March 2022 Newsletter

MARCH 2022

MONTHLY

NEWSLETTER

J&A INDUSTRIES GROWTH New contracts and machinery leading to growth within J&A Industries

CONTENTS

LIVE WITH LARRY

01

CHILI COOKOFF

03

MAINTAINER SPOTLIGHT

04

J&A GROWTH UPDATE

05

SAFETY UPDATE

05

ANNIVERSARIES & BIRTHDAY’S

06

SUBMIT YOUR NEWSLETTER FEEDBACK & IDEAS SUBMIT NOW

LIVE WITH LARRY

ANNOUNCEMENTS F R EE COVI D-19 H O ME TEST

Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order #4 free at-home COVID-19 tests. The tests are completely free. Orders will usually ship in 7-12 days.

ORDER NOW

EMPLOYEE REFERAL $ 5 00 BON U S FO R N E W H I RES

We are always looking for talented, dedicated, ambitious employees. To reward those who are referring friends and family to CDL we want to give them a $500 bonus after new hires have worked here for 90 days.

VIEW POSITIONS

TRIVIA

Scan the QR code to be directed to the employee Facebook page to be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a prize.

WHEN DID J&A INDUSTRIES GET STARTED?

QUARTERLY MEDIA CONTEST Submit a photo or video telling us what your position is at CDL and why you enjoy working in that position. Prizes include a $250 General Machinery gift card, $230 Arlo Doorbell, $150 tool set or $100 gift card.

SUBMIT NOW

FORREST COLLINS RA ILROA D S I GN AL MA I N TA I N E R Hey CDL, I am Forrest Collins and I have worked for CDL for almost four years as a Signal Specialist. I have worked in the railroad industry for about 12 years, seven of those being on the installation side, and 5 being on the maintenance side. I am Originally from Slidell, Louisiana, close to New Orleans. I have also lived in Central Louisiana and New York.

I’m located with CDL in New Orleans, Louisiana on the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad. I work in coordination with the NOPB, CN, KCS, UP, and NS Railroads in order to properly inspect and maintain the territory. I enjoy working for CDL because of the support from the company and coworkers. Whether it’s needing a specific part, tool, truck repair, or just someone to help troubleshoot a problem, I know they’re only a call away.

I would say the most difficult part of the job is getting a trouble call in the middle of the night when it’s raining, cold, and dark. On the flip side, my favorite part of the job would be the camaraderie between all the different railroad employees I work with from time to time while completing my job. Maintainers, Track Inspectors, Yard Masters, Dispatchers, Train Crew, Track Workers, etc may all work at different companies, but we all tend to look out for one another like family, so everyone goes home like they came to work.

Outside of work, I enjoy hiking, biking, kayaking, spending time with my girlfriend, Courtney and our dogs, working around the house, and anything outdoors. My favorite type of food is first crawfish, second any type of seafood. My favorite place to vacation is any National Park.

If I was to give advice to someone interested in the railroad industry, I would tell them that it can be hard work and you will work in all the different types of weather conditions that there are. But if you can deal with that you can make a great career out of it and I also believe the industry will be around in some form for as long as we need to move product across the US and world, so it’s a stable field. I would tell them to work hard, ask questions (no question is a dumb question), keep your head on a swivel (always expect a train in all directions), always take the safest route, be nice to people (we often need support or need to support other workers in or around our areas. Having good relationships make the job smoother), and as a maintainer you need to have patience. You won’t always find the problem the first time.

MARCH 2022

J&A GROWTH UPDATE N E W M ACH IN ES A N D CO N TRACTS

J&A recently was awarded the aluminum Mast Ladder Platform signal light contract for Union Pacific Railroad. In addition, the Herzog PTC project for the BNSF is in full production with over 240 MLPs and 3 wayside aluminum structures scheduled to be delivered in the next 3-4 months.

We will also be adding a new vertical milling machine to our machine shop. This will more than double our production capacity for the aluminum structures currently in production.

SAFETY COMMITTEE UPDATE BECOME ELIGIBLE FOR A PRIZE BY COMPLETING YOUR WEEKLY HSI SAFETY TRAINING

Employee’s have the chance to win a prize valued at $250 by simply completing their required weekly HSI safety training. Two prizes will be awarded July 1st and four will be awarded February 1st. For questions reach out to Mark Biehl.

DISTRACTED DRIVING AWARENESS MONTH STAY FO C U S E D, STAY SA F E .

Just one second of distraction behind the wheel is all takes to change a life forever. During the month of April, the National Safety Council is leading an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving in workplaces, homes and communities. OSHA encourages employers and workers to make safe driving a priority.

ANNIVERSARIES 1 Year: Nathan Stauch,Jesus Rojo, Charles Martin, Brendan Mallo, Michael Helton, Dylan Voigts 2 Years: Austin Bridges, James Jones, Johnathan Whitten, Kevin Saville 3 Years: Joel Wolfe, Cody Clark, Kristi Lavery

4 Years: Andrew Klusener, Angel Cereceres, 6 Years: Tammy McNaught 7 Years: Rex Terry 8 Years: Hugo Flores 9 Years: Colleen Cignetti 10 Years: Mark Smallwood, Ryan Dowling 12 Years: John Kragovich, Shea McLaughlin

JOHN KRAGOVICH SHEA MCLAUGHLIN REGIONAL DIRECTOR SIGNAL MAINTENANCE

BIRTHDAYS

DIRECTOR OF SALES & SUPPORT TRAINING

William McCorkle, Joel Wolfe, Mike Osment, Charly Schneider, Wesley Barnes, Shawn Schemehorn, Johnathan Whitten, Larry Hicks, Michael Lawson, Johnathan Gardner, Benjamin Corle, Kevin Saville, Chris Harris, Douglas Campbell, Dakota Chell, Stacy Baum, David Roby, Lucas Clifford, Marc McNeely, Debra Smith, Dale Smith, Nickolas Kitch, Kevin Bennefeld Regionald Biggs, Jacob Preston, Caleb Scales, Trenton Lehnert

CORE VALUE COIN RECIPIENTS MARCH CAN DO:

Curtis Wakeman

Codi Morrison

ONE TEAM . ONE DRE A M . : Chris Harris

Daniel Monsivaiz

Luke Coleman

John Garcia

Michael Wright

MARCH 2022