Member Spotlight Zach Willett, Midlands Carrier Transicold


BY JENNIFER BARNETT REED Contributing Writer


Zach Willett always thought he’d


eventually follow in his father Bill’s footsteps into the trucking industry. But it took a job offer from one of his dad’s customers to finally set him on that path. Te older Willett owns Omaha-based


Midlands Carrier Transicold, which serves Nebraska, Kansas, and part of Iowa, as well as Carrier Transicold of Southern California. Zach, 32, is now the manager of unit sales for the company’s Nebraska territory. Both men are a long way from where they


started. Bill Willett’s first job with Carrier was


as a mechanic in a corporate-owned location in Council Bluffs. He got a job in sales and worked his way up to regional director — a job that required almost constant travel, Zach said. Eventually, he became owner of his own dealership — first as a partner of dealers who held the Iowa and South Dakota Carrier territories, and on his own since 2001. Meanwhile, Zach grew up and went to


college. He worked in the shop at Midlands during the summers here and there, but after graduation, “I did my own thing for a little while,” he said. Tat ended a few years later when Bill


Willett got a call from one of his customers. “Tey said they were going to talk to him


about hiring me, and he offered me a job at that point,” Zach said. “He said he didn’t want me to go work there for a couple of years and then have him hire me away from them.”


22 Te Willetts’ father-son partnership has so


far worked out well for both men, Zach said. “He’s got a real sarcastic sense of humor and so do I,” Zach said. “He tries to steer me away from making the same mistakes he did, and I try to take his advice.” And when he doesn’t? “He always licks


his finger and makes a tally mark in the air — ‘Another one for me!’” Zach said. Talk to Zach about how his father does


business, though, and it’s clear he is paying attention. He’s absorbing how his dad has created a company culture that puts the customer’s interest first — and takes care of its own as well. “Bill does a lot of things for the employees,”


Zach said. “He worked out in a shop, and remembers how the cold floors would suck the heat out of you in the winter. So eight or nine years ago when they built a new shop, he put in heated floors.” Tere’s not a huge financial payback from that kind of investment, Zach said, but the guys in the shop don’t freeze in the winter. Even when they don’t see eye to eye, they


don’t lose sight of their common focus. “When we do get into disagreements, the


purpose we’re going toward is always to be better,” Zach said. “You just get better and move forward.” Last year, Zach brought that same focus


to the planning committee for the Nebraska Trucking Association’s annual holiday party. As a vendor, he’d always attended and enjoyed himself — but he saw an opportunity to increase attendance among his customers.


FROM MAKING THE SAME MISTAKES HE DID, AND I TRY TO TAKE HIS ADVICE.” —ZACH WILLETT


OF HUMOR AND SO DO I. HE TRIES TO STEER ME AWAY


SARCASTIC SENSE “Tere’s a high value to having that


face time,” he said. “Te party is a time for everybody in the industry to get together, share ideas, benefit a charity, and have fun.” As for what the future holds, Zach Willett


said it’s too soon to know what his eventual role in his father’s business will be. For now, their focus is on helping Midlands Carrier Transicold continue to grow — it recently added Southern California to its territory — and stay strong and diversified. “As the next generation, I hope to keep


the business in the family,” Zach said. “It just depends on if he feels I’m ready or not when he’s ready to step back. I have a long way to go yet. Bill always says no one should be complacent — there’s always room for improvement.” NT


NEBRASKA TRUCKER — ISSUE 1, 2016 — www.nebtrucking.com


“[BILL WILLETT’S] GOT A REAL


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