Associates had a good time jumping rope and burning calories!

A key component to a successful company is, well, actually getting work done. Without happy and healthy associates, businesses are sure to suffer. SafeAuto Insurance knows the importance of keeping employees’ active, alert and focused on providing the best state minimum auto coverage around. This past Thursday, June 16, SafeAuto held a corporate Wellness Day at its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. 

Associates were treated to many educational wellness activities where they learned important tips about keeping themselves going. Vendors like Lifetime Fitness, Anthem, Winchester Institute of Chiropractic Health & Wellness, and the American Diabetes Association were on site to answer any questions concerning insurance benefits, healthy eating habits and common health issues, and employees were encouraged to take advantage of free check-ups including a Derma Scan skin check and a chiropractic spine and foot check.

The real fun, however, began outside with the many activities planned by the company’s benefits team, which included jump rope, corn hole, a water balloon toss, push-up contest and a mile-long walk around the Oval, the street on which SafeAuto’s corporate building is located. Each activity or educational seminar that a staff member participated in earned him or her a raffle ticket, good for a chance to win prizes such as Giant Eagle and Lowes gift cards, gym bags, Yoga mats, Lifetime seven-day fitness passes and SafeAuto logo wear.

Wellness Coach Todd Mustard encouraged SafeAuto associates during the hula hoop section of the obstacle course.

Participating associates also took a trip to the grocery store to learn healthy shopping habits, watched a healthy-food cooking demo and were offered 30-minute samples of the popular fitness classes Zumba and Yoga.

The Obstacle Course Competition was probably the most comedic, and it also let employees learn a lot about their current physical capabilities. Teams of five competed for prizes in Wellness Coach Todd Mustard’s challenging course. The winning team, The Help Desk Dominators, stayed true to its name with a completion time of six minutes and 47 seconds and was rewarded with Edible Arrangement bouquets.

Mustard, who is always available at the office to answer health questions and concerns, helped design the Wellness Day with both fitness and fun in mind. “This event really showed the commitment that SafeAuto has to the health and wellness of its employees,” Mustard said.

Wellness Day is an annual event held at SafeAuto, and the company plans to continue wellness education for its associates.

President Jon Diamond speaking at the Kentucky call center.

SafeAuto, the direct-to-consumer auto insurance company providing state minimum coverage in 16 states, has expanded their operations in Somerset, KY, to include a large, modern call center. The 20,320 square foot building illustrates SafeAuto’s commitment to the people of Kentucky. The new center will be celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony on June 7th, 2011, featuring special guest Hal Rogers, U.S. Congressman, 5th District of Kentucky.

“Our new call center is a triumph of collaboration between state government and private enterprise,” said SafeAuto president Jon Diamond. “The government of Kentucky worked closely with us, every step of the way, to ensure the process was smooth, and that we always got the best Kentucky had to offer, from construction personnel to employees.”

SafeAuto became a proud business resident of Somerset in July 2008, opening a call center with 48 employees in space leased from the Southeastern Kentucky Economic Development Corporation. The center was such a success that ground for a new 20,320 square foot facility was begun in the same office park in November 2010, with a design by Marty Friedman of MSE in Lexington, KY.

The new facility, which replaces the leased space, includes amenities such as a training room, a cafeteria, an advanced data backup center, and room for 250 call center associates. The facility opens with 83 employees, hired through Shirlene Taylor of the Workforce Investment Act office. The facility will hold Human Resources, Sales, Information Technology, and, of course, Customer Service.

“I am pleased that SafeAuto has chosen to expand its Somerset operations, creating additional jobs and investment in the Commonwealth,” said Governor Steve Beshear. “The success and growth of our existing industries is vital to our economic health and recovery. The opening of SafeAuto’s new call center is reflective of our ability to partner with our existing industries to grow Kentucky’s economy from within.”

SafeAuto is proud to have a facility designed, built, and staffed by the best of Kentucky, and are looking forward to years of working closely with the state and its people.

ABOUT SAFEAUTO INSURANCE COMPANY:
SafeAuto Insurance Company is a Property and Casualty Insurance Company based in Columbus, OH. Today, the company provides the state required minimum car insurance coverage to drivers in 16 states including Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Georgia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Missouri, Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, and Kansas. A direct-to-consumer auto insurance company, the mission of SafeAuto Insurance is to “keep you legal for less” – helping motorists obtain high quality yet inexpensive coverage. For more information and for car insurance quotes, visit http://www.SafeAuto.com.

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There’s a new sport sweeping the globe. It requires nerves of steel, mind-boggling strategy, extremely precise timing, and an eagerness to expose yourself to dangerous and potentially life-threatening situations.

No. That’s just… no.

It’s called hypermiling. The goal is to maximize your gas mileage in your vehicle and/or to travel the longest possible distance on a single tank of gas. Which… come to think of it, sounds a lot like trying to drive like a little old lady.

The American hypermiling champion for 1958.

But in reality, serious hypermiling incorporates some very strange (and even perilous) driving habits in order to achieve your goals. Here are some tactics used by competitive hypermilers:

• Taking all excess weight out of the car – including passenger seats
• Driving with two wheels on the painted stripe on one side of the road (to decrease tire friction with the asphalt)
• Pretending to have weak or no brakes, and altering driving behavior accordingly by increasing following distance and coasting up to stoplights
• Overinflating tires by as much as 50% higher (or more) than recommended levels to lower tire resistance on the roadway
• Repeatedly “pulsing and gliding”- accelerating to five to ten miles per hour above their target speed, then turning off the engine and coasting until they drop about five or ten mph below their target speed
• Driving in the slipstream of 18-wheelers to increase “draft” – and sometimes even shutting off the engine while doing so

So what kind of results to hard-core hypermilers get?

Well, like many sports (such as track and field, swimming, or gymnastics), there are different categories of hypermiling. Helen and John Taylor are in the Guinness Book of World Records under “highest mileage for a journey” for traveling over 9,000 miles while circumnavigating their native Australia – at an average of an astonishing 75.6 miles per gallon! The Taylors also hold the mark for “longest distance traveled on a tank of gas” after they filled up their 15.3 gallon tank and traveled an amazing 1,192 miles! What’s even more incredible is that they set these world records in their unmodified, non-hybrid Peugeot 308 HDi 110 (which runs on diesel fuel) – which, by the way, is not available in North America.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: can I still improve my own gas mileage numbers by hypermiling without engaging in some of these extreme techniques?

Heck, yeah! Here are some hypermiling tactics you can use in your everyday driving:

1. Don’t speed. Stay at or below the speed limit.
2. Brake and accelerate gradually and smoothly.
3. Don’t make numerous short trips. Combine them into one trip with several stops instead.
4. Keep your trunk empty (or as empty as possible).
5. Never idle if you can help it. If you have a fuel-injected vehicle, turn off your engine if you think you will be idling for as little as seven seconds.
6. Don’t use four-wheel drive unless absolutely necessary.
7. Keep your tires properly inflated at all times (and always err on the side of “too full”).
8. Keep your vehicle properly maintained.
9. Avoid journeys with hills or frequently ascending and descending roads whenever possible.
10. Scan the road ahead for conditions which might slow your momentum and decrease your gas mileage.

It remains to be seen whether hypermiling will catch on as a sport in the U.S. But it’s safe to say that taking steps to improve gas mileage (and thus save money) will never go out of style. Who knows – maybe we’ll one day see hypermiling become an Olympic sport!

Hey, if rhythmic gymnastics made the cut, anything is possible.

Image credits: funz.eu, chestercountyrants.wordpress.com, topnews.ae.