COVER STORY
Longtime MCM member Mike Griffith of Quality Transportation overcame obstacles in life and business to leave behind a legacy of success.
Quality of Life
BY TODD TRAUB ContributingWriter
MikeGriffith was the type of man who
literally went the extra mile, and more, for the worthwhile things. Griffith, founder of Montana-based Quality
Transport Inc. and a past president of the Motor Carriers of Montana, passed awayNov. 19 at age 63.He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died suddenly of heart failure related to his illness. Griffith left behind fond memories of a life-
loving family man who would do whatever he felt was necessary, even if that meant driving more than 400 miles one way fromBaker to Helena to conduct MCM business that could have easily been handled by phone. “He liked to be around everybody in the
transportation industry,” said Glenn Rost, Quality Transportation’s safety director and Griffith’s brother in law. “He was always interfacing with people in different parts of the industry.” Born March 8, 1949,Griffith was the lone
brother to what was eventually a count of five sisters.He contracted polio at 18 months but stayed active in sports and other adventures despite several surgeries. “He was always a guy that overcame stuff,”
saidGriffith’s son Patrick. MikeGriffith graduated high school in
Baker in 1967 and attended college in Billings ROADWISE |
before he worked briefly in insurance. He got his start in trucking, which turned out to be his true calling, as a dispatcher at Bee Line Transportation in Baker in 1972. In 1976Griffith moved toWestern
Trucking, also in Baker, and in 1978 he married AnnaHalmans Pettesch, adopting her 1-year- old son Matt, and Patrick was born to the couple in 1981. Mike and Anna started up Quality
Transportation in August of 1985. Patrick recalled a man who always had
time for his family no matter what kind of days he put in trying to grow his business. “If he came home from work and I wanted
to play basketball we played basketball,” Patrick said. “If it was TV we watched TV. …We were always his priority.” In writing Mike’s obituary, Rost included a
family inspired quote from Mike: “Life is good, I’m blessed.” Patrick, 32, has succeeded his father as
Quality Transportation president while Matt, 36, takes time away from his own business to maintain the company computer system. They are among the company’s few male staff members. Something about having five
sisters seemed to carry over into Mike’s professional life as the female staff has always outnumbered the males at Quality Transportation.
ISSUE 1, 2013 |
www.mttrucking.org Rost marriedGriffith’s youngest sister
Margaret — who goes byGay —and said Mike had a great rapport with all employees but especially seemed to enjoy trading pranks with the women. “He used to joke around, kind of talking
about how he was outnumbered 5 to 1 but God had a sense of humor and was kind of prepping him for later in life and the company,” Rost said. In forming Quality Transportation, Mike
and Anna partnered with Al and MarkHeller, adding a brokerage company called Q.T. Inc., to eventually build a carrier that hauled flatbed freight to all 48 continental states and into parts of Canada. Mike was company president, handling
day-to-day operations until his death last fall, and Anna served as secretary treasurer in charge of payroll and benefits. The company began as a three-truck
operation and in less than a year had been built to 16 trucks. Presently the company runs approximately 65 units throughout the United States, with an emphasis on Texas, eastern Montana and westernNorthDakota. “In terms of the company, if you worked
for Quality he loved you and treated you like family,” PatrickGriffith said. “He would give you the shirt off his back.” Patrick recalled an operator who felt
Quality Transportation had underpaid him, 9
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