H&R The Inside Story

Okay folks here is a little article that I hope will benefit all you prospective newcomers to H&R Transport, I believe most of you have your interviews organised and are just counting down the days.

When I was in that position this time last year I had a million and one questions, I was apprehensive, worried what the future held……………………..

And I even wondered what the company looked like inside, well I have put together a few pictures and a brief description of what goes on in the heart of the "Big Red Team".

You’ve met some of the drivers, you’ve seen the trucks and you’ve seen where they go. Now I would like to introduce you to the organisation behind the "Big Red Team".

How It All Started

H&R Transport began in 1955, hauling fruit and produce out of the Okanagan Valley to the Prairies. The company was eventually purchased outright by Al Foder in 1974, a former owner/operator of a firm that the ambitious trucker eventually built into an international operation. Now headed by Al's son, D'Arcy Foder (the president and CEO), the company has 465 trucks, 700 refrigerated road trailers, 550 inter-modal refrigerated containers, and 700 employees.

The Front Desk

The smiley face you see when you walk into the H&R reception is Christy, this is where your calls go to when you call the H&R main phone line. Behind the reception is the work station of Cathy Thacker. Cathy gets involved in just about everything H&R, from recruiting, to personnel details, and everything in between, she even looks after the PARS stickers. Cathy is a very experienced member of the company and is a mine of information.

Administration

This is where the admin staff deal with the mountain of paperwork that we drivers manage to produce, logbooks are analysed, permits are applied for, vehicle documents are maintained and if you are unfortunate enough to get a citation (ticket) then this is where it comes. Just look at that huge pile of Log Books waiting to be processed.

Bruce The Training Guy

Meet Bruce, this is the guy that conducts the class room training, this man is also a mine of information, he used to be an owner operator and knows his trade inside out. Since I've been here, he has helped me out many times. Ask him about the zebra pen…………………. I hope he's still got it !!

David Foder

As Fleet Director, this is the man you answer to as a driver, he's the guy who hires & fires, his door is always open and you are usually greeted with firm handshake and a happy smile (if you're not in trouble 8~). Just as at home behind the steering wheel of a truck as he is driving a desk, David joined the family company as a trucker (er, a few years ago) as did the rest of the Foder sons but has now swapped his trucker cap for shirt & tie and runs the fleet.

Stephen Whittaker

Stephen will probably be the first person from H&R that you speak to and meet when it comes to the all important interview, Stephen is a British born truck driver who had years of Continental driving experience before coming over to Canada Highway Driver, he is now is office bound and works closely with David Foder, his main role is to look after the interests of the drivers and to trouble shoot any problems we might have.

Imagine having to listen to the problems of about 400 truckers everyday……………….

And he's still smiling !

Janice, Fleet 6 - My Dispatcher

Operations (Dispatch)

Okay, drivers drive trucks, that’s pretty obvious but who tells the drivers where to go and what time to be there………………….

The dispatch fleets of course, there are 6 fleets at H&R and each fleet controls about a sixth share of the trucks. Their function in the "Big Red" scheme of things is to send the trucks from Canada, usually into the States but it could also be to another location in Canada, these fleets communicate with the trucks via the Qualcomm in-truck satellite computers.

The Fleet Managers sit in the front row, directly in front of the drivers' window, Planners sit in the row behind and the Customer Service Reps sit behind them.

View from the back

Once the drivers have gone into the States and they are completely unloaded, they are then passed over to the USA dispatch team, these people work slightly different to the Canadian Dispatchers in the fact that they control areas (or regions of USA) rather than individual trucks so depending where you are at the end of delivery phase depends who will be organising your return (back load) journey back into Canada

A poorly truck

The Shop

H&R use a leased fleet but still maintains a fully equipped maintenance department. This includes a full size trailer wash, fully equipped servicing, maintenance and repair bays. We even have a spraying bay which has a lovely red sheen…………………..
There are bays which are also set aside and operated by a lease detachment so some servicing and repairs can be carried out on site.

Lethbridge Firm named one of 50 Best Managed Companies in Canada.
April 12, 2007

Lethbridge, Alberta - H & R Transport Ltd. (H & R), the second largest trucking firm in their category in the country, is receiving its award today as one of the 50 Best Managed Companies in Canada. The Lethbridge-based firm was selected from hundreds of entrepreneurial companies who compete for this designation in a rigorous process that evaluates the calibre of management abilities and practices. The winners are selected by a panel of judges from the program sponsors of Deloitte & Touche (Deloitte), CIBC Commercial Banking, the National Post and Queens University School of Business.

Dave Zimmel, partner with Deloitte and Regional Leader for the Best Managed Program, says, ¡§Being recognized as one of Canada¡¦s 50 Best Managed Companies is truly a remarkable achievement. This is the highest achievement for Canadian enterprise and H & R Transport should be proud of this accomplishment. H & R is clearly a leader in its marketplace and a model for other Canadian companies.¡¨

D'Arcy Foder, President and CEO of H & R, says, It is the commitment and can-do attitude of our employees that makes this work. Our culture is contagious and when you have an operation than runs seven days a week, 24 hours a day, it is critical that you have quality employees. We¡¦re very proud of this award as it reflects well on all of us.¡¨

The awards program was established in 1993 to recognize excellence in Canadian-owned and managed companies with revenues of more than $10 million. The winners receive the Best Managed designation which symbolizes Canadian corporate success; recognizing companies focused on their core vision, creating stakeholder value and excelling in the global economy.

Zimmel adds, The winning companies have an incredible ability to remain focused on their long-term strategy while still being responsive to the evolving business environment and challenges.

Hot & Sunny in Raymond

Okay we left off in Barstow CA, i had run out of hours and took the day off.

Next morning after a hearty breakfast and a French Vanilla Coffee i gunned the engine and pointed the big red beast northwards.

And then it all got a bit boring, i drove to Willard in Utah, fuelled up, couldnt find a parking space so grabbed a hot chocolate and pressed on for about 10 mins and pulled in a rest stop. Next morning i planned to drive right up to Calgary but phoned in and they said drop it in Lethbridge.

That sounded good to me so i dropped the trailer in the yard and went home..................

Next day we invited the Penneys (Remember John i drove team with) round for a bbq which was fun, many bratties were consumed as was much beer, wine and other assorted barbequed goodies.

Little John (John and Carols son) has grown since we last saw him, i cant believe hes had 2 birthdays since weve been here.

Yesterday was a busy day cutting lawns and general garden tidying with a few other odd jobs thrown in.

Today we got the garage people in doing the drywalling and electrics and thats about it for now, heres a few pics of the garage from start till present.

Do bears poop in the woods ???

After driving the width and breadth of this great Continent i have made the following discovery.

Its official !!!

Driving thru Montana listening to my new George Strait CD.

A Potted History - ABBA

Okay here goes another back flip into my childhood, this is for all the 40 somethings out there, love them, loathe them or ridicule them, you cant deny they were an International pop phenonenon - erm phenomenomenon - oops fermonominononum. Look you can see im having problems here so i will spell it out phonetically....

Fow-Nom-E-Non......

They were a pop group, okay !


Early years:
The reason behind ABBA's phenomenal popularity lay in their roots as a Swedish supergroup of sorts. In the late Sixties, Bjorn Ulvaeus was a member of the popular folk act The Hootenanny Singers, while Benny Andersson was already well-known as part of the Hep Stars, the country's biggest pop covers act. The pair met in 1966 at a party and collaborated on and off for five years, but it was during the late Sixties that they met their respective spouses: Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad, both already established solo artists, fell in love with Bjorn and Benny (respectively) within months of each other.

Success:
Oddly enough, the four didn't work together as a full-time unit until 1972, when "People Need Love," clumsily credited to "Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid," became a hit in their native country, signaling they should combine their talents permanently. Manager Stig Anderson had referred to them as "ABBA" in business dealings, and a nationwide poll also indicated fan preference for the acronym, so it stuck. The group finally achieved fame across Europe with two appearances at the Eurovision Song Contest -- "Ring Ring," which placed third in 1973, and "Waterloo," which won the grand prize the following year.

Later years:
"Waterloo" also introduced them to the US, and although they remained much more popular in Europe, the group achieved monumental worldwide success throughout the decade. As might be expcted, however, the success took a toll on the group's two marriages, and by 1982, they decided to go their separate ways as performers. The two female leads went on to some solo success, while Bjorn and Benny created a popular musical (1984's "Chess") and continued to write and produce for other acts. Although they remain cordial, the four have declined any offers of a reunion, despite resurging popularity in the last ten years.

Other facts:
Shared their name with a national fish-canning company, who graciously allowed them to use it

Only the Volvo car company made more money for Sweden during the group's existence

The group's 1981 hit "The Visitors" was later revealed to be written in response to grassroots movements to overthrow Soviet domination in European countries

The hugely popular Broadway musical Mamma Mia! is based around their songs

A boy/girl group called A*Teens enjoyed sustained popularity in the late Nineties by covering only Abba songs

In 2000, business interests offered the group one billion dollars for one hundred reunion shows

Mamma Mia ! The Movie

Okay, a few days ago i posted that there was an ABBA channel on Sirius, unfortunately i found out it was just a temporary thing while they were promoting the release of the movie.

Im sorry for all the distress i caused to all the closet ABBA fans out there who "Came Out" via E-Mail.

So in a vague pathetic atempt at making amends, here is the final release for the trailer of the movie.

Enjoy !

Warning to all bloggers

Okay there seems to be a problem getting onto some blogs. I had trouble this afternoon but i did notice Sitemeter was having some problems.

Anyway as a temporary measure i have taken it off the site and it appears to be loading correctly now.

I have it on questionable ?? authority that their server is fried and they dont have weekend staff so if you are having problems, go into your settings and remove the Java appelet from your site.

This is a public service announcement bought to you by LTL Productions, thank you and good night !!