Draft A Memo To Employees As A Manager At Williams Trucking ✓ Solved

Draft a memo to employees as a manager at Williams Trucking

Draft a memo to employees as a manager at Williams Trucking Company requesting staff to gather the information needed to create a budget for presentation to executives. Provide necessary background on what the information will be used for and why. Instruct staff on the specific data to collect, sources, formats, and timelines. Use APA-formatted citations for any sources used. The three species to consider in cost and operational impacts are: red deer; wild boar; fallow deer.

Paper For Above Instructions

Memorandum: Budget Data Request — Wildlife-Related Operational Costs

To: All Operations, Safety, Maintenance, and Route Planning Staff

From: [Manager Name], Operations Manager, Williams Trucking Company

Date: [Insert date]

Subject: Request for data to support preparation of the 20XX Wildlife-Impact Budget (red deer, wild boar, fallow deer)

Purpose and Background

The purpose of this memo is to request detailed, verifiable data to support a proposed departmental budget that will be submitted to company executives for approval. We need reliable inputs to estimate the current and projected costs of wildlife-related incidents and mitigation measures affecting Williams Trucking Company operations, specifically those related to red deer, wild boar (feral swine), and fallow deer. Good budgeting practice requires careful planning, data collection, and clearly documented assumptions (Shim & Siegel, 2012). Accurate, source-cited information will allow us to classify costs as fixed, variable, capital, or one-time and to perform simple cost–benefit analyses on proposed mitigations (Drury, 2013).

Why this information is needed

Wildlife can affect our operations through vehicle collisions, cargo damage, road closures or delays, extra maintenance, insurance claims, and employee injury/absence. The executive budget must reflect these costs and any recommended investments (e.g., vehicle lighting upgrades, fencing, wildlife monitoring) together with projected savings or risk reductions. National and international studies show invasive and unmanaged wildlife populations (especially feral swine) can generate substantial economic losses; documenting our local experience helps justify mitigation spending (Pimentel, Zuniga, & Morrison, 2005; USDA APHIS, 2018).

Requested Data and Format

Please collect and submit the following data for the past 24 months, organized in an Excel workbook with separate worksheets for each data category and for each species when possible (red deer, wild boar, fallow deer):

  • Incident log: Date, time, GPS location (or nearest mile-marker), route ID, vehicle/unit ID, driver name (or anonymized ID), species involved (if identified), incident type (collision, near-miss, animal on road, cargo damage), and short narrative.
  • Direct costs per incident: repair invoices, parts replaced, labor hours and cost, towing fees, rental or replacement vehicle costs, medical costs for crew, and insurance claim amounts (redact personal identifiers as required).
  • Downtime and productivity loss: hours vehicle out of service, delayed deliveries (hours), estimated lost revenue or cost of re-routing.
  • Maintenance and preventative expenditures: costs for vehicle lighting upgrades, wildlife reflectors, fencing, signage, wildlife-deterrent devices, driver training sessions (including materials and staff hours), and any contracted wildlife-control services.
  • Claims and administrative costs: internal staff time for incident reporting and claims processing (hours), legal expenses, changes in insurance premiums attributable to wildlife incidents.
  • Frequency/seasonality: per-route and per-month incident counts to identify hotspots and seasonal patterns.
  • Third-party sources: links or PDFs of police accident reports, state wildlife agency incident reports, and local news items corroborating incidents (cite using APA format).
  • Photographic evidence: attach photos of damage and site conditions where available (filename matched to spreadsheet incident ID).

Data Quality Requirements

For the budget to be credible, every cost line must have a supporting document (invoice, repair order, claim form, or screenshot from company systems). Where only estimates exist, label them clearly and provide the method used to estimate (e.g., average repair cost from similar events). Budget methodology and transparency are essential (Shim & Siegel, 2012; Drury, 2013).

Species-Specific Notes

Red deer and fallow deer: deer–vehicle collisions typically create similar patterns of vehicle damage and downtime; please flag differences in seasonality (e.g., rutting periods, winter movement) and location (near fields, wooded corridors). Consult state wildlife management guidance where available for local population data (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 2017; Natural England, 2014).

Wild boar (feral swine): these animals can cause both collision risk and infrastructure damage (roadsides, ditches), and can be particularly destructive and costly to control (USDA APHIS, 2018). Please add any observed evidence of ground damage to routes or depots, and costs for contracted eradication or control efforts.

Analytic Guidance for Submitted Data

When you submit data, also provide:

  • Suggested assumptions for annualizing costs (e.g., mean incidents per month × 12).
  • Any available local population estimates or agency forecasts for these species in our operating regions (cite source, APA format).
  • Initial mitigation ideas with rough order-of-magnitude cost estimates (capital vs. operating) and anticipated benefits (reduced incidents per year).

Timeline and Submission Details

Submit the completed workbook and supporting documents to the shared folder: /Budgets/WildlifeImpact/YYYY by [insert deadline—suggest 21 calendar days from this memo]. If you cannot meet the deadline, notify my office with an interim status and expected delivery date. Use the filename convention: WTC_WildlifeBudget_[TeamName]_[YYYYMMDD].xlsx.

Formatting and Citation Requirements

All external information used to support assumptions or costs must be cited in APA format (in-text citation next to the data point and full reference in a reference list worksheet). Wikipedia is not an acceptable source. See company guidance and standard budgeting practice for documentation (Shim & Siegel, 2012). If you consult state or federal wildlife resources (e.g., USDA APHIS, state parks departments), include the agency name and URL and cite in APA.

Confidentiality and Data Protection

Personal health information must be redacted. Use anonymized driver IDs when necessary. Financial data are internal-only until the executive summary is approved for broader distribution. Follow company data protection policies when uploading documents.

Next Steps

Thank you for your prompt attention. Aggregated and well-documented data will enable a defensible budget submission and support prioritized mitigation investments. If you have questions about what to collect or how to format items, contact [Budget Lead] at [email] or schedule a 20-minute clarifying call.

Sincerely,

[Manager Name]

References

  • Conover, M. R. (2002). Resolving Human–Wildlife Conflicts: The Science of Wildlife Damage Management. CRC Press.
  • Drury, C. (2013). Management and Cost Accounting (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.
  • Food and Agriculture Organization. (2013). Guidelines for estimating the economic impact of animal disease on production systems. FAO.
  • Natural England. (2014). Deer management and control guidance. Natural England Publications.
  • Pimentel, D., Zuniga, R., & Morrison, D. (2005). Update on the environmental and economic costs associated with alien-invasive species in the United States. Ecological Economics, 52(3), 273–288.
  • Shim, J. K., & Siegel, J. G. (2012). Budgeting Basics and Beyond (4th ed.). Wiley.
  • Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. (2017). White-tailed deer in Texas: Management and economic considerations. TPWD Publications.
  • University of Florida IFAS Extension. (2016). Fallow deer management in pasture and forest interfaces. UF/IFAS Extension.
  • USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). (2018). Feral swine: Damage overview and management strategies. USDA APHIS.
  • National Wildlife Federation. (2015). The economic value of wildlife and habitat conservation: A summary for managers. National Wildlife Federation.

Related Assignments