Over the last several weeks I had the opportunity to lead the opening of our four new terminals in the Northeast — in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, Penn. as well as Newark, N.J. During the third week of April, I was there while the new employees, as well as members of the management team, were meeting to receive their compliance and Saia policy/procedure training. It was a great week and I had the opportunity to meet and speak with all of the new drivers — making for some great conversations!

I was excited and also anxious for this expansion to begin. However, after meeting the new employees, I have a great sense of confidence and excitement for their and our future. I believe the new team in the Northeast will help write another successful chapter in Saia's story.

The feedback I received from our new teammates was about how strong Saia's culture is no matter whom you are talking to. And, that Saia provides the type of environment where you can come to work to truly make a difference. Other themes that stood out were the importance of working safe every day, with a goal of being accident and injury-free; quality, with regard to taking care of both our internal and external customers; and improving productivity to help control our costs and improve our bottom line.

Moving forward, please make sure you are asking for freight that is going into these new service areas to help grow their, and our, business. I also challenge everyone to keep looking at what could be future areas of expansion for our company. We had multiple people relocate within Saia during this expansion. As you can imagine, we'll need even more in the future has we expand further.

Our employees and our ability to work as a team is what make this such a great company. I want to extend my thanks to everyone for their hard work in making the Northeast a reality. I appreciate everything you did and continue to do!