Though we really never thought about it before the COVID-19 pandemic started, we’re essential employees.
As a trailer repair company we repair and maintain transportation trailers that deliver all manner of items to stores. In fact many of our customers are food suppliers and supermarket and essential retail suppliers. But like all other essential business owners, we were concerned with keeping our employees safe.
Our procedures didn’t have to change too dramatically because our mechanics usually work alone when they’re repairing trailers. But they still have to interact with office employees, dispatchers, transportation managers, parts suppliers, gas station attendants, to name just a few.
Immediately our mechanics were provided with a neck gaitor that could be pulled up around their nose and mouth when they came in contact with other people. They were advised to interact with customers as much as possible via text, email, or cell phone. We provided them with as many disinfecting products as we were able to procure to keep their work trucks sanitized as well as our office/warehouse environment. And when the state started to shut down businesses, each mechanic was provided with a letter explaining that they are an essential employee, just in case they were stopped on the road. At that point in time no one was sure how strictly the stay at home order would be enforced.
I have to say that we are thankful we have such an excellent staff. Not once did any of our mechanics express resistance to performing their job fully or express any fear about going to various customer sites. We appreciate their dedication and hard work.
Like many other small and family owned businesses, our bottom line has been impacted by the Coronavirus but for us, thankfully, it’s been minimal. Many of our customers that supply non-essential retail outlets have been shuttered these past two months. But as the state begins to slowly reopen, the future is encouraging and our outlook is positive. We hope the same is true for other businesses.
As a final note, I would like to acknowledge all essential employees who continued to report for work and made sure our needs were met. In particular I’d like to thank the front line medical workers for their dedication and selflessness. We honor them all.
These days we hear much about anti-discrimination policies so it might surprise you to learn that unlawful firing of older workers seems to be on the rise.
And now you might wonder why. There are several reasons a company would want to divest itself of an older workforce. Often the reasons are financial ones such as the higher salaries older workers have attained, the belief that older workers might “overuse” insurance benefits or the fear of providing expensive training to older workers only to have them retire before the cost of the training can be recouped.
But there may be societal reasons as well. Sometimes older workers are seen as being “tech-phobic”, seen as lacking 21st century skills or even that they are resistant to learning new skills, tasks or methods.
Don’t be guilty of generalizing older workers. Baby Boomers bring years of experience and a wealth of knowledge, both in their respective fields and in life.
And don’t be too quick to peg older workers as tech-phobic. They have, after all, mastered years of cutting edge technology: from automated answering services, to fax machines to the birth of computers and social media. These things don’t sound cutting edge to you? Well at one time they were cutting edge. Remember, even the telephone, at one time, was new technology.
I can’t speak for all industries; I can only speak for the transportation industry in general and the trailer repair industry specifically. Trailer Repair is a physically demanding job. Our mechanics work on top of trailers and underneath trailers. They work in the heat, in the rain, in the cold and sometimes in the snow. They have to lift and pull and pound things. But Total Suspension was founded by Joe and I. We’re both Boomers. Neither of us are near ready to retire and we are both challenged by new technology and new ideas. We also have mechanics who are Gen X’ers and Millennials. We all co-esist peacefully and learn from one another.
The truth is that all workers have something to offer a company and all workers have things to learn. Try and let the different generations mentor each other.
At the end of the year it’s common for people to look back at what went right during the year and what went wrong. Unfortunately I think we focus a little too much on what went wrong.
At Total Suspension 2018 was quite a hectic year as I’m sure it was for most small businesses. Work wise it seemed to be feast or famine…more work than we could handle on some days, not enough to keep my mechanics busy on other days. But in the long run it evened out. I always say, “there’s nothing wrong with a slow day once in a while to catch your breath”.
I spend so much time during the year putting out daily fires that in January I like to focus on good things from the prior year.
First, I have an excellent staff of mechanics who work very hard and consistently give us their best.
On top of that, I have customer base who recognize our expertise and who value us. They continue to call us for their trailer repair needs; they are patient when we can’t make it to them immediately or when we’re waiting on parts; they work hard to pay us timely, for which I am truly thankful. And, just for the record, most are very nice people who I enjoy. We share some work problems and we share some work laughs.
And on top of our normal customers, we were able to pick up a few new accounts. So I’m also thankful to our established customers who recommended our services.
And at the beginning of the a new year there are things I look forward to accomplishing. This year I’ll be working towards increasing our customer list enough to grow our mechanical staff and to add another work truck to our fleet.
And I’ll be keeping my eye on how electric trucks will change the transportation industry. Will 2019 be the year electric trucks hit the highways big time? And if so, how will they change trailer repair?
As the year goes on I’ll add to or adjust my goals for 2019 but for now this is what I’m looking forward to.
Happy New Year…good luck and much prosperity.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday so I’m a little sad that it’s over. But…I enjoy the Christmas season as well so my sadness won’t last very long.
One thing I don’t enjoy is planning a company holiday party. We have a great staff of mechanics so I want to thank them for their hard work and dedication. They go above and beyond many times throughout the year.
If you’re a business owner, manager, or the HR professional at your organization you probably want to show your appreciation to your employees as well. But does that have to be a holiday party? The answer, of course, is no. More and more employers are choosing a different type of holiday event such as a service project or other type of team/culture building experience.
Examples of a service project include wrap and distribute gifts to less fortunate children, collect and distribute food items at a food pantry, or a coat drive at a homeless shelter.
If a service project doesn’t seem the right fit, an event like an escape room, a trivia night, or even a low key luncheon during business hours may be more appropriate.
Many employees are more responsive to events such as these. They can be a great team building experience, co-workers can mingle and celebrate together and it’s a way for people to feel connected to the community.
It’s a happy season. However you choose to celebrate with your employees, enjoy it. Happy Holidays!
My last post was published in September, the month widely regarded as the end of the traditional vacation season for most companies. The post was vacation related. This month I want to briefly explore another vacation phenomenon gaining in popularity. It’s called a WORKCATION, and, though I said it’s gaining in popularity, it will probably never be a traditional perk.
These days it’s pretty easy to work from almost anywhere, as long as you’re not tied to a production line or a pick/pack operation, and a workcation capitalizes on that.
Here’s how it works…an employee will request a workcation. The travel expenses are usually borne by the employee, not the company. The employee will travel to a vacation resort or some other exotic locale and spend the majority of their time working. This is more than just not “unplugging” while on vacation. It’s more than just taking a few calls or being available during an emergency. This is a “working” trip but the work might happen to be done on the beach, poolside, or in front of fireplace in a ski chalet.
And of course, after hours the employee is free to spend their time any way the like. In the ocean, in the pool, or on the ski slopes, for example.
It’s a perk to employees because they get to travel without having time deducted from their bank of vacation time. It’s nice for a change of scenery.
For the company it could be valuable to encourage creativity, spur new ideas or to provide some much needed distance from the confines of the office. But employers and managers should be careful not to confuse this with a real vacation. Remember the value of a vacation to your employees is a way to recharge, reset, and rest.
As I said at the beginning of this post, I don’t see this becoming common for most employers but, as you might expect, if there is a market some company will spring up to service that market. Already there are a few organizations that will plan and coordinate workcations for large corporations.
If you’re wondering if this will work in your organization, go ahead and give it some careful consideration. Just make sure you have a firm policy in place as to the who, when, how, and possibly the where.
It’s late September and most of us have used up our vacation days for the year. Or have we? If your company offers unlimited vacation time you still have days to use.
For some people this will sound like a dream come true but for business owners and managers it might sound more like a nightmare. It hasn’t become common place as yet, and it likely never will, but there are some advantages to a policy of unlimited vacation time and a growing number of companies are offering it.
Typically it’s offered as an additional perk to top level execs. And while it can be used for any exempt employee, it should not be the policy for non-exempt workers who are governed by federal, state or local wage and hour laws.
And it is sometimes used by small start-ups and tech companies that are looking to bring in talent but can’t afford huge salaries. To beef up the employment offer unlimited vacation might be added to the mix.
Such a policy works best in an environment that doesn’t require employees to spend a majority of their time on site or in an environment that doesn’t adhere to strict “hours in the office” counting.
And while you might think that people with unlimited vacation will be out of the office more often than they’re in, so far that doesn’t seem to be the case. In fact they may be taking slightly fewer vacation days than those who work under a “use it or lose it” policy.
But if a job needs to be done in person and on site then this policy probably won’t work. For example, unlimited vacation time wouldn’t work well at Total Suspension because we’re an all hands on deck environment. We have a great staff of mechanics and we value what they contribute to our company, but our mechanics need to be in their trucks servicing our customers; it’s how we make our money.
And if you are able to offer unlimited vacation, it might require strict coordination of scheduling to ensure that all work and projects are completed.
It’s an intriguing concept and while it might benefit some environments, managers and business owners should give careful consideration to any such change.
We do quite a bit of work for large companies with busy yards and many trailers going in and out. It’s inevitable that some of those trailers will get hit and sustain damage.
In the case of a damaged bottom rail it might have to be replaced or it might just need to be sectioned.
If your working on a 53 ft. trailer and the mid section of the bottom rail is damaged, the full rail will need to be replaced. But if the damage to the bottom rail is in the front or rear of the trailer it can be sectioned.
Bottom rail sections must be in 12 foot increments at a minimum. That means if 8 feet of bottom rail is damaged, for example, 12 feet must be replaced. And remember, damage in the middle of a rail cannot be sectioned.
We were recently advised of a damaged bottom rail by a customer and asked to give an estimate on the replacement or repair. In this case, the damaged section of rail was over the landing gear, which is the strong point of the trailer so we were able to repair it.
12 feet of bottom rail was cut and removed from panels and cross members. Then the new section of bottom rail was fit into place.
It was bolted to the cross members and riveted to the dura plate panels.
Where the old and new sections of the rail meet, a 6 ft. steel splice was installed between the rail and the cross members for additional support.
In the photo below you can see where the new section of rail was seemlessly installed. Except for the age of the new section, it’s an exact match to the original section of bottom rail.
I follow a blog by Bill Gates. In a recent post he discussed his excitement about donating to research into Alzheimer’s; primarily for better diagnostics. You may wonder why I would comment on such a blog post. You may think that Alzheimer’s research has nothing to do with running a business, but think again.
As a business owner I am always concerned with the health of our employees and their ability to work effectively each day. I don’t only mean their physical health but also their mental health. The fact is that workers today often find themselves as care takers for a spouse or aging parent. And there are a surprising number of workers who find themselves as “sandwich caretakers”, caring for their young children as well as for older parents. And if I had to guess, I would say that an Alzheimer’s diagnosis is what people fear most about caring for an aging loved one. These life situations can add quite a bit of stress to the average employee.
Reliable diagnosis, a more effective support community, and the prospect of a cure can go a long way in relieving some pressure from employees, making them more effective and more valuable to the company.
As a business owner or manager, consider other ways to help lessen stress on your employees and use it as a management tool. Your employees will thank you and so will your bottom line.
To read more about Bill Gate’s thoughts on diagnosing Alzheimer’s go to http://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/A-better-way-of-diagnosing-Alzheimers.
At one time or another most people have seen a trailer with an overhead door. Maybe you’ve gotten stuck driving behind one on the road or maybe you’ve seen a truck making a delivery at a store. But, as is often the case with trailers, you’ve probably never thought about the maintenance and repair. What happens if an overhead door breaks or gets damaged?
Recently a customer called us with a door that sustained damage and needed to be replaced. This is how it’s done. We take down the old door and measure for a new one. From inside the trailer we measure the width of the door opening from the left side vertical track to the right side vertical track. We measure the length, or height, of the door from the threshold plate to the bottom of the rear header.
The door blank comes with 3 rows of hinges already attached. The fourth row of hinges is left off to allow the trailer mechanic to cut the door to the exact width, as Joe is doing in this photo.
The door is cut to size, hinges are riveted into place, rollers are installed on the end hinges and the door is ready to be installed. From inside the trailer, the door is unfolded and the mechanics begin sliding the door onto the horizontal track. As the door slides up, the subsequent rollers are inserted into the track and the door is fitted into place. Finally, they close the door, install the door cables and adjust the operator.
It’s easiest for a mechanic to install a door with a helper or with another mechanic, as was the case with this installation. But Joe is experienced enough to do it on his own if absolutely necessary.
With the annual 3 day inspection period fast approaching, it’s a good time to give a quick overview of International Road Check.
As I’ve posted in the past, International Road Check is conducted by CVSA across the entire north american continent; that includes Canada, the US and Mexico. It is a 3 day inspection “blitz”.
It is a Level 1 inspection which means it covers an inspection of both the driver/driver credentials and the vehicle.
Additionally, each year CVSA focuses on one specific area of inspection and information. No surprise that this year that focus will be on Hours of Service (HOS). The reason HOS was chosen in 2018 is, no doubt, because electronic logging devices (ELD’s) have become the law of the land and this is the first Road Check since the initial deadline passed in December 2017.
So, what you need to know about this inspection is:
- It will happen June 5 – June 7, 2018
- It is a Level 1 inspection which means they can inspect the driver and the vehicle
- The specific focus is on hours of service
- The best way to get through an inspection is to be prepared (have all your documentation handy), be sure your vehicle is in safe operating condition, and be polite
If you feel you might need some additional training on a successful Road Check stop you can visit https://enuggetlearning.com/roadcheck. Stay Metrics has teamed with Luma to offer an on-line tutorial. It’s easy to navigate, it only takes a few minutes and it will help you understand and prepare for an inspection.
Good luck and safe travels…
totalsuspension 