I would first like to say that I am both honored and humbled to serve as President of Yowell Transportation. Humbled by all the years of hard work, dedication, blood, sweat and tears since 1956 that have gotten us to this point. Humbled by the sacrifices of every Yowell employee before me. Humbled by the great leadership and all the “hard decisions” that had to be made along the way, with no guarantee of the outcome. Honored to have been given this opportunity to lead this great company. Honored to get to work with some of the best people this industry has to offer. Honored to have employees that are always ready to make the impossible happen.
There have been a lot of changes in our industry over the last ten years. Some of those changes have been good for our industry and some not. As these changes have come about we have learned to adjust by being flexible.
We have implemented several strategies for growth. In my opinion growth is not always measured in profit and loss statements or assets and portfolios. I believe that growth can be measured in other areas not always as apparent as the afore mentioned traditional ways. I believe we can grow and take our company to the next level by “growing ourselves from within” and then grow out. I want to highlight a few examples of what I mean. Our 401k with match is one way of “growing within”. I believe this is instrumental in the growth of any company, as our employees will have the opportunity to contribute to their future and with the company matching a percentage of those contributions, have the peace of mind in knowing that “Yowell Transportation” is also investing in our employees’ future. To “grow ourselves from within” we must be working for more than just a paycheck. That is why we have now implemented an insurance plan that all employees will be eligible for once they have met the criteria. This is a long-awaited group plan with Yowell Transportation paying the lion’s share of the cost.
Some other examples are our flexible pay system (hourly, mileage and percentage), and our pay scale is well above the national average. We also have direct deposit thru Paychex that allows our employees access to all their existing payroll records including their 401k account.
There are also “behind the scenes” changes that are taking place to help us better serve our employees. We now have fiber optics in the building which has increased our productivity and efficiency in finding loads. We are in the process of implementing a new phone system that we hope will also be beneficial to our productivity. Let’s not forget the development of the new website!
These are just a few examples of my vison for “growing from within” we must grow from within before we can grow out because we will only be as good as our employees!
Vic Yowell taught me a phrase from the late Woody Hayes that “you win with people” and as long as I have a say, we will always continue that mantra!
Drive safe!
-Joe Ford-
