ROUNDUP T RU C K I N G I N D U S T RY
State driver’s license system to shut down April 18-26 for upgrades
Gov. Kay Ivey recently announced plans to shut down Alabama’s decades-old driver’s license system and will close all Driver License offices statewide from April 18 through April 26 to install a new system. According to the governor’s office, the new system will be called the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Driver License System (LEADS) and will yield significant improvements to citizen experience, including more streamlined processes to update addresses, pay and reinstate licenses, upload medical cards, view TSA Hazmat background checks, among other conveniences. Driver license offices statewide will close Monday, April 18, with plans to reopen by Tuesday, April 26. During this time office and online services will not be available to the public. “This new system will consolidate multiple legacy systems into one integrated, modern system to further protect our citizens’ data and enhance customer service,” said Governor Ivey. “I am proud of ALEA’s dedication to complete this crucial and extensive task to positively impact all citizens.” For further information on LEADS and project updates, visit LEADS | Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (alea.gov).
Tanker Truck group pledges $50k to help fight Rhode Island tolls The National Tank Truck Carriers has contributed $50,000 to the trucking industry’s ongoing challenge to Rhode Island’s extortionary truck-only tolls scheme. “Winning this suit is critical for trucking,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear, “If this exorbitant, predatory tolling
BR Williams’ matriarch saved the family business and placed it on a path for growth and success. EDITOR’S NOTE: March is Women’s History Month. To celebrate, we offer this short piece spotlighting a true Alabama trucking hero: Ruth Williams, a wife, mother and former school teacher who steadied the ship of her family’s trucking business after the tragic death of her husband and company founder B.R. “Bill” Williams. Women like Mrs. Williams have impacted the trucking and logistics industry for years, and in Ruth Willams in the 1990s. recent times have gained more extensive representation in a traditionally male-dominated profession. Modern transportation and logistics have been around since the late 19th century but only gained steam with women towards the end of World War I. Back then, only about 20 percent of women worked outside the home, and only 5 percent of those were married. Typical thinking was trucking was just not a job most women sought. In fact, at the time, much of where and when women worked, in general, was regulated. As the war continued, women began to shift into non-traditional careers out of necessity and the urgent need to fill vacancies left by men off to fight the war overseas. Women increasingly took on industrial jobs, including warehouse work and trucking. World War I gave many women an opportunity to prove their capabilities in roles they were previously considered unsuitable. Today, advancements of women in the trucking and transportation industry are more apparent but still not equal – especially in leadership roles. Here in Alabama, during the 1960s, however, a woman named Ruth Williams took over her family’s trucking business because she had Ruth & Bill Williams to and worked for many years building it to become one of the state’s most respected operations. In July of 1958, Bill Williams established his trucking operation known today as BR Williams. He experienced all the issues and growing pains of owning a new business, but after only five years of operation, a shop fire took his life. His widow, Ruth, then an elementary school teacher, was advised to walk away from the business because of all the damage that the fire caused. However, she knew that the people who worked for the company relied on their jobs, and she desperately wanted to stay in business for them and to honor the work of her late husband. Despite the many obstacles she knew she’d face as a female operating a trucking business, she retired from teaching and became the owner and president of BR Williams. For years, she managed the operation, made wise business decisions, and hired the right people to take the company to the next level. After years of challenges associated with raising her daughters as a single mother and running the business on her own, Ruth began to see the fruits of her labor. The company grew by leaps and bounds. In 1992, the time came for Ruth to pass the baton to the individuals who had the wisdom and bravery to carry on the legacy begun so many years ago. She looked no further than her son in law, Greg Brown, and daughters Dee Brown and Kaye Perry who had grown up in the business. This decision would take the company to heights Bill never could have imagined. Last July, BR Williams celebrated its 63rd year of business, and the company forever respects the strength of Ruth Williams and the sacrifices she made to continue her husband’s business. We will never know just how hard the days were for Ruth as a female trucking owner in the 60s, 70s and 80s. For sure, she didn’t take the easy road – she made her own. Her legacy is a worthy reminder of the strength, determination and talent of women truckers everywhere.
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A LABAMA T RUCKER • 1 ST Q UARTER 2022
