yeah yeah yeah... its a team effort... blah blah blah... we are here to support you guys... ect... ect... ect...

You've all heard the routine at (fill in the blank) XYZ company's, safety meetings. Here's a cold hotdog, a warm soda, (maybe) a company hat and a 45 minute speech on how we all need to get along...

We as drivers can often sit in the audience mouthing the words along as they come out: Check your tire pressure, don't follow too close, watch the fuel economy... we got your backs...

I figured it was pretty much the same all over and here at Gless also...

Those "pep" talks have their place but lets face it, industry wide, they are a cliche of sorts that often leave us, the drivers, wandering off a bit cynical. No offense, but you ain't spreading much "good cheer and pride" with cold lunch and warm pop while sweeping legitimate driver complaints under the rug. After all, half of us could probably give that speech ourselves if the boss didn't show...

At the last safety meeting I heard the "standard issue" we're here to support you guys, speech. (fairly painless)

A couple of the guys mentioned/complained about parking and plugging in, cords stolen/missing, walking in the mud. You know, the normal winter is coming complaints...

Last saturday, I had an early run to eddyville that took a little longer than normal because it was a bit icy. I didn't want to push too hard so I settled into the thought I'd get done when I was done and just tooled along.

Returning to Waterloo; I unhooked, parked my truck, and went around to the back to see what was going on. Some kind of construction or building I'd eye-balled when I first rolled in.

Up on a hill the bob-cats were whirring and some guys were shoveling and it looked like some electrical something being strung out.

The Gless difference...

16 new double access parking spots. Heater chords hard wired to boxes so they couldn't be stolen. All individually wired to posts and breakered from a central box on the back wall of a building. Sweet????

Bob, my terminal manager, shoveling in the conduit ditch by hand as the skids were leveling and grading...????

Talked to bob for a second and then was greeted by Tim. Tim is our suit and tie guy. I don't know what his title is exactly, regional manager? operations manager??? He works at corporate headquarters and is the get it done guy. The board of directors speak and Tim translates into english and passes it on to bob who gives it to us. Unless you're in trouble, then he just fires you. lol no board approval needed, he is in charge.

Anyways we've all, at some time in our lives, seen the "boss" show up in basketball shorts and sandals to check on the troops progress... so this isn't any big deal, 5 minutes of stupid-vising and off they go, back to the a/c or heated office depending on time of year.

This was a bit different because it was freezing cold, had snowed earlier, and the guy was wearing a red chem-suit and running a manual-tamper like he was familiar with its operation and he'd been there since early that morning. NO, probably not on the tamper the whole time... but working at something, none the less.

He asked what I thought of the new parking... explaining you can park your car right next to the truck, unplug the truck and plug your car in so its warm when you get back. Said it would look nicer after they got the gravel layed in and its tapered up on the hill for good drainage so we won't have to slog thru the puddles.

I said it was "nice" because I couldn't really think of anything else to say... dumb-struck will do that to a guy...

The point here is: ok... now this is what I call a top-down "TEAM" effort.

Complaint: Parking sucks and no good place to plug in and people are stealing our cords.

Solution: New parking, better parking, hard wired cords, and happy drivers.

Now, yeah we are still waiting on more chrome and higher horsepower but dang it, at least I'm not sloggin mud into my own car after tramping through the swamp on my way home... lol

Good job, bob, tim, and gless.

The free hat is ok,

but listening and acting on reasonable complaints is priceless...



and.... on a side note...

no rick??????? what the heck?????

that guy is everywhere all the time !!! well except this time...

I hope it isn't serious??? but gotta wonder if that manual-tamper had anything to do with it??? lol

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Though your argument is very clever, I don't think it will lead to the results you desire. gandhi

Lot of crude jokes came to my mind involving Rick and a wacker packer(As we called the down south). We got our new drop pads this fall but our gravel is still sinking at a high rate of speed. Aftrer heavy rain we need a canoe to get from the truck to the office. With the ice it's even better. I am only a tutu shy of looking like Tara Lapinski going across the yard.

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Bad spellers of the world...UNTIE!!!

wacker packer???? roflmao...


ohhh poor rick... not even here to defend himself...

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Though your argument is very clever, I don't think it will lead to the results you desire. gandhi