Great Food & Good Times-Tully's

Tully's is a great chicken restaurant in upstate New York.  Scott Tully is now a proud owner of some Tully's garb...... a request he has had for months.  Enjoy it Scott....its the next best thing to downtown Batavia, NY!

Family Dollar-Ashley, IN Startup

We are planned for 50 tractors here in Ashley, IN.  This would reflect our largest Family Dollar fleet in the Central Region.

We have the use of our Mobile Command Center here on-site.  Lucky for us, because without this trailer would be crammed into a 5 X 7 space with four managers on-site.

Scott and Elvis are working hard to get the business off the ground. 

The Mobile Command Center in all its glory.  This ESPAR heater runs off diesel and we also have electric plugged in for lights and internal power needs.  This unit was formerly a SIMULATOR that was moved from account to account.  It is now a fully depreciated asset providing a resource to our region for Startups and Account Blitzes.

Probably Overdue

You deserve and need a new Will Rogers photo.  He is now 18 months old.  As you can see, he is fascinated with the bathtub and bubbles.  Live is pretty darn good at this age.

The Home Depot is Growing!

Home Depot chairman and CEO Frank Blake, keynote speaker at the Cobb Chamber of Commerce breakfast Monday, said the retail giant is exceeding growth expectations, which is a sign that the housing market is back.

Home Depot for the second quarter compared to 2012 saw the largest sales growth in same-store sales the company’s had in more than 20 years, he said.

“It is a sign of the housing market coming back,” Blake said. “But to give you a perspective on just the size and power of the company that Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank founded just slightly over 30 years ago, in three months of the second quarter of this year, our business grew $2 billion. That’s pretty amazing.”

Blake anticipates the market will continue to recover based on what’s happening in areas of the country hit hardest by the downturn, such as Florida, California and Arizona.

“It’s home price appreciation, so people, their houses are getting out of negative equity situations, and so people are willing to invest in their homes again,” he said.

A headwind to the recovery is that it continues to be difficult for families to get credit, particularly for new homeowners.

“As part of the correction to the crash there are very strict standards around mortgages and how much of a down payment you have to make and the (credit) score you need to get loans, and so it’s much harder to qualify for mortgages now,” he said. “Particularly for the first-time homebuyer, you’re seeing a lot of the younger generation that have significant student debt, and so you’re actually seeing a slowdown in sort of that early first-time homebuyer.”

Blake said much of the retailer’s growth is coming in the form of online sales, which spiked more than 50 percent in the third quarter.

“People, they want the comfort of shopping in their home, being able to pick up in the store, being able to return in the store, the breadth of selection online. We’re seeing big growth online,” he said.

The shale oil boom in North Dakota has allowed the retailer to open a new store in that state next month. There are also plans to open stores in Mexico.

“But you know, the new store growth is not the significant part of our growth stream. It’s mostly online and in-store,” he said.

Among those at the breakfast, held at the Cobb Galleria Centre, was county chairman Tim Lee, who said he was grateful that Home Depot’s corporate headquarters are in the county within the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

“Where Home Depot goes, so does the economy,” Lee said. “The stronger their sales are, it’s a good indicator as to where the economy is going overall, as people use more discretionary income for home improvement, and it’s also an indication that the building market, new homes, is starting to come back and show signs of improvement, which for our area specifically is a catalyst for economic growth. Combining their strength with the recent news of economic development in Cobb County (the Atlanta Braves moving here) the future looks bright for Cobb.”

Blake touched on the community service of Home Depot, such as the $80 million the retailer’s foundation committed to nonprofits dedicated to improving the homes of veterans.

Every year from Sept. 11 to Nov. 11, the company also makes a concentrated effort to serve its communities. This past eight-week span saw more than 350 projects to help veterans completed.

“Many of these projects are right here in Cobb County, from performing critical home repairs to building wheelchair ramps to refurbishing transitional housing for formerly homeless veterans,” Blake said.


Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - Home Depot CEO Company growing market recovering

Setting the Standard

Millions of truck drivers subject to the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration drug and alcohol testing regulations may be subject to hair testing for alleged drugs in addition to the urine testing currently authorized under the FMCSA rules, if recently proposed federal legislation is enacted. Relying on the results obtained by Arkansas-based J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., which has been using hair testing in its drug screening procedures for over seven years, Rep. Rick Crawford (R.-AR.) and Senator Mark Pryor (D.-AR.) and others, introduced bills in both houses, entitled the ‘Drug Free Commercial Driver Act of 2013” (S. 1625; H.R. 3403) :  (Senate Bill 1625) to allow motor carriers to conduct hair testing for drugs, as an alternative to urine testing, for certain DOT-required drug tests.

J.B. Hunt reported that by using hair testing for pre-employment drug tests the company had rejected more than 3200 prospective drivers between May 2006 and February 2013. Meanwhile, only 90 applicants failed urine tests required by federal regulations, the company said. J.B. Hunt reportedly regards hair testing as superior to urine testing for pre-employment purposes. The bills would permit, but not require, truckers to use hair tests for pre-employment and random drug testing of drivers, instead of urine tests.

Hair testing can detect drugs used within the past 90 days, while urinalysis testing has a much shorter look-back period. (Hair testing, however, may not detect very recent use. Accordingly, while it may be suitable for pre-employment and random testing, it generally is avoided for reasonable suspicion or post-accident drug testing.)

“This is all about trying to create a safe environment in the industry,” Rep. Crawford explained, as reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on October 31, since it helps identify “chronic drug users instead of relying on a two or three day snapshot.” Sen. Prior added that “right now, our companies are saddled with duplicate drug-testing procedures that are wasting time and money,” referring to DOT’s refusal to accept any drug testing other than urinalysis under its testing regulations for transportation employees.

Various industry groups, including the American Trucking Association, reportedly have voiced support for hair testing, although the owner-operator Independent Driver Association opposes the method, claiming it is too costly, discriminates against certain ethnicities, and is not relevant to random testing.

New Equipment Lands in North Tonowanda

Shiny New Vented 53' Trailers = Happy Customer at Niagara Sheets!  3 of 50 have landed from Hyundai - Tijuana Mexico

Thankful Memories-An Attitude of Gratitude at Tyson's and Southern States

Last week we teamed up with both Tyson and Southern States - Park City, KY to provide a Thanksgiving meal for our drivers and feed mill employees...

At Tyson, we provided 15 pounds of turkey catered by Owensboro's famous Moonlite BBQ...

 At Park City, we covered a quarter of the cost for a Cracker Barrel catered meal...