TRUCKING BUSINESS THAT I STARTED AND GREW UP WITH, AND THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE. WITH ECLIPSE, I’VE TRIED TO MELD THE GOOD


THINGS OF EACH, BECAUSE THERE’S DOWNSIDES OF BOTH.” —RON MENCL


sister company, which moved him to Omaha. From there he was transferred to Clarksville, Missouri. Unchallenged in that position, he took a job with St. Louis-based Truck Transport, which sent him first to Cape Girardeau as a terminal manager. He then spent nine months living in a motel while he started up an operation in Memphis. He then moved to Batesville, Arkansas, where he oversaw a terminal there along with the one in Memphis and started a small terminal in Little Rock. He then took a job with a Denver company, which is where he was working in 1992 when he decided it was time to stop moving and come home. One of the first steps in starting his


company was coming up with a name. First came “Transervices,” a combination of “transportation” and “services,” but that didn’t seem like enough. Brainstorming one day around the kitchen table with Earl Miner and his wife, K.C., the fans of “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” began thinking about words associated with space or the future. Tey looked through the dictionary, with Ron paying special attention to words starting with “A” so they would be higher on customers’ call lists. “Eclipse,” however, stood out because it’s a spectacular event and because it spoke to Mencl’s desire to eclipse the competition. In May 1994. Miner left a secure job to


work for his old friend and driving partner. Together, they developed the software that


16


Eclipse uses today for its dispatch program. Meanwhile, they opened a computer retail store in Beatrice and then another one in Lincoln. In August 1997, Eclipse moved to the same building in Beatrice where the computer store was located. It later bought that building. By 2000, they were out of the computer business – it was too hard to compete with the big stores – to focus on transportation. Now executive vice president, Miner is the company’s top broker and is in charge of the IT side of the business. Looking back, Mencl’s experiences


prepared him for Eclipse’s business model. Driving trucks let him see the industry where the rubber meets the road. Meanwhile, he’s worked both for large corporations and as a small carrier, giving him the perspectives of both. “I learned the corporate way of doing


business from them as opposed to the good old boy trucking business that I started and grew up with, and there is a big difference,” he said. “With Eclipse, I’ve tried to meld the good things of each, because there’s downsides of both.” One thing he hasn’t forgotten is what it’s


like to be a driver. Te company’s original accounting chief, Mencl still signs each driver’s check and initiated programs that pay as quickly as one day after the haul for a small fee. Meanwhile, the company tries to treat others as it would be treated. From the beginning,


OF DOING BUSINESS FROM THEM AS OPPOSED TO THE GOOD OLD BOY


“I LEARNED THE CORPORATE WAY


Mencl and Miner wanted a family-oriented atmosphere. “Tey’re employees, but they’re treated


as family,” Miner said. “Tat’s why we’ve got people that have been here over 15 years… everyone has input. It doesn’t matter what position they’re in, if somebody has an idea or wants input, it’s all considered.” Mencl credits the success of his company


to everyone that is part of the Eclipse family. Earl Miner, Marci York, Sheri Zulauf, Jennifer Furse, Derreck Furse, Jeff Schaffer, and Mitchell Snyder are the brokers, Carrie Stewart, Mark Warren, and James Saathoff are the administration and management team, John Dunn and David Canfield are in the shop, and the many talented and experienced truck drivers and fleet managers that extend our service on the road to our customers. Mencl has been a member of the Nebraska


Trucking Association’s board of directors for about 20 years. He first became involved when former director Bud Cuca asked him to join. Te association at the time was composed mostly of large companies, and Cuca wanted the perspective of a smaller fleet. He has always enjoyed and valued Larry Johnson in that position with the association as well and values the benefits of the organization and its members. Te motor carrier industry keeps Mencl


busy, but while it’s the way he makes his living, it’s not his life. His daughter, Sara Halvorsen, 23, and her husband, Wade, gave Mencl his first grandchild, Adeline, in 2015. Mencl’s son, John, 15, plays football at Beatrice High School. Mencl has lost his mother, but his father is 94 and lives in a Beatrice retirement home, and Mencl is able to visit him two or three times a week. After Glenadine died in 2009, Mencl became a born-again Christian and now is active in the Christ Community Church in Beatrice. He prays and thanks Him every day for all his blessings, including his family, his eclipse family, and the opportunities and challenges alike. I began to simply credit Him for everything and just be thankful. Tat decision, he said, made him a better


businessman. “I don’t stress as much, I guess, to be honest,” he said. “I think that’s the biggest thing, and when a person doesn’t stress, you’re usually a kinder and better person.” NT


NEBRASKA TRUCKER — ISSUE 6, 2015 — www.nebtrucking.com


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