Webber World

A.N. WEBBER

JANUARY 2008

WEBBER PROFILE

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, INTRODUCING OUR COMPANY-WIDE

DRIVER OF THE YEAR FOR 2007.....

Name: Andy Varela

Birth Date: July 2, 1972

Wife and Child’s Name/Age: My wife, Terry, and I have two children: Frankie, who is 4 and Keanu who is 11.

Current Residence: El Paso, TX 35 years

Start Date with A.N. Webber: I started with Webber in November of 1996.

Honors with Webbers: Driver of the Month: September 2003, October 2004, March 2006 and June 2007. Full Safety Bonus: Entire tenure with Webber

Total Number Years as an O-T-R Driver: I’ve been a driver for 14 years.

Favorite Region to Drive Through and Why: Las Vegas, NV There’s always a nice light show at night, and always plenty to do there.

Most Memorable Trip (and why): I remember one particular trip when I was en route to Seattle, WA in the winter months. I was on I-90 and it was the first time I had ever seen so much snow on he ground.

Primary Reason You Prefer Webber as Home Away From Home: I like Webber because I have never had any problems getting home when I ask to get back to my family.

What Led You to Become an O-T-R Driver? It’s something I have always wanted to do since high school. I like the money, and I enjoy being able to travel.

Who is Your Favorite Customer? A.O. Smith

Favorite Sports Team: The Los Angeles Lakers

Hidden Talents: I am certified in auto mechanics.

2007-YEAR IN REVIEW

Well, the stockings that were hung by the chimney with care have now been turned inside out, everyone has gained an additional five pounds, and the Visa bills are starting to roll in. This can only mean Christmas has come and gone and the year has come to a close. So come gather around the water cooler while we review the past year.

The year that was 2007 was pretty bizarre, even from a transportation industry perspective where most years are just, well...strange. Despite major hand-wringing, sweating, and worrying by “experts”, freight levels remained constant, regardless of the time of the season or how much energy was burned in all that fretting. It didn’t matter if it was first quarter when freight is usually sluggish, or third quarter where normally all hell breaks loose, the freight tonnage, mileage, and revenue seemed to remain consistent – not good, not bad, and the sky never did fall. About the time one business sector would slow up, another would kick in to take its place. Trucks stayed busy, yet trailers were never backed up in the yard. It seemed as if the housing market and the price of oil were conspiring against the economy, at least according to the “drive-by media”, but the other sectors rallied and took turns to keep it going.

Ah, the subject of the price of oil, otherwise known as the “Greed is Good Bunch.” On November 26^th the average price of fuel reached $3.44 per gallon, nearly one dollar higher than what was making me grumpy last year in this same Review. At the time of this writing, OPEC is meeting to decide how many more barrels they will pump, or not pump, indicating further need to manipulate the market. I better go on to a different subject before I turn this Review into my personal political manifesto.

We were delighted to be able to once again increase driver pay this past September. This increase applied across the board to all drivers in all regions. It also marks the third straight year in which our drivers have received additional compensation in their pay envelope. And, not to sound like a broken record, but if I must I must, this was despite yet another 13% kick in the pants for our medical insurance benefit costs.

Just how steady were the numbers compared to our record year from last year? The size of the fleet remained the same. As predicted, we didn’t buy any new tractors, and kept what we had. This was after 33% growth the year before. Company-wide revenue was up 1.3% and total mileage up another 1%, although load count increased 7.1%. So now, if you have been paying attention, you are asking yourself, “how can the load count increase 7% but the revenue and mileage only increase 1% with the same amount of trucks?” This can be explained by the average length of haul, which diminished with the expansion of the drayage fleet. In fact, length of haul is down 6% to 642 miles per load. If you recall, I had forecasted this in last year’s Review. Brokerage revenue stumbled a bit this year, a trend Pat Gillespie fully intends on correcting. Keep in mind folks, the numbers are up only slightly this year from record sales last year, so it was a good year, just not very sexy.

We transported 33,317 loads, or 91 per day every day of the year. Given the relatively small operations and driver staff in this company, I would consider that some major production and all of you are to be commended. Driver Ray Kelley probably had the most interesting single load that first delivered to Evansville IN and finished in Kansas City, KS. “What’s so unusual about that you ask?” In between those two locations he also had stops in Cleveland OH, Toronto ON, Newark NJ, Miami FL, Columbia SC, Memphis TN, Dallas TX, Los Angeles CA, Fresno CA, and Portland OR – in that order. See the USA the Ray Kelley way!!!

I have to say that we are also very encouraged by our customer mix. We have strengthened our business with some major shippers. We have also added some new customers that we had been working on for quite some time that will fit in rather nicely with the rest of our customer base and scope of operations, as well as with the brokerage department. Some of these shippers were caught up in the housing decline, yet we held on to “our piece of the pie” and in some instances, actually gained a larger slice. We have also been able to rely less on brokerage back haul, instead focusing on new customers to fill lanes, a trend that will continue in 2008.

South Tec had just a fabulous year. Two new customers moved in long term and a few others expanded, the result being that Gary Burton had to look for new digs at a different end of the building. Presently, there is about 20,000 pounds of steel racking placed right where Gary’s big over-stuffed chair used to sit. Now we’re full and couldn’t wedge another customer in here with a shoe horn, unless we start stacking one on another.

In closing, this Review would not be complete without mentioning the loss of one of the guiding lights and leaders of this company – Boyd D. Totten. Boyd passed away this past May. For those of you who never had the opportunity to meet him, he was most definitely a one-of-a-kind individual and affected, in a positive manner (whether one knew it or not) the lives of everyone with whom he came in contact. Known for his gruff manner, the man truly bled for our company, and everyone that was a part of it. Beyond a doubt, we are a better company for having had the experience of his contributions to all of us for the past fifteen years, and we owe him a giant debt of gratitude. Beyond that, he was also my buddy, and I miss him dearly.

- Alan N. Webber

NOTABLES

Kankakee:

Congratulations to Pat Gillespie’s twelve-year-old son, Joe! In late November, Joe competed in the U.S. Indoor Carting Nationals in Tunica, MS. Out of more than 60 other racers, and reaching speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour, he placed seventh in the Junior 2 Light Division. Job well done, Joe!

Happy Fifth Anniversary to Kae Webber! Kae heads up the sales work, contacting prospective customers as well as acting as a point of contact and a liaison to existing customers. Keep up the great work, Kae!

Many thanks to Jim O'Connor, Tommy Stacy and Ron White for helping out with recent new driver training.

Work comes up at the last moment in our industry. We appreciate our team coming through during these times. Thank you to Matt Faulkner for helping to complete the delivery of a hot load even though he had been previously scheduled for home time.

Tami Kreft expresses her thanks to everyone for all the help and support she received following her Sharp-Stick-in-the-Eye Incident.
El Paso:

Congratulations to Ariel Sosa. He has now surpassed his five year anniversary with Webber. We are always very pleased to recognize this feat which flies in the face of the industry’s usual turnover rate.

Our extraboard crew really stepped up in December. Thanks to the following guys for taking short runs on short notices: Charles Aiken, Joe Campbell, Ron Doan, Henry Esparza, Lloyd Gilbert and Gui Urban.
Kingsport:

Webber World extends our best wishes to Roy Rogers’ wife, Hope, who recently had a minor medical procedure performed on her. We will keep her in our thoughts for a speedy recovery.

Welcome aboard to Mike Poe! Mike replaces TJ Pitchell in his role as the Kingsport, TN terminal manager. TJ spent a good deal of time guiding Mike on the Webber Way. We look forward to good things from Mike!
Pleasant View:

Welcome back to Tami Manning! Tami had been out for some time with an injury. Tim Roach says it was great to have the extra help with office tasks while on restricted duty, but we’re even happier to have her back on the road.

And a big thank you goes out to Herbert Taylor for giving Tami Manning a ride to Kankakee to pick her truck up.

Tim Roach would also like to thank James Smith for helping get local loads delivered and on time last month.
Mc Bee:

A big “WELCOME BACK” goes out to Sam Kinder from everyone at Webber World. Sam’s medical procedures all went smoothly for him and he reports that he’s doing really well and feels great. You just can’t keep a good man down!
South-Tec:

With wintry conditions persisting, South-Tec maintenance is doing their best to patch small leaks in various heated areas.

Shoup Manufacturing has passed all of their inspections and is up and running at their new site!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

We are delighted to announce that, effective December 7, Steve Davis has been promoted to the position of Director of Finance and Administration. Steve began his career at Webber over 21 years ago and has proven a great asset to this company. As any of his peers will testify, nobody works any harder than he does, and the Webbers cannot think of anyone more deserving for a promotion. Please make sure to congratulate Steve the next time you have an opportunity.

A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION

More and more often it is becoming the case that detention charges are being denied by Webber customers because they were not warned in advance. We would like all of our drivers to make it a resolution to remember to call dispatch whenever you are in a situation in which you’re not going to be unloaded within two hours of your appointment.

FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS

Neal Webber...................1/1965

Dee Webber....................1/1965

Butch Webber……..…..26/1981

Jerry Salzman..................5/1987

Jack Main......................28/1987

MacArthur Brown...........6/1991

Humberto Marquez……..9/1993

Julian Garcia..................19/1994

Dawn Webber.................5/1998

Jason Jarnagin...............12/1998

Charles Aiken................23/1998

Charles “Chickie” Delong, Jr...8/2001

Kelvin Fulmore...............11/2002

Earl Davis.....................29/2002

Kae Webber....................6/2003

Ariel Sosa........................7/2003

Pat Gillespie...................10/2004

Rickey Simmons Sr...........23/2004

Abraham Granados.............8/2005

Robert “Chipps” Moling.............25/2005

Deb Smith…………..……..…1/2006

Jeffrey Altmyer……….…….…7/2006

Denny Jacobs…………..……19/2006

Brian High…………...…….23/2006

Curtis Vickers…….………26/2006

Scott Johler…………..…..30/2006

Timothy Williams…………2/2007

Tami Manning……………..…..11/2007

Ova Stewart………12/2007

Joshua Diekman…………14/2007

Matt Faulkner…………22/2007

Harold Keen…………..22/2007

Charlie Yeatman…………23/2007

HAPPY FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY!

Congratulations to Humberto Marquez on reaching his fifteen year anniversary with the company. This is quite an impressive tenure. Humberto is known for quietly doing all that the job requires and not drawing much attention to his successful, safe and long driving career, after his years in the military. We recognize his steady, safe and dedicated efforts here. Keep up the great work, Humberto!

TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARIES

What do Charles Aiken (Safety and Personnel Manager – El Paso), Jason Jarnagin (Safety, Personnel and Compliance Manager - Kankakee) and Dawn Webber (Executive Assistant) have in common? Yes, they all came to us ten years ago this month. Wow, how the time has flown by! Charles has been a driver, a recruiter, salesman, safety manager and personnel manager in his ten year tenure. Jason started out entering logs, went to compliance, and then safety before attaining his present title. Dawn, in her role as Executive Assistant, performs a wide ranging plethora of tasks, far too many to mention all, but not the least of which involve execution of corporate contracts and documentation, compilation of driver files, and making sure that Alan’s iced tea is fresh! We extend huge gratitude to each of these key members. Webber World would truly not be the same without them.

OFFICE PERSONNEL OF THE MONTH

Congratulations to Tami Kreft on being named the January 2008 Office Personnel of the Month! Tami began her most recent tenure with Webber World in August of 2002 and currently heads Corporate Driver Recruitment for all terminals from the Kankakee Headquarters and also oversees all owner operators. Tami’s responsibilities, though, range far above and beyond simply driver recruitment. She consistently avails herself on any project when the need for extra help is needed. Great job, Tami. And keep up the good work!

2007 DRIVER OF THE YEAR

*Big Joe Vazquez – (Company Wide) Western Region:*

*Mac Brown - Eastern Region:*

*Tim Williams - Midwestern Region:*

As is now tradition, the Company-wide winner will be assigned our next new Peterbilt and will also receive a bonus equivalent to two weeks of his average weekly 2007 salary.

Similarly, each of the terminal winners will receive the equivalent of one week of his average 2007 pay.

The competition was ridiculously close again this year. So close, in fact, that a “Runners Up” award has been issued again.

RUNNERS UP

* Larry Coleman - (Western Region)*

* Kelvin Fulmore - (Eastern Region)*

* Larry Morris - (Midwestern Region)*

Each terminal’s “runner up” will receive $250.00 in appreciation for a job exceptionally well done.

Congratulations guys, you have worked hard, performed safely and represented the company wonderfully. For that, each of you is due the recognition of being named as the best in your class. It was again an extremely difficult choice because we have so many great drivers. Each and every driver needs to keep striving… next year your name could be the one honored!

There’s no stopping winter! But you can take steps to prevent winter from stopping you. Follow the most insightful tips below and you’ll be ready for whatever Old Man Winter throws in your path.

Falling while getting into or out of heavy equipment, a truck or tractor cab, hooking up air and electrical lines, or mounting or dismounting trailers is a sure way to get seriously hurt. Even an ankle sprain can make it difficult for you to use the clutch. Minor injuries can cost you big in terms of lost income and downtime.

No matter what type of access system your vehicle has available, use the THREE-POINT system to significantly reduce the chance of a slip or fall. The THREE-POINT system means three of your four limbs are in contact with the vehicle at all times- either two hands and one foot, or two feet and one hand.

The THREE-POINT system allows you to have maximum stability and support, thereby reducing the likelihood of slipping and falling.

· Don't climb down with something in your free hand. Put it on the vehicle floor and reach up for it when you get down on the ground.

· Don't rush to climb out after a long run. Descend slowly, to avoid straining a muscle.

· Don't ever jump out. You may land off balance or on an uneven surface, and fall.

An excellent New Year’s resolution is to review your 401(k) contribution. It is an ideal time to begin if you do not already participate or to increase your current contribution. Remember what may be the most important advice: Start saving soon! And also recognize that the more you contribute, the better the compounding works for you. For more information regarding our 401(k) and Profit Sharing plan, drivers are encouraged to contact Mark Tedford at the Kankakee Corporate Office, or Brian Wadley at Genworth Financial Securities Corporation, (815) 939-0271.

In his ongoing effort to create more business with A.N. Webber, Ryan Erhard, of C.H. Robinson, extended invitations to meet with Moe Devine while he was in El Paso. He also met with Rob Koch to discuss business. We appreciate Ryan’s efforts and do hope that our increased business is mutually beneficial.