Maverick Transportation has announced that Darius Cooper, vice president of operations, has retired after 25 years with the Little Rock, Ark.-based company. Maverick has named John Coppens as his replacement.
Cooper’s career with Maverick began when he first met Steve Williams, Maverick chairman and chief executive officer, in the late 1970s. Several years later, after Williams co-founded Maverick, he approached Cooper about becoming Maverick’s first company driver in 1983. Cooper held various office positions throughout the years after coming off the road in 1987. He was instrumental in developing Maverick’s strict load securement policies before they were the industry standard. He also wrote Maverick’s Driver Policy Handbook, developed the company’s first fuel network and was an early advocate of addressing fuel efficiency to cut costs.
“Darius has always been committed to doing things the very best,” Williams says. “And as a result of his work ethic and his passion for trucking, he forever defined, in my opinion, what it means to be a Maverick.”
Coppens will assume Cooper’s prior responsibilities for Maverick’s flatbed fleet. He began his career in 1995 with Schneider Specialized Carriers, where he held various positions — including acquisition management and customer account management — for 12 years. After Maverick’s purchase of Schneider Specialized in 2006, he served as an account service manager for Maverick Specialized in Green Bay, Wis., where he managed one of its largest corporate accounts in addition to various other responsibilities.
