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contact:  916 624 7774

InsideFood is represented by
Mr. Joseph P. Garland
Attorney at Law
275 Madison Avenue
11th Floor
New York, New York 10016

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March 11, 2010
Thursday

There's a great new resume on the Resume Page!
Metro New York Seasoned Road Warrior

israeli supermarket ad a killer

March 10, 2010
Wednesday

nanny state update:  NY goes nuts

re: DEATH OF AN INDUSTRY - "Sysco is also being sued by the same sharks. All distributors will raise pads to raise money to pay expenses. Look for the smaller distributors to merge or close if they can't afford to pay their reps' expenses. This will also affect every other company in California with a commissioned sales force. It doesn't matter if you sell liquor, office equipment or building supplies.
    One thing that might be done will be to move some small chain business (5 to 10 units) to street reps to give them more commission.
    Costco already delivers and they have opened a "Costco Business" in El Segundo, CA and other places. I have heard Restaurant Depot may start delivering also.  Since neither of these companies employ commissioned sales reps, they will be cheaper than the traditional companies no matter what their size."
7735

March 9, 2010
Tuesday

bk sales all wet

March 8, 2010
HappyMonday!

re:  7719/ALBANY:  "Buddy, I'm not sure what you're talking about.  At US Albany, we're all about opening, penetrating, and Linc'ing.  Our VP of Sales himself has made it a point of Linc'ing a least once a week.  He's all about opening and penetrating and wishes the entire sales force were doing the same.  And you can ask KP about that if you'd like.  There are plenty of people in the sales force who know about it as well.  
     So while you're whining about having to Linc, some of us are actually enjoying it and we're opening and penetrating.  Right CT?"
7734 

kraft lied?

March 6 & 7, 2010
The Weekend!

apparently you can't snort coke off your waitress' butt

re:  L.A. SYSCO:  "Bad moves again. This place has taken yet another turn for the worse. I confirmed with my DSM that he is now a regional replacing his former full of crap boss who is now VP of Sales. Not a surprise for both sucked in their prior positions and one bad move deserves another. OMG he was horible as a DSM but the good news is I will get the luck of the draw and just maybe a better DSM. Bad leaders hire more bad leaders while they overlook others and get rid of good ones. It starts at the tip top of the company. These guys are clueless and playing with fire and people are getting burned. A few more stupid moves and I will be gone to take my chance and the money."
7733

re:  RETIREMENT PARTY (note:  this was received over a week ago):  "This Friday is my last day in this business, and I am having a retirement party thrown for me. There is going to be only one thing and I do mean thing , missing. A picture of Jim Vallani of Sysco Phoenix hanging from the wall as my dart board
The Winner"
7732

re: USF ALBANY (AND EVERYWHERE ELSE) - "Linc is what happens when a company is run by bean counters and not sales-type people. You can bet that Oracle saw us coming. They pounced on USF like a salesman on a used car lot. How much valuable selling time is lost between working on Linc (you're supposed to log in after every call) and meeting with your DSM about Linc (Monthly TM Review), telling you what you already know. You would think that KKR/CD&R and USF Corporate would be looking for ways to make our jobs easier. How about speeding up the conversion from the P System to the A system? How about less micromanagement instead of more? It's killing morale. We are all self-motivated. We know our job! Just leave us alone and let us do it!"
7731

red robin hunts for new CEO

re:  ART FRONSTIN:  "Art Fronstin is retiring from Shamrock Foods Arizona Division this Friday, 2/26/10.  Shamrock is going to miss him dearly because he’s a fighter that battles every day for his customers.  Art, to this day has always been on top of his game to rub the competition especially with Sysco’s Jim Valante.  I’ll bet anybody that Jim’s glad Art’s retiring because he couldn’t sell against Art.  No worries, Art’s trained his 3 replacements.
    Michael’s should celebrate at their home offices because of his battle to get the best egg price for Compie’s was always a bur under their saddle.  He negotiated every month if not every week.
    A true salesman, a fighter everyday that would give his shirt to his fellow Shamrock Foods associates.  Thank you Art for your years of service, your truly one of a kind that will be missed not only at Shamrock Foods but in our industry.
    Enjoy retirement with your lovely wife Vivienne, your children and grandchildren.
Arizona Kid"
7730

re: SYSCO (USF) IN THE IE - "Too bad! I guess TJ thinks that he is motivating the sales force using Sysco-like tactics. Just like the ex-Superior reps went to Goldberg, the USF reps who are forced out will take their customers and service them from new companies.
    Maybe this is a new way for Sysco to get a fold-out. The building and infrastructure are already there. KKR/CD&R will sell USF divison by division to our competitors and make a nice profit."
7729

re:  7716:  "Thanks for the update, Dan. Always appreciate it.
Anon"
7728

Happy Birthday
Karl R. Bachman (USF, Austin, TX)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

March 5, 2010
Friday

black pepper recall:  salmonella

Happy Birthday
Dennis Altland (Quaker Valley Foods, Philly)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

food safety / salmonella

re:  7714:  "Leave it the West Region to totally and completely screw up Southern California.  It’s unbelievable you can totally destroy San Diego and Corona and still have a job.  There's has no problem finding employees to blame and shove out the door, but take no responsibility for the great “Southern California Plan’s” failure.  No one supported it when it was announced several years ago and everyone know it would fail, but couldn’t say anything or you’d be gone.  Now the failure is obvious, but others continue to take the fall.  One can only image the line of BS told to corporate…it’s the economy, it’s the division presidents, it’s the division VP’s, it’s the employees, it’s the union’s, it’s not my fault.  Well, corporate the longer you listen the less there will be when you finally WAKE UP.  HELLO is anyone in Chicago paying attention?  Do you really beleive all the people let go are the problem?  It's really hard to believe there isn't at least one person with a brain in Chicago who can see past the line of BS.  I hear there's an open at FSA for a Dr Kevorkian."
7727

March 4, 2010
Thursday

Happy Birthday
Rick Chambers (USF, Livermore, "The Most Honest Man in FS", 55 in 2010)
Jerry Clark (Icelandic)
Don Jonas (Prestige Marketing, Philadelphia)
Sean McDermott (USF)
Mike Schuessler (Prestige Marketing, Philadelphia)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

ahold profit down

March 3, 2010
Wednesday

ihop fingered

"health" charge on restaurant tabs?

re:  USF SAN DIEGO:  "Another one bites the dust.  The exodus of former “Webb” employees continues unabated as regional management and it's minions continue to increase the body count in an effort to deflect attention from themselves and their incompetence.  They’ve managed to drive a great division into the ground with no hope of recovery.  The destruction is complete and total.  The ingredients necessary for a turn around no longer exist.  Teamwork has been replaced with self-preservation, pride with fear and cooperation with politics.  Thanks for the memories…because that’s all that remains."
7726

re:  USF ALBANY:  "USFALBANY- Freddy is the latest one to leave...when will they learn that you can't keep abusing people and expect them to stay!! Good Luck Freddy, you have been an incredibly loyal employee for a lot of years.
    That apparently means nothing anymore. Half Moon you are getting a good guy, treat him well and let Freddy be Freddy and you will benefit. I would enjoy going to a meeting over there as it would be like going to a high school reunion. I would know more people over there than I do at our own meetings! Keep up the good work Chris, you are a genius and we all have an incredible amount of respect for the way you handle the sales force....NOT!"
7725

March 2, 2010
Tuesday

Happy Birthday
A.J. Kramer  (Sysco WCF)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

but was it lea and perrins?

re:  USF ALBANY:  "USFALBANY- Freddy is the latest one to leave...when will they learn that you can't keep abusing people and expect them to stay!! Good Luck Freddy, you have been an incredibly loyal employee for a lot of years.
    That apparently means nothing anymore. Half Moon you are getting a good guy, treat him well and let Freddy be Freddy and you will benefit. I would enjoy going to a meeting over there as it would be like going to a high school reunion. I would know more people over there than I do at our own meetings! Keep up the good work Chris, you are a genius and we all have an incredible amount of respect for the way you handle the sales force....NOT!"
7724

March 1, 2010
HappyMonday!

Happy Birthday
Joe Van de Brooke (International Pacific Seafoods, Inc.)
Erik Hutchinson  (Brokerage West)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

re:  SYSCO BOSTON:  "how can you tell when the company is lying? Rich Mullins lips are moving."
7723

from homeless to food star

February 27 & 28, 2010
The Weekend!

Happy Birthday
Dave Bryan (USF/Vegas)
Brian Isaeff (USF/Livermore)
Roxanne Jueckstock  (Brands Manager, USF Arizona)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

re: USF LM/DEB H - "This is what happens when bean-counters are in charge. Everything is a cost/benefit analysis. I guess 12 years of experience and product knowledge don't count for much."
7722

Happy Birthday
Bill Bryant (Food America)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

re:  DEATH OF AN INDUSTRY:  "Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen and Dardarian, civil rights and worker's rights class action attorneys based in Oakland CA, with co-counsel Hinton Alfert & Sumner, the firm represented a class of Territory Managers employed by U.S. Foodservice, Inc. in their claim for unreimbursed business expenses.  The case, Burdick v. U.S. Foodservice, Inc., was filed in Alameda County Superior Court on February, 2009 and was assigned to the Complex Litigation department.  Their claim was that Territory Managers are outside salespersons who incur substantial expenses for use of their private automobiles, cell phones, and other items of personal expense, but their employer forces them to bear these work expenses in violation of California law.
    The state of California agreed forcing US Foodservice to pay penalties to the class of TM's for back expenses and to institute an expense reimbursement program covering mileage, cell phone, and reasonable office expenses.  While this immediately affects the California branches of US Foodservice the precedent has now been set and will no doubt influence how the remaining food distributors sales forces go to market.
     The company has responded by attacking commissions in order to salvage the bottom line.  Customer delivery minimums have to be increased to "suppliment" the expenses that until now had been borne by the sales force.
     In order to survive the street sales force is going to be forced to lop off at least a third of their "bottom end" businesses that can't meet the new $ minimum delivery requirement. These include the independent street accounts that order once or twice a week and may sometime be over and sometimes be under the delivery profit minimum. For $5 commission for the off chance that the sale rep can get them over the dollar minimum, it will not be worth the time. These accounts will go to the "new competitors"-the Jobbers. Guys in a truck picking up product for several restaurants at the Costco's, Sam's Clubs, Jetro's, and Restaurant Depots. They make a loop into the cities picking up specialty items as well as commodities for a delivery charge and mark up.
    It only makes sense that the focus then be on the large accounts in order to get the drop sizes up so that we can get paid for what we do, however the "top end" business has already been poached by "leveraged buying groups" at low margins, and the distributors have already agreed to give up good margin for easy volume with these vultures. 
With that in mind the distributor model will have to convert to a "salaried rep" in order to function within these new perameters. In the midst of the US Foodservice push to, as their moto states on their trucks "become your partner beyond the plate" it is not beyond the realm of possibility to see a full reversal to an industry full of salaried maintainance customer service reps. Sysco Foodservice is already moving that direction by offering their sales force salary or commission.
     After the shakeout of the commissioned sales force, an internal event which will probably be invisible to the restaurant community as a whole, will be the second wave of this conversion and that is the elimination of service and flexability  to the customers.  Sysco has already instituted straight line routing, a cost cutting model that sends a truck down one side of the street and then up the other, without regard to the size of profitability of the accounts and their desired delivery windows.  The transportation team answers to Houston rather than the individual distribution center so local needs come second to profitability of the corporation.
     As technology improves on the restauranteur end of the equation look for the future to be on line.  Distributor sales forces will continue to shrink as call centers replace them. Perhaps outsourcing of distribution will replace the transportation department.  What ever the future holds for the foodservice distributor, we know that the industry has been forever changed by this lawsuit in California."
7721

February 25, 2010
Thursday

blimpies skimping on the meat

alcohol cops gearing up in calif.

soup too salty

china's food production surges

coke consolidating bottlers

tyson's chicken adulteration under fire

February 24, 2010
Wednesday

Happy Birthday
Gary Smith (?, Redding CA)
Dick Trickey (Sysco, San Diego)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

smuckers smells the coffee

Happy Birthday
Thomas Brown (Maines Paper & Foodservice)
Don Cressman  (driver Allentown USFS 20 years in 2009)
Rick Jones (Bunge Foods)
Nikki Riker (Maines Paper & Foodservice)
from the 23rd

February 22, 2010
HappyMonday!

Happy Birthday
Don Fox (Belton Foods)
Yiannis Marcopolous (Maines Paper & Foodservice)
John Whitesell (formerly of USFoodservice)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

re:  WASTED IN WIXOM:  "You are clearly a complete waste of human skin and time.  And you don't pay attention, you have only listed about 1/10 of the responsibilities of someone in food sales.  Whining, complaining, negative people such as yourself, never succeed, always fail, and continually point their finger blaming others for their problems.  You are really pathetic.  If you cannot handle the job, I am sure there are plenty out there who would LOVE to have the opportunities that you have been given, and are squandering away.  You don't like it?  Than simply quit, and go work at Wal-mart, that is clearly more your speed anyway.  You obviously do not contribute to the team, have no idea what we're doing here, and should promptly remove yourself, but I am confident that your lack of work ethic and attitude, probably have you halfway out the door already.  You can only fake it for so long!!
    If you worked at Burger King, you'd complain about having to "Take food orders, ring up customers, bag the food, mop the floors, count the money, cook the fries, flip the burgers, stock the shelves, rotate the product, shine the windows, wear a uniform, For God's sake I have to actually wake up and be there on time...  Oh My God I cannot believe the work conditions in this place?!?!?"
    You're a chronic complainer, and nobody cares how miserable you are, you're just looking for company!!  Quit while you are way behind the pack, before you are even further!!
WIXOMSFINEST"
7720

campbells:  soup's down, $ up

February 20 & 21, 2010
The Weekend!

Congratulations to Art Fronstin on his upcoming retirement!
Art is the consummate salesman.

smalltime sysco

re:  USF ALBANY:  "In response to 7714....we are all hired to open, penetrate and collect, that used to be what we did all day every day, but this crap of  making sure that you LINC all day every day is for the birds. Seems as though KKR could have spent that money on things to make our JOB better so that we can actually do the opening and penetrating. Morale....I have never worked for a company where the morale is so low. If the PFG rumor is true, it has got to be better than what we have now and hopefully they return the "Philly Boys" to their rightful home. Was the morale in Philly that bad...is that why "The Boys" are no longer there?"
7719

re:  SYSCO ON THE IE:  "It's official Sysco is the only broadliner in the IE,  it's under the USF name but make no mistake it's run like Sysco LA,  sales anyway, same quarterly letters, same pressure but with more headaches and less money.  The long term employees are on their way out, rumor is Holly has already accepted a transfer.  TJ has put his cronies in all the key positions Morgan dsm and Dave is taking over training...Hmmmm what happened to posting open positions?  Hey TJ, we left sysco to work for a company that has integrity, thanks for coming over and stripping that away.  Got to admit he takes care of his people but ONLY his people, check out the districts and the geography, what a joke.
     If anyone is unhappy at the cube, come on over- were working on making the policies the same as well,  you will barley notice a change.  Make no mistake there is nepotism so get in the TJ club, you will fair better than thinking your on a level playing field, or wait another few months and you might get a promotion,  the Webb and La Mirada sales managers that came over are getting the same quarterly letters and being pushed out.  Sysco, I mean USF is going to own the IE. "it's  their time" I mean "it's our time" no "it's their time" whatever.  
    Hope I get my settlement check soon so I can bail.  Peace"
7718 

Happy Birthday
Bill Duke (Medisca, Inc.)
John Wirth (J. Wirth and Associates)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

name brands getting the ax

February 19, 2010
Friday

Happy Birthday
Terry Clendenning (clerk, Tonea Garage, USF, Livermore)
Michael Marmer (disabled and retired from USF)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

nestle profit report in

hospital serves up ground glass

February 18, 2010
Thursday

Happy Birthday
Russell Spearin (formerly Hallsmith)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

pickled pig lips shortage looms

when it stinks, throw it out

hormel 1st qtr $ up

February 17, 2010
Wednesday

re:  USF L.M.:  "Just heard that Deb H was fired while on medical LOA after almost 12 yrs with USF.
    Don't forget you're just a number to the mgmt at USF."
7717

re:  SYSCO L.A.:  "Today (Tuesday) was the first day of the huge Sysco Los Angeles food show.  The event had a large turnout of customers and over three hundred suppliers.  It was held at the Fairplex east of Los Angeles.  Very well done!"
7716

campbell's lowers forecast

February 16, 2010
Tuesday

Happy Birthday
Rubye Johnson (USF, Albany)
Gary Koch (USF, SoCal)
Fred Kouri (US Foodservice Denver)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

the search for disgusting food in britain

cat casserole pisses off viewers

over-pricing sells!  wholefoods $ up

kraft $ triples

Thomas Stewart      A prominent man in Seattle politics and one of the area's best known business owners has died. The president of Services Group of America, Thomas Stewart, 64, was killed in a fiery helicopter crash in Arizona Sunday.      Officials with the Scottsdale-based food service distributing and real estate firm confirmed Stewart's death on Monday.      According to a press release, the SGA helicopter was en route to Scottsdale Air Park from the Flagstaff area when it crashed. SGA reported that a total of five passengers were aboard the helicopter when it departed from the Flagstaff area.      Peter K. Smith, president and COO of SGA, called Stewart a "visionary."      "He had a clear and concise continuity plan for the enterprise in place and was completely confident in the current leadership team," he said.      Arizona State Sen. Jonathan Paton eulogized Stewart on the Senate floor on Monday, saying Stewart died in the crash along with his wife and one of his children.      The Eurocopter EC135 went down and burst into flames at about 3 p.m. MST Sunday in an area known as Cave Creek, just north of Phoenix.  Friends say Stewart, his wife and daughter were flying from their Paradise Valley Arizona home to their ranch farther north.      It's not clear what caused the helicopter to crash, but 911 callers reported smoke and loud noises and saw parts flying off the helicopter before it crashed.      "I saw the helicopter flying in the air and that stuff that goes round, up, the rotors were coming apart and then I said, 'OK something wrong is gonna happen,"' witness Nicoleta Nork told KTVK-TV. "And I just saw it rolling, rolling and boom, then big smoke and yeah, terrible."      The area is a mix of rolling hills, dry desert washes and lots of houses. The chopper came down in a wash between two homes, Smith said.      "It's a pretty horrific crash," she said. "It's just obliterated."      Although Stewart spent much of his life in Washington and still has property here, he moved his family and his company to Arizona in 2006 after Washington state enacted a new inheritance tax. The company is Arizona's second-largest privately held company      King County Council Member Peter von Reichbauer learned of his friend's death from one of Stewart's sons late Sunday night.      "I don't think we've all his family and his friends have got our hands wrapped around the idea that he's not going to be around saying something next week.      Von Reichbauer and Stewart have been friends for 35 years, sharing a love for business and politics.      Stewart was well known in Washington politics, hosting annual picnics on his Vashon Island estate for the Republican party.      In later years he had to pay $5 million in fines for illegal campaign contributions. But his good friend says in no way should that be his legacy.      "He always stood up for what he believed in, rightly or wrongly, Tom was his own man and he went into businesses and he leaves this world as his own person," said von Reichbauer.

February 13, 14 & 15, 2010
President's Day/Valentine's Day Weekend!

Happy Birthday
Donn Howell (USF LaMirada)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

Happy Birthday
Melinda Duncan (Access Marketing, San Leandro, CA)
Monica Eve Kopp (Shamrock Foods)
Sean Moore (Sysco of Kansas City)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

Bill Wright      William “Bill” Ross Wright passed away Feb. 9, 2010 after a short illness. He was preceded in death by his father, Ross Wright and mother Gladys Wright. As a child Bill was reared in a military family and traveled throughout the United States settling in El Paso, Texas. In 1989 he and his wife of 30 years, Cindy, settled in Orlando, Florida. Bill graduated from the University of Houston in 1978, and was employed by All Round Foods as Vice President of Sales. He enjoyed baseball (Houston Astros and the Tampa Bay Rays), golf, tennis, swimming and cooking. Bill was always “on the go” traveling extensively and loved beautiful Florida days. He is greatly loved by his family and friends.      He is survived by his wife, Cindy, children, Hunter and Paige, brother, Gregg (Tess) all of Orlando. Sisters: Joanne Hammans (Earl) of California and Rosemary Calk (Bill) of McKinney, Texas, numerous nieces and nephews as well as his All Round Foods family in New York.      In lieu of flowers a memorial donation may be made to the Orlando Minority Youth Golf Association (OMYGA) 708 W. Jackson Street Orlando, FL 32805 or by visiting http://www.omyga.org      Arrangements are being handled by BALDWIN FAIRCHILD FUNERAL HOME, PINE CASTLE CHAPEL 5800 Hansel Ave. Orlando, Florida 32809 (407) 855-5800 Visitation: Sunday February 21 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM Baldwin-Fairchild PineCastle Chapel 5800 Hansel Avenue Orlando, FL 32809 Funeral Service: Monday February 22 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM Blessed Trinity Catholic Church 4345 E. Anderson Rd. Orlando, FL 32812

colorado restaurants screw employees

FSA tragedy

re: USF/7714 - "7714, you mentioned a lot of things that get in the way our doing our job. What it all boils down to is: OPEN ACCOUNTS, MAINTAIN/PENETRATE ACCOUNTS, and COLLECT THE MONEY. Everything else just gets in the way of these three things. Repetitive meetings, endless voicemails from DSMs, RBMs and VPs, and misplaced focus on Linc take away from our selling time. Being in front of the customer is how we make money. Morale here is probably as low here (I'd rather not say where) as at your division. I'm just wondering what KKR/CD&R have in store for USF this year."
7715

re:  USF:  "Listen up....this is your final chance. Your job requires the following, as a minimum. Increase cases, margin up, even if we are the highest, add a dime. Linc is mandatory, penetrate accts., collect money, ride with brokers, training meetings district meetings,  sales meetings, cuttings, open new business, attend monthly TM reviews, blue plates, D2G, will calls, ride with DSM (which is useless, I prefer him/her to stay as far away from my customer as possible. Maybe he/she can learn 1st grade grammar (there, their, here, hear, bear, bare, you get my point). The morale is pitiful, and not one manager really cares, its all about the bottom line. I fear for my job each and every day, I force myself to kiss the ass of M.B. just to make nice. Its beyond my comprehension as to what he does? Can someone enlighten me?
    I kissed ass today, did you?
Wasted in Wixom"
7714

Happy Birthday
Steve Schnell (USF Las Vegas)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

re:  SYSCO ALBANY CREDIT:  "Why is Lisa N such a Bit.....  Maybe if she lost a little off her fat a..... she would be a little happier  Just comments from the sidelines."
7713

re:  MORE INFO ON STATUTORY EMPLOYEES:  "Being retired has it's benefits.  I can do some research and not worry about having to get up early and work!  No need for me to get up early unless I am playing golf or tennis.  Below is a more detailed explenation of how this works.  The employer would not be liable for your expenses as all of you seem to be concerned with and I believe the employers as well are concerned.  The benefit to all of you in sales is that you will pay less in Federal & State Taxes as a result of not falling into the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) bracket which disallows you receiving benefit from legitimate business expenses.  The IRS has made these provisions for all of you in sales while employeers have denied your right to conduct business with this legitimate provision providing clear benefit to all parties.
 Statutory Employees
    Statutory employees occupy a sort of middle ground between independent contractors and regular employees. They can be defined as workers in certain occupations who would not be considered employees under the usual rules, but who have been declared employees under the federal tax laws so that their employers must withhold FICA taxes on their income.
     If you are a classified as a "statutory employee," you will also report your income on Schedule C or C-EZ, although your employer should give you a W-2 Form that reports this income and shows that payroll taxes were withheld on it.
     Because FICA taxes have already been paid by your employer on this income, you don't have to file a Schedule SE and pay Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA) tax on it. Just be sure to check the box on Line 1 on your Schedule C or C-EZ, so that the IRS doesn't go looking for a Schedule SE that's not there.
     If you have both statutory employee income and other income from your own business, do not combine these two types of income on a single Schedule C. You must file two Schedule Cs, and only the income from your non-statutory-employee business will flow through to your Schedule SE.
     Occupations that may be considered statutory employees are:
     Full-time life insurance salespersons who work primarily for one insurance company.
Agent drivers and commission drivers who deliver specified products — individuals who (1) operate their own trucks or the trucks of the persons for whom they perform services, (2) serve customers designated by their principals and customers they solicit on their own initiative, (3) make wholesale or retail sales, and (4) are paid commissions on their sales or earn the difference between what they charge their customers and what they pay their principals for the products or services they sell. Such drivers are "statutory employees" if they distribute beverages (other than milk), meat, vegetables, fruit, or bakery products, or if they pick up and deliver laundry or dry cleaning.
    Traveling or city salespersons (other than agent drivers or commission drivers) who work full time on the principal's behalf and remit orders from customers who are retailers, wholesalers, contractors, or operators of hotels, restaurants, or other businesses whose primary function is the furnishing of food or lodging. The orders must be for items that their customers will resell or will use as supplies in their business operations.
Homeworkers who work on a contract or piecework basis, in their own homes or in the homes of others. For example, persons hired to type up correspondence and to do other word processing jobs on their home computers would be homeworkers.
    Statutory employees are entitled to deduct their business expenses on Schedule C, and must pay income taxes on their net income since their employers are not required to withhold income taxes from their pay.
 Former CFO & Retired"
7712

re:  CLASS ACTION:  "No need to be concerned about what you can earn.  This lawsuit and the need to reimburse sales associates will force all companies to categorize sales associates as a Statutory Employee.  This is how all should of been paid and compensated anyway.  Benefit is that you get to file a Schedule C on your personal tax return giving you to write off all of your business deductions which removes the Alternative Minimum Tax net that all find themselves in.  By doing this the average salesperson will pay $3,000 - $10,000 less in taxes to Federal & State.  Difference is you become responsible for paying your State and Federal taxes on a quarterly basis.  Look up Statutory Employee and learn for yourself.  The IRS even makes mention to the effect a Sales Person selling food products in a city.  Look at your W-2's and you will see the box on the bottom.
Former CFO now Retired"
7711

socal meat company:  e coli 

February 11, 2010
Thursday

pepsico earnings up

re:  PFG NORTHCENTER:  "It is possible that yet another DSM is getting ready to head to the Blue Cube. The person seen with Sysco management a few weeks back was talking with them again within the past few days
    It seems as though Bill B. is acting more strangley every day and the sales force is seeing no clear direction except for threats from Piper and Bolton.
    If this DSM or DSM's make the move they will take some others with them.
    Dennis Paper continues to eat into Northcenter sales as well as an aggressive stance by US.
Great job Bill!!! How long has it been since you made your yearly sales goal???"
7710

Happy Birthday
Larry Jamerson (Shoreline Foodservice Co.)
Sheri Whitmire (USF Greenville Regional Office)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

February 11, 2010
Wednesday

re: USF SOCAL PLAN/7708: Was "The Plan" designed by Graylon as part of his power play to move all distribution to Corona? Or is he KKR's spy and butt-boy?"
7709

February 8, 2010
HappyMonday!

angustora bitters shortage!

re:  USF SOCAL PLAN:  "It’s architect, no (s).  There is only one person responsible for this plan.  It had no support in the divisions and it was forced upon them.  It never made any sense, because no matter how he tried to structure the plan, LA kept going to Palm Springs and San Diego and Corona continued to go to San Diego and LA.  The true loser was always San Diego.  All attempts to cover up the fundamental flaws of the So Cal Plan have only resulted in accelerating the problems in San Diego.  Literally the division has collectively lost hundreds of year of foodservice experience with employees either walking out the door or being forced out.  Another buyer with over 25 years experienced just left.  A spirit of pride has been replaced with fear and defeat.  A division which was once a top performer is now dependent upon its small satellite location to carry the weight of a crumbling division.  Like Muhammad Ali a once proud and strong division is now weak, crippled and dependant.  For the Joseph Webb employees who remember the glory days it’s hard and sad to believe this could happen and even worse that no one cares.  Why distroy a good division with loyal employees?  Unfortunately everyone here knows the “illness” is terminal; its all just a matter of time."
7708

re: USF (NOW PFG) ALBANY - "Looks like KKR/CD&R figured out a way to make a profit off of the carcass of US Foodservice. When can the rest of us expect to see new signs, labels and business cards?"
7707

re:  KEN SPITLER:  "I believe KLen Spitlers' early retirement has something to do with his health.  He was always on the road and that can take a toll on the body and mind.  He will be very missed."
7706

re: USF TRUCK VS TRAIN: "An apt metaphor for the train wreck that is US Foodservice. I'll bet our competitors show this at all their sales meetings.
CASEY JONES"
7705

Happy Birthday
Dennis Blowers (USF)
Brad Merritt (USF - OCD - OKC Oklahoma)
Jerry Sriro (Goldberg & Solovy Foods)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

February 6 & 7, 2010
The Weekend!

how clean is your lettuce? (video)

re:  PFG FS:  "Hey all, come Feb 8 all bets are off. I's a new start for the Italian Stallion !"
7704

re:  PFG FS:  "Hey Albany it's on, new start for PG  next week. Any salesmen out there looking call me."
7703

re:  SYSCO BOSTON:  "talking on the cell phone, texting, eating, reading a map...etc. when driving is not safe. we all agree. What is funny is that Neil is watching us and one can't stop and wonder how much he is distracted by the cigarette he puts in his mouth and lights up every 5 or 6 minutes while he is driving a company vehicle."
7702

watch video of a USF truck being creamed by a train

re:  USF PHILLY:  "Lets hope that man, Ernie  I ,  never becomes president here in Philly. I can't  take the way he looks at us ladies. He stares you up and down as if you were a piece of meat  on a hook waiting to be graded.
    Has that guy ever looked in the mirror? We should buy him one."
7701

re:  BOSTON SYSCO:  "Why are we calling Chuck Fraser Lord Farquaad? Look closely real close he more resembles the construction dude on the flintstones the one that operated the dinosaur crane. put a hard hat on the dude take off the spectacles tell me no. just my thoughts. plan on bring in more people chuck? count is up we are getting 10 hour shifts the plan is really working out. great move."
7700

re:  USF WIXOM:  "I heard a huge layoff is coming, yet they are advertising for TM's. 
    What gives?
 Wasted in Wixom"
7699

Happy Birthday
Al Monceaux (MBM)
View the complete list on the Birthday Page.

re:  NORTHCENTER:  "What is with the DSM from Northcententer visiting with Sysco? It seems as though someone else is looking to make a move. Morale is sinking and Piper refuses to do anything. Greg please understand that the sales team has no faith in Bill B.Another lost year unless you make still more cuts to help the bottom line. What a way to make bottom line numbers!!!"
7698

re: USF SAN DIEGO - "No too much different up here in La Mirada. The suits in the corner office make their plans as if the 2008/09 downturn didn't happen. Is it still "a great day for selling?" It is, If all you do is visit Disneyland, Marie Callendar's and the Navy.
    The architects of the "So Cal Plan" have no idea of all the turmoil they have caused. La Mirada transferred a lot of business out but didn't get much in return. I'm sure it made sense when diesel was over $5.00 a gallon. But the reality is that La Mirada still goes east, and Corona still delivers in L.A. and Orange County.
    I feel really bad for you guys in San Diego. You seem to have gotten the worst of this deal. And speaking of Fullerton, why is it still open? It would make more sense to fold it into La Mirada."
7697

re:  USF CALIFORNIA CLASS ACTION:  "The claim has been settled. USF had no defense, since what they (and most other FS distributors) are doing.  If you are part of the Class action, look for a letter from your attorney.
    Watch out Sysco CA - you're next in line."
7696

sysco screws employees to up profits

 x

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