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LEADERSHIP WITH A PURPOSE Jurk says trucking is about more than just a paycheck
BY STEVE BRAWNER Contributing Writer
When Russell Jurk was a senior at La
Grange High School, the title of his senior thesis was “How to Succeed in Big Time Trucking.” He earned a C-. Today, Jurk is vice president of Bobby
Lehmann Trucking, a carrier started by his father-in-law, Bobby Lehmann. Mostly, he hauls oil rig equipment – not a bad busi- ness to be in right now, especially in Texas. He’s also the most recent past chairman of the Texas Trucking Association. That’s pretty big-time, but Jurk (pro-
nounced “Yurk”) isn’t satisfied. “I don’t want to come to work every
day just to make a living because that’s no fun,” he said of his goals. “I would like to grow the company. Do I have a target? Yes, I do. Am I hitting it? No, not all the time, but it’s not important that we’re perfect. It’s important that our effort is perfect. So that’s the goal.” Jurk, 50, grew up in Warda, what he
called “a little spot in the road” in Fayette County with a post office, a store and a church that was the hub of community activity. He went to school in La Grange, the county seat. Growing up, he knew men who owned trucking companies and was intrigued at the idea of making a living that way.
Lacking money for college, he
enrolled in the now-defunct Southwest School of Electronics in Austin to learn how to troubleshoot and diagnose circuitry problems. It was the dawn of the personal computer age. He specialized in printing
“I DON’T WANT TO COME TO WORK EVERY DAY JUST TO MAKE A LIVING BECAUSE THAT’S NO FUN. I WOULD LIKE TO GROW THE COMPANY. …IT’S NOT IMPORTANT THAT WE’RE PERFECT. IT’S IMPORTANT THAT OUR EFFORT IS PERFECT. SO THAT’S THE GOAL.”
—RUSSELL JURK, VICE PRESIDENT, BOBBY LEHMANN TRUCKING
presses, copier duplicators and other equip- ment.
“If you could print it, punch it, fold it,
drill holes in it, bind it, anything like that, that’s what I worked on,” he said. Eventually, he became a district man-
ager with a home in the Houston suburbs. His life seemed set. He and wife Laurie had a daughter, Ashley, and soon would have a son, Richard. Then in 1993, his father-in- law, Bobby Lehmann, asked him to work for his trucking company in Giddings. “He had grown to a point where he
saw the need to get a family member involved,” Jurk said. “He wanted a family member to learn the business so when he retired, he would have some way to pass the torch.” Lehmann had started the company in
1978, back before the trucking industry was deregulated. It was small, about 10 trucks and 20 trailers. It specialized in hauling production equipment – pumps, tanks, pipe – within range of a two-way radio in Lee County and the surrounding counties.
Despite the title of his senior thesis,
Jurk had not spent his post-high school years thinking about how to succeed in big- time trucking. However, he did recognize the opportunity that was presenting itself. Plus, he was a country boy at heart and preferred his children be raised that way. In 1994, he took the job. “It all sort of came together,” he said. Lehmann didn’t simply give his son-
in-law a cushy corner office. Instead, he expected him to learn the business from the ground up. Jurk worked in the shop. He earned his commercial driver’s license, which he still maintains. In his early years, Jurk drove a winch truck and hauled pipe, drove a vacuum truck that he used to clean production tanks to eventually resell and he dispatched. He had been there about six years
when, in early 2000, the company’s general manager left the firm. Lehmann handed him the keys. The years of preparation immediately Continues
Winter 2015 35
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