Sometimes I Love My Job! - Montana Owners Club

Bill Hill · 09-15-2005, 03:08 PM

I'm the Procurement Supervisor for the Port of Los Angeles. Our Port Police have been in constant contact with their colleagues at the Port of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina struck. We have been able to come up with enough money to buy a FunMover 34C Class C Toyhauler that will be taken to New Orleans by a team from our police. We will leave it for their use as long as they need it.

This week I have spent most of my time shepherding this purchase through the maze of bureaucracy (I guess that's redundant) that is public sector purchasing. I, with the help of a lot of folks, was able to get a 2-3 week process done in 3 days.

So, on Saturday, our cops will pick up this RV from Giant RV in Travelland (Irvine,CA - very helpful!) and will take it back to our shops for the final work, including putting our logos on it. It's very likely that on Sunday it will be FLOWN (yeah, flown!!) on a D.O.D. plane to Louisiana. Now, this is a 22,000 GVW rated vehicle, it's BIG! If it's not flown, our guys will drive it there, running straight through.

It was fun because I got to go with our Chief of Port Police and his aid to shop for the vehicle. We wanted to get something that would allow the N.O. folks to sleep as many guys as possible while off shift. This rig has the usual cab-over bed, dinette and sofa beds, but, because it has a 96"x120" garage in the back, we can put 3 sets of bunk beds back there to handle another 6 guys. It was great being able to put both my professional purchasing expertise and my love of anything RV to work. This thing is built on a Chevy 5500 chassis with a Duramax/Allison powertrain (Go Duramax!). The Chief and I both felt that anything lighter duty wouldn't hold up under use by a bunch of cops. It has all the goodies on it, including an Onan 5.5KW diesel generator, electric/hydraulic lift on the back, TV w/DVD player, electric steps, and on, and on.

Today, Shari and I conferenced and came up with a list of all those necessities that go inside a rig to make it livable for those folks there. The guys will go shopping at Camping World tomorrow to finish outfitting. Our Paint Shop guys will come in on Saturday to finish putting on the logos, etc. Everybody has stepped up to the plate to get this project accomplished.

So, I hope this doesn't sound like crowing, I'm just so jazzed that we were able to pull this off so quickly and wanted to share the good news. I know all of you Montana folks out there care about the folks in Louisiana and Mississippi and especially support all the safety personnel there who are working so hard to take care of people and keep order. I just wanted to let you all know what the efforts of a bunch of everyday civil servants can do.

HamRad · 09-15-2005, 03:24 PM

Bill,
Fantastic! Could you please take some pictures and post or send them to me and I'll post them. The rig sounds great!

HamRad

Parrothead · 09-15-2005, 03:37 PM

Congrats Bill on a job well done. Doesn't it make it nice when you enjoy what you are doing.
Happy trails........................

tbhd · 09-15-2005, 03:37 PM

It's amazing what can be accomplished when we all pull together. You all deserve a pat on the back.

jrgwdenner · 09-15-2005, 03:50 PM

That's a wonderful accomplishment and will be so useful. What a great project!

We can't wait to get back home so that we can pitch in and help, too.

CountryGuy · 09-16-2005, 03:17 AM

Congrats, Bill,

In this case you are allowed to brag! What a terrific accomplishment!

richfaa · 09-16-2005, 04:14 AM

Great job Bill. Being a retired Federal Bureaucrat myself and spending about 5 years in logistics we can understand the huge difficulties you had to overcome to get the job done.. Outstanding...

Garin1 · 09-16-2005, 05:48 AM

Great job Bill,, and brag away. Maybe it will inspire some other groups to kick in.

(RV'r,ex-police officer,government contractor in Iraq)
God Bless and keep up the good work

Just148 · 09-16-2005, 12:18 PM

Bill, Congratulations on a job well done.

Bill Hill · 09-18-2005, 10:39 AM

OK, I hope this works. Here are some pictures. We spent all day yesterday getting the rig loaded and ready. The 3 officers pictured left this morning at 06:30 for Louisiana. They are Mike Capodanno, Mike Graychik, and Dave Yocham. That's me in the t-shirt.

http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=dr84g4
http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=dr86mw
http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=dr87b9
http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=dr87l3
http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=dr89j7

As you can see, we put 3 bunkbeds in the garage area in the rear, we'll be able to sleep 10 folks in this rig.

Only hang up was that the corporate office of the RV dealer decided not to accept the City of Los Angeles Purchase Order at the last minute, wanted a check, which we couldn't get till Tuesday. That got resolved when the Harbor Dept's Chief Counsel got on the phone with the dealer. But, we lost the airplane ride we thought we'd get, so they're on the road now, should be there tomorrow sometime.

Thanks for all your good thoughts.

Parrothead · 09-18-2005, 01:43 PM

Bill,
Thanks for the pictures. Great job. Let us know when you hear they have arrived. We will be praying for a safe journey for them.
Happy trails.........................

paulrem · 09-20-2005, 02:47 PM

Bill great job, pictures are great. You guys did a great thing to help in La. Our prayers are with all of you.

Montana_2005 · 09-23-2005, 12:35 PM

OO Rah Bill!!! Ooo Rah!!!
Blue takes care of it's own....

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