Davey Tree Flipbooks

35 34 Growth Rings or maintained in less than a professional manner. We are giving this subject matter much of our attention as we continue to face the machine power age." Equipment operation and maintenance instruction continued to be a part of the curriculum at D.I.T.S., and articles of the same nature remained regular features in the Bulletin. In one such article, published in August 1971, then equipment manager C. Baker Miller lamented the need for field personnel to regularly grease and lube their equipment. "Our chief enemy is friction which causes wear," Miller wrote. "Let's fight it!" e piece went on to explain how often employees should change their truck's engine oil, adjust its timing, lube the chassis – including on aerial lift components – and take simple steps to lessen wear and tear, such as avoiding riding the clutch. "Let's keep our foot off the clutch pedal except when actually shifting gears," Miller wrote. Miller started with Davey in 1934 and witnessed, during his career, the mechani- zation revolution, when the tree care industry shifted from hand saws and ladders to power chain saws, bucket trucks, and brush chippers. Miller had essentially estab- lished the company's first "chain saw department" to address maintenance issues. "(We) got one of them one time in a basket. I mean it came in a bushel basket, all dismantled," Miller said. "e shop manager looked at it, threw up his hands and said, 'Can you fix that? Can you put that back together?' And I said, 'If you give me something to go by, I can.' So, he gave me a parts manual. And from that I rebuilt the saw. His response was to say, 'From now on you are the chain saw manager.'" Company leadership focused on equipment in part because of the 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act, which, among its many purposes, included laws dictating maintenance and safe operation of machinery in the workplace. By 1973, equipment costs were second only to payroll expenses, and Davey hired a mechanical engineer to work full-time on issues with equipment. Fuel costs were another high expense tied to equipment. In 1973, an oil embargo enacted by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) against the U.S. created a domestic fuel shortage, which, combined with the result- ing exorbitant price increases, fed inflation. e after-effects of the Vietnam War, in which the U.S. government spent more than $120 billion from 1965 to 1973, further contributed to near-crippling inflation rates. As a result, Davey worked to conserve available gasoline through better planning of the daily schedules of its crews, finer tuning of truck engines, and by eliminating unnecessary idling of equipment engines. Equipment personnel studied possible alternate types of fuel and more fuel-efficient equipment. Davey also had clauses in many of its contracts permitting the company to pass on increased fuel costs to the client. Utility clients helped by planning their daily instructions for Davey crews to eliminate unnecessary backtracking and cut down on long distances between trim- ming locations. Bigger equipment required larger solutions. For many years, Davey parked its trucks overnight and during weekends either at gasoline and service stations or at the homes of foremen. But as growth surged, and revenue surpassed $32 million in 1972, it became obvious that Davey had to provide its own fenced enclosures. During 1973, new buildings were built or started in Detroit, Atlanta, and Houston. Additions were made at existing facilities at: Bayport, New York; Long Island, New York; and Livermore, California. Moreover, talks started on leasing a new building in Worcester, Massachusetts. Usually, these company-managed spaces included a building for storage of materials and parts; some with facilities and skilled personnel to repair and overhaul equipment. A year later, Davey opened new offices in: New Orleans; Dallas; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Miami; Palm Beach, Florida; Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida; South New Jersey and Minneapolis. A new maintenance facility opened in Houston. e Operational Reorganization Amidst economic turmoil in the U.S., Davey's new president announced a change in operational structure. Myers unveiled a companywide reorganization to take effect in 1974. He announced the establishment of four geographical regions for all Davey Company operations, plus a development group, with vice presidents overseeing each region. e four geographic regions and their heads were: Gene Haupt, vice president, Pacific region; Ted Baer, vice president, Western region; Jack Joy, senior vice pres- ident, operations, Northern region; and Howard Eckel, vice president, Atlantic region. Reporting to Haupt were the operations and finance teams for all of the Davey Tree Surgery Company. Underneath Joy was the marketing staff, the Midwest division, Central division, Upstate New York division, Northeastern division, Davey Canada, infrared inspection services, Pine Knoll Nursery and several acquisitions and subsidiaries. Beneath Eckel was eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Virginia, eastern Tennessee, Alabama, infrared inspection services, the Southeastern division, and Campe Tree Service. Reporting to Baer were the operations in Louisiana, Mississippi, western Tennessee, the Southwestern divi- sion, Western division, infrared inspection, and quality control services. e reorganization included the appointment or promotion of several other vice presidents in various roles. Bert Stamp was named vice president, services, with equipment control, safety, collective bargaining, buildings and land coordination, and other responsibilities. James Pohl was named senior vice president, finance, overseeing accounting, corporate records, insurance, purchasing, and corporate office management. M.L. Davey, Jr., was named vice president, development, but he also served as director of the technical service center, with the Davey Nursery and e Davey Tree Expert Company operations reporting to him. In announcing the reorganization, Myers explained its necessity came about due to Davey Tree's success. "Because our business is becoming widely diversified and geographically dispersed, there is a greater need for clear channels of responsibility and authority," Myers said. "For future growth, we need more concentration on cost control, equipment and personnel productivity, and personnel development." e changes aligned with the desires of both the company and the employee. "e primary objectives of the employee-associate and the company are essentially the same," Myers explained. "Most of us desire greater financial growth coupled with growth in responsibility. How does that come about in our free enterprise system? Productive hard work – control of costs – and more customers. It is the satisfied customer who increases our personal growth, not a company procedure or a board of directors." Some initiatives under Myers' presidency proved successful – a credit to his busi- ness experience. Company managers struggled with record-high inflation rates and interest rates on loans. e federal prime interest rate hovered above 10 percent for much of 1974 – topping out at 12 percent in July. So, the company paid off all bank debts for the first time in several years and saw sizeable savings. In 1975, the company started selling real estate and marketable securities as utility line clearance Chapter 2 In 1974 Davey split company operations into four geographic regions with each one headed by a vice president who had years of experience with the company. Ted Baer was named vice president, Western Region. Howard Eckel was named vice president, Atlantic region, in 1974. Displayed are the equipment and materials used by a typical line clearance crew in 1972.

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