Information Highway - February

Trimac Achieves 2024 HRD Innovative HR Teams Award for Forward-Thinking HR Programs

Trimac was recently named a winner of the 2024 Human Resources Director (HRD) Innovative Human Resources (HR) Teams award by HRD Canada. The esteemed award recognizes organizations that have successfully implemented forward-thinking and innovative HR programs.

“This recognition is a testament to our team’s dedication and commitment to fostering an environment that values innovation, inclusivity and employee well-being,” said Rhonda Leason, VP People & Culture.

HRD Canada’s Innovative HR Teams report identifies organizations that are pushing boundaries in the HR industry with agile, bold and forward-thinking strategies. HRD Canada evaluated initiatives spanning progressive recruitment approaches, talent management, diversity and inclusion, innovative technology integration and groundbreaking reward and recognition strategies—benchmarking against other entries to determine the winners.

Trimac congratulates the other recognized organizations, alongside our dedicated team members who uphold our commitment to innovation, personal growth and employee engagement.

Trimac partners with Supply Chain Management students to enhance process efficiency with customer portals

Trimac has embarked on an exciting collaboration with students specializing in Supply Chain Management at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business in Calgary, Alberta. This innovative partnership is set to improve how Trimac manages its customer portals, optimizing processes and enhancing user experience across the board.?

Over the next few months (throughout the 2024 winter semester), students Chloe Crichton, Eddie Dao and Noah Nguyen will dedicate approximately 300 hours to this project as part of their Field Investigation in Operations Management course. In this newly formed partnership, students will present solutions to help Trimac manage its growing list of external portals, while Trimac offers mentorship and a real-life environment to help apply their skills.??

“We know the theory, but there are few opportunities to work with real-life corporations to help solve problems,” said fifth year Business Analytics student, Eddie Dao.??

Led by Director, Continuous Improvement Nathan Klassen and Business Analyst Lynda Berry, at the heart of this initiative lies a shared commitment to identifying opportunities for improvement within Trimac's standard processes. Working hand in hand with Trimac, the students will conduct process mapping exercises to gain deeper insights into existing workflows. By fully analyzing each step of the process, the team seeks to uncover bottlenecks that may be hindering operational efficiency.?

The project?

The Process Excellence & Innovation team recently identified an operational inefficiency relating to the use of customer portals. Typically, a seemingly low-effort task at first request, customer portal updating often turns into a complex business process with many manual inputs. After an in-depth demonstration of a single customer portal provided by Dispatch Manager Michelle Martineau in Houston, TX, the team discovered that multiple requests were made to various roles within Trimac to ensure the customer’s portal was up to date.

From operational to back-office employees, we found that Trimac helps maintain roughly 70 web-based and mobile-based customer portals. While Trimac fosters a customer-centric and service-oriented culture, these requests can typically add to individual workloads and ultimately impact our ability to fulfill core operational commitments.??

As an area in need of improvement, this challenge presented a perfect opportunity to collaborate with students looking to build their portfolios.?

Four meetings have already taken place, including a recent tour of Trimac’s headquarters last week.??

“We’re looking forward to providing and gaining insight into the typical pain points many companies may face,” said fifth year Operations Management student, Chloe Crichton.?

The collaboration will help quantify the potential impact of streamlining these processes. Through analysis and data-driven approaches, Trimac and the students will assess the feasibility and benefits of various strategies. This will allow Trimac to make informed decisions and prioritize initiatives that promise the greatest return on investment.?

The objective is to develop a model approach that can be applied uniformly across numerous customer portals. By standardizing processes and implementing best practices identified through the collaboration, Trimac aims to elevate the quality and consistency of service delivery to its customers. This streamlined approach not only enhances operational efficiency but also ensures a seamless and intuitive user experience.?

By leveraging the innovative ideas and analytical skills of the students, Trimac is looking forward to unlocking new opportunities for optimization within its transformation pipeline. The collaboration represents a testament to Trimac's commitment to continuous improvement, reinforcing its position as an industry leader in the ever-evolving transportation landscape.

Jennifer Fraser and Brad Bessette nominated for outstanding impact during 2023 United Way campaign

We are proud to announce that our 2023 United Way Campaign Co-chair, Jennifer Fraser, has been nominated for?the?Power of One Award?by?United Way of Calgary and Area while Terminal Manager Brad Bessette, has been nominated for the Outstanding Committee Member of the Year Award by United Way of the Alberta Capital Region.

The?Power of One Award?recognizes a United Way Workplace Campaign Volunteer who has exceeded expectations and created a greater awareness of United Way in the community and workplace through their personal involvement and initiative.

The Power of One Award will be presented at the United Way of Calgary and Area’s Community Impact Awards in Calgary, Alberta, celebrating the extraordinary agencies, corporations, donors and volunteers who work together to create a better quality of life for thousands of Calgarians.

Outstanding Committee Members of the Year Award is presented to the committee member (or company volunteer) that demonstrated exceptional commitment to success in the workplace during the campaign.

Outstanding Committee Members of the Year Award will be hosted at the Red Tie Gala in Edmonton, Alberta, honouring recipients of the Awards of Distinction, recognizing those exceptional individuals and groups who embrace the notion that ordinary people have the potential to achieve extraordinary impact.

While Jennifer and Brad’s efforts are being recognized, the 2023 campaign was a success because of the dedication of all Trimac volunteers.

Congratulations, Jennifer and Brad!

Trimac’s Calvert City, KY, branch recognized as the 2023 Carrier of the Year by WACKER

Trimac’s Calvert City, Kentucky, branch was honoured with the 2023 Carrier of the Year by WACKER Chemical. This award recognizes their commitment to providing exceptional service and professionalism in the transportation industry.

Terminal Manager Mike Knoth, who recently celebrated his 48-year anniversary with the company, has been indispensable as his seasoned expertise and dedication have played a pivotal role in fostering the longstanding relationship with Wacker since 2008. Trimac primarily hauls latex for WACKER, which is a product used in various industries such as healthcare, fashion, construction and many more.

This would not have been possible without the collective efforts of Calvert City's team of professional drivers and their expert Planner Tiffany Kiszkiel. Their seamless coordination, effective communication and unwavering commitment to customer service have set the standard for excellence.

Congratulations to the entire Calvert City team for their outstanding achievement!

About WACKER

WACKER is a technological leader in the chemical industry and manufactures products for all key global industries. WACKER has been producing dispersions and dispersible polymer powders in Calvert City since 1998. They ship products all over the world, though primarily to customers in the adhesives, paints, coatings, construction and nonwovens sectors across North, Central and South America.

NTS Guelph, Ont. takes home first Peacock Safety Award

New to this year’s Kick Off meeting, the Peacock Safety Award has been a long-awaited initiative designed to highlight teams from National Tank Services and Bulk Plus Logistics that are taking safety to the next level.?

Congratulations to our NTS Guelph, Ont., branch for achieving remarkable safety milestones, including meeting its High Consequence Reporting goal, demonstrating the most improved safety record, and clocking an impressive 27,981 injury-free hours.??

The J.R. McCaig and Maurice McCaig Safety Awards were originally created to recognize the branch with the highest accident-free miles on the road and the branch with the most hours performed without injuries. While open to all branches, a gap was identified in the criteria and eligibility for these awards. With inherently distinct challenges and operational dynamics, it was determined that NTS?deserved an award of their own—one that takes these unique challenges into account.??

Spearheaded by?NTS Director Garry Peacock and NTS Vice President Mike Johnson, the Peacock Safety Award was created out of light-hearted imagination and innovation. It led to an?excellent opportunity to acknowledge our 16 NTS branches across Canada and the US that had zero injuries in 2023. “A very commendable achievement for the industrial service industry,” said Johnson.?

The award, as vividly depicted in the accompanying image, unfolded as a literal embodiment of its name. The oversized and vibrant peacock not only pays homage to its creator, Garry Peacock, but stands as a tangible testament to the extraordinary nature of the achievement it represents.??