Measure It... First! (A ture Story)
How much time does it take to measure your loads? How wide are you? How tall? How long are you?
Did you ever time it? How much time did it take, 3 minutes, 4, 5, even 10 minutes?

Do you want to know how much time it takes NOT to measure? I know, the hard way.

Day 1, at 11:45 am, I tried to go under a 14'1" bridge with a 14'5" container. (I didn't measure it before) 12:10pm, Indiana State Patrol arrives on scene. 12:45pm, Indiana D.O.T. arrives at scene. At 1:45pm we move truck and trailer (now 14'9" tall) to an empty parking lot. 2:10pm, the Highway Patrol leaves. 2:20pm, DOT puts trailer out of service until I can get a permit, which I can't get because we have to move container to a step deck to get the height lower. 3:00pm, a nice DOT officer hands me a ticket over-height, $110 fine. 3:10pm, DOT leaves. Now I'm sitting in an empty parking lot, it's hot, no place close to eat, and I can’t get another trailer until tomorrow.

Day 2, Another driver shows up around 9am. Wrecker shows up around 10:00am. We get it figured out how we are going to transfer the container. 11:00am, the job is completed, and it’s raining cats and dogs. I tied down the load in the rain. 11:15am, the wrecker driver hands me a bill for $450. 11:30am, the wrecker driver leaves with big smile on his face. 11:31am, I call the consignee, I'm 2 hrs from destination, to late to off load today, I’ll be #1 in AM.

Day 3 7:00am, at delivery location, they don’t start till 8am, begin to unload. 10:30, I finally got unloaded, the damage written up, pictures taken, claims written etc. I head to Detroit to return container. 1:30pm I arrive at container yard, inspector spends 30 minutes writing up damage to container. 2:15pm, done with that load, total time lost because I didn't take 10 minutes to measure my height = 50.5 hours, $560 cash money, and a whole lot of headache and heartache. I lost 3 class grades, a bunch of time off, and other stuff I can't tell ya.

BUT, I can tell you this, TAKE THE TIME TO MEASURE.

Terry Wenger #14802

New Safety Program...PICKUP ON SAFETY
We're giving away this 2002 GMC Sierra 4x4. The truck can be seen in front of the ATS home office in St. Cloud, MN. Full time drivers meeting safety qualifications from May 1 through July 31, 2002, will receive one chance to win for every year of safe driving with ATS. For example, a qualified, full time driver with 5 years of safe driving at ATS would have 6 chances to win the truck (one chance for each full year, plus one chance for this qualifying quarter). Drivers who have been with ATS less than one year, but drove the full quarter safely, would have one chance to win. The drawing will be held in Gary, Indiana, at Driver Appreciation Days August 16th and 17th.

This will replace all other quarterly safety award programs. Drivers meeting safety criteria for the full calendar year will also receive the ATA annual safety pin and patch. Drivers with one million ATS safe miles will receive a ATS Million Mile Ring in appreciation for their efforts and accomplishments.

Million Mile Ring Redesigned
The Million Mile Ring which has been given out to drivers in the past has been redesigned and the program has been continued. The design has been updated to include both the original and current ATS logos. Above each logo will appear the drivers name and the year the ring was awarded. "It's all about recognizing these men and women for the positive impact they have had on the trucking industry" said Mary Besser Acting Director of Safety. "It's an amazing accomplishment and we are very proud of these drivers", added Rollie Anderson. Each year ATS will present these rings to drivers who have driven 1,000,000 miles without a safety violation. The first 10K gold new style rings should be shipping by the end of summer. To view a complete list of our Million Mile Drivers, got to the "Our People" link on the website www.ats-inc.com. (662)