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TCA President
says Association’s
success is an
unending story
By Lyndon Finney
John Lyboldt’s story as president of the Truckload Carriers
Association may have begun four years ago with the fabled
phrase “once upon a time” but that story will be unending as
long as he leads the Association.
“Much like any good story, you almost always start with
‘Once upon a time,’ a phrase that is as good as any to reflect the
very fact that we are a far cry from where we were when I first
took the helm of this proud organization a mere four years ago,
still faced with the knowledge that there will always be a lot of
hard work that needs to be done,” Lyboldt told delegates in his
State of the Association address delivered at the organization’s
annual convention.
Like any story, there are highlights and lowlights, good parts
and bad ones too, and lessons to be learned from what experience
tells us, he said, noting that 2019 brought about a different
aspect to the trucking industry the Association, its members, and
their operations, too.
“Trucking is a mature industry and strongly correlates, sometimes
painfully, to the rising and receding tides of the economy,”
said Lyboldt. “We experienced dramatic changes to capacity, assaults
on many carriers’ business, and persistent regulatory and
legislative pressures that continued to change the landscape of
what our industry was. The low barriers to enter this field have
created a system reflective of grasping for the lowest common
denominator rather than reaching for the stars.”
The organization’s message — building better businesses,
creating skilled workforces, driving profitability, and becoming
the Voice of Truckload — has not changed, shared Lyboldt.
In fact, it has grown.
“The portrait of our membership has been painted and has
come to represent the best this industry has to offer,” he said.
“We lead by example, we practice what we preach and must
leave no stone unturned in our endless effort to create an industry
no longer reflective of the bad apples who bring us down, but
rather highlighted by the very best examples of what we have
to offer.
“The Association has restructured its education platform, one
that is truly beginning to deliver the results that were predicted
or, quite frankly, expected,” he said.
“The very premise of emphasizing the mature business models
that our members have experienced based upon a strong
foundation has shown us that there are opportunities for carriers
of all sizes and modes to achieve significant financial and
personal rewards as participants in this great industry,” said Lyboldt,
who noted that the organization’s growing membership
has become involved in telling a story that more and more key
decision maker are listening.
“We have been fact-based, data-driven truth tellers, using our
knowledge of the industry to bestow that wisdom on Capitol
In his State of the Association address to delegates at Truckload 2020: Orlando in
March, TCA President John Lyboldt said that 2019 brought about a different aspect to
the trucking industry, the Association, its members, and their operations, too.
Hill,” he said. “Our shield has become a resource, our message
has been deliberate, and unlike most stories, the ending has not,
nor ever will, been written.”
The establishing of the Voice of Truckload brand has been
beneficial to the Association, its president said.
“Contrary to popular belief, a recent survey of 1,000 business
decision makers showed that they value a strong ‘brand’ over
any other factor, including price, and that very essence is reflected
in our shield,” added Lyboldt. “It is important to recognize
the value that we deliver to our membership and the promise we
make to each of you that this association is more than just a dues
check, but a gathering of ideas, coupled with an opportunity for
action, that might just might prove itself to be worthwhile in the
very end.”
In closing, Lyboldt issued a challenge to delegates, saying the
days of letting others tell the story of truckload is long over and
the call to act is now here.
“Our ‘once upon of time’ may have started it all, but the end
shall never be written,” he said.
TCA 2020 www.Truckload.org | TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY 39