Mulch Coverage Quarterly Volume 3 Issue 6

Mulch Coverage Quarterly Volume 2 Issue 4

Please sign up for The Mulch Coverage Quarterly bottom of our homepage  www.tlbcompanies.com or visit the website for more information. The newsletter comes out 4 times a year and has valuable information, tips and fun facts all about the landscaping industry.

Welcome to TLB Companies 
TLB Wood Products LLC was established in 1999. We source and manufacture wood materials into exceptional landscape mulch, animal bedding and biomass fuel. In order to provide the highest standard of customer service along with efficient, timely delivery of our materials, we also operate our own transportation division known as TLB Transit Inc. We source raw materials and ship our finished products throughout the state of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. In addition, we offer transportation services throughout the Midwest region. 

As a family owned business, we pride ourselves on being an environmentally "green" company through reclaiming, recycling and efficient manufacturing and sourcing of wood by-products. It is our mission to build strong, value based relationships with our business partners. Our goal is to enable our business partners to excel in their businesses by offering high quality, consistently available and competitively priced landscape mulch, animal bedding and biomass fuel. 
Contact us today, our team is ready to be of service to you!

Winter Weather Reminders

It may not seem like it here in Wisconsin, but it is winter. It’s never too late to be reminded of some important winter safety tips and preparations.

First things first, when driving in the cold have your vehicle ready to go. Unless you can do it yourself, have a mechanic check your brakes, ignition, wiring, hoses/fan belts, spark plugs, distributor, filters, battery, tires, and antifreeze. Even though you may be in the clear as far as mechanics go it is always best to keep a cold weather safety kit in your vehicle. The National Safety Council advice you to have at least a half a tank of gas, fresh antifreeze and with you at all times:

·      a fully inflated spare tire

·      windshield cleaner

·      compass

·      matches in a waterproof container

·      shovel, tool kit

·      salt/kitty litter

·      scissors

·      ice scraper

·      flashlight with extra batteries

·      first aid kit

·      scissors

·      non-perishable food

·      blankets/mittens/hats/socks

·      reflective triangles/flares

·      string/cord

·      jumper cables

·      tow/tire chains

Being prepared is important even for the safest of drivers. During times of low visibility or very slippery roads there can be any number of surprises to a driver. AAA recommends a few driving tips to help you avoid a crash:

·      Never mix radial tires with other types of tires

·      Avoid using your parking brake to slow or stop

·      Do not use cruise control in wintery conditions

·      Look and steer in the direction you want to go

·      Accelerate and decelerate slowly

·      Increase following distance to 8 to 10 seconds

·      Know whether you have anti-lock brakes, which will "pump" the brakes for you in a skid

·      If possible, don't stop when going uphill

·      Keep your gas tank at least half-full

·      If you do get stranded, don't try to push your vehicle out of snow

·      Signal distress with a brightly colored cloth tied to the antenna or in a rolled up window

Check the weather before driving and whenever possible try making alternate driving arrangements. If it is not possible to change your driving necessity, then be safe by using these tips from this article.

Information found in this article was used from National Safety Council and AAA websites noted which are noted below.

More winter driving information and safety can be found at:

http://www.nsc.org/learn/safety-knowledge/Pages/news-and-resources-winter-your-car-and-you.aspx

http://exchange.aaa.com/safety/roadway-safety/winter-driving-tips/#.VnLmob_-mwM

 

Landscaping and El Nino

The weather sure has been something to talk about this year and it seems like it will be for the year ahead.  The real question is, how it will impact what goes on in the business we are all involved with? Last year, we had a very early spring, due the lack of snow and the mild temperatures, creating the opportunity to get landscaping projects and sales done very early in the year and lengthening the landscaping season.  This winter we are seeing the impacts of a somewhat strong El Niño. Simply put, El Niño is an anomalous, yet periodic, warming of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. For reasons still not well understood, every 2-7 years, this patch of ocean warms for 6 to 18 months. This warming impacts our traditional weather pattern in the US, as well as throughout the world.  Normally, we in Wisconsin see warmer temperatures and less precipitation in the winter of an El Niño year according to National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center at NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).  The National Weather Service is also predicting this El Niño to be unusually strong, so we are likely to see warmer temperatures and less precipitation thorough late winter and early spring 2016. 

If December is any indication, we certainly had warmer weather on one hand, but on the other we had a lot of precipitation.  Needless to say, it’s only a forecast and we still have a lot of winter left.  Given this forecast, it appears we may be in for another year of an early spring.  So, I leave this article off where I started, given this forecast of an early spring how can we use this information in our businesses to make better business decisions? Some possible questions to ask and answer:  Will we be ready to take advantage of an early spring? Do we have the materials and labor needed to get going early? Should we advertise differently, etc.?  The bottom line is thinking through how you decide to act given this information is what is important and will lead to a possible plan for action whatever that may be. 

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