Photo by Richard Smith, HTrans Driver

I have been with HTrans for over a year now and during that time one of the primary focuses has been to look for opportunities to improve the safety of our Driver Team.

We have accomplished a great deal towards that end by rolling out dash cameras to our entire fleet, implementing additional monthly safety training, corrective action training, and addressing some regular stops that present challenging hazards to our drivers.

An additional improvement in the realm of safety was adding new electric pallet jacks for our Driver Team, which we started rolling out towards the end of 2022.

Moving 2,000+ lb. pallets of coffee syrups or other heavy products with a manual electric pallet jack can present a risk of injury. Providing our drivers with the right tools significantly lowers that risk and these new electric pallet jacks have been a great help to the team.

Safety will always be the number one concern in the transportation industry, and we continue to explore new ways to get our drivers the tools and support they need to be as safe as possible. We are currently testing some back-up camera systems for our trailers and are always looking at concerns the Driver Team brings to our attention.

We all greatly appreciate everyone’s help in keeping our drivers safe out there on the road.

Written by Brandon Raymond, Transportation Supervisor

Find additional safety content on the Houston’s Blog.

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According to a 2022 demographic study, 84.3% of professional truck drivers in the U.S. are men. That means Erin is among the distinctive 15.7% of women in the profession.

With International Women’s Day on March 8, 2023, it’s important to shine a spotlight on women who are represented within the industry, and we’re grateful to have an individual like Erin as part of our Driver Team.

Driving with HTrans is Erin’s first professional driving position – though her interest in driving was sparked from an early age.

“I was inspired by the movies when I was a kid,” Erin said. “Movies like ‘Convoy,’ ‘Smokey and the Bandit,’ and – believe it or not – ‘BJ and the Bear.’ I have always had a passion for big trucks.”

Erin handles HTrans delivery routes that connect Houston’s to Northern California. Her stops include the cities of Yreka, Redding, Chico, Yuba City, Stockton, Modesto, Merced, Fresno, Santa Cruz, and San Jose, among others.

She also picks up product from some of our vendor partners to bring into stock, including Torani, Franmara, Blossom Valley Foods, and HP Hood.

Erin’s week typically starts at 5:45 a.m. on Saturdays, when she arrives at Houston’s Wilsonville facility. Once her truck is ready to go, she departs for California by 7 a.m.

It’s a five-hour trip from Wilsonville, OR to the California border. She makes three stops to deliver orders to customers, and then heads to Chico, CA for the night.

On Sunday morning, Erin is on the road again by 7:15 a.m. to make more customer delivery stops as she heads further into California. Monday scheduling can fluctuate based upon Houston’s customer needs.

“If I have stops Monday morning in Stockton or Modesto, I usually stay near there Sunday night,” Erin said. “If I have no stops Monday morning, I head (further south) to Madera for the night. Mondays, my day can start really early, 4 a.m., it just depends on what customers I have.”

In addition to Houston’s general sales customers, Erin also delivers to some of our Merchandising partners.

“I have three new US Foods CHEF’STORES in Visalia, Santa Cruz, and Merced,” she said.

Tuesday usually includes completing any remaining customer deliveries on her week’s schedule, as well as a Torani pickup, and a pickup of almond and oat milk from HP Hood – all products which are among the top sellers for Houston’s.

Erin listens to a lot of music as she logs the miles. She also brings an iPad for her off-time while she’s not driving or delivering.

The Northern California Coast

“Over nights, I have Netflix to watch, and I do social media – TikTok,” she said.

Erin also says she enjoys the Northern California environment, and the scenery and views her route provides.

“I’m originally from Northern California, so my route is my backyard,” Erin said. “I get to go to the California coast every week – I love the ocean.”

San Francisco is on Erin’s list of favorite places, too, and her pickups from Torani take her into the Bay Area.

“Unfortunately, I cannot take my big truck into the city itself,” she said. “It is too big, and I don’t want to get stuck.”

Anyone who has visited San Francisco can agree that the city’s famously steep hills, network of one-way roads, and crowded streets would certainly present a challenge for operating a tractor-trailer. From Erin’s perspective, there are other challenges that come with the job, too.

“The first was being a mom to a young child,” she said. “My daughter was seven years old when I started driving professionally; she is now 13. HTrans was great at working with me when I had to change my schedule around.”

Other challenges come in the form of hazards on the road, including the unpredictability of unsafe drivers.

“There are a lot of crazy drivers out there,” Erin noted. “Since I started driving a semi, I’m more aware of speeding cars, fog, and other bad weather.”

Challenges such as these are mitigated by Erin’s experience, skill behind the wheel, and the support of the HTrans office staff.

“Working for HTrans has been great, and Houston’s is a great company,” she said. “Any time I have a problem, it gets handled pretty quickly.”

The steep streets of San Francisco

Though being a professional driver has its challenges, especially being a woman in a predominantly male-dominated industry, it’s a rewarding career path.

“My advice for any woman who wants to have a career in this field: this is a way of life,” Erin said. “You have to have a backbone to do this job; you have to be able to work in the worst of weather, from very hot to very cold. It’s not for the faint of heart.”

“I can proudly say that I am the only female driver for HTrans, though I’m not the first,” she said. “I know my job and I do it to the best of my ability.”

Houston’s and HTrans are proud to have you on the team, Erin. Thank you for your dedication, and all that you do to successfully connect us with our customers and vendors.

Read about our other recognized team members on the Houston’s Blog.

The post International Women’s Day Feature: Erin Reilly, HTrans Driver appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Tyler Cushman

To qualify, a driver must have no chargeable or preventable accidents or incidents, no injuries, and must pass all roadside DOT inspections. Recognized drivers must also have zero log violations, must keep license and DOT medical card current, and turn in all copies to the HTrans office. It is each driver’s responsibility to remain current at all times.

In order to be inducted into the Haul of Champions, drivers must also have 10 or fewer speed events each month, and must report accurate mileage at the end of each work week.

Congratulations to these dedicated HTrans Drivers who earned Haul of Champions recognition 12 out of 12 months through 2022!

Larry Brown

Tyler Cushman

Aksel Dirkzwager

Jamal Jackson

Kevin Garnett

Jamal Jackson

Sandy Johns

Jack Meza-Rojas

Scott Owens

Herman Penix

Bill Reilly

Travis Rogers

Read more about our other recently recognized team members on the Houston’s Blog.

Aksel Dirkzwager

The post Haul of Champions 2022 Year-End Qualifiers appeared first on Houston's Blog.

For our Driver Team at HTrans this can be the same reality.

 With National Driver Appreciation Week this month (September 11-17), this is a good opportunity to communicate some of the things our drivers experience to help everyone notice, understand, and appreciate the hard work our Driver Team put in to make deliveries happen, as an essential part of Houston’s.

For most HTrans routes, drivers are out on the road multiple nights each week. Drivers are up and rolling before sunrise to ensure stops are coordinated as early as possible to meet customer requirements and to help our Merchandisers complete their work before heavy customer traffic hits their store locations.

Drivers will often use their legally allowed 11 hours per day as drive time, to cover the necessary ground required to maintain scheduling for our customers. It is common for the members of our Driver Team to cover 400 or 500 miles a day to make this happen.

This is when all things go right; add a small issue or delay – often completely out of anyone’s control – and our driver may be facing a situation that causes a chain reaction that may affect multiple customers.

Here are some examples of how these things affect our drivers.

A relatively small maintenance issue could be discovered during a pre-trip inspection or inspection at a weigh station. This can delay a driver for multiple hours and push back delivery times. Drivers are occasionally able to make up for delays and minimize the effect on customers. Working with the HTrans Team, drivers can change the order of deliveries or delivery days, to help ensure customer orders reach their destination. In these situations, the driver’s return home may be delayed.

When there are major mechanical issues, a driver could end up at motel for a couple of days while their truck is being worked on or the shop is waiting for a part to arrive. In these circumstances, HTrans staff is coordinating with the driver, the truck maintenance shop, Houston’s Inside & Outside Sales Teams, and Merchandising on solutions to getting our customers taken care of, while also making sure our driver gets home in a reasonable time.

Additionally, when a driver makes it home after enduring a delay, they have a legally mandated “reset time.” Delays can push a driver’s reset into the following week, which could affect our ability to service the route within our normal pool truck schedule.

 Drivers face mechanical issues, inclement weather, traffic delays, and other unforeseen events that add stress and anxiety to an already difficult job. Our drivers take these very large pieces of equipment into extremely tight spaces and over difficult stretches of roads and terrain. Our drivers successfully navigate adverse conditions and difficult deliveries so frequently they make it seem easy.

Due to their frequency of success, sometimes their extra efforts often get overlooked. I would like to encourage everyone this Driver Appreciation Week, to take the time to recognize our Driver Team for their continued invaluable contributions.

Thank you to all our drivers, we appreciate what you do!

Read more about our valued team members on the Houston’s Blog.

This article was written by Transportation Supervisor Brandon Raymond.

The post National Driver Appreciation Week 2022 appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Photo by Ivan Tjossem, HTrans Driver

In recent meetings with Houston’s insurance representatives, I was shocked to learn the severity a distracted driving violation carries.

Our insurance carrier shared with us that even just one distracted driving violation (mainly cell phone use) can lead to a driver becoming uninsurable. This is true while driving for your employer or in your personal vehicle.

The way they sum it up: “Sending or reading a text while driving takes your eyes off the road for five seconds. At 55 MPH, that’s like driving the length of an entire football field blindfolded.”

It is a new mindset for drivers; however, we must treat cell phone use as the major safety concern and violation that it is and follow regulations accordingly.

Federal law outlines the following truck driver regulations for handheld devices:

• No texting while driving
• Utilize an earpiece or speaker phone function
• Use voice-activated or one-button touch features to initiate, answer, or terminate a call
• Locate the phone so it is within reach of the driver, who must be seated properly with correctly adjusted safety belts

The absolute best practice is to abstain from cell phone use altogether while driving. Drivers should wait to be parked and off the road to use their phone, whenever possible.

Insurability and following regulations are certainly important issues, however, the safety of our Driver Team and fellow motorists is the No. 1 concern.

Thank you to our entire professional Driver Team for their continued commitment to raising awareness and operating safely.

Written by Steve Hall, HTrans Fleet Manager

Find additional safety content on the Houston’s Blog.

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The Haul of Champions is Houston’s program to identify excellence among our professional Driver Team. Safety and responsibility on the road are of utmost importance, and we want to recognize the team members who demonstrate these values to the highest degree.

To qualify, a driver must have no chargeable or preventable accidents or incidents, no injuries, and must pass all roadside DOT inspections. Recognized drivers must also have zero log violations, must keep license and DOT medical card current, and turn in all copies to the HTRANS office. It is each driver’s responsibility to remain current at all times.

Erin Reilly

In order to be inducted into the Haul of Champions, drivers must also have 10 or fewer speed events for the month, and must report accurate mileage at the end of each work week.

Congratulations to these dedicated HTRANS Drivers who earned Haul of Champions recognition 12 out of 12 months through 2021!

• Tony Brown

• Tyler Cushman

• Al Dement

• Kevin Garnett

• Jason Hanen

Richard Smith

• Sandy Johns

• Brad Murray

• Herman Penix

• Erin Reilly

• Bill Reilly

• Travis Rogers

• Robert Saddoris

Ivan Tjossem

• Richard Smith

• Ivan Tjossem

• Olivier Ward

Read more about our other recently recognized team members on the Houston’s Blog.

The post Haul of Champions 2021 Year-End Qualifiers appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Marv Bennett, HTrans Fleet Manager

Marv Bennett started in October 2017 as the Fleet Manager for HTrans, after a 4½ year stint with Sysco as Transportation Supervisor. Prior to Sysco he had been everything from a driver and dispatcher to a terminal manager with over 30 years in the transportation field. As Fleet Manager, Marv’s primary job entails working with the drivers: hiring, training, safety, EROAD electronic logs, accidents/incidents reporting and review. “We’re always looking to improve from one day to the next” says Marv.

“I like the family atmosphere in which everyone works together, and I especially like the challenges that I find looking at HTrans and Houston’s through “fresh eyes” or a new perspective. When I come across something, I like to improve it.”

Last summer, Marv spent a week in New Orleans where he attended a course called “License to Lift,” at the Industrial Safety and Rehabilitation Institute. The course specialized in the anatomy of the human back and proper lifting techniques. “Since the course was in New Orleans the locals planned time to show us around. And boy did they – Bourbon Street, the French Quarter, and fine dining on real Cajun food. While we were there, we took a 2 ½ hour drive to eat BBQ at the famous ‘The Shed’ BBQ in Mississippi. As you can tell I’m a bit of a ‘foody.’ It was a great experience and I’d like to go again.”

Speaking of food, Marv likes to barbecue, and has competed for the last 5 years with the Pacific Northwest BBQ Association. He is also a certified barbecue judge and has been the head judge for the annual Fourth of July BBQ contest in Dallas, where he lives.

Marv likes to take his travel trailer and camp along the Oregon Coast with his wife, Kerri. South Beach, near Newport, is their favorite camp ground, as it’s where the crabbing is usually pretty good. They are joined most of the time by their three kids and their families- including 5 grandchildren. It’s a great opportunity to barbecue, play horse shoes, and just relax with family around the campfire.

Marv has never been to Disneyland and will be making his first trip there this summer with Kerri, and his son Kris’ family. Marv is excited to finally earn his mouse ears!

While Marv likes all kinds of music and can’t seem to stick to any one genre for long, his favorite artist is Jimmy Buffett. After seeing Jimmy’s show 5 times, Marv figures that makes him an official parrot head. For Marv, there is also nothing better to read than a new BBQ cookbook from his all-time favorite BBQ champion Myron Mixon.

Be sure to say hello next time you see Marv, and ask about his most recent barbecue competition, or recent recipes. We’re all dying to try out a sampling of Marv’s barbecuing handiwork!

The post Getting to Know: Marv Bennett appeared first on Houston's Blog.

HTrans was founded in 2002 after the tremendous growth experienced in previous years, what was once a one-man local delivery route expanded into its own transportation company within Houston’s. HTrans was the solution to helping facilitate customer growth and delivery of products. In the fall of the following year we opened our new warehouse in Kansas City and promptly started making deliveries from the second location.

Today, drivers typically work long days and start when most of us are still in bed. They must be prepared for all weather conditions and, worst of all, traffic! Our drivers are trusted with access to customers’ facilities outside of business hours. They pick up checks, return product, and perform other tasks to ensure that the customers’ needs are met. Drivers are the final check to make sure that the right product is delivered to the right customer at the right time. This requires the right equipment. The financial structure put in place by Bill Paolo, Sr. Executive Officer, allows HTrans to lease the newest and best transportation equipment available. Our trucks are on the cutting edge of industry technology making them both environmentally sustaining and economically efficient.

Dwayne Johnson, HTrans President

Dwayne Johnson, HTrans President since 1995 states, “In the face of very hard work, we are extremely proud of our drivers.” Within the transportation industry, the norm for a driver is to stay with a company 6 months to a year. For HTrans, nearly two-thirds of the drivers have been with the company for 10+ years.

Dwayne is always keeping an eye on customer growth and the potential for another route. He anticipates that growth will continue into the distant future and pledges that HTrans will constantly adjust and expand to accommodate the needs of Houston’s.

Stay tuned next month for Our Roots: IT.

In case you missed it: Our Roots: Merchandising 

Fun Facts:

• HTrans consists of 36 drivers and 40 routes.

• Trucks are equipped with GPS satellites as a highly valued customer service tool.

• In March 2017, the pool truck case count delivery was the highest in the history of the company.

• HTrans makes more than 30,000 deliveries PER YEAR.

• HTrans picks up from about 45 vendors PER WEEK.

• The fleet turns more than 60,000 miles PER WEEK which equals to 3,000,000 miles PER YEAR.

• Dwayne Johnson started with Houston’s as a delivery driver in 1994. He began as one half of a sleeper team making deliveries to Sacramento.

• Paul Kent, KC Supervisor has been driving since 2003.

Bonus Fact:

Greg Dann, Sr. VP of Merchandising was a delivery driver for 3 years before moving to the sales desk.

The post Our Roots: HTrans Inc. appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Houston’s trucks now equipped with satellite tracking system.

One of the greatest features the installation of the system has given us is the ability to provide more accurate ETAs for customers.  We understand the importance of knowing when a business can expect its shipment, and EROAD allows our customer service team to pinpoint the exact location of each of our trucks in order to provide an expected time for the truck’s arrival.  Shipment status used to be limited to a handful of reports that the driver might make periodically throughout the trip, causing it to be difficult to accurately fill in the gaps.  Now, having the technology to obtain a truck’s GPS coordinates and current speed in live time make it a much more up to date process.

Safety is an important benefit as well.  With the means to better monitor driver hours, we can more easily prevent any potential accidents resulting from fatigue or other conditions.  Messages can be sent to drivers as well for easy communication that can only be read when the vehicle is stopped, reducing unnecessary distractions.  For the safety of our drivers as well as doing what we can to make sure product gets delivered to customers on time, our new satellite tracking system is a great step.

Among other benefits of the system, drivers have the ability to be notified of any delays or heavy traffic along their routes, in addition to having a helpful aid when navigating new routes.  It also makes mandatory driver logs easier since electronic driver logs are quicker and more accurate than traditional log books.  Overall, the system allows us to work with a much more streamline process reducing time and resources needed to successfully make deliveries.  With better safety, efficiency, and accuracy, we are excited to put our tracking system to good use.  Look for us on the road!

The post Satellite Tracking on Houston’s Trucks appeared first on Houston's Blog.