Daycos News

The Daycos January Monthly Newsletter has been sent out, and can be viewed here. A few of the topics in this month's newsletter include:

SDDC Makes 400NG Rates More Accessible
Santa Visits Daycos
Daycos AccuBill Guide Updated

If you did not receive an email with this month's newsletter, but would like to receive it directly each month, please feel free to subscribe here: Daycos Newsletter.

Each year, a small, plastic palm tree with Christmas lights is placed in the front area of the Daycos offices, across the lobby from our big, beautiful, real Christmas tree. While it doesn't do much for the aesthetics of the office, it is placed there as an important reminder.

Thirty one years ago this month, Daycos was founded as John Day & Associates. It was right before Christmas, and my parents had moved our family across country to Alexandria, VA to start the business. I recall one of the first things I wanted to do when we got into our new house was to get a Christmas tree put up and decorated. My mother kept putting me off, saying we didn't have time, and we would do it later.

As Christmas drew closer, she suggested we were going to run out of time and should just decorate this cheap, ugly, plastic palm tree that we had brought with us in the move. I was less than thrilled with this idea, and probably whined considerably about not having a real Christmas tree, but my mother was adamant that this would be the best solution. We gamely decorated that plastic palm tree with Christmas lights, but in the end, it was one of the saddest looking Christmas trees you had ever seen.

Of course I realized much later that the reason we didn't have "time" to go get a real Christmas tree, is that we couldn't afford one. My parents had saved some money back for presents for my sister and I, but the rest of their money was being spent trying to get this company going. They didn't have any spare money for luxuries such as Christmas trees when they were trying to get a new business off the ground.

Obviously their hard work and determination paid off and the company they founded out of their basement of their rental house in December 1978 is still going strong and employs 50 full-time people. So every year, we pull out this little plastic palm tree (which is actually much nicer than the one we decorated that Christmas), and place it in the lobby of our offices to serve as a reminder for all of us of the sacrifices that were made to help get this company launched.

We also remember that it is not only the sacrifices made by the founders and past employees of the company that is cause for our success; we also owe a huge debt of gratitude towards our customers who have entrusted us over the years to be a part of their successes. So, from all of us at Daycos, please accept our sincere appreciation for your business, and our wishes for Happy Holidays and a Merry New Year.

p.s. Our office will be closing at noon on Thursday, December 24th and all day on Friday, December 25th so that our employees may celebrate Christmas with their families.

Last week was certainly an interesting one here in Norfolk. It started with our first major snowstorm of the year, which dumped over 8 inches of snow in the area, combined with 40 mph winds to create very dangerous conditions. Despite the difficult weather, we were able to limit our office closure to a two-hour late start on Wednesday morning, and were able to successfully process all billings we received on-time

Just as Norfolk was digging out of that storm and getting back to our normal routines, we received more shocking news. A faulty valve connected to a 30,000 gallon propane tank started a fire at a manufacturing facility just a few blocks from the Daycos offices.

Even more dangerous than the fire itself was the threat that the propane tank, which had been filled the day before, might explode. The resulting explosion would likely level buildings in the immediate area and send debris shooting high into the air. (Here is a link to a video of a similar explosion, to give you some idea of the threat Norfolk was facing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWjxrAhpBQk )

Understandably, a mandatory evacuation was ordered for a one mile radius around the fire which included the Daycos offices, as well as nearly one-third of the city of Norfolk. As firefighters and city officials (including the Mayor, our own Sue Fuchtman) developed a plan for fighting the fire, we started planning how we would continue to function if our building was damaged by an explosion, or if the evacuation lasted multiple days as the propane tank burned itself out, which was a strong possibility. Fortunately, before we had to implement any of those plans, the Norfolk Fire Department was able to successfully perform a dangerous operation to send in a firefighter to shut off the valve while the tank was doused with a "wall of water" to prevent an explosion.

Once the evacuation was lifted, our employees returned to the office and were able to successfully complete the day's invoicing. Needless to say, we are certainly hoping for a nice quiet, normal week, with no snowstorms, fires, or mandatory evacuations. We appreciated all of your patience and understanding as we dealt with these issues, and we are sure you understand that the safety of our employees has to be our first priority.

The Daycos November Monthly Newsletter has been sent out, and can be viewed here. A few of the topics in this month's newsletter include:

Upcoming Tariffs Contain Important Changes
DPS Helpdesk Process Undergoing Changes
Halloween Festivities Celebrated at Daycos

If you did not receive an email with this month's newsletter, but would like to receive it directly each month, please feel free to subscribe here: Daycos Newsletter.

Yesterday we lost a member of our Daycos family. Jo Alexander passed away at her home after a brief battle with cancer. Jo has worked with us for 22 years, and her loss will be felt by everyone who had the pleasure of working with her in that time.

In the days before her death, Jo related the story that when she was asked why she continued to live in Norfolk and not move closer to her family (Jo’s husband had passed away, and her children and grandchildren all live in other states), she always replied “I do have a family here, and it is the people I work with every day, and you couldn’t ask for a better family than that.” Everyone who worked with her felt the same way about Jo, and today we are not only mourning the loss of a co-worker, we are mourning the loss of our family member.

Services will be held on Thursday, November 12th. We will be closing the office on Thursday so that all of our employees can attend the memorial service. We will try to complete all billing sent Wednesday before the end of the day Wednesday, but billing received Thursday will not be able to be completed in our normal 24 hours turnaround time frame. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but we thank you for your understanding so that our employees can have the opportunity to attend the service.

Jo’s family has asked that in lieu of flowers, a fitting way to remember Jo would be a donation the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. Jo was very active in our local Relay, single handedly raising thousands of dollars over the years to fight the disease that took her life. If you would like to make a donation in Jo’s memory, you can send the donation in care of Tami Pick in our office, and we will make sure the donations will continue to work to find a cure for this disease.

Working diligently this time of year to help get all of the invoices billed each day, we would like to introduce you to one of our employees in the Production Department, Audrey Alder.

Audrey started with us here at Daycos in March 2005, and has become a tremendous asset to assist in getting our daily workload accomplished. When our daily billing workload is lighter, Audrey spends her days reviewing numerous shipper files for our Post-Audit service, but is more than willing to jump in and help with billing if our workload is a bit heavier. Initially trained to bill international shipments, Audrey was soon cross-trained to bill domestic shipments, as well as GSA/Department of State, and most recently to also bill DPS shipments. She is also able to step in and accomplish/rate all of our paper invoices that need to be sent out the door. After just 4 years here at Daycos, the favorite part of Audrey's job is that 'not all days are the same for me. Some days I audit, some days I bill - it's a nice variety, and always something new.'

Audrey lives about 7 miles east of Norfolk with her husband, Doug, and their 5-year old daughter, Tru. In her spare time, you can often find her camping, boating, fishing, or gardening; watching Husker football, or spending time with her daughter. She has also played on the Daycos summer sand volleyball team for the past couple years.

A great big Congratulations is extended to Cassondra & Toby Barnt, as they have a new little addition to their family! Blaize Andrew Barnt was born on Friday, July 31st. He weighed 7 lbs, 7 oz and was 20 1/4 inches long.

Cassondra is an Auditor in our Production Department here at Daycos. She and her husband Toby, along with Braxton (5) and Breleigh (1), anxiously welcome Blaize into their family.

On April 1, 2009, Daycos started offering a new benefit to all of our employees: a new wellness program ('Be Well'). This program focuses on three main areas, which are Annual Exams, Tobacco Use, and a Healthy Body. Employees and their spouses have the option to reduce their health insurance costs based on these three areas, as well as receive a few extra perks to help them out along the way, if they want to participate.

Regarding Annual Exams, the company has offered to pay for their office visit copay if they have an appointment to get their annual physical, as well as up to 2 hours of 'Wellness Time' each year to schedule an exam without having to make up their hours. With Tobacco Use, the company has offered to pay for a tobacco cessation class to encourage our employees to quit using tobacco. And as far as the Healthy Body area is concerned, we are allowing our employees to receive the incentive if they are at a healthy BMI - or at least gradually making progress each quarter towards their BMI measurement. We are also allowing our employees an extra 15-minute Wellness Break each day, we are putting in an exercise room in the office, and have a weekly Weight Watchers meeting here at the office for any interested employees and their spouses.

Overall the Be Well program is designed to support the overall health and wellness of our employees and their families. The people who make up our company are, by far, our most important asset, and we are committed to providing a workplace that supports and encourages their health and wellness.

June 30th officially marked the end of our 1st Quarter of the wellness program, and everyone who participated has shown tremendous results!! We have 78% of our employees who have gotten a physical/exam in the past year; 10 employees have gone in for one the past three months - but 5 of those exams were new exams (employees who hadn't gotten one in at least a year). And out of 44 employees who went through their fitness assessment, in only 3 months as a group we have lost: 45% of our body fat, 40.8 total BMI points, 262.2 pounds, and 234.5 inches!! With those numbers we have already basically lost an entire employee in body weight, but that is a risk we're willing to take! We are very proud of all of our employees who have participated, and to say that we are pleased with everyone's enthusiasm and participation is an understatement!

One of the friendly, helpful voices you may encounter in our Customer Support Department belongs to our very own Sue Wegener.

Sue started with us in October 2007 as an External Customer Support Specialist, and her great attitude and outgoing personality has allowed her to become a very well-rounded asset here at Daycos. Although she spends the majority of her day answering all of our customer correspondence, Sue also helps out with DFAS short pays, works DPS and CWA follow-up, and also completes our customers’ Mid-South requests. She is also always willing to jump in and help out anyone who needs her assistance, and always has a great big smile on her face when she does it.

Sue lives about 30 miles south of Norfolk with her husband Ross and their cat, Queenie. When she is not busy working at Daycos, she is usually spending her time working in the lawn/garden, camping, watching Husker football, or just spending time with all of their friends and family. She is also involved with their local church, as well as with the Daycos Relay For Life team. And after almost 2 years here at Daycos, the favorite part of Sue’s job is ‘being able to help out and fix problems that any of our customers may have.’

A big Congratulations is extended to Amy & Doug Clausen, as they have a new little addition to their family! Miles Dean Clausen was born early this morning, June 10th, here in Norfolk. He weighed 7 lbs, 9 oz.

Amy is the Executive Administrative Assistant here at Daycos. She and her husband Doug, along with Maisey (8) and Parker (4), anxiously welcome Miles into their family.