PRESIDENTS' MESSAGE

September, 2006

Affinity Programs. That’s what they are called in the Association world. A rather innocuous term that hardly describes the money-savings powerhouse they represent. FPSA is proud of the affinity programs offered to its members. They include: Yellow Freight discount program for L-T-L shipments; a newly added DHL small package component to the Yellow program; CareerBuilder, an up to 25% discount for members using the most powerful on-line employee recruiting program; and, the AH&T Risk Management Program which works with members to stabilize or reduce their insurance costs. You have or will receive information on these programs individually, or you can access information about them on our website, www.fpsa.org, but let’s look at the Yellow Freight program as one example of the benefits you can derive from membership in FPSA.

The following is a verbatim example from the July report from Yellow Freight:

Company	Shipments	Weight	Gross	Net	Savings
A	2	39,140	$13,994	$3,918	$10,076
B	28	19,569	$14,646	$6,509	$8,137
C	17	20,240	$22,461	$8,286	$14,174

These are dramatic savings. The following are less dramatic but nonetheless substantial:

Company	Shipments	Weight	Gross	Net	Savings
D	1	5,920	$1,522	$453	$1,068
E	3	1,225	$1,701	$675	$1,026

And, we remind you, these are monthly savings.  

In a “what have you done for me lately world”, we think the Yellow Freight program is a pretty good response.  We are confident that the introduction of DHL, Career Builder and AH&T will continue to provide operational savings to our members.

We do not pretend that our Affinity programs will replace the trade show, Annual Conference, or Councils as the primary benefits of your membership in FPSA. But, for those who participate, these programs will provide a significant return in real dollars on the investment made in membership.

Steve Schlegel, President and CEO
George Melnykovich, President and COO