Saia’s Highest Honor
Tony Richards Award Recipient Named
CIN Regional Operations Manager Bill Monahan was named the 2019-2020 Tony Richards Award recipient.
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During Saia's recent Atlanta, Georgia meeting, CIN Regional Operations Manager Bill Monahan was named the 2019-2020 Tony Richards Award recipient.
The Tony Richards Award is Saia’s highest honor and is named after a well-respected regional manager who began working for Saia when the company operated in just two states. Tony helped cultivate the Saia culture through multiple expansions as the company grew to serve over 30 states.
Tony was known for making a tremendous impression on the people he worked with throughout his career because of his passion for Saia, its employees, and customers. Regrettably, he was forced to step down because of a terminal illness. During Tony’s career at Saia, he embodied all the qualities the award stands for, which is why it’s given annually to the individual who personifies the traits that made Tony such a beloved part of Saia’s history.
Bill, along with 10 other employees, was nominated this year. Bill’s nominator outlined the positive impact he had as the Atlanta terminal manager — improving morale, service and results - during his tenure at the facility. He credited Bill with being a leader of action with a great ability to listen to people so he could help them be successful.
“Bill worked hard to build relationships with the entire team in Atlanta,” they said. “Bill is passionate about training (a) team to perform the job we hired them to do. Bill also adds a level of accountability that makes producing excellent service and efficiency important to (the) team…In short, Bill helped influence a positive culture and morale that is aligned with Saia’s mission statement and core values.”
Bill was also credited for traveling a good portion of 2019 assisting with the opening of our new Northeastern terminals — teaching, supporting his colleagues, and growing our core values. Besides assisting with terminal openings or existing facilities with improving their operations, he also partnered with sales team members, working to achieve profitable revenue growth.
“Bill has met with key customers numerous times throughout the year,” his nominator stated. “He helped our local and national account managers in making calls in the Atlanta market to help create more wins for Saia.”
A regional sales manager said Bill constantly contributed to their sales efforts in Atlanta - from making calls to promoting driver involvement and ensuring weekly sales/operations meetings were held and issues were resolved.
“Bill is one of those unsung heroes that works hard day in and day out to make Saia the best LTL company out there,” the nominator explained. “Bill is most deserving of the Tony Richards Award, and recognizing him with this honor would accurately reflect the spirit of this award.”