THE END OF AN ERA TCA President John Lyboldt looks back on his career in the industry INTRODUCTION AND INTERVIEW BY LYNDON FINNEY n December 21, 2015, John Lyboldt became president of the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA). He hit the ground running the very next day, polling the membership to determine what was on their minds regarding the future of the association. Over 300 responses later, he knew what needed to be done and went to work on four themes he heard over and over again — to improve the members’ balance sheet, to improve the members’ profitability, to improve the members’ retention of their skilled workforce, and to be the voice of truckload through government affairs. Under Lyboldt’s leadership, TCA has been extremely successful in these four areas, in addition to many, many more. Last year, Lyboldt announced he would retire in March 2022. Recently, he sat down with Truckload Authority to share his recollections of his 36 years in the automotive industry, including the past five years as president of TCA. 32 TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY | WWW.TRUCKLOAD.ORG TCA JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022
What first attracted you to the automotive industry? I was a Dale Carnegie employee and was working with an automotive group. The dealer offered me a position, and I took it. My grandfather and my uncle were Chevrolet Buick dealers just outside of Syracuse, New York. I had thoughts about the possibility of becoming the next dealer principal when they retired as a long-term strategy. I know you were a senior vice president at the National Automotive Dealers Association when you went to work at the Truckload Carriers Association. How did you hear about the job coming open? I found the position on ASAE. I pulled three years of TCA’s 990s, and I interviewed a retired employee of TCA to learn as much as I could about the association before I even applied. I had done a lot of research on the association to see what it was about and how they were doing. Looking at the 990s, I knew where the expense lines were and what kind of revenue they were generating. In doing so, I had a really good feel for TCA and the opportunity. So, I decided to apply because I felt I could really make a difference from what I had learned. For the eight years before coming to TCA, you served as senior vice president of dealer services for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), an organization that represents franchised new car and truck dealers, their managers, and their employees. Before that, you spent 17 years as the president and CEO of the Rochester Automobile Dealers Association (RADA) in Rochester, New York. How did your previous work prepare you for what you encountered at TCA? I took over at age 29 as president of RADA. It was a good-size organization with 21 employees. I cut my teeth and faced some surmountable challenges at RADA that shaped my skill sets, leadership strength, and future. I’ve always worked closely with independently family-owned businesses. There, I was engaged in lobbying at both state and federal levels, as well as a complete offering of products and services. I was recruited by the National Automobile Dealers Association to move to Washington in 2007. The reason I was recruited is I had gone through the chairs of the state and metro automotive association organization at NADA called the Automotive Trade Association Executives (ATAE). ATAE represents more than 100 state and metro associations who represent 20,000 dealers. With the exposure to NADA, they asked me if I’d be interested in coming to Washington to work for NADA in the dealership operations, which includes the Academy, 20 group, and NADA membership. When I looked at TCA, I saw my experience and knowledge as being important to the initiatives of TCA. What were your early impressions of TCA? I saw opportunity. I started on December 21, 2015, and on December 22, I sent a letter to the membership. I remember Keith Tuttle, TCA Chairman, when he read the letter asking the membership what was on their mind regarding TCA’s future, he commented to me he liked I was jumping in the deep end of the pool already. I received roughly 300 emails, phone calls, and letters from the membership. Next, I organized into four different “buckets” the major themes, and that’s where the four legs of a four-legged stool was created. Let’s just talk about the four-legged stool. How did it help shape the association during those first years? It gave direction. It was something we could use to improve the members’ balance sheet, improve their profitability, help them retain their skilled workforce, and become the voice of truckload through government affairs. Today, those still exist. Additionally, I suggested to leadership that we have what we call a leadership transition meeting every year before the new chairman takes over. Usually it’s December, but this year it’s going to be January. This created an opportunity for us to review what we had accomplished based on the objectives and goals for the previous year, what we didn’t accomplish that would be carried over, and what are the vision and goals of the incoming chairman. We tweaked the plan when a new chairman came in, and with the next chairman, tweaked it again. I have a rule, and that is as soon as you think your association is perfect, you are three years behind. We didn’t use any big company guru to tell us what to do. The membership knew best, and they told us what we needed to do. Of the four legs, what did membership say was the most urgent? Most urgent was providing membership with TCA’s direction and executing on it. There were many moving pieces; however, we rebuilt TCA on sustainability of our programs and services. We needed to be strategic and extremely focused, and this still exists today. Has the growth of TCA surprised you? Not at all. We knew if you provided membership what they want, need, and will use, it would produce incredible results. If you combine this with membership engagement and involvement, you have a winning formula. Members make the association what it is! I know the stool was a key strategy early on. What are some of the other strategies you’ve used to sustain the growth of the association? Like I said previously, member engagement is the key to success. Dues make it all work; however, dues alone will not don’t grow membership. What grows membership is engagement and the membership value proposition. We have a committed officer group, executive committee, board, and hardworking committees who provide more than direction. They are the core of what we are and what we do. Nonmembers are beginning to see what they are missing out on and are saying, “We want to be part of this plan.” When you are out and about, what do you hear from membership about the value TCA brings, and what of those brings them the most value? TCA is the only trade association whose sole focus is the truckload segment of the motor carrier industry, and we take this very seriously. They like that we are providing leadership that will increase their productivity, profitability, and ability to provide superior service, to advocate on I consider it a privilege to have had the opportunity to chair TCA at a time where John Lyboldt was our president and the leader of this association. His support of the work the officer’s group undertook was welcomed and appreciated every day. I have always appreciated his demeanor and his ability to bring his team together to serve the membership and our industry. Both John and his wife, Lynne, have been great contributors and developers of the culture and ambassadors for the trucking industry. I wish John and Lynne the best of luck and a long, healthy and happy retirement.” — ROB PENNER, TCA CHAIRMAN 2017-2018 TCA JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022 WWW.TRUCKLOAD.ORG | TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY 33
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