Around Saia
This month's Around Saia features several uplifting stories as well as a blurb on two W&R coordinators who recently retired.
Terminal Manager Makes a Difference in His Community
Syracuse Terminal Manager Scott Neale is making an incredible impact on some young lives in his community. His stepson, Brett, has been the recipient of a couple of kid’s four-wheelers, toys that brought great joy to him, especially as winter passed into spring and schools were closed because of COVID-19.
A few weeks ago Scott and Brett were outside tooling around, having a blast, and Scott noticed that many of the kids in his neighborhood were watching — many with sad faces.
Seeing this, an idea came to Scott and he put a plan into action. He reached out to the community looking for old four-wheelers that were in disrepair or that no one wanted.
One donation led to two and two to three and now Scott has had to rent space for the discarded units. They are being repaired and given away so every child can enjoy the freedom and fun of driving their very own little vehicle!
Saia Recognized for Delivering Charitable Shipment
Recently, Saia partnered with Frito Lay to deliver a shipment of food to the nonprofit, the Bread of Life, which was launched in 1992. Its objective is to serve the homeless population, ultimately ending homelessness, in Houston, Texas. Everyone’s great efforts were recognized by TV station KPRC as well! Our thanks and gratitude for making this special delivery!
W&R Coordinators Retire
After 13 years of valuable service, CIN W&R Coordinator Tom Chapman retired at the end of April. Additionally, after 12 years of service to Saia, CGO W&R Coordinator Al Teichmiller, retired at the end of March.
Bob Hollister, W&R manager for Saia’s Eastern division, said both Tom and Al were tremendous assets to the department working for both the CIN and CGO terminals and regions.
“During their tenure, we benefited from both Tom and Al’s knowledge of proper freight classification and their ability to keep team members in compliance with proper W&R procedures,” explained Bob. “They were instrumental in monitoring freight crossing their docks for the proper class and weight.”
Congratulations Tom and Al! You both will be missed but all of us wish you each a long and wonderful retirement!
Letters of Appreciation Arrive
Recently, the sister of Vice President of Operations Phil Mott, Marsha Mott Jordan, through her group Hugs and Hope, organized individuals to send thank you letters and more to Saia terminals across the Midwest to show their appreciation and support of truck drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. And, just this week, the boxes of letters, notes and snacks started arriving!
MKE Zone Manager Bob Laverdure explained that because of social distancing, he safely distributed the treats and letters to drivers, said, “Employees thought it was cool that they were recognized by people outside of the company and I (expressed) how lucky we are to be working with over 40 million people out of work because of COVID-19.”
HST Line Driver Shines in Video
We were excited to learn that the American Trucking Associations asked our very own employee, HST Line Driver James Moore, to be featured in their video where he speaks about the importance of professional truck drivers delivering essential goods during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Click on the link to watch it: