The Trucker Newspaper - November 15, 2018

8 • November 15-30, 2018 Nation
Challenges persist, but trucking’s in a
great place, ATA’s Spear says at MCE
THE TRUCKER STAFF
AUSTIN, Texas — It is the best of times …
but there’s always room for improvement.
That was the gist of American Trucking Associations
President and CEO Chris Spear’s
State of the Industry address to open the third
day of ATA’s annual Management Conference
and Exhibition (MCE), held last month in Austin,
Texas.
Part victory declaration, part rallying cry,
Spear may not turn a phrase like Charles Dickens,
but he left no doubt in his assessment that trucking
is in an age of optimism and should continue
to be for the foreseeable future.
The economy is “booming,” Spear told the
crowd, and nowhere is the health of the economy
better reflected than in the trucking industry.
The industry is currently experiencing its
fastest growth in 20 years, Spear said, which can
be seen in the amount of equipment carriers are
ordering. He cited recent estimates that North
American truck manufacturers now have a ninemonth
backlog trying to fill orders for Class 8
tractors.
“With the unemployment rate below 4 percent
and more job openings than unemployed
people, we are at full employment,” Spear said.
“As a result, household consumption is rising.
When people buy more, we transport more.
“Add in good construction and factory activity,
you have for-hire truck tonnage up nearly 8
percent year-to-date. American Trucking Trends
shows the U.S. trucking industry generated more
than $700 billion in economic activity last year,
a 3.5 percent increase year-over-year. That’s 79
percent of the nation’s freight bill.
“Trucking is the driving force behind the
world’s No.1 economy — and we want to keep
it that way.”
Spear pointed to recent agreements with
THE TRUCKER NEWS SERVICES
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Chris Lofgren will
retire as Schneider National president and CEO
in April 2019 and will be succeeded by Mark
Rourke, executive vice president and chief operating
officer.
Rourke will become the company’s fourth
president in its 84-year history.
The announcement is consistent with a succession
plan that was developed and executed
under the board of directors’ oversight during the
last several years.
“Mark is the absolute right person to lead
Schneider moving forward,” Lofgren said. “He
is an exceptional leader, with experience across
our entire broad portfolio of services and a track
record of proven success. Among many other
strengths, Mark is very intelligent, displays sound
judgement, understands our business and is an
excellent team builder. He is highly respected by
the Schneider team and is passionate about the
success of our business, our customers, our associates
and our shareholders.”
“In this time of significant innovation in the
transportation and logistics industry, and the need
for a relentless focus on operational excellence,
there is no question that Mark is the ideal executive
to assume the CEO position at Schneider,”
said Dan Sullivan, non-executive chairman of
Schneider’s board of directors. “Mark has spent
his entire professional career at Schneider and
has played a key role in setting the direction of
the company, ensuring its financial well-being
and positioning the organization for ongoing success.”
Rourke, 54, began his career with Schneider
in 1987, at the company’s Seville, Ohio, operating
center, where he mastered the critical role the
driver plays in serving customers and safely delivering
business results.
Over his 30-plus year tenure with Schneider,
he has held a variety of leadership roles, including
director of driver training, vice president of
customer service, general manager of Schneider
Transportation Management and president of
truckload services. He has served in his current
role, a key to the company’s succession plan,
where he has been accountable for all of Schneider’s
service offerings since 2015. During that
time, the company has grown revenues by 20
percent, adjusted operating earnings by over 30
percent and adjusted earnings per share by over
45 percent.
“I am humbled and honored with today’s announcement,”
Rourke said. “I have been privileged
to serve this great company over the last
30-plus years and to have worked closely with
Chris over the last 12-plus years. Chris has been a
great mentor, and I will be forever grateful for the
opportunities he has provided me. He took over
the leadership of this company from an industry
icon, Don Schneider. By leveraging the solid
foundation that Don had built, Chris accelerated
the company’s position as a transportation and
logistics bellwether by embracing technology
and innovation, and challenging the status quo.
Just as Chris has made the company stronger, I
am excited about our future and embrace Schneider’s
role in an industry with great opportunity
for success.”
Schneider thrived during Lofgren’s 17 years
as CEO with the company, doubling its annual
THETRUCKER.COM
Courtesy: AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATIONS
The trucking industry is currently experiencing its fastest growth in 20 years, ATA President
and CEO Chris Spear told attendees at the organization’s Management Conference and Exhibition.
That can be seen in the amount of equipment carriers are ordering, he said.
Mexico and Canada to adjustments to the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and
to the tax reform that was passed at the beginning
of the year as factors that have contributed to the
healthy economic environment.
“We commend the president and his team
of negotiators for reaching an agreement with
Mexico — holding U.S. investments in Mexican
trucking companies harmless — and bringing
terms with Canada to a close,” Spear said.
“For the last two years, ATA has been at the
table on trade, educating negotiators on how 76
percent of NAFTA freight relies on trucking, supporting
more than 47,000 U.S. trucking employees,
including more than 31,000 dedicated U.S.
truck drivers.
“The new U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement
will govern nearly $1.2 trillion in trade, bring
certainty to our industry and the American economy.”
But there is still plenty of “unfinished business
in Washington,” Spear said, for ATA and its
members to focus on for the betterment of the
industry.
In his remarks, Spear highlighted the ongoing
campaigns over incongruous state and federal
meal-and-rest break rules, infrastructure investment,
trade, the need for the development of a
drug clearinghouse and for the reform to the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Hours
of Service regulations and its CSA program and
workforce development as top challenges for
ATA to continue to engage in.
Even success can have its drawbacks, Spear
said, referring to the industry’s driver and technician
shortages, which have now been magnified
by “consumer confidence, a well above-average
retirement age, and erroneous claims that our
trucks will soon be driverless.”
“Beyond the goodwill that comes from engaging
our nation’s youth, the fact is, we also
need to attract the next generation of drivers and
technicians,” Spear said.
“We need to be in the schools, recruiting our
future workforce at the earliest age possible, giving
them a path, a purpose, a family that can provide
them a solid career and long-term prosperity.”
Spear used his address to emphasize ATA’s
support for the Drive-Safe Act, which would
lower the age at which drivers could operate
commercial vehicles over state lines to 18 years
of age. Current federal regulations require drivers
to be at least 21 years old to drive interstate, even
though 48 states allow 18-year-olds to drive commercially
intrastate.
“That works pretty well in Texas and California,
but not so great in states like New Hampshire
or Vermont,” Spear said. He added that the Drive-
Safe Act, which would require 18- to 20-yearolds
to get 400 hours of on-duty, apprenticeshipbased
training, including 240 hours of drive-time
with an accompanying experienced driver in the
cab before they could operate across state lines,
would be a natural progression of FMCSA’s pilot
project that allows 18- to 21-year-olds with military
truck driving experience to drive trucks as
civilians in interstate commerce.
Spear emphasized the value of coming together
at events like MCE.
“The association will continue to advance
trucking’s agenda on a host of priority issues,”
he said. “MCE affords us the opportunity to
embrace the universal values we share as an industry
— our unyielding commitment to safety;
hard work and playing by the rules; faith, family,
compassion, our love of country — all shaping
who we are… and how we’re perceived.” 8
Schneider National’s EVP Mark Rourke to succeed president, CEO Chris Lofgren in April
revenues to $4.4 billion. During that time, he led
the successful transformation of Schneider from
a family-led organization to a professional, independently
managed enterprise.
Lofgren guided the organization through the
U.S. financial crisis in the late 2000s, while also
overseeing the company’s seven-year Quest technology
transformation. He also played an integral
role on the team that led the company through its
successful initial public offering in April 2017.
“I want to thank Chris for all he has done
for Schneider, to include positioning the company
for this seamless transition with Mark,”
Sullivan said. “During his tenure as CEO,
Chris has greatly enhanced the financial performance
of the company across our broad
portfolio of asset- and non asset-based services
through excellent leadership, accountability
and sound strategic planning to include the important
role that technology plays in the company’s
businesses. As importantly, this success
was attained by doing things the right way and
not compromising core values — what Chris
would call ‘The Schneider Way.’” 8