Winter 2019
Bham FL Joins Special Olympics Convoy
PSTC News
Peach State Sponsors Winship 5K
Rick speaks at Indiana University
Dealership Stories
Congressman visits norcross
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Dean Thompson from SelecTrucks of Atlanta had her last day on September 20. She worked as the dealership's sales administrator for over 10 years. To send her off, the staff had served lunch and spent time with Dena on her last day before returning to her home state of Texas. Good luck, Dena. We will miss you!
Scarlett Grace Smith Born June 16 8lbs 14 ounces Parents Alexandria and Russell Alexandria is Courtnay Beckham's (Sales, SelecTrucks) daughter and used to work as the SelecTruck's Saturday receptionist while in College This was Scarlett's first outing and of course the family came to see everybody at SelecTrucks!!
Baby News!
Danny Prather and Gary Hogland fired up the grill to serve lunch for the drivers at Transport American during Truck Driver Appreciation Week during September.
On Thursday, November 1, U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 7th district Rob Woodall visited Peach State Truck Centers in Norcross, Georgia to discuss challenges that face commercial truck dealers and their customers with the dealership’s staff—including President and Dealer Principal Rick Reynolds—take a tour of the facility, and ride down I-85 in a Class 8 over-the-road commercial vehicle. Some of the topics of discussion during the visit included the unprecedented current demand for commercial vehicles and, especially, the Freightliner brand, labor challenges facing dealers and trucking companies, and the future of trucking with the introduction of autonomous and electric-powered vehicles. Another important issue discussed is the high Federal Excise tax placed on + heavy-duty trucks. A current piece of legislation has been drafted to repeal this tax. After the discussion, Reynolds led Congressman Woodall on a tour of the Norcross facility. Congressman Woodall took time to speak with one of the service department’s technicians, learning what it takes to work on trucks for a living and how one becomes trained to do so. Congressman Woodall then took a ride in a Freightliner Cascadia down I-85. Reynolds spoke to the Congressman about the state-of-the-art technology that goes into trucks on the road today. The Congressman was able to experience “real time” examples of the latest driver assist and safety alert features within the New Cascadia truck. “We were honored to have Congressman Woodall at our Norcross dealership today to talk about issues that matter to us as a family-owned local business in his district, as well as the issues that matter to our industry as a whole,” said Reynolds, who was named Truck Dealer of the Year for 2018 by American Truck Dealer. “It shows us that he takes his job seriously as a representative for the people and businesses in our area.”
Dena's Last Day :(
Truck Driver Appreciation Week
Winship 2018
On Saturday, October 13 the annual Winship Win the Fight 5K had over 3,500 participants and raised over $700,00 for the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University. Peach State's racing team had a great turn out as well with dozens of our employees and their families joining in for this great cause. Special thanks go out to Jim Thompson and his wife for all their help with arrangements and race day set up. Peach State has been involved with the Winship 5K every year since its inception eight years ago and continues to be one of the race's top sponsors. This event means a lot to the Peach State family and we look forward to participating every year. If you are interested in participating next year, look out for the registration emails that go out in the summer. Thanks to everyone who came out and ran/walked. We look forward to another great race next year!
Rick Reynolds, the 2018 Truck Dealer of the Year, recently spoke at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, sharing his personal story and leadership experiences with graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in entrepreneurship classes. “It was a privilege to share my experiences with these young students who are already walking into the world of starting up and owning their own businesses,” said Reynolds, president of Peach State Truck Centers in Norcross, Georgia. “As an entrepreneur, there are certain challenges for which you can develop a plan to properly manage the situation; however, at the same time you have to be ready for those challenges you are not planning for.” Reynolds shared his successes and failures as he moved through different departments within the business. He highlighed the strategy and execution of several acquisitions, as well as a recovery plan from the discontinuation of a major brand by an OEM. Reynolds' dealership group includes 11 sales, service and parts facilities with 600 employees in Georgia and Alabama representing Freightliner Trucks, Western Star, Ford Commercial Trucks, Mitsubishi Fuso, Sprinter Vans, Thomas Built Buses and Autocar. “We talked about how we grew our business both organically and through acquisition and the market strategies involved in doing that successfully,” Reynolds said. “As a business leader, there’s a broad range of issues to handle. This resonated with some of the students as they looked at their own careers.” The guest lecture appearance is part of the annual Truck Dealer of the Year awards program, which requires the winner to speak to the students. Business professors from Indiana University have judged the program for more than 20 years. “There’s so much opportunity in the marketplace today, and there’s a lot of money on the sidelines ready to invest in those opportunities,” he told the students. “Be open minded and pursue those opportunities.” The national award – sponsored by the American Truck Dealers, Heavy Duty Trucking magazine and Procede Software – recognizes commercial-truck dealers for business performance, industry leadership and community service. The 2019 award will be presented during the ATD Show in San Francisco in January.
Congratulations to Mike Burton from our Forest Park location for being one of the 2018 Leland James Elite Award Winners! Freightliner Trucks has recognized Mike for his sales excellence, customer service and industry leadership. Thanks for all that you do, Mike!
On Saturday, September 29, a group of Birmingham Freightliner employees participated in the World's Largest Truck Convoy for the Special Olympics. They took four stock trucks and one of their mobile service trucks to be in the convoy. A great time was had by all for this great cause. This was the first time Alabama joined the convoy and had a total of 50 trucks participating, which was escorted by police from Birmingham to Gadsden. Several athletes were in attendance as well. The Birmingham employees who helped out were: Johnnie Danner (Parts Manager), Tim Brakefield (Shop Foreman), David McLellan (Service Advisor), Eric Tipton (Q.A. Technician), Casey Wyatt (Mobile Technician), and Chris Bisanz (General Manager).
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Birmingham Freightliner Joins Special Olympics convoy
Leland James Award Winner
Rick Reynolds speaks at indiana university
News Clips
Peach State Employee scores medal in bowling Tournament
Former Georgia Bulldog Nick Chubb helps promote cedartown dealership
Peach State Competes
In June, DTNA hosted a Tech Competition and 24 Peach State techs competed. They all took a written test and unfortunately none of them made it to the next round of which DTNA only selected 30 out of approx. 400 techs. Congratulations to all the of the techs who got the chance to participate! Here is a list of the Techs that participated: G2-Engine Tony Sica, John Black, Kevin Betsill, Jonathan Davis, Allan Olivares, Dakota Richardson, Brandon Brasher, Shawn Fagan, Matthew Buckner, Mike Kinner, Seth Slonaker, Nick Crane TTC-Chassis Kane Pass, James Brooks, Bo Geiger, Erick Rodriquez, Justin Seamands, Hayden O’Leary, Devin Robinson, Glenn Mullins, James Payne, Jonathan Gann, Matthew Castleberry, Gavin Mathews
Ruby Waddell, who works as the housekeeper at Peach State Ford in Cedartown, participated in a bowling competition in August as a part of the Special Olympics Georgia. Ruby's team the Bowling Bandits took home the gold for the second year in a row. The team is organized through the Polk County State Special Olympics. The Special Olympics Georgia's Masters Bowling Tournament took place from August 17th through the 19th in Warner Robbins, Georgia. Over 1,300 athletes participated in the events at Gold Cup Lanes and Robins Air Force Base Bowling Center. The Opening Ceremony for the bowling tournament took place at Southside Baptist Church in Warner Robbins, with the the city's mayor Randy Toms serving as the Grand Marshal. The MC for the event was WGXA News Meteorologist Jeff Cox. Ruby has worked for the dealership for for over four years and is a great part of the Peach State Ford Cedartown team that joined the Peach State family in July. Congratulations to Ruby for her success in the Masters Bowling Tournament!
Left: Peach State Ford's General Manager Arthur Banks poses with Nick Chubb during the November visit. Above: Nick Chubb poses in front of a Ford truck in the Peach State Ford showroom.
Nick Chubb, former running running back for the Georgia Bulldogs, has been helping out with the promotion of the new Peach State Ford dealership in Cedartown, GA. Chubb played high school football in Cedartown, so the promotion has been a homecoming of sorts for the current running back for the Cleveland Browns. In November, Chubb visited the dealership to sign footballs, take pictures and film a commercial. In March, Chubb will return to Peach State Ford for the dealership's grand opening celebration where the signed merchandise will be given out as prizes. The commercial will run from December until May on Comcast, and billboards for the promotion have been put up in the area, as well. Thanks so much to Nick Chubb for being involved in this new dealership venture for Peach State!
Peach State Ford meets gridiron superstar
Peach State techs participate in DTna tech competition
I am very pleased to announce that UltiPro has added a great new feature called Community Broadcast. This tool allows HR and payroll to send messages to all employee so specific groups right out of the UltiPro System. The emails will come from this address no-reply@notifications.ultipro.com This address has been whitelisted by Helion but might still end up in your junk/spam mail. If it does don’t worry it’s safe and please mark it as not junk. When you see an email from this address please read it as soon as you can. But don’t reply no one will ever see you response. Occasionally there will be a ‘Click here to acknowledge receipt’ message at the bottom of the email. This helps to let us know who might still be needing to be informed on certain items. If you have specific questions about a posting call or email me directly. I am looking for more and better ways to continue to improve employee communications in the Company. I hope you find this new tool of value. Bill
New Community Broadcast Tool
Alyssa Skinner - Forest Park
Drink Water
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Walktober Challenge
Eat healthy
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Alyssa Skinner’s Wellness Journey: What role did your Health Coach and CHP play in your wellness success? My health coach helped me stay motivated and gave me great ideas to keep going with my new lifestyle change. How did you get started in your wellness journey? I was at stroke level with my blood pressure and I was always feeling poorly, now I have more energy and my blood pressure has been regulated How did you stay motivated when you wanted to give up? My children and wanting to do more physical activities with them.
Wellness corner
Wellness Calendar
Wellness warrior
Drink lots of water!
Stay away from unhealthy carbs!
Exercise
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Quick Tips from alyssa
Exercise even when you don't feel like it!
Thru the Lens Video Series
Birmingham and Alabama Freightliner promote two to manager positions
Birmingham Freightliner and Alabama Freightliner are proud to announce to two internal promotions that will lead to great opportunities for both dealerships as they grow in the coming years. Cody Sikes, who has worked as the Parts and Service Manager at Alabama Freightliner in Tuscaloosa for the past nine months will be transferring to Birmingham to become the new Body Shop Manager. Jason Edwards has been the Warranty Administrator and Business Manager in Birmingham for the last five years, but he now takes over in Tuscaloosa as the Service and Operations Manager. Both men will start in their new positions on Monday, August 6. Jason’s work with with the dealership predates the Birmingham Freightliner name change, joining Liberty Truck Sales as a service writer over 12 years ago. “I am excited about this new opportunity at our Tuscaloosa location,” said Jason. “I’m ready to help the business grow as much as possible, as well as establish great relationships with our customers in the area.” Prior to working at Alabama/Birmingham Freightliner, Cody worked at Peterbilt of Birmingham as a Service Writer and a Warranty Administrator for 2 years. He also was enlisted in the United States Army from 2011 to 2014 as an Aviation Structural Mechanic. “I am looking forward to being a part of the Body Shop team in Birmingham,” said Cody. “I have been very blessed with opportunities to progress at this early stage of my career. I am excited to bring the experience and everyday knowledge that I have acquired here in Tuscaloosa back to the Body Shop.” The organization is very proud of the work both men have done during their tenures with us. Birmingham Freightliner believes in promoting individuals from within the company, and Jason and Cody are well deserving of their new positions. We look forward to the great work they will continue to do as they transfer into their new roles.
Peach State Truck Centers Thru the Lens is a new video series for company employees to stay up-to-date on the latest news happening at Peach State locations. Peach State President and Dealer Principal Rick Reynolds is the host of the web-based video series. The episodes released so far have given Peach State employees an inside look into business successes, company events like the Winship 5K and Christmas parties, important announcements like the Christmas Card Contest, and a segment called "Questions with Rick", where Rick answers questions submitted by Peach State employees. "We want Thru the Lens to be enjoyable and informative for all employees," said Rick. "This is a communication channel that is accessible to everyone in the company with the goal of keeping everyone in the know about what's happening at Peach State. This is still a new endeavor for us, but we want it to grow into something that connects all aspects of Peach State and speaks to our ever-expanding employee base." The video series is produced by the HR and marketing departments and episodes are scheduled to be released monthly through the Vimeo online video platform. When new episodes are released, an email will be sent out to all employees with a direct link to the video. A webform has been set up on UltiPro for employees to submit questions for Rick to address during the "Questions for Rick" segment of upcoming Thru the Lens episodes. Your feedback is encouraged as well, as we want these videos to matter to you as Peach State employees. Submit any feedback to Bill Garrett at wgarrett@peachstatetrucks.com.
Cody Sikes and Jason Edwards moved dealerships and received Promotions
Left: Jason Edwards, Service and Operations Manager, Alabama Freightliner Right: Cody Sikes, Body Shop Manager, Birmingham Freightliner
Bobby "Woodrow" McAlpine" (left) poses with Assistant Service Manager Dylan McCoy during the retirement lunch at the dealership on January 9.
happy retirement, woodrow
"Nobody works as hard as woodrow and no one's as dedicated to doing good work as he is. he will be missed."
On Wednesday, January 9 the staff of Birmingham Freightliner celebrated the retirement of Bobby McAlpine, who everyone knew as Woodrow. Woodrow's last day December 31, 2018. He had been with the company for 37 years where he worked as a service technician on the night shift. If you ask anyone in the shop or around the dealership they will tell you how much they respect they have for Woodrow. He is known as someone who is dedicated to his job and works just as hard as anyone else despite his long career, and has a vast knowledge of heavy duty truck servicing. He has always been an important part of the Birmingham Freightliner team and he will be sorely missed. In retirement, he is going to spend time with his wife and family and especially the grandkids. And also piddle around the house as much as he can. Woodrow, thank you for your dedication through the years!
Christmas Party Fun
Over 450 Peach State employees and their family members and guests enjoyed a night out at the Intercontinental Hotel in Buckhead to celebrate the holiday season in style on December 8. The night started out with a cocktail hour in the hotel lobby with delicious hors d'oeurves, a perfectly festive holiday soundtrack played by a professional pianist, and portraits taken by the Christmas tree. Dinner followed in the beautiful hotel ballroom, featuring breathtaking Christmas decorations and a wonderful meal with a prime rib carving station. The whole night was taken to a whole other level when the live band Shimmer took the stage. Shimmer played all the hits that ranged from the 60's and 70's to current radio tracks. There was something to be enjoyed by everyone in the band's far-ranging playlist. The dancefloor was filled from the time they hit the stage at 8:30 until the party wound down at 11. During the night gift cards were raffled off so that many guests didn't go home empty handed. What a night it was and we thank everyone who was able to come out and celebrate together as a family!
Birmingham Freightliner Employee Christmas Party
On Saturday, December 1 Birmingham and Alabama Freightliner employees and their guests ate and danced the night away at one of Birmingham's most illustrious venues--The Club. The evening was filled with great food and fellowship, as well as the best view that Birmingham has to offer. Thanks to all who came out, especially Raymond Sellers and his wife, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
www.peachstatetrucks.com
Since 1974, Peach State Truck Centers has grown into one of the largest commercial truck dealership groups in America. With locations throughout Georgia and Alabama, Peach State serves customers with its highly trained team of new and used heavy and medium-duty truck sales specialists, $14 million local parts inventory, Elite Support Certified service and support locations and truck collision facilities. Along with Freightliner and Ford, Peach State offers other top truck brands: Western Star, Thomas Built Buses, Sprinter Van and Fuso.
Peach State truck centers
