Traction Expert Spotlight: Meet Teague Rakoz
In many parts of the country, where winter is met by hazardous road conditions, navigating slippery terrain demands more than just caution—drivers require reliable traction. At Laclede Chain, we understand the crucial role we play as your traction partner to stock your shelves to help your customers live and work securely.
Our dedicated traction division consists of highly driven, passionate traction experts and weather enthusiasts who go above and beyond to provide proactive reliability to you and your customers. In this article, we’re giving you an inside look at our approach to traction season and the Laclede Chain leader behind it all, Teague Rakoz.
Our Proactive Approach to Traction Supply
Our approach to traction season is two-fold. It starts by significantly increasing inventory to get our customers through the winter, then strategically planning to quickly activate when weather strikes. As a team, we prepare for the winter season in several ways.
We start with calculated inventory planning well in advance of the winter season, usually starting in February for the following winter. We base our inventory decisions on early weather models, but continuous planning and adjusting are required as the season unfolds.
As our very own expert and Vice President of our traction division, Teague Rakoz, puts it, “We certainly don’t know exactly what the weather is going to be like a year, six months, even a week out. That’s the beauty of winter. Keeping a close eye on the weather is critical so that we can adjust our staffing levels and inventory in real-time and spring into action when our customers need us most. We’ll even invest in additional forklifts and pallets if we think it will improve our delivery time to customers.”
Going the Extra Link
We know that by the time weather models can predict snow or ice events with a high degree of certainty, it’s challenging to stock your stores accordingly. That’s why we work with many customers to strategically get ahead of the storm. We’ll arrange same-day, late-night, and even weekend pickups for traction orders to help you prepare for the spiked demand for traction chain products.
Traction for Every Vehicle Type
Ensuring reliable supply to a wide range of products is also a top priority for our team to help you serve a broad customer base. We offer everything from a light-duty passenger cable chain to heavy-duty Alpine Sport diamond pattern chain and beyond. These products represent our commitment to quality and our proactive approach to meeting our customers’ diverse needs.
Alpha Trax: A Spotlight on Innovation
Our newest traction product has redefined traction as we know it. As innovators of chain, we were driven to create a traction product that stands above the rest, and Alpha Trax was born. This product is constructed of industrial-grade components and materials that last 5x longer compared to traditional link or cable chains. Plus, they outperform safety standards and are the easiest chain to install—not requiring you to move your vehicle.
Teague’s Journey and Expertise in Traction
Laclede Chain’s traction innovation has largely been driven by Teague. His 28-year career with Laclede Chain is a testament to our commitment to growth and expertise. From his start in a management trainee role to his current position as the Vice President of our traction division, Teague has been instrumental in steering our company through the evolving needs of our traction customers. His extensive experience and meteorological passion uniquely position him to lead our team and customers to success.
Teague is not just our traction expert; he’s a lifelong weather enthusiast whose hobby has deeply informed his professional life. “Weather has always fascinated me. As a kid, I always enjoyed snow days more than most. And now I work in a weather-related industry, with a career that I’m truly passionate about.”
His expertise allows Laclede Chain to anticipate shifts in weather patterns and prepare our customers for what lies ahead. His passion for weather has been a cornerstone in building a team that partners with customers to navigate the winter season successfully.
Today, Teague leads our traction division and a team of experts who help customers across the United States live and work securely in any condition.
Connect with Teague
We encourage you to connect with Teague on LinkedIn and follow our Laclede Chain page for more traction content.