Pub. 1 2020 Issue 3

Kentucky Trucker 15 KyTrucking.net Another person who had a big impact on me was Joe Newell and his family. I learned the management side of business while working for them from dispatch, logistics, and all other parts or managing a business over the 25 years that I worked there. What is the most rewarding part of your career? Taking care of my people. By the end of the week, we’ve fed 75-80 families by providing jobs. I think anytime you can impact the lives of people by helping them provide for their families, it’s a good thing. What do you think will be some of the dominant trends within the trucking industry in the next 5-10 years? As an industry, we’re going to have to recruit and train younger people into the industry. Our workforce is getting older. Our industry competes — as do many of the trades — with college-required careers. I think we need to get the word out that our industry has good paying jobs that young people can train for and start early in life. There’s a lot of different job opportunities in our industry. Do you have family working in your company? I do. We’re definitely a family business. I have my son, my brother and his son — my nephew — all working here. I enjoy working with family, and we’re lucky in that we’re all pretty level-headed and we think alike. We all get along, and our main focus is having the company succeed. What advice would you give to family businesses? Well first, make sure that there is a real place for fam- ily; don’t hire just because of the family relationship. I think that’s the key, plus I think the family that works for the company knows that they are there because of their skills and contributions; that makes a difference. What is the biggest importance of being a KTA member; what makes it beneficial? First, one person can’t do much, but together, mem- bers within an industry, all speaking with one voice, can accomplish a lot. KTA goes to bat for us all on legislative issues that can shape our industry for years to come. Next, we’re all still learning, and I think we can learn a lot from bumping ideas off each other. What inspired you to serve as a leader within the association? No real inspiration — we all need to take a turn and step up. By serving as board members and directors of KTA, we all look out for the greater good of the truck- ing industry. At the end of this year, what stands out for you? Are there any accomplishments that you would like to focus on? Any particular plans? Our focus, like the focus of all businesses and pretty much everyone at this point, is just get this virus behind us. COVID-19 is front and center right now; we’re all working around it, keeping our businesses continued on page 16