August 2015

MILESTONES
J&R SCHUGEL TRUCKING, INC.
Employee Owned Since 2014
ESOP@JRSchugel.com
(507) 233-5181
Issue 4
August 2015
NEWEST PRESIDENT’S WALL MEMBER
Congratulations Million Mile Driver Mark
Evans (470)
Mark began his career with J&R Schugel in 2006 as a dry van company driver. In 2007, Mark entered
the lease program. He is a firm believer that every driver should learn the freight lanes, freight of the
company, and the people they are working with before deciding to become an owner operator. He believes his success to completing his first lease, is owed to his experience as a company driver, open and
honest communication with his driver manager, and having the mind-set that he will be on the road for
several weeks at a time. Mark started driving when he was 23 years old. He said growing up in Alabama,
you either choose to be a builder or a truck driver. He wanted to see the country, meet people, and use
his brain to think; so he chose to drive truck. Mark does not regret the decision he made 32 years ago.
He enjoys the peace and quiet of driving and not having a boss looking over his shoulder. He knows as
long as he meets his ETA, he has freedom. He chose J&R Schugel after being let-go from his previous
company for an accident. After months of looking for another job, J&R came through and ‘gave him a chance.’ When Mark interviewed, he had decided that whomever gave him an opportunity again; he would be loyal to them. ONE MILLION MILES later,
Mark is true to his word ‘loyalty.’ Mark has several stories from his 8 years driving truck with J&R Schugel. Mark recalls picking up
a load in Virginia for another driver who needed to get home. While at the truck stop, the weather became severe and a tornado
touched down. He recalls holding onto the clutch as his trailer lifted from the ground several times. At 2 a.m., when it was all over,
he went outside to assess the damage. He realized how fortunate he really was. His trailer was split in half, the top was ripped off,
and only about 10 cans of soup remained in the trailer. He learned that 6 drivers in that truck stop had lost their lives that night. He
remembers the calls he got from J&R Schugel, and their first words were ‘are you ok?’ He could not believe the company called him
at 2 a.m. concerned for him and his safety verses asking about the load. He stated “JR is good to me. You can’t find many companies
like that anymore.”
National Driver Appreciation Week 2015 is September 13th through 19th!
We honor our drivers and their families for their hard work, their commitment to the industry, and for all they do to keep
America rolling. Driver Appreciation is our chance to remind each and every driver they are appreciated throughout the
year – each and every day – each and every mile.
J&R Schugel’s planned events are Sept 14-18 at every terminal. We will feature daily breakfast, daily cook-outs,
truck and trailer safety inspection stations, truck mirror-setting stations, a 5-K run/walk open to the community and vendors/sponsors, and our annual Health Fair. New this year is our Vendor Fair for drivers and staff, including information
booths for J&R Schugel’s ESOP, The Jenny Schugel Scholarship Foundation, clothing, and much more. Drivers and staff
will also have the opportunity to show off their skills in multiple ways at these events as well as gain industry knowledge on a
variety of topics that affect each of us in our trade.
Industry FACTs
• Professional truck drivers drove over 431 billion miles, more than double from 25 years ago.
• Most individual long-haul drivers average 100,000 to 110,000 miles per year. Regional and city drivers average 48,000.
• The average daily run for an over-the-road driver is nearly 500 miles.
• There are 1.3 million carriers in the US employing 7 million people, including 3.4 million drivers. 96% of carriers have fewer than 20
•
•
•
trucks.
The trucking industry has hauled almost 10 billion tons of freight, or 68.8% of total U. S. freight tonnage. Rail was the next busiest mode,
moving 13.8%.
More than 80% of U. S. communiƟes depend solely on trucking for delivery of their goods and commodiƟes.
J&R Schugel’s professional truck drivers drove 65 million miles last year, with each driver averaging 120,000 miles. For perspecƟve, the
moon is roughly 239,000 miles from the earth. J&R Schugel is sustained by almost 550 professional truck drivers, and their families.
SHOP TALK~ Ryan Boelter
Hope you all had a great 4th of July! Our maintenance department is happy to announce we have recently launched
Omnitrac’s OnCommand System. This telematics system runs alongside our current Omnitrac’s system in all of our
trucks. This offers us a better understanding of check engine lights and assists maintenance in trouble-shooting while units are on the
road in operation. If your unit throws a fault light we will receive a message allowing us to trouble-shoot the issue. In most cases, the
fault will be sent to Cummins Electronic Diagnostic System (EDS). EDS will trouble-shoot the issue and send breakdown the fault
overview. This will identify the probable cause and assist in expediting your repairs. Drivers are urged to continue to call in when an
issue comes up.
OnCommand has already proven itself and has been a huge help in most cases. It allows us to plan accordingly to assist getting a unit
in for service at the correct service center. Along with a fault overview, the system also identifies if the issue is an OEM issue or
engine manufacturer issue, thus allowing us to get you to the correct service center for specific issues. Our main goal with OnCommand is to keep breakdowns to a minimum and plan repairs around drivers’ schedules. The earlier we know an engine light is on, the
quicker we can plan for what is needed. All faults will lead to a de-rate in power/performance at one time or another. With being
notified of an engine condition as soon as possible, we can work with you as much as possible in order to complete obligations and
still get the proper service needed. The shop team appreciates all our drivers; early detection along with preventative maintenance is
our goal to keep you up and running in top performance.
NEW Wi-Fi in Tomah!
We have a new Wi-Fi set up for the drivers room.
Log-in is: jr_schugel_trucking Password is: jrstomah
GET TO KNOW Our Drivers
Chanel Bjorlo, along with her husband of 6 years, Duane, have been an independent contractor team with J&R
Schugel since 2012. They started their career with J&R Schugel as company drivers in 2008. Chanel quickly
called to volunteered for the Driver to Driver Mentor Program. She will call drivers who are new to J&R
Schugel to build driver to driver relationships. She offers many driving tips, company insights and a kind
voice on the phone, and she is amazing at it. New drivers who have her as their Driver Mentor/Buddy, appreciate having her cell number handy, they find her driving experience helpful and she is very calming.
Truck driving is not new to Chanel, it has been in her family for
years. She’s driven for 7 years and likes the freedom and travel experiences, seeing a variety of states with a bonus of stopping in to
see family. She most enjoys team driving with Duane. One of the
primary reasons they chose J&R Schugel was proximity to their
home. The New Ulm terminal is only 20 miles from their house.
Chanel has said, “We stay because we enjoy being at Schugel. At
Schugel you aren’t a truck number to them, you actually have a
name.” When Chanel has down-time she enjoys reading, fishing,
feeding the squirrels and birds, watching tv/movies and spending
time with family. When asked what message she would like to
share with other drivers, “Though recently I came out of the truck to
better my health and became a ‘homebody’, I do get back in the
truck every once in a while and there is knowledge to share with
other drivers. I want to continue to have that connection with other
drivers within the company.”
Thank you Chanel for being a Driver to Driver Mentor! If you are a
seasoned driver and interested in helping out new drivers joining the
company, contact Deb x181 to hear more about the Driver to Driver
Mentor Program.
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Issue 4
Spotlights
We welcome these new co-workers to J&R Schugel
Briana Meyer, Data Entry Specialist; Emily Holberg, Fleet Manager; Megan Oakes,
Data Entry Specialist; Jordan Burden, Trailer Technician; Vincent Bauer, Trailer
Technician; Sarah Braun, Recruiting.
Errol Seymour
Network
Administrator
REFRIGERATED~ Tim O’Neil:
The Reefer Division wants to send
out a big thank you to all of our
drivers. You are the core to the
company’s success. It takes a
special type of person to spend time
away from their families and do
what you do. Everyone recognizes
this, and we do what we can to
make that go as smoothly as possible. It is good to hear the positive
feedback from our drivers on the
new incentive program. This is
another step that will make J&R
Schugel a better ESOP company.
We want to see you, so as you get
through New Ulm please stop in
and say “Hi.”
Company Clothing Store:
Available on line at www.JRSchugel.com
The black anniversary pull over (that
everyone loved from last year) is
now available in different colors! It
is item number: 25 & 25-T.
In Ohio we have
Dan Hammond,
Fleet Manager and
Anthony Finney,
Logistics
Health & Wellness
Our annual 5K will be held on Friday,
September 18th! We will all walk
together starting at 7am.
We will be doing a “get to know your Co-worker” theme this year. We will draw names so that everyone is paired with a “walking buddy”. The purpose of this is to get to know someone different than
the usual people you interact with. Those that participate will be entered into a drawing for a prize!
Below is information for a fitness training app. A calendar
1 head cauliflower, broken into small florets
can be printed by contacting
1/4 cup cider vinegar
Crystal x235 or Amy x125. All
1/4 cup paprika
fitness
levels are encouraged to
1 tablespoon garlic powder
participate!
Here are some
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
helpful apps/websites to en1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
courage and motivate:
3 tablespoons water
• www.c25kfree.com
• www.myfitnesspal.com
Preheat the oven to 450°F or prepare a grill for medium heat. Roast cauliflower on a baking
• www.runforbeginners.com
sheet or place it on a grill rack and cook, turning occasionally, until browned and tender, 10 to
BUFFALO CAULIFLOWER BITES
15 minutes. Whisk above ingredients together large bowl. Toss the cauliflower in sauce until
well coated. Serve with light ranch or blue cheese dressing. Enjoy!
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SAFETY Snippets
A Safety Meeting Topic: Distracted Driving
When Multi-tasking is Not a Good Thing
Say “distracted driving” in a safety meeting and immediately both the commercial drivers’ and their supervisors’ thoughts turn directly toward cell phone use and texting. While both of these electronic activities have made their way toward the top of a list of perceived necessities in the business world and to society as a whole, they make up only a part of the list of contributors to distracted
driving.
The rise in cell phone use certainly has the potential to cause a distraction when driving any size vehicle. Because of this, cell phone
usage raises the risk of a driver’s involvement in a crash. In a study sponsored by the FMCSA, distracted driving for commercial drivers was defined as attending to tasks not directly related to operating the vehicle. To distinguish between tasks directly related and not
directly related to operating a vehicle, monitoring instrument panels and controls supplied by the manufacturer and reading road signs
placed on the highway were considered to be part of vehicle operation.
Distracted driving from any source is a significant safety issue. GPS systems, smart phones, and any i-Pad device that requires text to
be added certainly takes a large portion of the driver’s attention away from focusing on the road and the traffic surrounding the driver.
But there’s more than just these factors. There are three types of secondary tasks the FMCSA’s study can identify as behaviors that
increase the risk of crash involvement. These secondary tasks were categorized as simple, moderate, or complex.
Examples of simple secondary tasks included adjusting a radio or other vehicle-manufactured devices, talking to a passenger(s) in an
adjacent seat, talking or singing with no passenger present, drinking, smoking, and thinking. As a group, these simple secondary behaviors were not found to increase the risk of a crash.
Moderate secondary behaviors, such as talking and listening on a hand-held device, reaching for objects, grooming and other hygiene
activities, eating, and looking at something outside the vehicle increase the crash risk 1.3 times compared with no secondary behaviors.
Complex secondary behaviors included dialing a hand-held device, locating, reaching, and answering a hand-held device, reading, live
animals or insects in the vehicle, and reaching for a moving object. As a group, drivers engaged in complex secondary tasks were 2.1
times more likely to be involved in a crash than drivers who did not perform these tasks.
Distracted driving is not caused by an item or advancements in technology. Rather, it is caused by the driver choosing to take a higher
risk by engaging in these non-driving related tasks. Altering these tendencies so that the driver does a secondary task only after the
main task of driving is no longer at risk can be the focus of the next safety meeting, if not the next driver training session.
~J.J. Keller newsletter, July 13, 2015
THE SALES LOOP ~ Brad Schugel
Thank you for all the hard work, dedication, and focus given to our business. It certainly takes everyone for the end result we see today. We have considerable risk in
our business everyday, and from a sales perspective we keep that in the forefront of
our conversations with our customers. We ask ourselves, how will this impact our drivers? Is the
business consistent? Efficient for our drivers? Friendly? Are there driver facilities on-site? Just to
name a few. Our customers are responding in different ways; facility updates, pricing increases
which help off-set recent driver pay changes, and continued opportunity to grow our business.
When asked what sets J&R Schugel apart from our competition? The answer is easy;
Page 4
our people are now owners of J&R Schugel Trucking.
September 13 - 19, 2015
DRIVER Appreciation & Wellness
ESOP NEWS
NEWS In September, America takes time to honor all professional truck drivers for their hard work and
commitment in tackling one of our economy’s most demanding and important jobs. 3.4 million Professionals are recognized for transportation of goods safely, securely and on-time across our Nation.
National Truck Driver Appreciation Week is September 13-19, 2015.
As a Company Driver Employee-Owner or Independent Contractor, you represent J&R Schugel with
pride. You deliver the product and goods daily to our customers. Communication is a key part of our
success and reputation within the industry. Your driver manager is here to help you achieve your
goals and the success of the company. The ESOP Committee is another avenue to communicate
your ideas and promote them. J&R Schugel is proud to be an ESOP company. Everyone is vested
in the success of J&R Schugel; take pride in identifying opportunities that affect the financial performance, driver satisfaction, and help us to become the employer of choice. Together we build a team
and together we can reach goals and accomplish almost anything. From all of us, we Thank You for
the hard work you put in everyday!
Kudos / Compliments / Condolences
Top Referral Competition Winners Posted in July
The results are in for the top referral competition!
1st place: Ronnie Watson
2nd place: Art Shogren
3rd place: Ron Kish
Congratulations the winners and thank you to ALL our drivers for
referring candidates to JRS!
SCHOLARSHIPWINNERS
At J&R Schugel you are eligible to apply to the Jenny
Schugel Foundation for continuing education scholarship.
Annually awarded scholarships are in memory of Jenny
Schugel, daughter of Jerry & Rosie Schugel, who was killed
in an auto accident in April 1991. The scholarship is awarded to a J&R Schugel Trucking employee, lease/owner contractor (employedfor24consecutivemonths) and family
members such as: spouse, children, stepchildren, grandchildren and adopted grandchildren who are planning to
attend a certi'ied school or learning institution.
Congratulationsto our 2015 Scholarship winners:
AshleyBove, daughter of driver John Bove (22513)
$2,000; HallieKuelbs, Fleet Manager $1,000; DillonRahall, son of driver Scott Rahall (12568) $1,000; Morgan
Hofmann, daughter of Al Hofmann $1,000. We wish you
all the best in your educational journey!
KUDO’s to Maurice Coley (493)
I wanted to formally express my
thank you to the driver of truck
#493. This morning after sitting
for more than an hour looking for
a person to help me with a jump
start and after being turned down
by more than a dozen people your
driver stopped and happily helped
me get running in less than 5
minutes. It's great to see caring
and professional drivers and I
thank you and him for your assistance today. Location - Morris, IL
THANK YOU Maurice for being a
GREAT representation for J&R
KUDOS to US!! Quote from a driver who
returned to our lease program after his first
attempt didn’t work out . He said that “we are
far above the other companies out
there. When we say we care about our drivers and we are family, we mean it. The other
companies don’t.” **kk 6/18/15
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