the last word

Employees of Fort Lauderdale-based truck leasing concern PHH FirstFleet, led by senior vp Hal Booth, helped christen a new volunteer program of the Broward Partnership for the Homeless (BPHI) dubbed “EGADS!” short for “Everyone Gives A Day of Service.”

PHH FirstFleet employees participate in a summer's day of hands-on community service for BPHI, which operates an emergency housing facility for homeless men, women, and families with children, and a transitional housing unit for homeless persons who are elderly and disabled.

The leasing firm's workers cleaned and landscaped the main facility, prepared, served and had lunch with BPHI's 200 residents. They also cleaned and painted the library, and created a fantasy garden mural. for the family dormitory's common room. PHH FirstFleet also collected and donated clothing, personal-care products and other needed items for the facility.

“Improved packaging means less waste, fewer materials used and savings on transportation, manufacturing, shipping and storage.”
— H. Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart, who claims reducing packaging by just 5% can save 66.7-million gallons of diesel fuel

The Alliance for the Polyurethane Industry (API) has awarded Rhino Linings USA and its partner High Impact Technologies (HIT) with the 2006 “Polyurethane Innovation Award” for designing BattleJacket, a protective truck lining currently being used on military trucks and other vehicles.

BattleJacket is made primarily from polyurethane products similar to what Rhino uses to make its truck bed liners. But for the BattleJacket design, the lining material expands and permanently seals holes made by bullets or other projectiles to prevent fuel tank leaks that can lead to explosions.

“This API award acknowledges the creativity, time and research we both invested to develop BattleJacket,” notes Pierre Gagnon, Rhino's president & CEO. “It's allowed us to take a practical truck-bed lining and turn it into a tactical product that is in high demand by the armed forces.”

Live By Example - seen at a truckstop outside Dallas

Alert Transport Inc.
Streamwood, IL

Aaron Stephenson (l), a technician employed by the MHC Contract Maintenance Group of Waller Transportation in Excelsior Springs, MO, receives this year's Jost International “Fastest Hands” 5th wheel-rebuild award from Jost's Joseph Shaw.

At each stop of a nationwide promotional tour this summer, Jost demonstrated the ease of rebuilding its 5th wheel and then had contestants complete a mock rebuild while being timed. Stephenson won hands-down, posting the “astounding” time of 1 minute and 23.07 seconds to best several hundred competitors and beat his closest competition by just over 2 seconds.

“I did this in mid June and I didn't think my time would hold up,” reports Stephenson, “We had several guys in our shop that were really close to my time and I was pretty sure by the end of the tour someone would probably beat me.”