Management Council member. “Kenny would tell me what I did wrong and


right with driver files, then we moved on to the more ‘meat and potatoes’ issues of how to build a well-rounded safety program and make it work,” Tompkins remembers. Helser used to reassure him about borrowing ideas from other companies’ safety management programs. “Safety directors are the best thieves in the world. We don’t mind stealing ideas from each other,” Helser would tell him. He also got a piece of advice from Helser than he found quite valuable. “Ken said you’ve got two ears and only one mouth. If you listen twice as much as you talk, you’ll do well,” Tompkins recalls. Even after Helser retired, the two remained close friends and continued to get together until Helser’s death. By 1997, Tompkins was serving on the


association’s board of directors and the Safety Management Council’s executive board. He volunteered at the Nebraska Truck Driving Championships. He handled arrangements for Scottsbluff-based association meetings and workshops. When the call came in 2008 inviting Tompkins


to consider a position on the association’s executive committee, he sought the approval of his boss, Shane Aulick, before making the commitment. “Fortunately,” Tompkins says, “Shane is adamant about the value of association membership and lifelong learning. He is a former president of the Wyoming Contractors Association, so he knows that organizations need volunteers to step up.” Aulick Leasing is also a member of the American Trucking Associations, South Dakota Trucking Association, and the Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska Association of General Contractors’ groups. Why did Tompkins say “yes,” knowing the


amount of time and travel he was committing himself to? “It has been a great opportunity to listen and learn,” he answers. “You have work to do, yes, but you’re surrounded with top notch, quality people who are dedicated to the good of the industry and not just their own companies. And the Nebraska Trucking staff does a knockout job, too.” Te timing was good from the standpoint of


learning. Tompkins joined the executive committee just as the economy tanked, so there were many sidebar conversations among peers about adjusting to the downturn without damaging the long-term prospects for growth. At the same time, Aulick Leasing had just hired a new president, Ken Lutz, who proved to be “a heck of a salesman with a wealth of trucking knowledge.” He helped to pull Aulick through what was expected to be some dismal years. At Aulick Leasing, says Tompkins, it is all about service. “Service, service, service! No late or missed deliveries. Do whatever it takes—within the law—to get it done.” Aulick is a subcontractor for road-builders in Wyoming, and the company found itself under


ON THE HOMEFRONT: Tompkins has been married for 31 years to Mary, a certified nurse midwife. Teir son Zachary


is a commercial pilot and father of grandchild Nathan. Zachary’s wife and Nathan’s mom, Leslie, is the daughter of a former and Nebraska State Patrol Carrier Enforcement Officer. Daughter Rebecka just graduated with her doctorate in psychology. Tompkins loves to travel. His next scheduled trip is to St. Maarten in the Caribbean. Te trip


of his dreams would be a visit to mysterious and beautiful Machu Picchu, the 15th century Inca site in Peru. He’s the pyrotechnician responsible for shooting the 4th of July public fireworks show in Scottsbluff as well as numerous other fireworks displays around the Nebraska panhandle.


OUT OF MEMBERSHIP, YOU’VE GOT TO GET INVOLVED.”


pressure to skirt some rules. “We said we can’t do it this way legally,” Tompkins recalls. “Let’s find another plan.” He put together a Compliance 101 seminar at


the Wyoming Contractors’ Association convention. “We had a full room and a lot of questions,” Tompkins says. “In many cases, they just didn’t know the trucking regulations we had to follow. It turned out to be a fun session, and helped with networking, too.” When the revisions to the hours-of-service


rules were published in late 2011, Tompkins put together a program for the panhandle area and invited Nebraska’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator, Elyse Mueller, to be the presenter. Te association published the invitation and asked for reservations. As the date got closer and reservations weren’t being made, Tompkins got on the phone to explain to members why they might want to attend. On the evening of the program, he had 75 truckers in the room. Definitely a benefit to the members who were on hand. “If you want to get the most out of membership, you’ve got to get involved,” Tompkins says. Members who stayed home that night missed an opportunity to get information they could use, and missed a chance to express their concerns.


CHANCE OR CHOICE? Te Nebraska Trucking Association is heavily


invested in the process of developing transportation career pathways to ensure qualified workers in the future. One question often asked is whether someone currently employed in trucking got into the business by choice or by chance. In Tompkin’s case, it was by chance. He had left Scottsbluff for Denver with the intention of becoming an electrician. However, before he left for Denver, he had started dating the woman he would eventually


marry. “Te power of Mary won,” he says happily. He returned to Scottsbluff and got a job stacking concrete blocks at Panhandle Concrete. While there, he got his chauffer’s license and started driving a ready-mix truck, then advanced to pulling pneumatics. “Ten, one day in 1988, I backed up to a silo


and jumped face first out of the cab,” he confesses. He landed wrong and tore some ligaments. While on light duty during recovery, he learned how to dispatch. Just about the time he was cleared to return to driving, the boss said “No, you are going to remain a dispatcher, and then he handed me the little green-and-white book and said build us a safety program.” A career was launched. Tompkins spent 19 years as a certified third


party examiner for the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles. He’s been a Certified Director of Safety (CDS) since 1998, and a member of the North American Transportation Management Institute since 1995. He is active in the International Society of Recruiting and Retention Professionals, and a member of the American Trucking Association’s Safety and Loss Prevention Management Council. He was Nebraska Trucking’s Safety Supervisor of the Year in 1997, and fleets under his supervision twice earned the Nebraska Grand Champion fleet safety award. He admits at this point in his career he does not usually get stumped on a safety issue, however from time to time it still happens. He likes CSA as a federal safety measurement system. It’s an improvement over the prior system, “but I don’t like the fact that accident preventability isn’t considered,” he adds. Te top issue for him is the mandate for electronic logging. “Let’s get it done and get going on a level playing field,” Tompkins says. “It’s one step farther in ensuring safer highways for our drivers and the public.” nt


NEBRASKA TRUCKER — ISSUE 5, 2012 — www.nebtrucking.com 13


“IF YOU WANT TO GET THE MOST


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