March 1953 page 1

SERVICE PAYS DIVIDENDS

One day not so long ago one of our traffic salesmen called
on a shipper to ask if the Piedmon & Northern could handle
an occasional car for him. The industry was located on the tracks
of a competing railroad and had habitually routed nearly all of its
traffic via the other fellow's route.

Our traffic representative was received very courteously, but
he got no promise of traffic. He got instead an explanation of why
"X" Railroad was receiving almost all of the shipper's traffic. That
explanation contained such a good lesson to us all that we thought
it would be worth passing on.

It seems that a very special conductor worked for "X" Rail-
road. Each day when he delivered or picked up cars for this industry
he would make a particular effort to see that they were handled
exactly according to instructions. He would even look up the ware-
house superintendent and ask him if there was anything further that
he could do to help. In short, he was making himself as useful as
possible to the shipper--he was really giving service.

But that wasn't all. When the conductor brought in or took out
a car that had been switched to his railroad from another line, he
went to see the superintendent and reminded him that his road
received no profit from a car when it was just switched, but of
course he was aglad to provide just as much service as if his road
had received a revenue haul.

"You know," the shipper told our traffic man, "that conductor
is so accommodating and such a good fellow that I just don't have
the heart to make him switch a car from the P & N or any other
railroad."

We know that we have more than our share of conductors,
trainmen, agents, and clerks who are doing a first-rate selling job in
addition to their regular duties. If we didn't, we wouldn't be where
we are today. But it never hurts to remind ourselves of the im-
portance of always being courteous and accommodating in our
dealings with freight shippers and receivers and others interested in
transportation.