At Bender Lumber going the Extra Mile is not just a corporate dream. Our drivers, associates and even vendors are committed to living out these things we aspire to be.

No better example of this has been demonstrated more than Mike Mitchell, from our Bedford store, who recently had the opportunity to go the Extra Mile…literally.

Mike’s fellow driver, Road Warrior Robbie Hayes was making a late delivery in Evansville, which is more than two hours away, when he started to have equipment trouble. It seems his truck had stopped somewhere near Evansville along the interstate highway. To make matters worse, Robbie, who is normally on top of it, had failed to charge his cell phone. Hey, it happens to the best of us.

Robbie had just enough power to make a quick call to store manager Melissa Hilkey to report his location. Melissa knew without help she had a dilemma. She has learned to depend on her team of associates and asked Mike Mitchell to help her solve the problem.

Without delay, Mike assessed the problem and knew what equipment he needed to help Robbie out. Mike drove to the breakdown site and was able to unload the truck with the lift before taking the delivery on to its intended jobsite.

Our customer never knew of the effort it took to make sure his load was delivered “on time” but we sure do. Mike showed much integrity working well past his normal quitting time to make sure our customer’s load and Robbie were safe and secure.