Penske Truck Leasing recently announced the latest winners of the Penske Truck Leasing Diesel Excellence Scholarship, which is awarded quarterly to students enrolled in the auto/diesel program offered at several of the UTI campuses across the country.
Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 Winners
Penske Truck Leasing received some great news on Earth Day: it is a back-to-back winner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)SmartWay Affiliate Challenge Award. One of 10 companies to win in 2014, Penske was also named a top honoree, cited for its strong marketing efforts.
Joining Penske as winners are two organizations that the company has membership in: American Trucking Associations (ATA) and Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).
The SmartWay Affiliate Challenge is a national event developed by EPA to acknowledge organizations that participate in SmartWay and do an exceptional job supporting the partnership’s freight sustainability goals.
SmartWay Affiliate honorees have initiated and executed recruiting, promotional and marketing activities that raise awareness and encourage their members to address air pollution from freight activities.
Here are some of the ways that Penske promoted the SmartWay Transport Partnership:
• Assisting customers with modeling and completion of the program’s tools and helping them to establish fuel economy and emissions benchmarking that correlate with SmartWay Carrier Performance Rankings
• Ongoing education and introduction of customers to join SmartWay
• Hosting of educational events for customers via webinars, one-on-one education and strategy sessions
• Attending and presenting at sustainability conferences, college symposiums and other transportation industry events
“We are truly honored to be a repeat winner of the SmartWay Affiliate Challenge Award,” stated Drew Cullen, Penske vice president of fuels and environmental Affairs. “It is in our company DNA to not only be good environmental stewards ourselves, but to also aid our customers in identifying, quantifying and implementing sustainable transportation solutions.”
EPA launched SmartWay in 2004 to help business improve the sustainability of their freight supply chains. As of today, SmartWay Partners have saved 120.7 million barrels of oil. This is equivalent to taking over 10 million cars off the road for an entire year. SmartWay’s clean air achievements (51.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxides so far) help protect the health and well-being of citizens while contributing to our nation’s economic and energy security.
“I commend Penske for its level of commitment, enthusiasm, and creativity in promoting EPA’s SmartWay program, and sustainable transportation,” said Chris Grundler, director of EPA’s office of transportation and air quality. “Penske’s work in this arena brings us all closer to achieving the shared goals of clean freight and clean air.”
By “Move Ahead” Staff
The United Way of Berks County, Pa., recently presented Penske Truck Leasing with an Eagle Award for the company’s support of the organization’s annual fundraising campaign.
During the 2013 United Way fundraising campaign, the company raised more than $500,000 and increased contributors by 41 percent through an incentive program.
“The organization’s leadership and employee team have a respected history of supporting United Way’s work through their financial and volunteer commitment,” said Tammy White, president, United Way of Berks County.
Eagle Award recipients are selected based on areas such as: CEO endorsement of the workplace campaign; support of key programs, such as the Loaned Campaign Specialist and Loaned Campaign Accountant Programs; participation in the annual Campaign Planning Workshop; encouraging year-round communication and engagement activities within the workplace; and support of sponsorships and events.
In March, the charitable organization presented Penske with its Leadership Award for ranking second on its Top 10 list of supporting organizations during its annual drive.
By Bernie Mixon
Military family moves are unlike traditional relocations, with active duty service members being shuttled between myriad U.S. bases. As a military-friendly company Penske Truck Rental has created a specialized military call center to ease the stress of a do-it-yourself move, which the Armed Services also refers to as a PCS (Permanent Change of Station) and PPM (Personally Procured Moves).
U.S. Army veteran Joe Dezotell (pictured right) comprehends how a dedicated call center can aid transplanted military families. He was stationed at Fort Campbell (Kentucky), Fort Stewart (Georgia) Fort Gordon (Georgia) and Hanscom Air Force Base (Massachusetts).
While stationed abroad, Dezotell logged time in Panama, Germany and South Korea, where he met his wife (they have one child). He also recruited for the Army, served in the military police and at one time had 100 soldiers under his command. Dezotell served on numerous deployments during his career including combat operations and peacekeeping missions.
Today he is a retired Sgt. 1st Class of 24 years (20 years active duty and four years active reserve) and a member of the team of customer service representatives receiving toll-free calls from 1-844-4TROOPS.
“We are able to help these families find the best way to spend their military move budget,” Dezotell explained. “We help them utilize the proper discounts.”
Each Penske associate manning this center possesses a military connection: they either have a family member who has or is currently in active or reserve duty, or are veterans themselves.
“Our military call center employees have been specially trained to aid military members and their families navigate the unique requirements for each branch,” said Penske’s Don Mikes, senior vice president of rental. “We want to ensure that each family’s transition to a new base is conducted as smoothly as possible.”
By visiting PenskeTruckRental.com/military, active military members and veterans can learn about Penske’s discounts, which can add up to 20 percent, and related services like a certified public scale locator. These locators are needed to fulfill military rules requiring that soldiers and their families certify the weight of their rental trucks when moving.
Penske promises to match any competitive offer on one on one-way truck rentals for active military personnel or veterans (see the website for specific parameters).
Click here to read more about Penske’s place as a military-friendly corporation: attending military themed career fairs to hire veterans and their spouses; committing to the 10,000 Jobs Challenge; earning regular placement on the G.I. Jobs magazine Top 100 Military-Friendly Employers® list; being recognized by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR); fundraising for the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA); and working with Support Military Spouses.
By Alen Beljin
Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” opened in theaters on April 4 and is the latest superhero film from Marvel Studios to feature a yellow Penske rental truck. The film is the sequel to Marvel’s “Captain America: The First Avenger” and stars Chris Evans as Captain America, aka Steve Rogers.
The motion picture also features Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell with Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.
The yellow Penske box truck is seen early in the film during an exciting chase scene through the streets of Washington, D.C., as Jackson’s character is evading a highly trained group of mercenaries. Their soldiers have commandeered local police cars and the Penske truck helps Fury make a getaway.
The below clip includes footage of the Penske truck which is visible at the 0:47 mark.
Penske works with a California transportation vehicle entertainment firm, Studio Services, which secured placement in this film.
The company’s branding also appeared in 2012’s “The Amazing Spider-Man.”
By Alen Beljin
A dedication ceremony took place earlier today at Universal Technical Institute (UTI) Philadelphia in Exton, Pa., to commemorate a 1,900-square-foot multipurpose room that was funded by Penske Truck Leasing. The “Penske Room” will serve as a venue for student and staff activities: presentations, training seminars and student-peer tutoring sessions. It will become an active classroom and lab.
“One of our largest employment needs is skilled truck maintenance technicians and maintenance managers,” stated Bill Jacobelli, Penske’s senior vice president of maintenance. “We value our relationship with UTI to hire graduates to maintain our 6,600-person North American truck maintenance workforce and field maintenance management.”
Since 2010, Penske has hired over 50 graduates from UTI’s Philadelphia campus alone to work at locations across the country.
Penske Truck Leasing has introduced a diesel excellence scholarship program, where a dozen scholarships are handed out each year to UTI students nationally. A Roger Penske Outstanding Student award program was also established among UTI’s 11 campuses.
“On behalf of the entire Exton campus and everyone at UTI, we are incredibly appreciative of Penske’s significant investment in our students’ education and the positive impact the company has made – and will continue to make -- on students as they pursue careers in the automotive and diesel industry,” said Bob Kessler, UTI Philadelphia campus president.
Photo caption from today’s ribbon-cutting: From left is UTI campus director of operations Rosangela Dempster and president Bob Kessler; Penske leaders Bill Jacobelli, senior vice president of maintenance, Jen Sockel, senior vice president of administration, Ken Hurley, senior vice president of human resources and Jack Gallagher, senior vice president of the Northeast region.
By “Move Ahead” Staff
Penske received the Leadership Award from the United Way of Berks County, Pa., for ranking second on its Top 10 list of supporting organizations during its annual drive.
A matching gift from the company, combined with Penske associate donations, raised nearly $760,000 – a 23 percent increase over last year’s total. Penske also had 195 new associate donors, helping to raise the participation rate from 35 percent to 50 percent.
United Way of Berks County President Tammy White presented the award to Brian Hard, Penske’s President and CEO, and the Penske United Way at Work Committee.
“The United Way is so important in our community,” Hard said. “Your organization makes it easy for everyone – regardless of how much free time or how much extra funds they have – to become involved in the great work of your organization. And you know where the money is needed most in our community.”
White added, “We recognize that an achievement like this doesn’t just happen; success of this kind is possible because of the fantastic support we have received from all of you,” White said. “Thank you for the role you play in making the United Way program successful at Penske. Because of your commitment and your success, a tremendous amount of good is happening in this community.”
Penske supports the United Way all year through volunteerism and special events with organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Olivet Boys and Girls Club.
In all, the United Way campaign received $9.3 million to benefit its 32 partner agencies that support education, income, health and safety net programs benefiting more than 100,000 people throughout Berks County.
By Kandace Wertz
Over the last four years, Penske Truck Rental has produced an annual list of its top moving destinations in the United States. Once again, the Atlanta metro area remained No. 1 for the fourth consecutive year.
In the list below, last year’s ranking is noted in parentheses. New to the 2013 list is Las Vegas, coming in at No. 10. Sarasota, Fla., No. 10 in 2012, was combined with the Tampa, Fla., metro area for this year’s list.
“We have seen a continued migration of Penske Truck Rental customers from the Northeast and Midwest parts of the U.S. into these areas,” said Don Mikes, Penske senior vice president of rental.
Penske Truck Rental, based in Reading, Pa., has created a series of infographics to complement the list. The main infographic can be seen below. The infographics include popular destination points within each of the markets, additional factoids, and average home listing prices with data courtesy of Trulia.com.
How is the Penske Truck Rental Top 10 Moving Destinations list created? It is procured through an analysis of our one-way consumer truck rental reservations made via PenskeTruckRental.com and through our central reservations call center, 1-800-GO-PENSKE, as well as reservation requests we’ve received for one-way moves.
Penske Truck Rental is a leading provider of consumer moving truck rentals and offers do-it-yourself movers discounts, ranging from AAA to military moves. Click here to view additional services and savings from our moving friends, too.
Where are you moving in 2014 and why?
By Alen Beljin
Today, Penske Truck Rental donated $255,157 to the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA). The donation benefits PVA's Mission: ABLE campaign. This mid-campaign donation is part of Penske’s year-long fundraising effort for the Paralyzed Veterans of America called #OneWay4PVA, which began Memorial Day 2013 and continues through Memorial Day 2014. Penske Truck Rental is a business unit of Reading, Pa.-based Penske Truck Leasing.
“The PVA provides an incredible level of services to help our heroes,” said Penske Truck Leasing President and CEO Brian Hard. “We sincerely thank our customers for their generosity and for joining us in support of the work PVA does to help veterans.”
PVA's Mission: ABLE campaign was designed to enlist Americans – citizens, communities and corporations – to help ensure our paralyzed heroes are provided the physical care needed to live a healthy life; receive the benefits they've earned through military service; and obtain job training and employment opportunities for new and fulfilling careers.
“We thank Penske for their support of the work we do on behalf of veterans,” said Bill Lawson, national president of Paralyzed Veterans of America. “This generous donation will allow us to continue serving all veterans and providing them with free programs and services to help them live full and productive lives, regardless of injury.”
Paralyzed Veterans of America is a congressionally chartered national nonprofit organization founded in the mid-1940s by a group of spinal cord injured American heroes of World War II. The organization provides its programs and services to all veterans free-of-charge, including benefits assistance, employment services and adaptive sporting opportunities.
Visit Penske Truck Rental online to learn more about #OneWay4PVA or to make a contribution to the Paralyzed Veterans of America.
By Randy Ryerson
