We are entering our 10^th week since our filing and we continue to maintain most of our customer base as verified by our steady load count even with a downturn in our industry. The revenue base we are experiencing from our existing customers is not only a positive sign it is also a testament to the work ethic displayed by our field personnel. We fully expected to see a broader reduction in lost business. Hence our revenues and cash flow are above plan. Also we continue to have a very strong collection effort of our receivables and significant progress has been achieved in this area. We sincerely thank all the personnel who have sustained their operations during these sensitive times. We also thank everyone for their patience and consideration as we continue to work through the conditions imposed on us as a result of the filing which at times has made your job difficult.

A recent review of our service performance attained from our information systems along with our customer service inquiries has confirmed we are still maintaining a high level of performance by our entire company. In 1968 when our company was purchased by the Rollins organization we heard very emphatically from John Rollins Sr. that "people make the difference". It is certainly evident that philosophy is still the same today.

Our people do and continue to make a difference. I am proud and honored to say I have been able to work with the best.

May has been a busy month regarding the Take The Time contest, especially on the corporate side. The great news is everybody seems to be taking the time as we now have almost everybody involved with at least one point. The trivia day seemed to have been a hit. The unfortunate news is we have some familiar names still atop the leader board.

Our weekly winners from the field were Otto Schletter, a driver from Jacksonville, who won two weeks ago, and Michael Smith, a mechanic from Chicago. Otto took the time to hook up an ISO container for a client who was unable to do it himself. As he was finally ready to leave, another operator pulled in with another container so Otto pulled over again and helped them hook up their container. The customer, Florida Flavors, called David Denning to thank Otto for his extra effort and service beyond the call of duty. Judy Rackouski was the person who told us about Michael Smith and how he has worked approximately 30 hours without pay this month working off the clock to finish work and getting the job done right and on time.

Our corporate winners were Clarence Rohatensky, our western region salesperson, for his solid work with General Chemical, which involves four terminals. Tony Evans submitted Clarence and pointed out several acts of dedication that have been key to the business. Our second winner was also a salesperson, Shannon Greene whose work was noted by Charlie Kilzer specifically for nurturing the relationship with National Starch and overall, for developing such successful operations out of Memphis and Nashville. Congratulations to all!

There were several good suggestions that rolled in during the month. We appreciate the thought and time that went into these new ideas. Most were routed to Mike K., Bob M. and other department heads for evaluation. It was determined by the tribal board upon reviewing all comments that we will allocate 2 points for all who submitted ideas since we are unable to determine at this time whether one or several ideas would eventually be able to be implemented and revenue gained or saved. We encourage you all to continue to submit new ideas to both the Take The Time campaign and your immediate supervisors.

For those of you who have been participating and reading these Take The Time updates, it should be noted that there are usually two names that are regularly mentioned. On one hand, we should congratulate Charlie K. and Judy R. for each being repeat winners for the month of May. They each have earned another $100 and another vacation day. On the other hand, we should all take notice. Charlie and Judy take the time each week and submit the efforts of their co-workers. Neither of them were nominated as weekly winners; they are simply good team players and recognize the good work of others. They have placed a challenge- you can wait for them to nominate you and maybe pick up 5 points one week and let them walk away with the contest, or you can take the time, look around and participate with your own submissions. Let’s see some new names in June!

Revised overall standings will be posted on the web site soon. June standings are a clean slate, but we know Charlie and Judy will have at least 2 more points by next week.

Who Are They?

Despite busy schedules, vacations and plans for the long weekend, and so-so weather in the east, it appears it was a good time for all for EAW II. Some pictures and highlights below:

Madison - They love their ‘pop.’

"We enjoyed a cookout on Friday and distributed Matlack hats in addition to the shirts that you sent us. We provided pop and coffee to all drivers, mechanics, and cleaners."

Sarnia - "Looking forward to employee golf tournament."

Pocatello - "A successful annual staff appreciation dinner on Sunday, May 20, at a local buffet restaurant."

Memphis - had a pool party

Chicago - "everyone in Chicago is dieting this week because of our BBQ"

Monday - Pride day, Gary Hostetler still has not shown up with his bow tie. 50/50 winner, Elena L.

Tuesday - Blue Rocks, unfortunately a rain-out, booooo. We got back 100 tickets and will send out an announcement soon regarding another date, so stay tuned. 50/50 winner, Michele

Wednesday - Trivia day, we learned there are some very competitive people on the 12^th and 13^th floors, big winners Paget Allen, Stephen Judge, Donna S. and Jeremy Foltz. 50/50 winner, Sherry Ringgold

Thursday - T-shirts, don’t they look good! 50/50 winner Lisa Creekmore (Notice any trend here?)

Friday - Casual day, the weather held, the food and games were great! 50/50 winner, Sharon F. and the grand prize went to Ann C. Next year, guys will rule.

We will have some pictures from the field in the next issue. Many thanks to the usual suspects for all their time and dedication to pull off this event most notably Elena L, Lisa C, Sharon F, and Donna S. Corporate pics below.

Everyday each of us must sell our company and ourselves and being a good salesperson is not easy. "The customer" has become more professional, better negotiators and better educated in product knowledge, applications and competitive pricing. How then do we break through all the competition? One way is to treat each customer as if they are your only customer and to customize your approach for them specifically.

Below are five principles for getting positive customer response.

1) People buy from people they trust. The first 3 questions are who you are, who you represent and what you want from me. Everything you say or answer will produce either tension or trust. The key is to find their ‘comfort zone’. And one way to earn trust and find their comfort zone is

through your appearance, tone, sales etiquette, courtesy, and generally being pleasant.

2) People buy from people they respect. When something is wrong with your car, you take it to a well-qualified mechanic. You trust your banker and your attorney, but not to fix your car. People respect salespeople who are competent, self-confident, honest and who show respect for them and their problems.

3) People want to make their own decision. People will welcome information from salespeople they respect. They will even seek advice if there is trust. But when it comes to signing the order, they

want to feel that the decision they make is theirs. Don’t try to impose your decision on a client. Try to help that person reach his or her own decision by using probing questions that lead the customer to the correct decision.

4) People buy for their reasons, not yours. Don’t exert undue pressure on the customer, or literally beg for an order. Customers will feel manipulated and will resent the pressure if you’re asking them to do something for reasons other than their own benefit.

5) People buy from salespeople who understand them and understand their needs and problems. Moving a prospect from "I don’t need it," to "I’ll take it," is seldom accomplished by a bombardment of all the wonderful features of a product. More often it is accomplished by helping the customer discover how a product or service will meet needs that the person may or may not have realized he or she had.

Prior to the purchase of RLC by Penske, Matlack was required to use the RLC Warehouse for two functions: forms management and corporate file storage. With the purchase of the RLC Warehouse by Penske, Matlack was released from that obligation.

On May 2, 2001, Matlack’s forms management business was transitioned to Delta Forms in Wilmington, DE. On May 21, 2001, Matlack’s corporate file storage business was transitioned to Braincore, Inc. in New Castle, DE.

As a result of these two changes, Matlack now has better process management, improved access to information, and simplified paperless transactions that require fewer resources and are also kinder to the planet.

In addition to these substantial benefits, Matlack will reduce its expenses by 66%, resulting in monthly savings of over $8,800 or roughly $106,000 annually.

That’s where we come in. In the past, Matlack was charged a flat monthly fee that was not based on the actual volume of transactions. Our new vendors’ charges are based upon actual volume. This means that we now have the opportunity to save even more money by exercising prudent management.

For example, in the area of forms management, we pay for packaging and shipping on every order. By ordering forms once per quarter (four orders per year) instead of weekly, we can reduce our annual forms expense by up to 80%. All that is required is that we manage our forms inventory like we already manage our other inventories such as parts, fuel, or tires.

Continued

In a similar vein, we can save big bucks by avoiding "RUSH" orders. UPS charges $35 for a "RUSH" order. Thus, one "RUSH" order costs more than we will spend for the entire year if we place four normal orders per year.

In the area of corporate file storage, Braincore charges Matlack a monthly storage fee for each box set up at Braincore. By carefully reviewing the files each department has set up at Braincore and by managing their destruction date in strict accordance with applicable laws, we can save the company thousands of dollars each year.

For example, in preparation for the move to Braincore, each Department was asked to review their files and identify any obsolete records that could be destroyed. As a result of that review, we identified over 3,500 boxes of obsolete files that could be destroyed. This will save Matlack over $14,000 this year alone and $7,500 per year in the future.

Remember, we are the most important part of these new systems. Our success depends entirely upon our actions and our behavior. Take the time! Make the difference!