Tom Newby

When you meet Tom Newby, you can’t help but be drawn by his easygoing demeanor and sense of humor. But rest assured, when it comes to trucking and maintenance, he’s as serious as they come, and he’s one of the reasons Old Dominion Freight Line has become one of the most successful and prolific carriers in the country.

But his life easily could have taken a different turn.

Corvette or cabover?
Young Tom Newby was raised in Eden, N.C., and enjoyed basketball, baseball and “all the stuff kids are generally into,” he says. His parents were involved in the textile industry, and after college, he followed suit, working as an assistant plant maintenance superintendent at a mill.

But Newby, who had an automotive aptitude and was “always tinkering” with cars, also had friends who were truckers, and it wasn’t long before he caught the bug. He wanted a CDL, and he wanted to see the country. “An owner-operator friend offered to teach me to drive, if I could leave for Tampa ‘right now,’ ” he recalls. “I said, ‘Let’s go!’ He hid me in his sleeper at loading docks, but on the road, I learned to drive.”

Shortly thereafter, in 1976, he sold his prized 1971 Corvette, used the money as a down payment on his first truck – a 1974 International COE – and Newby Trucking was born. The next 12 years would see the company grow to include nine trucks operating in 48 states.
By 1988, the pressures of deregulation had taken their toll on Newby’s company. “I had to make a decision,” he says. “It was time to go work for ‘the man.’ ” Newby Trucking was dismantled, and Newby embarked on a career in fleet maintenance management.

Rise and shine
By 2000, Newby had become an ASE-certified Master Heavy Duty Truck Technician, a certified Director of Maintenance/Equipment and an active member of the Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC), and he had honed his maintenance management skills at a handful of fleets, including Billings Freight Systems. That’s also the year he was hired by Thomasville, N.C.-based Old Dominion – a general-commodity LTL carrier – where he continues to leave his mark.