Safety Awards Celebration 2010

Safety achievements of over 150 employees of JD Smith were celebrated on May 6, 2010 at the annual Safety Awards presentations. As long time members of the THSAO Safe Driver and Safe Worker program, JD Smith recognizes the hard work of its warehouse workers, mechanics and drivers each year for maintaining its enviable reputation for safety and dependability.

The Transportation Health and Safety Association of Ontario (THSAO) sponsor a safety recognition program - to be eligible, workers must go all year without a compensable work injury; and drivers must go all year without a preventable collision. Based on these criteria, over 150 workers received their THSAO Safe Worker pin, while 74 drivers achieved a collision-free year for their Safe Driver pin.

President & CEO, Scott Smith presented the awards to the winners and provided insight on a number of significant milestones that were reached this year within the JD Smith family;
Clarence Mackinnon reached 20 years of Safe Driving, while Paul Costello received a jacket and trophy to go with his 25 year Safe Driving pin. Ross Baker has 36 years of safety under his belt, and Ken Strickland reached the 37 year milestone.

A number of employees, both warehouse and driver, reached 20 years of safety in the industry. Bill Burgess, John Haines, Rob Harland, Bill Mortlock, Vince Panacci, and Jim Turner all received gifts as well as their 20 year pin.

The highlight of the day was the crowning of ‘Warehouseman of the Year’ and the ‘Driver of the Year’ recognizing those who go above and beyond the call of duty in safety and all around performance on the job. As strict as the criteria was in choosing the winners, almost 20% of the driving force qualified for the honour. The candidates were voted on by management and past winners of the respective awards.

The 2009 Warehouseman of the Year was presented to David Sparkes, from the Basaltic Road warehouse and the 2009 Driver of the Year was presented to Don Bone, who works at ASA Alloys on behalf of JD Smith.

Congratulations to all of the Safe JD Smith employees, Dave Sparkes and Don Bone for their outstanding work over the past year.

For more information on Canada Warehousing from JD Smith, please contact us!

JD Smith Provides Co Op Placement for Local High School

In keeping with our ongoing commitment to education opportunities, JD Smith entered a partnership, in 2004, with The Toronto Catholic District School Board to support the “Transportation Program” at James Cardinal McGuigan CSS. This particular school-work transition program provides students with opportunities to develop the knowledge and skills required for direct entry into the work force immediately after high school. The students are able to complete their secondary school diploma or certificates required to allow entry into a specific industry. Overall they develop employability and industry-specific skills and obtain experience in the workplace. The hands on experience helps the students decide if they have chosen a rewarding career.

Mr. Derrick Siaw was such a co-op student. He started as a full-time employee at JD Smith in June of 2008 as a trailer mechanic apprentice. His apprenticeship began in March of 2008 as a co-op student under the careful training and sponsorship of our Maintenance Department.

Pictured here is last year’s coop student, Sherwayne Charles who is seen being presented with a cheque by Brian Death of JD Smith at the 2009 graduation ceremony for James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic Separate School. Sherwayne plans a career in auto mechanics as we were unable to convince him to stay with heavy trucks.

JD Smith is proud and committed to be an encouraging force in the successful implementation and development of programs that assist young students find their way to success in the transportation industry.

For more information on JD Smith, a freight management company in Canada, please visit our site!

The Essentials of Inventory Management

"Inventory management is a complicated subject, so we asked our experts what advice they would give dealers who are concerned about their inventory management.

Jesse Biter of HomeNet advices that, “no matter what system you use the best advice I can give is do it. You can’t completely outsource this job. You wouldn’t leave the vehicles on your lot unorganized and dirty, would you? Then why would you online? You can hire companies to take pictures and print window stickers, but only you can present your vehicles with the passion that will engage shoppers. If you want to move the needle on your sales then you have to manage your online inventory. If you advertise junk then that’s the type of leads you’ll receive—–junk. Advertise quality, and you’ll get quality leads from quality buyers.”

Dale Pollak of vAuto reminds us of the importance of your people, strategy, and process over software. “Software is not the answer for used vehicle performance improvement. Rather, improvement only occurs once the dealership adopts an appropriate strategy and makes the necessary commitment to its execution. It is people working a process consistent with the strategy that produces sustainable improvement. Software simply enables individuals to work the process.”

Doug Hadden of DealerTrack also had some good closing advice for us. “Always have a plan, put processes in place and stick to them, and utilize an inventory management tool.Use factual information to make decisions, don’t go by gut feel.If you or your team cannot answer the ‘what to buy and why’ question thoroughly, more homework is needed before any money is spent.” ~ Source: DealerMarketing.com

hip adopts an appropriate strategy and makes the necessary commitment to its execution. It is people working a process consistent with the strategy that produces sustainable improvemen
For more information on JD Smith, a Canadian trucking company, please visit our site!

Freight Management Specialists

The flexibility of J.D. Smith’s transportation solutions allows us to be different things to different customers. At the heart of every single J.D. Smith transportation solution is a wide menu of specialized services that can easily be tailored to your specific needs. It pays to take advantage of our complete service offering to help lower your costs and improve efficiencies throughout your business.

With one of Ontario’s largest fleets and our network of distribution facilities, J.D. Smith’s Truckload and Less Than Truckload Distribution Services are utilized by some of the country’s best known companies.

J.D. Smith serves as the backbone of a national distribution network. Our national freight management service provides a one-stop transportation solution. We have the tools and the skills to ensure we deliver a quality distribution program that meets your specific needs.

J.D.Smith Offers freight management in Canada, including:
• High quality, award winning service
• Customized processes and solutions
• Single point of contact for customer service and billing
• Highly secure environment
• Online status tracing and POD imaging
• Freight consolidation and distribution programs
• Expedited service for critical deliveries
• Integrated, real-time fleet communications
• Cross docking, postponement, and reverse logistics programs
• Customized management and KPI reports
• Non-union, long-term employees
• Daily deliveries to major retail distribution centres
• Support of all existing EDI standards
• Special handling and appointment management

J.D. Smith and Sons Celebrates 90 years of Excellence

Vaughan, ON – In the last year of World War I, John D. Smith and his uncle started a freight cartage business with two trucks called Bennett and Smith. Today, that same business now known as J.D. Smith and Sons Ltd., celebrates its landmark 90th anniversary. Founded in 1919, the family-run company has grown into an industry standard bearer for commercial transportation and logistics management in Canada.

Since inception, the Smith family has owned and operated J.D. Smith and that tradition carries on today with Scott, President & CEO and Brian, Senior Vice President. Regardless of evolving scope and breadth, the company’s family-centric philosophy and attention to detail has allowed it to implement stringent customer service expectations into its processes.

Throughout its long history, J.D. Smith has perpetually expanded and refined its services. A renowned and frequently abetted fleet, process-driven approach and topnotch warehousing, transportation, and technology divisions, have made it a preferred instrument of Canadian organizations of all sizes.

In a highly flexible and dynamic industry, J.D. Smith has not only persevered but excelled. Its longevity stems from an ongoing commitment to providing multi-pronged, efficient solutions. Constantly updating and fine tuning its services, it has anticipated and evolved with its customers’ changing needs.

Building and maintaining long-lasting and tenable client relationships, J.D. Smith uses its wealth of resources to cater to the specific concerns of individual customers. Despite its range, its approach is uniquely personal and precisely conceptualized.

Not content to rest on its reputation and storied history, J.D. Smith looks forward. With award-winning environmental policies and ISO certification, the company balances quality and conscientiousness. J.D.Smith enters its 10th decade by retaining its standards of excellence and continuing to offer innovative and proficient third-party distribution and logistic strategies to clients.

Said Scott Smith, President & CEO of J.D. Smith, “We are very excited about this achievement. It’s a credit to our continued investment in leading-edge processes and to our employees who have worked extremely hard to please our customers. I am particularly proud of our people. For 90 years, the bar has constantly been raised and they continue to rise to the challenge.”

About JD Smith

As logistics management becomes increasingly recognized as the new competitive frontier, J.D. Smith continues to build on our reputation for developing responsive logistics solutions that create competitive advantage.

Our solutions are complex -- comprised of fast and flexible transportation, warehousing and distribution capabilities that improve product flow across your supply chain. And yet our service philosophy remains very straight-forward: after analyzing your business needs we create flexible, customized solutions, and execute them with a clear focus on quality.

Today, more than 300 North American companies -- from beauty product to dangerous goods providers, food services to high-tech -- look to J.D. Smith for our award-winning, customized logistics solutions. Backed by state-of-the-art logistics management technologies and guided by strong key performance measures and ISO standards, J.D. Smith is your gateway in and around the Canadian marketplace.