Opening Remarks

Mark Colson

President and CEO Alabama Trucking Association

‘The men and women who lead the Alabama Trucking Association do not make excuses, they make a way forward!’ Truckers Remain Calm in the Storm

This year has brought its share of figurative and literal storms impacting our industry. From the ongoing struggles of the COVID-19 pandemic, the now prolific delta variant, Hurricane Ida, historic supply chain challenges and parts shortages, and a deep struggle to recruit and retain employees, these times are not for the faint of heart or for those who like to make excuses.

Fortunately, the men and women who lead the Alabama Trucking Association do not make excuses, they make a way forward! Our leaders have responded to each challenge with poise and resiliency.

Led by our ATA Foundation, we are now fully committed and engaged in transforming the future workforce for trucking. We will soon share the details of this critical initiative at the ATA Convention in September, but the most important aspect of this work is that the leaders of our industry are taking ownership of the problem and relentlessly pursuing solutions. No one else, the government or otherwise, is going to solve our workforce problems. It will take time. But failure is not an option.

As the 2022 election season nears, you are going to start seeing more campaign ads. All 140 legislative seats (105 House and 35 Senate) are on the ballot, along with all Constitutional Officers (Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, etc.) and two very important Supreme Court seats. Thanks to our members, TRUK PAC will have up to $1 million to invest in the 2022 election cycle to protect and advance our industry. Not everyone likes politics, and that’s okay because your Association is well prepared to be your advocate in the political arena.

On the Federal front, expect the election to replace Sen. Richard Shelby to dominate the political landscape. While ATA does not formally engage in federal elections, many of our members participate due to the impact these positions can have on our industry in Washington D.C. There is also an open congressional seat in North Alabama while incumbents in the other six congressional seats are seeking re-election. Be on the lookout for more political updates and analysis as the election season heats up.

If you do not have relationships with your local and state elected leaders, please make it a priority to establish one. These public officials make decisions that directly impact your busi ness. A visit or call from you will make a major impact on their perspectives about trucking, and we need all elected officials in Alabama to understand the needs and concerns of the trucking industry.

Trucking leaders in Mobile and Baldwin Counties did just that in early September. They convened to talk about a potential storm known as the I-10 Mobile River Bridge. There has been a proposal floated that would impose a “truck-only” toll bridge, but because of the active involvement of trucking leaders contacting elected officials, the rhetoric has shifted away from “truck-only.” Finding a way to pay for a bridge project that costs more than $2 billion is a tough issue for all involved, but if members of our industry are not educated and engaged, we may still see a proposal advance that is not good for trucking.

Two legislative storms remain this year as two special legislative sessions are expected: One to address over-crowded state prisons, and the other on redistricting of all legislative and con gressional seats using updated census data. The Legislature has one more regular session which begins in January before heading into campaign season. Anytime the legislature is in session, your Association is on high alert to protect and promote issues important to your business. From tax and regulatory issues to important lawsuit abuse reform, we must work to keep Alabama a top-ten trucking state.

Later this month, Alabama Trucking will safely gather for its first Convention since 2019. This event is very important to all of us. We are a family, and this gathering is where infor mation is shared, issues are debated and strong bonds form to move the trucking industry forward.

As we continue to navigate this stormy season, enduring the impact of the pandemic and confronting all the economic challenges, let’s remain steadfast in our commitment to making Alabama Trucking better than ever. Truckers are strong and courageous! We have proven it, and we will keep doing so no matter the storms we confront.

Doing The Right Thing

ATA’s new Chairman of the Board Will Bruser is ready to do all he can to deliver a big year for Alabama Trucking.

By Ford Boswell

Will Bruser rarely slows down. From the moment his feet hit the floor in the morn ing to when his head hits the pillow at night, he’s constantly thinking of ways he can help improve Alabama’s trucking in dustry.

He officially took the reins of the Ala bama Trucking Association in July as its new Chairman of the Board, but for more than a decade, the 41-year-old President of the Birmingham, Ala.-based Truckworx has been an integral part of the Alabama Truck ing family lending his resources, talent and support to any cause or initiative to benefit trucking. His support of the ATA, its mis sion, and the industry he’s grown to love, hasn’t been by chance, either. It’s been part of the plan all along — and now, he has big plans for ATA.

He lists nextgen workforce development, shoring up ATA’s political action committee coffers for the next election cycle, and improving the industry public image as his main priorities. But he also wants to im prove membership relations and bring more members into the fold so that the Asso ciation can move forward collectively to achieve its goals. With an engaged and supportive community of truckers behind him, he’s confident ATA can bring about real change and success for trucking.

Background

Bruser grew up in Pelham, Ala. His father, Buddy, was a salesman for a crane equipment distributor, and his mother, Carol, was a community leadership de veloper for Leadership Shelby County and the University of Montevallo.

Never one to shy away from working, Bruser kept busy cutting grass in the neigh borhood as a young teen, and in high school, worked at a pet store — a gig, he says, ended abruptly when he was asked to pull a tarantula from its aquarium for a customer to have a better look.

“My manager told me all I had to do was place my arm in the tank, and the spider would slowly crawl up my arm and just sit there,” he recalls. “But the thing jumped on my hand, I spun around and slung the spider on the ground. Needless to say, I am glad that was my last summer job.”

While attending the University of Ala bama, where he studied business and mar -

keting, Bruser worked at an area farm doing odd jobs and later performed general equip ment maintenance for a local crane com pany. In his spare time, he also hunted every chance he got with his yellow lab, Murdock.

His first professional job was for Cowin Equipment Co. rental division working the phones, taking customer orders, scheduling equipment deliveries and triaging service calls, but after about six months of sitting at a desk alone in a mobile trailer office, he grew antsy and started looking for an out side sales job.

Since his sophomore year at UA, he dated Tracy Mitchell, daughter of former Kenworth of Alabama President and former ATA Board Member Bob Mitchell. One weekend he and Tracy were visiting her family’s home when Bob asked him to step into his home office so the two could talk.

Bob said that he understood that he and Tracy were becoming more serious about

their future together, and also knew that he had a job offer with his dad’s crane com pany, but wanted to ask if he’d consider coming to work for him selling Kenworth trucks.

“At the time, I didn’t know what (Bob) did and had never thought about trucks, much less selling them,” Bruser recalls. “Bob and I had never really had any deep conversations before that. It was always cordial, but he was always coming and going with his work. To be honest, I re -

Since taking over as president of Truckworx in 2013, Bruser has revamped the company culture, its mission, and brought in talented people to provide the best level of customer service.

member he told me one time what he did for a living, but all I heard was he sold Kenmores, so I just assumed he sold washers and dryers.”

Bruser thought about the offer and even talked it over with his father. They agreed he should take the job, figuring that if it didn’t work out, he could always come work with the crane company.

His first assignment was to be the dedi cated Kenworth medium-duty salesman, a line that the dealership had just added to its product line. In his first two years, Bruser sold 56 trucks his first year on the job, and the next year he sold 178. “I was starting to build a base and was feeling more com fort able with how things were going,” he says. “I soon realized I had made a great decision to come to work here. Since then, I’ve never wanted to do anything else.”

In 2005, he and Tracy married, pur chased their first home, and were ready to settle down in Birmingham and start a family when opportunity knocked again.

“This time, Bob asked me to take the lead on rebuilding our market share in Mobile, which at the time had slipped to about 2 percent,” he says. “Kenworth corporate’s market share at the time was about 12 percent, so we were badly under performing. Also, the building we had at the time was outdated and small. The entire Mobile operation needed to be evaluated, and we needed to decide on whether or not it even made sense to stay in that market.”

Within two years, he and the team he assembled significantly increased the Mobile branch’s market. They also built a new 50,000 sq. ft. building, invested in shop equipment, and brought in more service technicians to improve and upgrade services to customers.

By the end of 2006, fueled by a booming housing market and an industry-wide rush to buy new trucks before significant engine emissions standards were to take effect the following model year, the Mobile branch had its best year ever.

Bruser was also transitioning from sales to becoming more of a manager for the dealership’s entire operations. “I started get ting more involved with overall business operations and poring over financials,” he says.

With the Mobile dealership on solid footing, Bruser and his family moved back to Birmingham in 2009, where he took on the new role of Corporate Truck Sales Manager and shortly after was tapped company vice president.

Under his watch, overall annual sales doubled and have stayed high, and as a result, he has earned National Sales Man ager of the Year consecutively in 2011 and 2012 from Kenworth Truck Co. and was named the OEM’s National Dealer Council Chairman in 2017.

Truckworx has been a supporting partner of area trade schools and community colleges, especially diesel technician training programs.

Well-Laid Plans

During the next few years, Bob began handing over more responsibility to Bruser, and the two began working on a succession plan. Part of the plan was a total rebrand from Kenworth of Alabama to Truckworx Kenworth in 2013, which better repre sented the company’s mission and also brought the dealership’s extensive network under one umbrella.

He also focused on revamping company culture, its mission, and bringing in talent ed people to provide the best level of custo mer service. These changes set the stage for future growth. Around this time, he brought in Mike Levering, a former OEM rep, to be Vice President of Operations. “Mike came with extensive operations and leadership qualities,” Bruser says. “His background was from a more corporate structure which helped us create a more seamless operation top to bottom. He has been instrumental in shaping our company culture to become an operation that pro vides customers with quality sales and services.”

Bruser also redefined the company’s mission statement to something he believes is pivotal to the company’s success: “Do what is right for the right reasons, all day every day.”

He emphasizes this mission throughout the company constantly and challenges his team to focus on living this way for them selves, their customers, their vendors, and the company itself.

Bruser says the goal is to continuously find new ways to serve customers better.

And for nearly a decade since he took over, Truckworx has continued to expand its number of locations as well as the products and services it offers. The company now operates 16 locations, including eight fullservice dealerships, most recently adding a location in Tuscaloosa, Ala. to support that community’s growing customer base, and added a TRP parts store in Opelika, Ala.

Facilities have also been built in Montgomery, Ala. and Jackson, Miss., and a new corporate office was added last year in Homewood. The company also added a commercial truck rental and full-service lease division through PacLease in 2019 and is Alabama’s exclusive Blue Bird bus dealer.

Truckworx also has one of the state’s largest commercial body shop operations and will soon expand and upgrade it with a new facility in Graysville, Ala., and has three TRP Parts locations and four Truck worx Fleet Solutions locations within the company’s existing footprint. Intending to serve customers better, Truckworx also offers other product lines that align with the company’s current customer base such as YETI products, Tom Beckbe apparel and luggage, MB Ranch King deer blinds and feeders, and Pitmaker grills and smokers.

Right For Trucking

Since joining ATA, Bruser has been an energizing presence serving or leading various Association committees and initia tives, as well as donating time and resources for the improvement of Alabama’s trucking community.

Truckworx supports outreach programs to bring new talent to the industry, particu larly diesel technicians. Bruser and his Truck worx team have been instrumental in developing many young service techs through partnership programs with area technical schools and community colleges.

“Will is an outstanding business leader who has deep love and appreciation for the trucking industry,” said ATA President and CEO Mark Colson. “He follows a long line of chairmen who have built the Alabama Trucking Association into a strong and effective organization. Will is prepared to step in and continue that great legacy. We have no shortage of major issues in truck ing, and his energy and talents are the right combinations to move us forward.”

Bruser said his involvement with ATA has been a “game-changer” for his career, and he pledges to work hard to promote trucking’s interests across the state.

“I am honored to serve as Chairman of the Alabama Trucking Association,” he says. “I want to thank the ATA Board for the opportunity to serve. It is my privilege to work with each of them, and the ATA staff, to develop and implement programs and initiatives that will improve our industry and grow our membership. There is so much wisdom and experience among our board, and I will call on many of them for counsel and support to make our Association better, safer and stronger.”

Looking ahead, Bruser says he will con tinue to keep pushing himself, his team at Truckworx, and this association to do what’s right for trucking.

“I am geared to be all-in or all-out, and the only time I am all-out is when I lay down at night to go to bed,” he says. “I have never been afraid to try things, and I work hard to figure things out no matter how long it takes me. I want to do all I can for our industry. God and my family are always first in my heart, but I also feel a great sense of commitment to the trucking industry. Truckers work so hard to move this country every day, and I want to make sure that when they call or text me or my team — at any time, day or night — we do everything we can to make sure they have what they need when they need it.”

And that’s doing the right thing.

Bruser is ready to deliver a productive year for Alabama Trucking.

Ramping Up for the Long Haul: Workforce Execution Roadmap

ATA prepares to shift its strategy for nextgen workforce development and recruitment into high gear.

By Alan Alexander

As a dedicated partner of the Alabama Truck ing Association, Markstein is incredibly excited to share an up date about the strategic plan to recruit the next generation of com mer cial trucking pro fes sionals in Alabama.

We have been hard at work the past few months developing the Association’s workforce initiative strategy, which is in form ed by a Diag nostic Analysis Report that was created and de livered earlier in the year.

Using engaging content delivered through a fast and hyper-targeted advertising campaign, our goals are to promote career pathways into commercial trucking, remove misconceptions about the truck driver and diesel technician positions and sup port enrollment in training programs throughout the state.

Step 1: Messaging & Creative

The most important step in the development process of a successful advertising campaign involves laying a strong foundation to guide future outreach.

This begins with campaign messaging. In collaboration with a variety of stakeholders, Markstein developed key messages to pre cisely communicate the Association’s commit ment to workforce develop ment and the industry-wide focus to address the worker shortage. These key messages (see pg. 11) guide all communica tion about the com mercial trucking in dustry’s efforts to develop the workforce.

Another component of the messaging centers on targeted personas, specifically identifying what motivates them to pursue careers as commercial drivers or diesel technicians, what key message influences them to act, and what action we want them to take.

For example, a consistent concept that Markstein discovered through the reporting process was the idea surrounding a sense of purpose that comes with the job of a commercial driver or diesel technician. In this case, the motivator assigned for this theme is to “find a career I’m passionate about” with a supporting message of “Commercial drivers are on the front lines and support our country during critical times of need. When the world shuts down, drivers and diesel technicians step up.” Using a tailored motivator in collaboration with the supporting message, we create a call to action, such as “Be someone your community depends on by working in the commercial trucking industry.”

Now that messaging is finalized, we have a strong foundation to build creative communi cation concepts designed to engage each target persona. These concepts serve as our advertising engine and will be unveiled during the Association’s annual Convention in September.

Step 2: Strategic Assets

Once creative concepts are completed, Mark stein will shift into the strategic development phase of this project. Our high-level plan involves creat ing a new page on the Asso ciation website, which will

serve as the digital anchor of the initiative and include engaging content that promotes careers as a commercial driver and diesel technician and information on training resources throughout the state.

Markstein will also develop printed collateral in the form of an educator toolkit, which will equip teachers and career counselors in county and city school systems with information about careers in Alabama’s commercial trucking industry.

To amplify awareness of the initiative and to drive online traf fic to the Association’s career-focused webpage, we are develop ing a targeted media plan and advertising assets that are optimized to leverage creative content and encourage our au dience to learn more about beginning a career in the commercial trucking industry.

Step 3: Pilot Launch

This strategic campaign is set to launch in November 2021. Given the Association’s strong ties to the high-profile training programs at Bishop State Community College and Wallace State Community College, Hanceville, our communications will begin in the Mobile and the Huntsville-Cullman markets.

The initial advertising campaign will run as a pilot program. This campaign will run for three months, and Markstein will be tracking progress continually, discovering insights that will inform strategic pivots and optimizations as we prepare to ramp up and expand to other key geographies in the state.