I consider myself quite fortunate to have spent my entire professional career in the trucking industry. From driving a meat truck over summer breaks in college to my current position as President of NationaLease, I’ve gotten something out of every role I’ve held. If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that as challenging as our industry can be, it’s also tremendously rewarding. And what's made it so rewarding are the relationships I’ve built.
Getting through the longest freight recession in history hasn’t been easy and I still don’t think we’re completely of out the woods yet. With so much still out of our control, it pays to invest in the things we can still control, and what better way to devote your time and energy to your relationships? Whenever I get asked how I’ve stayed with one company for so long, I say it’s because of the bonds I’ve built and the people I’ve been around. It’s that impactful.
There’s never a bad time to invest in your relationships. Doing it right takes time and every relationship will require something different, but what’s gained is immeasurable.
It’s about people
Building and nurturing relationships is fundamental for success and yet is still vastly underestimated in my opinion. As much as the transportation is about trucks, what they’re hauling, and where they’re hauling it, it’s really about people in the end.
People drive, maintain, load, and dispatch trucks. People run family businesses, and people support those businesses. People care whether or not a truck is where it’s supposed to be. The last time I checked, AI doesn’t care if the local convenience store has fresh donuts for breakfast—but the person hitting the road at dawn sure does.
This is something I try to keep at the front of my mind as often as I can. That at the end of the day, this is really what’s at the heart of our industry. If I ever need a reminder, I usually don’t have to wait long.
We host a number of meetings for our members throughout the year and it’s here that bonds between members are built, strengthened, and developed. People don’t just discuss how business is going and what their problems are—they share what’s been working well, things they’ve tried that someone else might benefit from. You meet each other’s spouses and families, share meals together, and, almost inevitably, friendships develop.
Why relationships matter now more than ever
It’s hard to get very far in business, or life for that matter, without solid relationships. In today’s environment, personal connections are taking on even more meaning as the future remains somewhat uncertain.
A true test of any relationship is how it handles adversity. It’s one thing to be treated well when life is easy but another thing to still feel supported when you’re both in the trenches. Long-term partnerships don’t develop over time but it’s through the ups and downs that we become closer, build trust, and reach a level mutual understanding.
You take care of each other because the other one’s either been there for you in the past or you know they will be. It’s past transactional—it’s reciprocal.
Think about some of the challenges the industry has faced in just the last five years: supply shortages, spikes in fuel costs, regulatory uncertainty. We’ve all faced tough choices and had to come up with creative solutions, and having people to call on in these moments is the difference between surviving a tough stretch and coming up short.
Building meaningful relationships
If I had to choose two traits that resonate most with me, it’s trust and accountability. Trust takes time, but demonstrating accountability helps to start that process, and it’s something that’s directly within your control. Whether that means owning a mistake, communicating unpleasant news, or even just being transparent about a situation, it goes a long way in showing others the type of person you are.
If you’re thinking about your current relationships, and your focus is solely on what you’re getting out of them, consider what you’re bringing to the table yourself. Do you follow through on promises? Do you back up words with action? That’s all up to you.
This goes for both your customers and vendors, too. No matter who you’re working with in a situation, the one constant should be how you treat them. The golden rule never goes out of style.
I’ve been at NationaLease for 20 years now, and that’s because it’s a special place where I’ve had the pleasure of working in a true family culture. As President, my job isn’t just to determine our values, but to embody them—the decisions I make need to reflect what we’re all about.
