Truck Topics
Two great days at Panther II
Well, the weather was, at times, uncooperative, but that didn't dampen the spirits of the attendees of the Panther II Transportation Driver Appreciation Days that took place on Wednesday, July 9 and Thursday, July 10.
Held at the company's facilities just outside of Seville, OH, the festivities "enjoyed" intermittent rain over the two days, which at least helped keep the summer time temperatures in check. Despite the precipitation, the event was once again a big hit with the owner/operators and drivers for whom it is staged.
For one couple, this year's Driver Appreciation Days will always remain a pleasant memory, because of what they walked away, or should we say, rode away from the event with. More on that later.
"It's always great to have this get together and to see all of the contractors and drivers again. Panther II truly appreciates the hard work and dedication of all the independent business people who make our company what it is and we hope these two days have given them a little break from the road." - Panther II President Dan Sokolowski
The location
The Panther II Safety and Training Center is a three-year old facility situated on Panther Parkway just outside the small town of Seville. There was plenty of parking for the vans, straight trucks and bobtails of the attendees in the quiet rural setting.
While Panther II's main administration offices are located a few miles away in Medina, OH, the Seville location handles a variety of contractor-related functions including Qualcomm installation, Contractor/Driver Orientation including Qualcomm Instruction, Log Book Processing and other duties.
The building is open to Panther II contractors from 6 am to 6 pm, with a driver's lounge area that includes satellite TV, showers and free laundry facilities. The building also houses a Medical Examination room for on-site DOT physicals.
Coordinating the Driver Appreciation Days was Panther II Contractor Support and Development Representative Jeff Brown, who says the event was an opportunity for the company to, "show our contractors and drivers how much we value their hard work and professionalism by giving them a couple of days of free food and relaxation in the great outdoors."
Shortly after 11:00 AM on Wednesday, Jeff was featured in an on-air interview on the Dave Nemo radio program that is carried on the XM Radio Network. Jeff gave an overview of the Driver Appreciation Days and a short description of the expediting business.
A good cause
This year's event also demonstrated the compassion of the Panther II family who has come to the assistance of one of their own. Cathy Stover, a three-year Panther II veteran was diagnosed a little over 6 months ago with brain cancer.
In the past few months she has undergone surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. The outlook has brightened however; as her doctors say that it appears the disease is in remission.
Jackee Wheeland works in Panther II's Contractor Support and Development and has been a force in generating donations to help Cathy defray some of the incredible costs of treatment.
During the two days of the Panther II event, over $1,000 was collected for that purpose. Jackee says of her friend, "Cathy's a wonderful lady with a great heart! She's been through so much, but has never lost hope. We're glad to help in any way we can."
The always-popular dunking booth accepted contributions for the Cathy fund. It was kept busy with a steady stream of hurlers hoping to submerge some of their favorite targets (their co-workers).
You can't have an outdoor event in the summertime without plenty of chow, and Panther II made sure that no one left hungry! From the grill came hot dogs, hamburgers, Italian sausage and chicken along with roasted corn, green beans, pasta salad and potatoes. Soft drinks were provided and the attendees dined in comfort under large tents with tables and chairs.
One attraction that saw a great deal of activity was the Karaoke system hosted by DJ Ron Clinton. During the two days, there was a constant stream of both contractors and employees displaying their vocal abilities, and many of the singers were indeed quite talented.
On display in the garage area were two Panther II-sponsored racecars. Of particular interest was the "modified" class car that competes on a weekly basis at the local 1/4-mile Barberton, OH speedway. Jeff Sokolowski tells us that this is the second season of Panther II sponsorship for the #39 car, owned by long-time family friend, Jeff Taylor.
Jeff says that this season has been a rough one for Taylor, with a blown engine and blown rear end among other problems. At the time of this writing, Taylor was number seven in the standings out of fourteen competitors.
The vendors
Panther II thoughtfully provided space in the large shop/Qualcomm installation area for a number of vendors to display their products/services.
""There's been a lot of interest in our Freightliner M2," said Dan Tilley of Alum-Bunk of Knoxville, "and we're very happy to have been invited here to Panther II's Driver Appreciation Days! It's a great opportunity to renew old acquaintances and to say hello to previous customers of mine and who might be in the market again for a new truck."
I think it's great that a company will do something like this for it's contractors and we're glad that we could participate."
Expediting Truck Specialist Jon Mosier of Freightliner of Knoxville echoes Dan Tilley's sentiments: "We have really enjoyed our time here at the Panther II event and we're very happy with the way we've been treated by the staff here."
""We've had a lot of people stop by to take a look at this Sprinter with the Phoenix sleeper conversion and we've been very encouraged by the positive comments we've received."
This is our second year at Panther II's Driver Appreciation Days and we're glad to be back," says Ray Lawrence of Espar of Michigan. "Our products - diesel-fired bunk heaters and Rigmaster generators - fit perfectly with the needs of the owner/operators of expediting and we've had great response from folks who visited our booth."
"In spite of the rain, we still have a number of great drivers here - the ones that take care of us every day. I've always said that if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be here, so it's the least we can do. I wish we could do this for the contractors in multiple cities to save them the drive up here; that's something we might look into." - Rick Buffington, Panther II Operations Manager
As mentioned earlier, Jerry and Terry Stachowiak of Berea, KY were especially eager to attend the Thursday edition of the Driver Appreciation Days. These tractor-trailer contractors were among 50 entrants who were present at the second day of the event to participate in the drawing for the 2003 Harley-Davidson Anniversary model motorcycle valued at $20,000.
With Dan Sokolowski and Jeff Brown administering the drawing, the process began with each of the entrants or their proxies selecting, hopefully, the lucky ignition key to start the bike.
When called, one contestant after another walked to the Harley and inserted his/her key. After the first few tries, the audience began to get into the spirit of the contest, and a collective, "Aaaaaah", accompanied each unsuccessful attempt.
It was the twenty-third key in the hands of Jerry Stachowiak that finally unlocked the ignition. After a moment of disbelief, the realization that he had won the bike came over him, and Jerry began a five-minute long celebration. He hugged wife Terry and shook hands with everyone within reach.
After regaining his composure a short while later, Jerry and Terry took a few victory laps around the parking lot. The couple was later seen 
using a truck's lift gate to put their new prize in the back of a pickup for the trip to the Harley's new home.
The Stachowiaks have been with Panther II for one year, and Jerry says, not surprisingly, "It's a great company to lease with!" It turns out that Jerry and Terry are veteran riders with a Yamaha sitting back at the house. They had been planning on taking the Yamaha into the shop, but have since changed their plans and they will sell the old bike.
The prizes for the contestants didn't end there, however. To ease the pain of those who didn't win the Harley, Panther II distributed consolation prizes to four deserving contest entrants - cash prizes of 2$2,000, $1,500, $1,000 and $500!
Many of the vendors present at the Driver Appreciation Days participated in the giveaways, including (time for modesty) Expediters Online.com who gave away an XM Satellite Radio.
Winner of the XM was Jim Perrin of Crestview, FL. Jim is a Panther II straight truck contractor who has been with the company since January 2003. "As a matter of fact, I was considering buying an XM Radio, so this was a very good time to win this one," said Jim.
As Jeff Brown says, "It's a lot of work to coordinate this event, but it's still something all of us here look forward to doing. We hope the contractors enjoy it as much as we do!"