Embracing Change, Harnessing Opportunity

Industry thought leader Tom McLeod is lending his experience and expertise to maximize a year of transition and opportunity for the Alabama Trucking Association.

By Ford Boswell

HOOVER, Ala. – Tom McLeod won’t be the typical chairman for the Alabama Trucking Association – and that’s precisely what’s needed in this pivotal year for ATA.

With the Association in the midst of a transition with new President and CEO Mark Colson coming on board and the retirement of a long-time ATA maven, Jane Nixon, some one of McLeod’s innovation and experience is a blessing for an organization poised to revamp itself to score big wins for Alabama truckers.

About every third year, the Board of Directors elects an executive from the Association’s Allied industry to serve as Chairman. The idea is that in doing so the Association gets a more complete perspective of the industry from all sectors, and thus allows for a larger pool of ideas and innovation to fully address the Association’s needs and mission. And while the chairmanship itself is mostly a figurehead position, there are crucial responsibilities and tasks that require a sizeable commitment of time and planning for each new term.

And yet, despite all McLeod has on his plate running his own successful corporation, he has dutifully accepted the reins of the Association as Chairman of the Board for FY 2019-2020, to oversee an era that will surely set the organization’s pace and trajectory for years to come.

Positioning him well to lead ATA is his unique perspective. For starters, he’s the founder of one of the industry’s leading software providers, McLeod Software Corp., a successful business with more than 450 employees at three locations, including Salt Lake City and Chicago, providing transportation management and trucking software solutions to nearly 1,000 trucking firms.

He is also a trusted thought leader for the transportation industry, specifically on the use of current and upcoming technology to support trucking and brokerage operations.

ATA’s Colson calls McLeod ATA’s “transition chairman” since former Association President Frank Filgo took the helm of the organization in 1994.

“It’s on Tom’s watch that we are conducting this major leadership transition, and it is already off to an incredible start,” Colson says. “His vast knowledge and experience in business management have had a major impact on our operations. Achieving operational excellence for us has become a top priority with someone of Tom’s caliber and depth serving as Chairman. We’re in great hands with him at the wheel.”

Industry Involvement

McLeod has had ties to ATA for three decades, serving on its executive board and several committees for more than 20 years. He’s also very involved with the American Trucking Associations and its state affiliates, as well as the Truckload Carriers Association, holding several leadership positions for those organizations.

Because of his commitment and support as a board member, his selection as Chairman of the Board was inevitable. Prior to his appointment, he successfully led major ATA events, including the 2019 ATA Annual Meeting — the most financially successful to date — and the 2017 ATA Golf Classic. His company has been the presenting sponsor (Presidential Spon sor) for both events more than a half dozen times combined, donating cash and resources to ensure success.

“The trucking industry has been so incredible to me and my family through the years,” he says. “Alabama is our home. There are many wonderful, talented people in Alabama’s trucking industry that it’s not surprising that trucking is so vital to our state’s economy. I look forward to helping this Association any way I can. It’s truly an honor and privilege to be a part of this great organization.”

Background

After graduating from Berry High School in Hoover, Ala. in 1972, McLeod enrolled at Samford University to study music with an emphasis on piano performance.

“Music has always been a very important part of my life, and I wanted to learn as much as I could about playing piano,” he says. “Music is such a wonderful thing to be part of. My wife is a talented singer, and three of my children majored in music.”

But McLeod realized earning a living as a musician, either as a teacher or a performer, probably wasn’t going to provide the type of lifestyle he wanted. After completing his degree, he bounced between sales jobs – first, selling cash registers and later selling office copiers. Working in sales was good money, but it wasn’t something he particularly enjoyed, and the travel wasn’t agreeable for raising a young family.

Around this time, a friend asked him to help develop a software solution for small LTL trucking fleets. The friend bought McLeod a personal computer, which were becoming more mainstream. With an affin- ity for mathematics and technology, McLeod quickly developed an interest in programming. He read books on the sub- ject and, through trial and error, taught himself how to code. In fact, the new skill came quite naturally to him.

“At its core, music is a mathematical pro - cess with its certain notations and arrange- ments, and so is programming,” he ex- plains. “Each requires a specific order of processes that make up the entire computer program or musical score.”

The software project was tabled because it was complex and perhaps a bit ahead of its time as carriers were reluctant to adopt an idea from outside of the industry. But through a few connections McLeod made during the development process he was later asked to build a simple payroll software package for a small, locally-based trucking company. That program would later be- come the basis of McLeod Software.

It was perfect timing, too, because the mid-1980s were the post-deregulation days and a boom of small truckload fleets was happening. McLeod landed a handful of contracts to build software to help smaller fleet owners manage their businesses. Work- ing on his new software project was a chal- lenge he enjoyed thoroughly. McLeod Soft- ware was incorporated in 1985, and the business grew quickly.

“I got into computers to get out of sales, but I soon found myself selling software,” he laughs. “But it was very helpful because my sales background came in handy. In fact, I sold our first 50 systems.”

But he also did work at every site, either programming or training. “That first five years, I automated those 50 companies hands-on. I met with customers, discussed their needs, took notes and went back to see if I could build something that worked for them,” he recalls. “Honestly, that’s where my background in trucking came from.”

Sales were brisk, and the company grew steadily throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s, weathering market fluctuations with steady revenue increases. His staff also grew to more than 150, and around 2000 the company built a 60,000 sq. ft. head- quarters building off Acton Road in Birm- ingham. By that time, its customer base had grown to 400 trucking firms nationally and more than $16.1 million in annual revenue.

The next decade, however, was perhaps the company’s most difficult with weathering the recession of 2001 and completely rewriting the company’s entire product line for a changing industry. “It’s the only time in our history that the company had to borrow money,” he says. “Fortunately, we had great people in place and a lot of loyal customers who stayed with us. Our customers really helped us move forward. As the economy came back around, we were ready with a product.”

When markets recovered around 2009, that’s when the company really started to gain market share. Since then the company has grown to become one of the top industry software providers.

A year ago, McLeod Software moved into a sleek headquarters building in Hoover, Ala., just off U.S. Highway 280. The company bought the building in 2017 and embarked on 11 months of renovations, investing $21 million to consolidate two office locations while carrying out a remodeling project.

According to local media reports, McLeod is the largest employer of software developers

McLeod says through it all, his wife, Annette, is his constant source of support and guidance. “She has encouraged and supported me at every turn,” he says. “She taught me these two things by the way she lives: the power of focus and the importance of pursuing excellence in your work.”

Change is Opportunity

For his year as ATA’s top elected official McLeod says he’s excited to have a role in the great changes happening for the Association. “We’re off to a great start with our annual ATA Golf Classic exceeding its goal of $300,000,” he says. “That’s an event record – and a testament to the Association’s leadership and the members’ dedication to doing what’s best for the industry in Alabama. Also, Give Frank Filgo credit for building the event up through the years. It’s astounding how easily Mark Colson, the ATA staff, and Classic Chairman Andrew Linn, carried the momentum Frank built up through years. We’re already seeing some great signs that Mark is bringing fresh energy and ideas to the organization. I am confident he will take us to the next level.”

Meanwhile, Colson says McLeod’s vast knowledge and experience in running a successful business has already had a major impact on ATA’s operations, especially regarding internal operations and administrative processes.

“Tom and McLeod Software are the epitome of excellence,” Colson says. This is immediately evident the moment you step in the door at their headquarters, and the moment you strike up a conversation with any team member. Passion and excellence are what Tom and his company bring to ATA, and we are all the better for it.”

Going forward, it’s on his watch that ATA will conduct this major leadership transition – and, by all accounts, it’s already off to a great start.