Dedicated to our Internal & External Customers, the future of our company. VOL. VII No. 3 • August / September 2013 Hello Readers, We hope everyone is en- joying the Summer! And as a bonus, if you find Illinois State Crime Commission Perry’s moustache hid- den somewhere within this issue, you could win a Gift Card!! Submit your finding via email to Tom Mroz at tmroz@custom- 17th Annual Awards Dinner co.com no later than Fri- day, August 16th for your “A Salute to Those Who Make a Difference.” chance to win. Now wouldn’t that make By: Megan Luscombe your summer even better! Thank you, NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE This year’s awards ceremony, held at Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace, was again well represented by Custom associ- + $0.303 ates. This year’s ceremony, however, held twice the honor for The Custom Compa- nies. Both Perry Mandera and Rocky Cay- lor were presented awards for their out- standing efforts in the community. DIESEL PRICES Perry received the President’s Award for his devotion and dedication to helping and hiring veterans. While other organizations have given lip-service to helping veterans, Perry has placed veterans first in line in hiring at his companies. Moreover, Mr. Mandera stepped up to the plate and spon- sored one disabled Marine’s dream of starting a disabled-veteran-owned company. This new com- pany, Two Soldiers and a Marine, will hire returning Iraq-Afghanistan combat veterans, all possible because Perry never forgot that he is a Marine and that all Marines are brothers. Experience The Difference Following Perry’s presentation, Rocky Caylor, our Executive V.P. of Operations, received the Directors Award for his outstanding efforts in assisting Marine Veterans in the community. Fre- IL Crime Commission 1 Hours othf Service 2 quenting events for Marines for Life, Rocky has been an integral part of hiring process with veterans Farewell To Elaine 3 at Custom. LA Update 4 Summertime Heat 5 Custom University 6-7 Perry and Rocky were in great company as other law enforcement, legislators, doctors, me- Kids Bus Safety 8 dia, and businessmen were honored for their roles as well. Special recognition went out to two Il- UIC Career Fair 9 linois State Police Troopers, Kyle Deatherge and James Sauter, both whose legacy will remain after Sports 10-11 Recipes 12-13 their untimely deaths in action. Overall, the night was a great success, and we are very proud to have Labor Day Article 14-15 our Owner and Executive V.P. honored on the same stage! Credits 16 THE CUSTOM COMPANIES, INC. • 317 WEST LAKE STREET, NORTHLAKE, ILLINOIS 60164 • www.CUSTOMCO.com VOL. VII No. 3 • August / September 2013 Page 2 ISO News Did Submitted by: Tom Boyle It’s that time of year again, the ISO audit is on the way! Our annual QMS audit will take place You in August. CDN will be audited on August 12th and 13th. Custom ORD will be audited August ? 13 through the 16th. Custom LAX is scheduled for August 19 through the 21st. Know This year’s audit will be our recertification audit; this means the audit will be far more extensive • On a clear night, the than the past few years. All parts of the QMS will be audited, and I will be visiting all depart- human eye can see be- ments prior to these dates to prepare. tween 2,000 and 3,000 In addition to the normal areas generally covered in the annual surveillance audit (Quality stars in the sky. Policy, departmental Quality Objectives etc.); you need to be familiar with other areas subject • Water is the only sub- to audit. Make sure your procedural manuals represent what and how we do each process. stance on earth that is Where is the Master List of Documents, and do you have any obsolete documents? Where are lighter as a solid than a the records for your department maintained? How do we handle non- conforming products liquid. such as OS&D, returned deliveries, or any distressed freight? Is it handled according to the • The White Sands Procedure listed in the Procedure manual? national park in New I will be happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have. Please let me know or ask Mexico is the largest desert with the fine as I am visiting each of your departments. white sand, made of a mineral called gypsum. • Lake Baikal in Russia is the deepest lake in SubmittedHours by: Jay Cohen of Service Changes the world, and holds as much water as all the In 2013, the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Administration five Great Lakes of the (FMCA) has implemented Hour of Service (HOS). While there is ongoing litigation in a fed- U.S. combined! eral appeals court to reverse the changes, they are not likely to be reversed. This article is a • Australia is the only general overview of the changes that apply to anyone that drives a Commercial Motor Vehicle continent on earth (CMV). without an active vol- A CMV is any vehicle with a gross weight of more than 10,001 pounds, designed to transport cano. 16 passengers or more, or transport hazardous materials that require placards. The main rea- • The first modern sons for the rule changes are to ensure driver safety by reducing driver fatigue, ensuring com- traffic light was put to pliance to federal guidelines, and limiting exposure to criminal and civil liability issues. Those use in Cleveland, Ohio, most affected by these changes will be the high output truckload fleets that have drivers on the in 1914. road for weeks at a time. • Babe Ruth kept a cab- Results of non-compliance to these changes include drivers being placed out of service, civil bage leaf under his cap litigation against companies and/or drivers, federal criminal penalties, and hefty fines. The to keep cool major changes include a 34 hour restart rule, including two consecutive rest periods between • America’s first major 1:00am - 5:00am every week. In addition, drivers are required to take a 30 minute break every highway was called the 8 hours. There are also 14 hour and 11 hour driving restrictions. Specifics of these changes and National Road, and was more can be seen at www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/topics/hos/index.htm. opened in 1814, con- necting the city of Bal- At this time, the total long-term effects of these changes have yet to be seen. However, there timore with the Ohio are some preventative measures carriers and shippers can take to reduce the impact of the River. changes. It is estimated that driver demand will increase by approximately 60,000 drivers in • Lightning strikes the coming years. Carriers are suggested to increase recruiting and value their current drivers. 1,000 times per second Shippers are suggested to have flexibility if rates go up and be more flexible with their carri- on the planet earth. ers. Now would be the time for carriers and shippers to discuss and strengthen cooperative • The average human programs for amicable business relationships in the future. THE CUSTOM COMPANIES, INC. • 317 WEST LAKE STREET, NORTHLAKE, ILLINOIS 60164 • www.CUSTOMCO.com Page 3 VOL. VII No. 3 • August / September 2013 dream lasts only 2 to 3 Farewell To Elaine seconds. • Your forearm (from Submitted by: Michele Marek inside of elbow to in- side of wrist) is the Retirement is a big deal. Retirement marks the start of an- same length as your other chapter in an employee’s life. Retirement marks the end foot. of a career, or the start of a new one. Retirement changes rela- • A duck’s quack tionships, routine, and coworker interactions. doesn’t echo, and no one knows why. On June 14, 2013, after • The airplane Buddy 17 ½ years of invaluable Holly died in was the service with The Custom “American Pie.” (Thus Companies Inc. as our the name of the Don main receptionist, Elaine McLean song.) • The 3 most valuable Heppe retired. Elaine wore brand names on earth: multiple hats. She an- Marlboro, Coca-Cola, swered the phone for many and Budweiser, in that years for both Custom and CDN. She opened and sorted the order. incoming mail for both companies as well as sorted and stamped all outgoing mail. She scanned • The US Interstate invoices, made copies, and did many more tasks for the company, too many to mention! Despite road system was de- all of her many duties, she was always smiling and cheerful. She will surely be missed! signed so that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergen- cies. • Most lipstick contains fish scales. • Donald Duck comics were banned from Fin- Custom Cares Charities Activity land because he doesn’t wear trousers. by Tom Mroz • Ketchup was sold in Kendall County Run/Walk the 1830s as medicine On June 1st The Walter and Connie Payton Foundation held the 8th annual Kendall County • The Dog Days of “Sweetness” 5K-8K Run/Walk at Yorkville High School. This year they had a total of 418 run- Summer refers to the ners in attendance. Custom Cares donated $1,500 to help sponsor this event. weeks between July 3rd The proceeds of this event will benefit Veterans in need and children throughout the State and August 11th. They of Illinois. To learn more about the WCPF Veteran project at Concord Assisted Living in are named after the Northlake, IL and other WCPF events go to their website www.payton34.com.