Document 6wM4kzQyyk0em8KenpOdk33ko

P , O ', i' 'P y p. s. mmm Incorporated Monroeville, N. J . August 20, 1937 Mr* J . H. Schaefer, Manager, Ethyl Gasoline Corporation, Wilmington, Delaware. Dear Mr. Schaefer: I acknowledge receipt of your le t t e r o f August 18, vdiich has reference to the unloading o f tank truck, T-6, at the Qnlenton plant of the Quaker State Oil Co., on August 10th* I*4 I have called Mr. Chenoweth and Mr* Sahas into my o ffic e for a thorough discussion of the events which transpired on t h is delivery and at the plant in question. Mr. Chenoweth t e l l s me that he did make the pipe connection in the dome of.t our tank and opened the valves at that lo ca tio n , a l l under the supervision and consent o f one of the Refinery' s employees, who was charged with the unloading o f the tank. The boys arrived at the plant at 9:30 A.M. on August 10th and consumed some twenty minutes in placing the unit properly under the pipe lin e s . Our men being more nimble than the employee, who weighed 260 pounds or more, made the connections in the presence o f the employee, who appreciated the cooperation. They were then to ld to open the valves, which they did and after which they immediately l e f t the unit in the hands o f the plant personnel. This i s d e fin ite ly a l l our men did do. A short time la te r , i t was ascertained that the flu id was going into the proper receiving tank and our men relaxed near the trucki After several minutes elapsed, one o f the plan t's superintendents, according to the story, came to the unit and exchanged sharp words with our, men who claimed they made the connections and opened the valves on the say-so o f the employee, and did no more. The superintendent in talking to h is employee, thought there was water in th eir circu lating gasoline lin e and suggested that they turn over to another tank. This did not concern our men and they did not become ' involved in the controversy. The tank was fin a lly unloaded and the weights checked, which revealed a shortage o f tw enty-six pounds, as good or better than average. In the ea rlier discussion, and while our men were being reprimanded by the plant superintendent for making the connections, words were exchanged and our Chenoweth stated that he was a ssistin g only in a cooperative way and he f e lt there was no harm in making the done connections. The superintendent alleged ly remarked that our men must be in a ter rib le hurry and in reply, our men stated that they have strenuous runs and the equipment being busy, wished to return as soon as p ossib le, and occasionally i f they did not offer advice to the plant personnel, they would be in th e ir yard a l l day* I t is true that" our boy's advice i s often so lic ite d in unload ing these tanks at numerous plant's where the regular men being absent, or the man on duty may not be fam iliar with the unloading procedure. Their advice ofttim es prevent hours o f delay and i t i s generally appreciated. I have repeatedly instructed our drivers to avoid any a c tiv ity in connection with the unloading o f compound at any bulk plant, or where tank d eliv e rie s are involved. They should be thoroughly fam iliar with the consequences Kfr 0000981 N 5683 r Mr. J . H. Schaefer Page #2 I have warned them that they expose themselves to entanglements and likew ise involve myself and your company in reverberations which can result from being "too cooperative". I fu lly r e a lise the hazards involved in mistakes on delivery or reception of these flu id s , and have endeavored to pass on expressions from time to time, to in d elib ly place on the minds of the men these hazards and the catastrophes which can r e s u lt. As you know, Chenoweth and Sahms are pioneers in these tank movements and are two trusted employees. They have witnessed unloading o f hundreds o f these tanks and have ofttim es observed fa u lty connections, and have asked to be permitted to make suggestions which were found to be correct, and for which they were thanked, but at no time did they go beyond the dome o f the tank truck. Our men l e f t Monroeville at 5 A.M. on the 9th, and arrived at Brookville, Pa. at 9:30 P.M. the same date. They arrived at Jialenton on the 10th at 9:30 A.M. and stopped duty that evening at 9:30 at Harrisburg, Pa. They cleared Harrisburg at 6:30 A.M. on the 11th and arrived at Monroeville at 2 P.M. the same date. We must confess that under the t e r r if ic heat and strenuous duties involved in these d e liv e r ie s, our men can lo se th eir patience and can make remarks that could be taken as offences, but not at heart. When they alleged ly made the remark that "they didn't want to be here a l l day", i t was immediately capitalized and resulted in the slig h t fr ic tio n with the plant superintendent. I exceedingly regret th is situ a tio n and have been at a lo ss to know what action to take in penalizing these two employees. \7e know they meant w ell, but have been warned not to engage with the unloading o f tank tru ck s.- I am sa tisfie d that ho lo ss of compound resulted in th is a ffa ir , and I am also ' ... s a tis fie d that i f anything went wrong, i t was s t r ic t ly on the plant's side of the operation. Any water in th eir gasoline lin e was there before we arrived and i f the plant personnel did not know there was water in th e ir lin e , that i s not our hardship* I can see now that our men should not have touched a thing, but when an employee asks for some assistan ce, i t doea seem hard to refuse them, and i f th e ir request i s rejected , that also seems to create hard fe e lin g s. *` *" As a resu lt o f th is situ a tio n , I have again instructed each and every driver to place th eir unit at the pipe lin e s and refrain from touching a sin g le thing and i f delays r e su lt, they w ill have to adjust th eir running time accordingly, even tho it should resu lt in an additional day in returning. I w ill welcome your further comments on th is matter, and w ill take such action as you may deem expedient in the lig h t o f the comments made, and again I wish to express my regrets in th is situ a tio n . Very tru ly yours, P. E. KHAMME, INC. (Signed) P. 3. Kramme President P3K:F He 0000982