximately 3150 gallons of fuel and $11,025 dollars in the cost of the fuel.
Lets try and reduce the idle time as much as possible.
Page 2
The Dolan Doodle
Thoughts from the shop:
The yard speed limit is 5 MPH. Please slow down when driving in and around the yard. The mornings
and afternoon are the busiest times around the yard, so please be careful so that no one gets hurt.
The shop is not a meeting place. We have a break room for you to meet in. If you need to see Dan or
Les come and ask what you need to but chatting is for the break room.
Post trip inspections are just as important as pre trip inspections. If you find something wrong with
your truck let the shop know in the afternoon so we can get the repairs done.
Letting your engine warm up is important for safe operation of your truck.
The rainy season is right around the corner. If you need wiper blades now is the time to let us know so
you can see better when the wet weather arrives.
If you need to reach the shop for any reason, call Dan first. If I don’t have an answer for your question I’ll get Les to help out.
If there is anything that you need from the shop to help make your job safe and easier
to do please let us know and we will do what we can to help.
Drive safe and have fun,
Dan
Policy Prompt ~ Personnel Records
Access to personnel files and/or payroll records are restricted to employees of the Administration Department, the employee’s supervisor or manager and VDTI’s Officers. With reasonable notice to the Administration Department, an employee may review his/her own personnel file and/or payroll records in the presence of an employee of the Administration Department.
Employees should promptly notify the Administration Department of any changes in address, telephone, marital status,
name of dependents listed on insurance policies, number of allowances for withholding tax purposes, or person to notify
in case of emergency.
Please make sure you complete each tag by adding in the return time. To do this use the Return Time and
Stop Time Calculation area on the middle right side of the tag. Many tags are being turned in incorrectly (if
you end where you started the 1st load there is not return time)
Your employee number and number of loads needs to be put on each tag too!
If you are unsure how to do these please see Tori for an explanation. Thanks!
Volume 1, Issue 7
Page 3
V. Dolan Trucking, Inc.
Did you know…..
Valid Dependability Through Impeccable Service
PO Box 1090
Penngrove, Ca 94951
Phone: 707-664-1409
Fax: 707-769-9120
Email: [email protected]
The opposite sides of a dice cube always add up to
seven
A square piece of dry paper cannot be folded in half
more than 7 times
Eskimos use refrigerators to keep food from freezing
Check out our NEW website
www.vdolantrucking.com
If you stack one million US$1 bills, it would be 361 ft
high and weight exactly 1 ton
The can opener was invented 48 years after cans were
introduced
October Birthdays
Oct 14th
Joe Panfiglio
Oct 15th
Joe McCormick
Oct 17th
Tom Brandal
Oct 18th
Oct 19th
Francisco Navarrete
September Employment
Anniversaries
Joe Panfiglio
3 yrs
Brain Hendrickson 1 yr
William Roi
1 yr
Bill Harris
“A truly happy person is one that
can enjoy the scenery on a detour”
HAPPENINGS HERE AND THERE
Bill Harris had a heart attack on September 6th, he is out of the hospital
and doing good, He thanks you for all your thoughts and prayers for him!
Ryan with UBS (our 401(k) manager) will be here on Friday, October 5th, if
you need to change anything or have questions about your 401(k) now is the
time.
A gossip is someone
with a great sense of
rumor
☺
Next Safety Meeting is Tuesday, Oct 16th @ 6:00pm
All safety meetings are MANDATORY! Don’t forget to be
there.