Ex-Guard Industries – ‘Life Saver’

I was going through some old pictures on my phone and ran across from photos from a once in a lifetime event (hopefully)! Back in 2010 I was driving the last trucks I owned before coming over to PeopleNet. It was in the middle of the night, about 3am, on my way with a load of mattresses to Kalispell, MT for a 6am delivery. I was just west of Browning, MT about to head through Glacier National Park when I spotted a white cow on the dotted line.

I swerved to the right and missed the white cow narrowly, but while I was watching to make sure I missed the white cow, 30 yards behind him and in the middle of my lane was the black cow that I didn’t see (picture below from when the sun came up of the victim, or perp, depending on your perspective). It was full grown, and the impact was staggering. My speed decreased about 30 MPH instantly, alarms started going off, flashing lights appeared on the dash, to say I was shaken would be a gross understatement.

Thankfully when I bought this Freightliner Columbia I also purchased an Ex-Guard bumper protection system, or cow-catcher for short to country boys like me. Honestly, I didn’t expect to actually catch a cow. I just thought they looked sweet, and they were really to easy to use and still perform maintenance on my truck. I hadn’t had any large animal strikes in about a million miles of OTR driving to that point so while the percentage was low, the ROI was still there, one front end strike from even a deer can run into the tens of thousands in damage depending on your luck. That’s not even accounting for any towing, other things you might hit after the animal impact, or lost time, load recovery and so on. Plus, like I mentioned earlier, it looks SWEET!

I dare you to tell me this doesn’t look sweet 🙂

Above is the before picture. Below is the after impact picture.

I won’t mention my speed on this lonely MT highway with no one around at 3am, but the speed limit is 65 mph. After hitting the brakes while dodging the white cow let’s safely say I was probably going 55 mph when I struck the black cow. On both sides of this stretch of road are steep and long embankments. Taking a ride down one of those embankments was going to be expensive and not likely to end in an upright situation!!

The center of the cow struck just to the right of the grill in the picture. You can guess which way the hind end of the cow was facing! The cow slid to a stop on across the oncoming lane of traffic and about 100 feet into the grass down that embankment. So I didn’t hit the cow dead center, and much of the impact from the hind half of the cow was on that smaller section of the cow catcher.

You can see the cosmetic damage. Under the hood the power steering case was cracked and the air to air after cooler was pushed back about an inch at the top left of it (which I hadn’t noticed yet). My call whether to drive it or not. I still had Glacier Nat’l Park in front of me so I towed it to Kalispell.

While the truck was being repaired I did what everybody should do when in Kalispell, MT with a few days on their hands, go fishing!

My truck was patched up, with some bondo and straps so I could go back home and get all rest of the repairs done at my home shop while I was with my family.

Introducing the Columbia Black Angus Edition!

The bottom line is without this Ex-Guard Bumper Protection System this story has a potentially devastating outcome for me, and without a doubt, a more costly outcome for me and my insurance company. The cow probably would have had the same outcome either way! No injury to me and I got to go home to my family a couple days delayed, but home in one piece none-the-less. I didn’t need to get the truck retrieved from the puckerbrush (pucker being the operative portion of that word). The damage was relatively minor, just ask someone who has seen the aftermath of a strike like this without a protection system, and I was back on the road with less than a week of downtime, which I used wisely 🙂

This isn’t a paid story, this was all unsolicited, and started from a review I put on Ex-Guard’s Facebook page upon finding these photos from 2010. Since that first review I’ve gotten to chat with some of their folks and found out more about the company and the people behind the product I purchased.

Ex-Guard Industries is based in, and manufactures their bumper protection systems out of, Des Moines, IA. So it’s an American based company making incredibly durable and high quality products at reasonable prices. The ROI on these systems is REAL, just ask my wife and kids, and insurance agent! Protect your equipment, reduce downtime, and most importantly safeguard your company’s most valuable asset, YOUR PEOPLE!

Thank you Ex-Guard, from the bottom of my entire family’s hearts!

Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions about my story in the comments or by connecting here. More importantly call Ex-Guard to protect your people!

-Anthony Elliot | Coury Cartage

Sales Corner – Tom Holt

My experience in the trucking industry started Thanksgiving 2011 when I accepted a position at Ex-Guard. Talk about baptism by fire, abruptly entering an industry and sorting yourself out, this was it. Of course, my territory was a breeze, Maine to Mississippi. Once I found where I fit, I discovered that my first object would be to educate my prospects on the peace of mind and high monetary returns that justified “wearing” guards. One of my early customers, Quest Global of Cartersville Georgia, after having installed guards on over 100 of their trucks, taught me the value of our guards. James Vogler said, “These Guards [XG-150], are worth their weight in Gold.”, and not only that he proved it to me from their records. All this takes me back to my early years in selling.

In 1967 my father bought a small industrial plastics business that had been dwindling through inattention. I, at eighteen years old, and my older brother were tasked with the job of making it successful. Being just a few months out of high school and untrained in sales, I tackled the sales end of the business and started knocking on doors. Not two years later, My Uncle Sam, who with a letter in the mail, intervened into my career in 1969. I was drafted into the US Army, trained as a combat medic, after which I was assigned to an x-ray position and served in Germany. During this time I had formal leadership training, I experienced a different part of the world. Learned German and visited the place where my Grandfather was born in Switzerland. Many of the soldiers that served with me missed the value of these experiences, but for me, I’ve carried them all my life and utilized them in my career.

After two years I returned home to Tennessee and picked up where I left off in the family business. Not much had changed, I began revisiting my customers and connecting with new ones. I’m a curious person, which has helped me in understanding problems and developing solutions for customers. One big problem that a lot of our industrial clients faced occurred from acid corrosion, once I learned this, it wasn’t long before I was able to help them get a more resistant product that would outlast the pipes they were working with. Experiences like this enabled me to build an ever-widening circle of prospects and introduce them to uses of our products that would increase their efficiency and reduce their expenses. One thing I noticed in 1971, upon my return, was that customers were anxious to meet with me. This differed from the years before 1969, turning into a very successful venture that continued until 1989. Thus mounting my career of consultative selling.

I’ve taken my curiosity and creative solution thinking paired with my leadership training in the army into my career at Ex-Guard. In the same way that I was able to help my customers solve their acid wear problems, I was able to take an even stronger product and introduce it in the Eastern part of the U.S. for Ex-Guard Industries. I have had the opportunity to interact with many dealers and fleets to assist them in the decision to protect their investments, eliminate much of their accidental downtime, achieve lower operating expense and peace of mind. Having an excellent and durable product made this much easier.

I have come across some very good stories from the road such as the one at MDI, where I was shown a bent XG-125 guard that had prevented a Ford Mustang from running under the steer tire of a Freightliner Columbia traveling at 65 MPH, avoiding serious injury or even death. Another one where a driver of a Mack had rear-ended a trailer of an extremely slow-moving truck, the Mack driver’s XG-125 guard had reduced the estimated cost of repair from $75,000 to $25,000. Then there was a Freightliner Cascadia equipped with an XG-150 grille guard. The Cascadia was traveling at Interstate speed when a car pulled directly in front of it from the shoulder, the strength and design of the guard caught the car broadside, as if in a safety net, pushing it down the highway until it came to a stop, the driver and passenger of the automobile escaped with minor injuries.

I’ve dedicated my life to working with people, selling them quality products that have improved and saved their lives. Looking back, I’ve worked hard to represent the character that my father instilled in me as a young man, starting fresh out of high school first as a machinist then in sales. He was a hardworking, honest, dutiful, and resolute man. I’ve used this as a model of character in my career. Even though these may be rare qualities to find nowadays, I’ve worked to develop these character traits with my team members at Ex-Guard. We have a great team, and I’m confident they will continue to represent these values as Ex-Guard expands. What are my plans for the future? I plan on following the road wherever it takes me, enjoying the ride and the stories along the way.

Tom Holt
Business Development Manager, Ex-Guard Industries

2018 Trucker Jamboree

 THE EX-GUARD BOOTH

On Thursday, July 12th, the Ex-Guard Marketing Team set up a display booth at the Iowa Truck Jamboree held at the I-80 World’s Largest Truck Stop in Walcott, IA. The Jamboree is a 3-day jam-packed event which includes a display of antique trucks, a Super Truck & Beauty Contest, live music, Trucker Olympics, fireworks and some great food! It was our first time at the show as an exhibitor, so we were taking it all in. The weather was extremely hot and muggy all 3 days with a few rain showers, but the event was worth attending with all the beautiful, old and customized trucks that were on display.

It was amazing to see how many antique trucks were restored to their original condition or in some cases, a ‘better than new’ condition! I’m sure many of these trucks brought back some good memories to the crowds of people that walked past them, snapping every picture they could take.

There were 42,812 attendees at the jamboree. Many Ex-Guard fans stopped by our booth to simply say ‘hi’ and let us know what a great product our company has to offer. Inside the booth, we had our lightweight black LT-325 guard on display equipped with the popular single-hand quick release latch system. We also displayed a silver XG-150, offering one of the best bumper and grille guard protection systems available to the trucking industry.

We heard many testimonials from people telling us how their vehicles sustained a deer hit with very little or no damage equipped with the Ex-Guard Grille and Bumper Guard Protection System. As a matter of fact, a couple of attendees that gave their testimonial were so excited about our product, they spoke with people that dropped by our booth and let them know about their amazing experiences with Ex-Guard products.

It was a great experience and we will be back next year!

Bob Saxton

REPRESENTING QUALITY

I’ve never been to the World’s Largest Truck Stop on Interstate 80 but as an Iowa native, I’ve been past it many times. For this to be my first visit to the truck stop as well as exhibiting the World’s Best Front End Protection, Ex-Guard obviously, I was psyched!! Each one of the show trucks was unique and some were just a class of their own like the Freightliner Classic saluting our Veterans and the 2006 Peterbilt 379 named ‘End of Watch.’ It was fun meeting so many truck drivers with different stories and different backgrounds and hearing what inspired them. Of course, there were tons of Ex-Guard users and admirers that stopped by to reiterate just how great of a product we offer. The collision stories we heard ranged from elk to deer to trailers backing into them but my favorite was the bear story. One driver hit a black bear at full speed with the XG-150 guard and said the bear ‘went flying, rolled over a few times and then got up and lumbered off!’ Once again, there was absolutely no damage to the truck and our Ex-Guard lovin’ driver was able to keep rolling. With all of this in mind, I can’t wait until next year and I hope to see more of you there!

Nathan Holt

AMAZING TRUCKS

Although the weather at the 2018 Trucker Jamboree was hot, humid and rainy, it was a very successful first show for Ex-Guard. I spoke with tons of fleet drivers and owner/operators who all had stories to tell about animals they had hit. Many drivers had Ex-Guard Grille Guards so they were saved from truck damage and downtime where the other drivers weren’t so lucky.

The show trucks were amazing and the details on some of the trucks were incredible! My favorite truck of all was a 2006 Peterbilt 379 called ‘End of Watch,’ a memorial to fallen police officers, which won first place in two different categories. Overall, I had a great time and can’t wait to return!

Melissa Godron

FIRST TRADESHOW EXPERIENCE

As a new addition to the Ex-Guard Marketing Team, I was able to meet and learn about our customers at the I-80 Trucker Jamboree! This being my first event with Ex-Guard and as a person with not much experience in this area, I was very impressed with the creativity and style of the trucks. Everyone was so friendly. It was fantastic!

Caitlyn Smallridge

SAVED YET AGAIN!

Ex-Guard, You Are Lifesavers!

Ex-guard passes THE TEST! SAVES $10,000 IN PARTS ALONE!