In conjunction with the 2014 Symposium held March 7 – 9 at Château Élan Winery and Resort, several advisory boards kicked off the event with Friday morning meetings to discuss topics that are crucial to each division.
Bennett Motor Express met in the Nice Room at Château Élan. About 30 agents gathered to be a part of the discussion facilitated by Len Johnson, president of Bennett Motor Express.
During the meeting the group discussed open forum topics such as technology issues, brokerage contracts, driver issues, CSA scores, updating the Driversig website, and the best way to quote credit card fees.
Other subjects that were also discussed included inviting a couple of Ace Doran agents to join the Advisory Board, a review of the hiring criteria for drivers, the need for a securement training program, and the threshold for CSA scores.
In addition, the group decided to form a subcommittee of three board members to review and address ongoing “hot button” issues such as credit card, brokerage, TMS, and Agentsig in between the regularly scheduled advisory board meetings. The subcommittee plans to meet monthly or quarterly via telephone conference along with someone from the home office.
Dave Sharp, who is an agent in Kansas and chairman of the Agent Advisory Board, said during the break that he thought the board meeting was going well.
“I think everybody is coming together a lot better in the last year and a half,” Sharp said. “We’re going to get resolution and this is why the board is here. If we can’t get resolution, if we can’t get answers, if we can’t work together, there’s no need to have a board.”
Sharp said in order to build trust, the goal as a board is to get the answers and to get them published so the agents are better informed about what’s going on.
Sharp has been an agent with Bennett for about seven years, and he said so far, he likes it.
“Technology has gone a lot farther,” he said. “And we’re getting along as a board. I don’t have any complaints at this point. We just want resolution, and I think now that I have the opportunity to do that and have John McGahee as a point man on this, we’re going to get it done.”
Also during that time, Bennett Truck Transport advisory board members came together for the first time in the Cannes room of the Château Élan Winery and Resort to discuss topics specific to BTT.
The first order of business was to recognize the By-Laws established by Marcia Taylor, president and chief operating officer, in the early 1990s for the purpose to bring ideas and to discuss concerns while helping to provide solutions in order to make Bennett the best trucking company in the industry.
The group also established the rules and the terms for board members and elected the first officers. Brenda Fields was elected chairperson for the BTT Advisory Board. Carol Byrd will serve as vice president, and Debbie Nixon will take on the duties of secretary.
A financial presentation was made by Dan MacNeil, president of BTT, who, sadly passed away unexpectedly shortly after this year’s symposium. Randall Vernon, director of safety, addressed the BTT Advisory Board about CSA. And finally, Tim Hadden, chief information officer at Bennett, spoke to the board about the Driversig mobile app and how it can help reduce time for drivers and agents by transmitting important information such as logs, trip reports, and fuel receipts electronically.
There was a brief discussion about the driver load board and the potential problems it may create by giving drivers the ability to see what loads are available, and about how agents may benefit from a preview into Driversig and training on electronic logs.
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