Tag Archives: Efficiency

Employee Spotlight: Britney Bradshaw

September 2, 2020

“Ask Britney!”

Meet Britney Bradshaw, Service Manager at our El Dorado branch!

Britney’s original spotlight was published 9/20/2020. Read on to get an update about her new role at Hugg & Hall!

What’s your hometown?

Camden, AR.

Family?

One son, Roen, who is 11 years old and will be attending 6th grade this year.

What does your typical day at work look like?

I feel like I do a little bit of everything! But a quick way to sum it up would be that I help manage the daily operations of our service department, and make sure our operations are going as smoothly as possible. I’m constantly on the phone assisting technicians and make sure they have everything they need to handle a service job. I communicate with customers and do everything we can to accommodate any requests, and I help my coworkers with anything they’re unsure of. I think one of the most common phrases around here is “Ask Britney!”

How long have you been with Hugg & Hall?

10 years.

What’s your favorite thing about your job?

Honestly, the people I work with! Even though there are days we all drive each other crazy, I wouldn’t trade them for the world. We have a great group of people here, and it makes a huge difference being able to come to work and having a good team to work with every day!

Have you had other roles while working here? Did you work in the industry before Hugg & Hall?

I started out at Hugg & Hall as a Service Administrator, moved into the Field Service Coordinator position, and have since been promoted into the Field Service Manager/Coordinator role.

Before coming to Hugg & Hall, I was still enrolled in college (for dentistry) and working part-time. I got a call from Tracey Gibbs asking if I was interested in the Service Administrator position. After I got my first degree, I was going to take a break from school for a semester or too. Honestly, I thought I would just be at Hugg & Hall for a couple of years until I had to move to continue school. But I enjoyed working here and loved the people I worked with, so I never did end up going back! Here I am, 10 years later, and hopefully many more! I definitely went into a totally different career than what I originally planned!

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I love spending time with my family, and that’s mostly where you’ll find me in my free time. I like to travel. To me, experiences are way more important than materialistic things. I try to make memories with the people I love, more than anything else!

What are your passions?

Outside of work, I would have to say I’m most passionate about helping children. This past year I completed my 5-year term being a volunteer/board member for the nonprofit organization National Association of Junior Auxiliaries (NAJA). Their focus is meeting the needs of children in our local community, spotlighting their welfare, health, recreation, culture, and education. It took a lot of time and hard work, but it was so rewarding! I’m enjoying having free time, but I look forward to getting involved with another non-profit organization.

What’s something that the people you work with might be surprised to know about you?

This isn’t a surprise to most of my coworkers in El Dorado, but a fun fact about me is that I’m a 2nd generation employee. My mom started working for Hugg & Hall when I was five years old and worked here for 13 years before she retired after I graduated high school. Today, there are several employees still working that have been here from the beginning of my “Hugg & Hall life.” I honestly feel like I grew up here and Hugg & Hall is my family!

2022 Update

In 2022, Britney accepted the position of Service Manager in El Dorado and celebrated 12 years with Hugg & Hall! We took the opportunity to catch back up with her.

What does your day look like in your new position?

I’m taking additional responsibilities and developing myself and my team. I’m super excited about the Field Service Manager that I selected to fill my prior position, and I’m thrilled with the “Dream Team” I’m building. I have big plans for us!

What do you want to bring to the department as Service Manager?

As always, our first and main focus is having happy, well-served customers! In addition, I believe having happy, well-treated employees plays a huge role in that! I want to make sure my team feels how much they are appreciated, and that they’re getting all the training and tools they need to do their job more efficiently and effectively. El Dorado just became the Bobcat dealer for our territory, and we officially started a new branch in Shreveport this summer to take over our Northwest and Central Louisiana territory. We have a lot of new, exciting thins happening and we continue to grow and evolve like never before!

What’s the most interesting place you’ve traveled since we last spoke?

I haven’t traveled out of the country since the pandemic started, so we’ve stuck to our normal Florida beach trips. One cool thing we’ve done, that will most likely end up being a once-in-a-lifetime experience, was go to Universal Studios when they first opened after the pandemic. A lot of people were still nervous about the unknowns of Covid, so park attendance was super low. There were no lines and we felt like we had the whole place to ourselves! I told my son he got spoiled on his first trip and if he ever went back, it would definitely not be the same experience!

What’s your favorite quote that impacts your daily life?

“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”

Congratulations on your promotion, Britney!

Want to hear more about our awesome employees? Check out our Employee Spotlight page!

Employee Spotlight: Rhonda Griffith

January 16, 2020

Meet Rhonda Griffith! Rhonda has been with Hugg & Hall for 20 years and works as our Accounts Payable Manager at the company’s corporate location in Little Rock, AR.

Griffith is from and currently resides in Carlisle, AR but spent most of her life in Hazen, AR. She is happily married to her high school sweetheart, Marty and they will celebrate 36 years in May.

They have two children, Ashley and Martin. Ashley and her husband Kyler live in Cabot, AR where Ashley is a family nurse practitioner. Martin and his wife Courtney live in Little Rock, AR but travel a lot since Martin is a welder and inspector for 798 pipe liners.

In December, Martin and Courtney welcomed Griffith’s first grandchild, Katelynn. Griffith stated, “We are so excited to be Gigi and Pop!”.

Griffith enjoys family time, being outdoors, and has a “green thumb”. She loves planting and watching her flowers grow. In the summer, you can find her relaxing by the pool. Something you might be surprised to learn about Griffith is she was crowned Rodeo Queen and spent most of her childhood on a horse and traveling to horse shows and rodeos.

Griffith says a typical workday is “Crazy, but I love it. Lots of invoices, interruptions, and lots of money being spent”. Her daily job duties include managing a “great group of employees, along with vendor invoices and check disbursements, all the while maintaining a strict schedule to keep us on good terms with vendors”. Each month includes 8000+ invoices to process for payment, fuel cards for over 350 company vehicles and corporate credit cards to maintain. All this keeps Griffith and her team very busy. “I love what I do, but it’s not just the job, it’s the people…I love my Hugg & Hall family!” Griffith stated.

We are thankful for Griffith’s years of dedicated and loyal service.

We enjoy sitting down to talk with our fellow employees! Visit our website for more employee spotlights!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April 2020. We updated it for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness in February 2023.

A Day in the Life: Product Support Sales Representative

January 3, 2020

product support

Over the last 60+ years, Hugg & Hall has strived to be superior in the industry to assure businesses always receive the best service. As innovators in the industry, we excel in providing services that our competitors may not even offer. With each purchase, in any department, Hugg & Hall meets exemplary customer service standards.

A key role in providing unmatched service are Hugg & Hall Product Support Sales Representatives (PSSR). The individuals in this position work everyday to provide businesses the customer service that has come to be expected from Hugg & Hall. Knowing your needs and exceeding your expectations are their mission. Here is, “A Day in the Life of a PSSR.”

Your PSSR doesn’t wake up a superhero, that takes a cup of coffee. Once your PSSR has consumed their hero juice, they are set for the busy day ahead. They have a schedule filled with parts & service requests, but the agenda is likely to change with their first phone call. Today that phone call may be a customer with a machine down, but the requests are different each day.

With each request it is important to set daily goals to easily manage all tasks. These goals are to follow-up with customers, visit as many customers in person as time allows and to clearly communicate Hugg & Hall’s business practices. Long term goals are also in place as your PSSR always wants their value to be recognized by you, the client. Building strong relationships with clients and understanding that every business has different needs allows for a PSSR to be truly successful.

Today your PSSR is tasked with ordering a rental to temporarily replace the down machine while ordering and delivering parts to keep other operations moving forward. As the PSSR passes a new warehouse, they make a stop to understand the new business opportunity. The PSSR explains to the potential client that having a PSSR on their side is no additional cost to the consumer and leaves a business card making a note to reach out in a few weeks.

As their day moves forward your PSSR is sure to never over promise, but they try their best to over deliver each time. This honesty differentiates our PSSRs and allows them to truly shine in their role. Being inquisitive, dependable and knowledgeable with all their day’s tasks are also key to their performance.

Through industry knowledge and observations, a Hugg & Hall PSSR assures that every situation is handled differently and appropriately for the application at hand. As the day draws to an end the PSSR has accomplished more than you could imagine all while making each client a number one priority.

A PSSR on your side assures the greatest possible service that Hugg & Hall can provide. They work each day to ease the daily stress of operations in many different industries. If you don’t already have a superhero on your side, call today to meet with a Product Support Sales Representative.

Employee Excellence: Brandon Brantley

December 13, 2019

“There are employees that work hard daily who may not get an “atta-boy”, “great job” or an “I appreciate you”. I wanted to make sure Brandon Brantley knew we appreciated him and that he did a great job.” – Justin Hines, Nexans AmerCable

Hugg & Hall Equipment Company has a quality standard that is beyond many other companies; Brandon Brantley has gone above the standard of excellence to best serve clients in our El Dorado, AR location.

Brantley works as a delivery driver for Hugg & Hall and started with the company a month ago. He conducts day runs between Hugg & Hall locations, as well as deliveries to customers. In his short time with the company, he has made a significant impact in the delivery division. Brandon said that his favorite thing about being a driver for Hugg & Hall is, “interacting with the customers.”

Brandon’s hometown is Farmerville, Louisiana where he currently resides with his wife Nikki. He has his hands full with a son, Logan, daughters Macayla and Karlee, and a granddaughter Paisley-Brooke. He enjoys spending time with his family and has a passion for horses & equipment. You may also be surprised to know that he is afraid of heights.

In his first few weeks, Brandon has noted that every day is memorable. If he weren’t currently working for Hugg & Hall, Brantley mentioned he would like to operate equipment. He thinks it is important for others in the profession to, “Never take safety for granted.”

Hugg & Hall would like to thank Brandon Brantley for his hard work; welcome to the team Brandon! To create your own story with our team, visit our hiring website.

The Benefits of Proximity Alarms

July 30, 2019

What are proximity alarms?

Proximity alarms are sensors that allow equipment operators to detect people and/or objects in blind spots. The sensors have been shown to benefit operators and pedestrians by reducing accidents and collisions. Operators are alerted to objects and people in their path with in-cab warnings, which can be both visual and/or audible, allowing them the time to stop or shift positioning, thus avoiding potentially serious safety hazards. Equipment owners/users and fleet managers should consider the addition, and understand the benefits, of proximity alarms which are shown to improve the overall quality of safety on job sites. Read on the benefits of proximity alarms below!

Why to consider proximity alarms for your equipment

Efficiency- One of the top reasons to add proximity alarms to your equipment is efficiency. Navigating blindly can be difficult and time-consuming and proximity alarms reduce the stress and necessity of superfluous mirrors and/or asking a separate person to guide the operator. The sensors alert operators of objects which have been detected in the path of the machine at close range and objects behind rear tires at expanded ranges. Proximity sensors are a great way to improve onsite productivity and your team’s overall efficiency.

Safety- There are roughly 150,000 construction site accident injuries each year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As such, an obvious advantage to adding proximity alarms to your equipment is the improved safety measure that it provides. The proximity alarms alert operators to objects and pedestrians nearby thus creating a safer work area for both the operator and the pedestrian(s). For some tips on how to ensure a safe job site for your crew, read an informational article here.

Limited Downtime/Damage- Another definite benefit of proximity alarms is the reduction of damage to equipment, and the associated downtime any damages may create. Alerting operators to nearby objects and obstructions is a clear-cut way to reduce the hassle and associated costs of an accident or collision. This a particularly helpful benefit for time-sensitive projects that can’t spare the downtime. If you want to enact an extra precaution to protect your job site from an accident, damage and/or downtime, consider adding proximity alarms to your machine.

Optimize Engine Efficiency

March 1, 2018

Optimizing Engine Efficiency Through Maintenance

Performing regular service on your equipment can help optimize your engine efficiency. Learn more about engine maintenance and the products that can help keep your equipment in good shape.

Fuel

Appropriate fuel usage is one way to improve engine productivity. Water-based fuel is a major limiting factor for engine efficiency. Fuel with ethanol (a water-alluring substance) can cause corrosive patterns and damage carburetors.

Fuel stabilizers keep fuel fresh, remove water to prevent corrosion, and cleanse carburetors. Another option is to use ethanol-free fuel. Both can help keep your engine running smoothly and optimize its efficiency.

Oil

Regularly scheduled oil changes are vital to engine productivity. Most engines require oil changes every 100 hours of operation. However, smaller utility equipment, which utilizes air-cooled engines, require oil changes every 50 hours of operation. Always review the manufacturer’s guidelines for engine maintenance recommendations and engine oil guidelines.

Setting up a preventative maintenance schedule for your equipment can help protect it further. Your service team may use full-synthetic oil when performing oil changes. Full-synthetic oil is designed to accommodate longer usage intervals in higher-heat environments. Some synthetic oil options also include anti-wear components, which may improve engine viability.

Air

Maintaining proper airflow is an important aspect of engine efficiency. Smaller, air-cooled engines require fresh air to maintain a high level of performance. Regularly changing engine air filters is an important maintenance routine. Always use OEM (original equipment manufacturer) filters. Never settle for a cheaper option. OEM/cyclonic filters are higher-performing and better for your engine.

It’s a good idea to regularly review your equipment manuals to ensure comprehensive, appropriate maintenance is performed regularly.