Sometimes, going the extra mile leads to improvements that customers may never directly notice, but the impact is real all the same.

That’s certainly true for Luke Justis at our Bloomington store. Luke is a hardworking employee who’s always looking for ways to stay productive and make meaningful improvements that benefit our team and customers alike.

For years, Luke noticed an old lift sitting unused in the back lot. Most had considered it out of commission, but Luke saw something different. Unlike other lifts, this one was designed to extend out and retrieve lumber over the top of other staged units—saving time and effort in the process. He saw the value in this forgotten piece of equipment.

With the support of Store Manager Chad Doughty and Assistant Yard Manager Chad Bowman, Luke started using his spare time to investigate what it would take to bring the lift back to life. Bit by bit, he worked on troubleshooting, making repairs, and carefully restoring it.

Eventually, after many hours of persistence, Luke was able to get the lift running. He brought it out to show one of our owners, Paul Bender, who was thrilled and remarked, “There’s no telling how many years that lift had been sitting there.”

Thanks to Luke’s initiative and effort, we’ve brought a valuable tool back into service—one that will help us pull orders more efficiently than ever. Customers might not always know exactly how we make it all happen, but we do.

Congratulations, Luke, and thank you for going the extra mile.