Saia Spotlight: Our people make the difference.

Shelley Docanto, SDO Customer Service, makes exceeding customer expectations a family affair.

When a customer serviced by our San Diego terminal needed to make a change and have a shipment delivered on Saturday, it was Shelley that came to the rescue.  Although she was not there when the linehaul trailer arrived late Friday night she called in to make sure the freight arrived and then worked to set up a Saturday delivery.

Due to the lateness of the request, Shelley not only ended up working the Customer Service side, but gathered up her family and on the way to their weekend events delivered the freight to the customer. Shelley and her family helped the customer unload it as well so they would be ready on-time.

The customer was impressed to know that a Saia employee was so concerned that the customer meet their goals that she was willing to give up part of her weekend to meet customer expectations.  That is dedication and pride of ownership— something Saia employees know a lot about.

And you never know, Shelly’s daughter may decide that that type of commitment and drive to succeed is so admirable that she will join the Saia team one day.

On a particular day in June, driver Mike Culverson didn’t realize what was in store for him. The morning broke clear and warm in Fort Smith, AR, and by all indications, it was just another day on the road for Mike—business as usual. All that would change in an instant.

Suddenly, as Mike was just twenty minutes into his route, a motorcyclist went down in a nasty crash just outside of Rogers, AR. Mike knew he had to do something to help. After carefully pulling his truck off to the side of the road, he went to the man’s aid.

Mike didn’t know what to expect, or how bad the injuries would be. After carefully observing the man, Mike determined that the rider wasn’t severely injured, but that he did require immediate attention.

After making sure the man was safe from oncoming traffic, Mike ran back to his cab to retrieve first aid supplies in order to treat the man’s wounds. He vowed to stay by the man until the police and ambulance arrived.

Mike could have easily avoided getting involved, but he took the time to help the man and quite possibly protect him from any further injury. In Mike’s words: “It never occurred to me not to stop and help. I was just doing what I hope someone would do for me if I was in a similar situation.”

Mike truly went above and beyond, showing the selfless spirit that is the hallmark of all Saia employees.