PhotograPhy by roger holsinger Chance Career Leads to Chairmanship


Meet Danny Tompkins of Aulick Leasing Corporation, Nebraska Trucking Association’s new chairman Te fleet includes 135 tractors and more than


by nance harris Executive Editor


When Danny Tompkins accepted the


chairman’s gavel from Jean Kurtenbach on September 20 in Lincoln, he made association history. Twice. Tompkins is the first Nebraska Trucking Association chairman from the state’s panhandle. Even better, he is the first licensed pyrotechnician to be elected chairman of Nebraska Trucking. It might come in handy. Nothing happens until you light the fuse.


TOMPKIN’S ROLE IN TRUCKING Tompkins is the vice president of safety and


human resources at Aulick Leasing Corporation headquartered in Scottsbluff. Aulick Leasing is part of a family of companies that started as an International Harvester dealership owned by Harry Aulick. His sons and daughter now operate a diversified enterprise that produces over $46 million in revenue annually. Aulick Leasing is the organization’s regional transportation service. It hauls aggregate materials, dry bulk, sugar beets, molasses for feed, food grade products and offers wood chip services. Te corporation has satellite locations in Cheyenne, Gillette and Newcastle,


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Wyo.; and terminals in Rapid City, S.D.; Billings Mont.; and Fort Morgan, Colo. In addition to transportation services, Aulick Leasing includes heavy equipment rental; towing and recovery; shale crushing operations; a division that deals with classic muscle cars; Aulick Air, a fleet of three private planes; a nursery and retail facility called Te Lifestyle Center (TLC); and a day spa within TLC called Te Spa at TLC. Also included in the enterprise is Aulick Industries, a trailer manufacturing and steel fabrication business headquartered in Scottsbluff with other locations throughout U.S. Tompkins is currently responsible for safety,


human resources and insurance across all aspects of the enterprise, except those associated with Aulick Industries. On average, that means around 145 employees, although seasonal workers swelled that number to over 400 this year. Aulick Leasing is a 100 percent company driver fleet, and Tompkins is responsible for driver recruiting and retention. Also risk management, accident investigation, training, and compliance with Department of Transportation, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and Environmental Protection Agency regulations.


275 different trailers to meet the diverse needs of their customers, some of whom are Fortune 500 companies. He says his biggest challenge is preventing


accidents during this time of year, when trucks pulling doubles are hauling sugar beets from the pile grounds to the sugar factories. “It’s a seasonal fleet with seasonal drivers, so it’s a huge training challenge,” he explains. Prior to joining Aulick in 2002, Tompkins


was the fleet safety director at Ameri-Co Carriers, a division of AMCOL International. He held the position for 10 years. It was during his time at Ameri-Co that Tompkins first become active in the association. It’s a commitment he says he wishes he would have made sooner.


THE VALUE OF INVOLVEMENT “One of the things I learned the hard way as


a truck safety rookie was how not to pass a DOT audit,” he admits with a laugh. “I learned how to do it after failing miserably…twice.” Tompkins found a mentor in Ken Helser, longtime safety director at Nebraska Transport Company in Scottsbluff and a Nebraska Trucking Safety


NEBRASKA TRUCKER — ISSUE 5, 2012 — www.nebtrucking.com


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