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Riding technology’s new wave

January 1, 2003 By    

Running out of fuel can bring catastrophe to critical accounts, especially those that use large volume of propane for commercial purposes. Keeping these key clients content often involves considerable outlays of time and money, especially in the form of extra delivery runs to make sure the supply never gets too low.

But the poultry farms and other big-volume industrial customers served by Tri-Gas and Oil of Federalsburg, Md. are assured that their tanks stay full because their supply is monitored from a computer in Tri-Gas’ office using float gauge-based remote monitoring technology.

Tri-Gas has purchased 400 remote monitoring systems from LpgCentral of Tulsa Okla., and plans to soon buy an additional 300 units. Close to 95 percent of the systems are earmarked for use at commercial poultry operations, with the other 5 percent installed at other industrial enterprises that consume large quantities of propane.

Because the very lives of the chickens rely on the warmth of the coops, propane marketers serving these types of accounts often find themselves making unnecessary delivery runs just to ensure that the supply stays steady. Besides the cost and manpower extended to make these runs, poultry farmers prefer limited vehicle traffic at their facilities to prevent the spread of sensitive avian illnesses.

Remote monitoring eliminates these issues as tank levels are viewed from the Tri-Gas office via the Internet.

“Our goal is to reduce our deliveries by 40 percent to the poultry farms,” says Keith McMahan, Tri-Gas president. “At the same time, we’ll reduce the risk of carrying disease from one farm to another by 40 percent.”

The remote units are owned by Tri-Gas and installed in about 90 minutes by company personnel. McMahan says the equipment cost is competitive for his needs, and anticipates that he will recover his equipment and labor costs within two years.

In California, some poultry farms are so big that coop upon coop can stretch as far as the eye can see. If it’s cold they use a lot of gas to ensure that the chicks are kept healthy, reports a large propane marketer there who requests anonymity for competitive reasons. This company, too, is relying on LpgCentral remote monitoring equipment to best service large accounts with erratic deliveries.

“They say they’ll call you when they’re going to get birds in, but then when the birds actually come they also have to call in veterinary supplies, shavings and everything else. Sometimes they forget to call the propane man,” the marketer explains. “With this equipment you don’t have to worry if you get a call or not.”

“You know where the customer stands at any point in time and you don’t even have to drill a hole in your propane tank,” notes Mark Lucas, general manager/sales for LpgCentral.

“Once the customers have it put on they never want to take it off,” says Roger Steele, the founder of Remote Sensing Systems of Colorado Springs, Colo. RSS markets a turnkey solar power-based remote monitoring system.

A radio frequency signal from a float gauge mounted on the tank is beamed into the customer’s house or office where a receiver is connected to a modem. The gauge is kept running via solar power, while the indoor receiver uses a 9-volt converter similar to those found on telephone answering machines.

The system is programmable so that it can also monitor indoor temperatures. If a customer goes on vacation during the winter and the heat cuts off, the propane dealer can take action to avert burst water pipes and other calamities.

“They know that if their furnace goes out they have that extra security,” Steele says, noting that peace of mind can be a marketable benefit for cottages and vacation homes.

Steele reports that large-scale users such as crop drying operations and industrial furnaces can reap additional savings and efficiencies for the propane dealer. He claims the RSS equipment is perfectly suited for a marketer’s top 20 to 30 accounts, where 5 percent of the company’s customers use 20 to 30 percent of its sales.

“This can reduce your number of stops,” says Steele. “In general you can cut your delivery stops in half.”

Steele expects remote metering to become more widespread as the equipment cost falls. In recent years he has shaved $50 off the price tag to $200. RSS has also signed a major distribution deal that promises an industry-wide marketing push.

“It’s a wide-open field,” observes Louis E. Huff, vice president of marketing and sales at Maryville, -Tenn.-based Robertshaw Industrial Products. The company produces its Centerion gauge-based remote monitoring systems for various gas applications, including propane. “Usually the propane distributor owns the equipment and puts it on the customer’s tank.”

The technology to transport data via wireless and telephone lines has enabled propane retailers to monitor customer tank levels from their office computers.
The technology to transport data via wireless and telephone lines has enabled propane retailers to monitor customer tank levels from their office computers.

The system utilizes DSSS technology, which stands for Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum. This is an interference-free wireless communication system that was developed for military-only use to prevent enemy radio jamming. This makes the DSSS signal resistant to the kinds of interference that typically make a radio inoperable, according to Huff.

Homing in
The technology works for Valley Propane of Imperial, Calif. With a large agricultural client base, Valley’s trucks were making too many unnecessary or emergency deliveries to meet the customers’ unpredictable consumption demands.

“In the 30 years I’ve been in the business we haven’t changed the way we deliver fuel; it always comes down to a guess,” says Tom Mazeroll, a Valley managing member. “That’s why we went to the Centeron system. We wanted to get away from guessing and utilize intelligent information when we do our routing.”

Remote metering can be especially cost effective for applications in remote regions, such as radio transmitters, equipment monitoring stations, cellular telephone towers and other out-of-the-way sites utilizing propane-powered systems, according to Jack Potts, operations manager for Squibb-Taylor of Dallas.

“If they are in a remote location they sure don’t want to run out of propane,” says Potts, whose company produces a hard-wired monitoring system that is read at the worksite and reported into the propane dealer. “We’ve been doing this since 1989,” he says, noting that the technology at this point seems to be more economical for commercial aspects as opposed to residential applications.

Look for homeowners to become more attracted to these systems as the pricing comes down and the equipment becomes more widespread, however. In fact, Robertshaw is rolling out a new advanced controller for its wireless tank level monitoring system for homes utilizing propane.

“The new controller is designed specifically with residential customers in mind,” says Huff.

The controller receives wireless data and relays it to the database. From there, customers and marketers have immediate access to their tank status via the Internet.

Remote monitoring of propane is likely to be common by 2004 and mainstream by 2006, according to Larry Osgood, an industry consultant who works with the Propane Education & Research Council.

“I think that’s a very reachable goal. These remote sensing systems are a priority for PERC,” he says.

Manufacturers claim that the savings and profits to be realized by propane dealers using their technology are nothing short of remarkable. The efficiency of reducing the number of deliveries made and the ability to set up usage-based billing plans are just a few ways to retailers to shave costs.

“You’re overseeing some of your big accounts, but you keep delivering because you’re afraid they’re going to run out of gas,” notes LpgCentral’s Lucas.

He says the most efficient organizations in the industry today are delivering an average of 40 to 45 percent of tank capacity. The industry average is between 30 to 40 percent, meaning that in many instances tanks are being filled to when they are nearly half full.

“It’s not delivery to the customers in need that are knocking down the averages; it’s the short fills and no fills that are responsible,” Lucas says. “By knocking out these unnecessary stops, we can have a direct impact on driver, truck and tank efficiency, reduce overtime hours and improve administrative efficiency.”

Efficiency = profitability
Tank monitors can be used for improving customer service and satisfaction, providing new services to your customers, assisting in closing competitive sales, helping pull will-call customers back into the fold, managing your bulk storage inventory, developing new payment plans, and gathering previously available gas usage data from your customers, Lucas says.

“The most obvious benefit of knowing your customers’ tank levels is that you can schedule your resources to meet your customers’ needs much more efficiently. By knowing who needs gas, when, and how much they can take, you can get very efficient in scheduling runs for your trucks. The result is larger drops, more gallons delivered per mile, reduced truck and maintenance expense, and reduced overtime,” Lucas maintains.

He offered the following scenario to highlight his contention:

A customer with a 500 gallon tank that you deliver to eight times per year, with an average fill of 35 percent, will get 1,400 gallons. Assuming an EBITDA of 29 cents per gallon, the annual profit for that customer is $406.

From a cost standpoint, that customer used four hours of driver time, four hours of truck time, and 60 minutes of administrative, dispatch and management time. Assuming that costs per hour are $25 for the driver, $35 for the truck and $20 for staff, customer costs for the year are $260.

Maingas District Manager Alan Bontaites installs a remote monitor at the Sunday River Ski Resort in Bethel, Maine. The technology should eliminate guesswork and unnecessary two-hour round-trips from the Maingas office.
Maingas District Manager Alan Bontaites installs a remote monitor at the Sunday River Ski Resort in Bethel, Maine. The technology should eliminate guesswork and unnecessary two-hour round-trips from the Maingas office.

Using a tank monitor, Lucas claims you could increase your fill to 60 percent, meaning a cut in deliveries from eight to five. Accordingly, your costs would be $62.50 for the driver, $87.50 for the truck, and $12.50 for the staff for a total of $162.50, an annual savings of $97.50. EBITDA would grow to $503.50, a 24 percent increase.

Will-call customers and their sometimes-finicky habits over price also can be assuaged with the technology. As long as they buy gas from you, retailers can provide these customers with exceptional services such as notification when their tank is running low; notification of a price drop or special so that they can fill their tank at the new, lower price; gas usage information on a monthly basis to help them with budgeting or planning; and new payment plans that could be made available when they convert to an annual contract status.

The monitor can be set to report every fill. If a fill isn’t yours, you can call the customer and ask why. Perhaps a competitor is selling cheap gas, which can prepare for the attacks on your other customers.

Competitive pressures frequently put the squeeze on propane dealers in tough markets, and being technically advanced can reach newer customers while offering superior service to existing accounts.

“Almost all the majors are trying this in one way or another,” Lucas reports. “Remote tank monitoring is no longer a pipe dream on the horizon. This is right on the cusp of exploding.”

Customers with vapor meters attached to their lines tend to pack up and move in the middle of the night without telling the propane dealer, while the marketers themselves are shying away from extending the manpower for meter readers.

Meanwhile, the competing remote monitoring equipment that relies on float gauge-based measuring can also be applied to usage-billing applications.

“(Metering) was the talk of the industry three years ago, but we’ve seen it fizzle out,” reports Kevin Pruitt, business development manager at the Gas Equipment Co. of Dallas. “Yet we do ship them out the door every day,” he adds, noting that trailer parks and other multi-line commercial accounts are better suited for vapor metering than typical residential sites.

“We prepared for this three years ago, expecting a big push,” Pruitt ruefully recalls, “but so far it hasn’t come to fruition.”

“We looked at meters but we never pursued it,” says Steve Farkas, general manager at Hancock Gas Service in Findlay, Ohio. At one point, some three-dozen Hancock customers paid an additional $4 a month to be metered. But that petered out as the company found it to be “a waste of a hundred bucks and a meter reader,” according to Farkas.

Some customers who said they wanted a meter balked at paying the bill it computed, claiming the meter reading exceeded their actual consumption. What they really were looking for was a way to spread the fill-up fees out over time, Farkas believes.

“The customer wants a budget plan, so why spend the money for a meter reader?”

In the past, vapor meters were used by 200 of 3,000 customers served by JEM LP Gas of New Strawn, Kan. The meters cost about $105, and the customers were assessed for materials. They would read the meters themselves and mail in the results, paying an extra 3 cents a gallon. That is, when they would indeed pay.

“They just won’t pay you on the meters,” laments Dave Miller, JEM’s director of operations. “It’s an inconvenience and a cost that we pass on to the customer, but then they’ll move out on you in the middle of the night” without settling up the bill.

“We’re slowly pulling them out; it’s been too much of a hassle,” he says.

If metering were more widespread it could provide more precise planning of delivery routes, and a dealer could store stockpiled propane in the customers’ tanks.

“If everybody has a meter, you can fill up everyone’s tank and they won’t care because they’re not getting a bill for it,” Farkas observes.

Under the current scenario, though, Hancock has cut its metered customers down to eight – serving only a trailer park and an industrial complex.

“Our degree-day system is very accurate,” says Farkas, explaining that customers are unlikely to be caught without adequate propane.

The non-payment problems faced by JEM has them out of the meter installation business.

“We’ve pretty much sent that by the wayside,” Miller says.

Industry research continues in search of new and improved float gauge technologies to obtain an even better read on the amount of propane contained in a tank.

Gauging dial performance levels Sonic sensors may see boom as research continues on externally mounted gauges

The traditional float gauge has buoyed the industry for years, of course, but customer service problems can arise if that device has become damaged, worn or simply just out-of-date.

Two views of the ADEPT sonic gauge test model, the technology for which was developed for the military to measure fuel levels in warhead-bearing missiles.
Two views of the ADEPT sonic gauge test model, the technology for which was developed for the military to measure fuel levels in warhead-bearing missiles.

“If a gauge is older than 1980, we recommend replacing it,” says Rick LaDue, vice president at Rochester Gauge in Dallas.

A nuance in past industry production processes can bring false readings under certain conditions, LaDue cautions. A key component of a float gauge’s functioning relates to the behavior of magnets in the gauge that dictate the accuracy of the dial’s movement and measurement of the propane contained in the tank.



Prior to 1980, manufacturers would store and handle their stock of magnets en masse throughout the production process. Having these magnets co-mingled that way resulted in subtle changes in polarity and other properties of the magnetic field, however, negatively impacting the gauge’s measuring abilities. Post-1980 gauges don’t have that problem.

“Magnet technology has evolved to where we’ve improved our handling and purchasing,” says LaDue, who is quick to point out that a pre-1980 gauge is a good candidate for replacement based on its age alone. “If a gauge is more than 20 years old you’ve gotten a good life from that gauge. You’re getting a huge lifespan from that product.”

The current crop of gauges serves the propane industry well, reports Roger Blackburn, warehouse manager at Gaseco in Mount Vernon, Wash. He is particularly pleased that the gauges on the marketplace are readily adaptable to the remote monitoring systems now finding increased popularity among propane dealers and their customers. (See story on page 17.)

“The newer ones now come with a remote-ready clip in them, so when it comes across the country they’ll be ready for it,” Blackburn says.

“All of our float gauges can accommodate remote monitoring systems,” says Andy Ryan, project manager at Sherwood in Niagara Falls, N.Y. “We have made sure that the magnet has enough magnetic strength to be compatible.”

Rochester gauges are equally adaptable for remote monitoring, LaDue notes. “It’s our standard dial now, all you have to do is take out a little black tab. We’ve been getting a lot of good response to it.”

When a dealer wishes to install remote monitoring capability, “all they have to do is snap it into our dial. This is a potential upgrade for a marketer at no extra cost,” he says.

Other improvements have been ongoing at Rochester, such as a switch in materials to aluminum and DuPont Lexan plastic products. In the area of readability, a lithographic printing process has replaced the older method of silk screening.

Sherwood also is dialing up success with its own product line innovations designed to defeat the harsh weather.

“You can read our dials with more clarity,” Ryan reports, noting that marketers rate readability high in importance. “They like it because it doesn’t cloud up on them and it’s easy to read and understand. These revisions have been gradually phased in over the past two years.”

Remote ready In context of the larger picture, float gauge technology has remained consistent with very little design changes for the past 50 years. That may be changing as the industry looks into newer measurement characteristics.

“We have invested in looking at some much more progressive technologies,” Ryan reveals. “We find that there are opportunities to take big steps in liquid level measurement.”

Much of this forward-looking research remains proprietary, but certainly the arrival of remote monitoring bodes well for the industry and its dramatically improved customer service ramifications.

“It’s going to grow in market share steadily and for a long time,” Ryan predicts. “We have been working closely with a number of remote monitoring companies” to perfect design changes.

From a dealer’s perspective, it is the majors that have taken the lead in getting remote ready, and Ryan urges the smaller companies to explore this avenue. “These larger companies will probably be the leaders in implementing these remote monitoring systems and will reap the financial benefits of remote monitoring. These larger companies are finding better and more sophisticated ways to do business.”

Rocket science Sonic sensors are an emerging technology undergoing research and field testing. A special sensor is attached to the outside of a propane tank via epoxy or a magnet. The sensor uses sound waves to penetrate the tank’s wall to ascertain the level of the contents within.

“You can just go out there and snap this on the tank,” according to Larry Osgood, a consultant with the Propane Education & Research Council.

One such project features the sensor work being done by the ADEPT Group Inc., an Los Angeles-based engineering consulting firm that obtained a $156,000 PERC grant.

ADEPT is seeking a manufacturer to purchase the rights and begin mass production of a device that military rocket scientists at the Los Alamos Laboratories had initially developed to measure fuel levels in warhead-bearing missiles. Transferred to civilian life, the technology is expected to produce an externally mounted propane gauge with a bulk wholesale cost between $20 and $50. These sensors are expected to be readily adaptable for remote monitoring.

“So far we’ve just made a couple dozen” of the devices for testing purposes, says Alex Spataru, the company’s president. “We wanted to make sure the technology we developed works, and that objective has been achieved. All of them have been tested in the lab and now we are putting them in the field.”

Along with other propane-related innovations, ADEPT has also been working on remote monitoring equipment. Its research indicates that 20 percent of the existing gauges had unreadable dials or were otherwise ripe for replacement.

“We found that a lot of gauges stick,” Spataru recalls. “All mechanical gauges have that problem.”

He warns that many of these gauges “over-read,” meaning a customer thinks there is more propane in the tank than there actually is, potentially causing it to run dry and catching the customer – and the dealer – by surprise.

Sonic sensors are self-calibrating to ensure accurate readings. The external mounting capability also relieves any potential trouble with internal float mechanisms.

Spataru extols the following merits offered with sonic units:

  • No moving parts
  • Field upgradeable
  • Field replaceable
  • Low cost
  • Variety of onsite readout options
  • Non-intrusive to the tank
  • Directly linkable to remote monitoring devices

Clean-burning hybrid power Shuttle bus among public transportation applications

People are climbing on board the propane bus as the industry steps up its efforts to showcase hybrid propane-electric transit vehicles. The buses thus far on the route are providing efficient, environmentally friendly service while attracting attention from government officials, the general public and potential investors.

Propane seems perfectly positioned as a driving force for the shuttles that shuffle crowds around ski resorts, amusement parks, university campuses and airports. Specialized community programs such as those that transport senior citizens and handicapped individuals are also good candidates for selecting hybrid buses, as are mainstream municipal bus lines.

“We see a big market for this,” says Enzo Bauk, director of engineering at Ebus, a Downey, Calif.-based manufacturer of hybrid buses powered by a propane-fueled Capstone microturbine. The vehicles are rolling through Los Angeles and Monrovia, Calif. on a pilot basis. “They are working well,” says Bauk. “We believe! And we have invested into this.”

Advanced Vehicle Systems Inc. of Chattanooga, Tenn. also is achieving positive results with its propane-fueled, microturbine-equipped buses. “This is a major breakthrough for the industry,” according to Alex Spataru, president of the ADEPT Group Inc., an engineering consulting firm based in Los Angeles.

AVS buses traversing the streets of Santa Clara, Calif. are an especially appealing venture because funding is coming from that community’s own municipal electrical power system, Silicon Valley Power. Spataru sees much economic potential if other alliances are formed between propane bus proponents and power generating utilities wishing to diversify their offerings to the public.

With assistance from the Propane Education & Research Council and other entities, ADEPT proved successful at removing oily residues that were plaguing the fuel lines of these microturbines and threatening the success of several pilot bus projects. “When you burn these residues you get crappy emissions,” says Spataru.

A PERC/ADEPT project helped create a filter-like device with activated carbon and aluminum silicate media to strip the propane of the oily residues and certain sulfur compounds.

“They were all heading to the toilet, and we turned it into a success,” says Spataru, who credits a number of participants including the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. “We’re dealing with the top scientists in the nation,” he notes.

The FASTM bus Another hybrid bus technology has been displayed to the propane industry in meetings held at Yellowstone National Park and Big Sky, Mont. Called the FASTM bus, the prototype was built in just 90 days by integrating the most promising innovations of five different companies.

“We wanted to get something out there as soon as we could,” explains Josh Anderson, vehicle development manager at TransTeq of Denver, which coordinated the project. “The goal was to start from a clean sheet of paper to quickly design and build a completely new hybrid vehicle capable of running in a zero emissions mode,” adds Dr. Richard P. McDermott, TransTeq’s chairman.

“It’s one of the more practical and near-term vehicles,” observes Larry Osgood, a PERC consultant. TransTeq plans to produce 10 to 20 of these propane hybrid buses by the end of 2003 or mid-2004. An over-the-counter, easy-to-install engine conversion kit is also in being planned.

A fleet of TransTeq hybrid buses fueled by natural gas is already serving some 60,000 daily riders in Denver. “They use the same technology,” says Osgood. “It would be cheaper and more cost-effective to run them on propane.”

Propane was picked for the latest prototype in part because of its wide availability, Anderson says. “We fill it stations where you fill your barbecue tanks.”

Hybrid propane/electric buses are gaining interest from government officials, the general public and prospective investors for their low emissions and high power output.
Hybrid propane/electric buses are gaining interest from government officials, the general public and prospective investors for their low emissions and high power output.

Rather than using microturbines, the FASTM is powered by a generator driven by a propane-fueled Ford 4.2-liter engine that charges a pack of 28 lead-acid batteries. AmeriGas supplied tank technology for the fueling system.

“The FASTM bus is built on a Ford E450 chassis and we adapted a relatively small V-6 Ford engine to use cleaner-burning propane,” reports Paul Moore, director of sales and operations at Ford Power Products. “The result is a hybrid-electric vehicle that can help reduce emissions in city centers and metro areas.”

The punch provided by the propane-powered Ford easily outruns the slow-on-the-pickup problems experienced in previous attempts to produce plug-in rechargeable buses. Typically, they had trouble pulling their own weight when accelerating from a stop, says Osgood.

As part of the conversion to a hybrid bus, the entire driveline was modified by Detroit-based American Axle and Manufacturing Inc. to eliminate the transmission and replace other standard components with an advanced axle assembly. The axle is powered from the rear by an electric drive motor from Magtec, which is based in the United Kingdom.

“It allows the LP fuel tanks to be located forward of the axle between the frame rails, enhancing safety and system packaging while delivering power in the most efficient manner,” says Daniel Sagady, AAM’s vice president of engineering.

The hybrid system permits the V-6 propane engine to replace a larger gasoline-fueled 10-cylinder engine. That change further reduces emissions and fuel consumption.

The primary application of the FASTM bus is as an airport shuttle traveling between terminals, rental car centers and hotels. It holds 15 passengers and their luggage.

Such shuttles have long been a consistent source of pollution at airports as they sit idling while awaiting passengers in enclosed or partially enclosed areas, according to Omer Kropf, president of StarTrans Bus of Goshen, Ind. The company markets specialized commercial vehicles produced by Supreme Industries Inc., also located in Goshen.

“Many of our airport customers have asked us for clean, reliable, efficient transportation solutions,” says Kropf. “There is a tremendous need for this vehicle because nobody wants to breathe exhaust fumes while waiting to be picked up at the airport.”

Enlightened leaders make the difference

With employers facing labor shortages and unprecedented worker mobility, a stable, productive workforce of drivers, owner operators and support employees is relatively unusual in the rapidly changing trucking industry.

It has been my experience in this industry that workforce stability with low employee turnover follows enlightened leadership.

Enlightened leaders do more than simply manage or direct drivers, owner operators and the staff that supports them. Instead, they inspire, coach, encourage and guide. They earn consensus by working as part of the team, providing resources to get the job done, then getting out of the way and letting their people perform.

Enlightenment arrives when leaders elevate their game to a higher level. Intellect kicks in. Head and heart take over for the hands. Vision – a clear perspective on how the future can affect the organization – replaces gut feeling.

With a deeper understanding of the big picture, enlightened leaders become more creative and their creativity stimulates those around them. They share information and insights, helping others see the big picture and giving them the opportunity to do great things, to learn and grow and to make a difference themselves. They begin to perceive that they can make a difference, too, making their work as drivers, dispatchers, mechanics or support personnel a lot of fun.

When enlightened leaders cultivate the skills of their subordinates by concentrating on people instead of simply numbers, they begin building other leaders, confident in the understanding that the bottom line numbers will come. They understand that people who are happy at work are productive in the cab, office or garage.

Enlightened leaders sincerely care about their people and emphasize the importance of building and maintaining positive working relationships. From this grows a sense of team, which feeds a culture of collaboration.

Enlightened leaders ensure that everyone has the resources to perform at a high level. Those resources include information, tools, equipment, time, space and a supervisor to cut through red tape and remove obstacles to high achievement.

Recognizing that people want to grow, enlightened leaders provide wide-ranging opportunities for learning and new experiences. They set the example by reading trade literature, participating in trade conferences, and networking with peers in customer, supplier and trucking industry groups. They also encourage the organization to bring in outside experts to share ideas, information, perspectives and insights on topics not necessarily related to transportation. And they promote continuing education, with the understanding that lifelong learning helps them grow as people and as employees.

Compensation always will be an issue, but enlightened leaders downplay the dollars and emphasize other rewards. They give employees – especially the sought-after professional driver – a benefits package that enriches beyond standard hospitalization and major medical and responds to their needs and interests.

Those who practice the principles of enlightened leadership, whether applied to trucking, telecommunications or travel, find that employees understand better what is expected of them and deliver on those expectations. They focus on results, not just activity, and they interact comfortably with co-workers in an atmosphere of open communication, trust and commitment.

The key is to bring these principles into action across the organization, creating a culture that is conducive to high performance on the road, in the office or at the terminal. Achieving this will make a difference for all involved, and for the world around us today and tomorrow.

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