THE NUMBER ONE VALUE THAT YOU CAN GET IS FROM YOUR PURE INTERACTION AMONGST THE PEOPLE THAT DO THE SAME THING THAT YOU DO DAY IN AND DAY OUT, AND KNOWING THAT IT’S BUILDING A TRUST WITHIN YOUR PEERS.
try to take and work together under the same format, we all benefit.” Walker also has served as chairman of
Photo: Jon D. Kennedy Walker with his wife, Lea Ann
about what’s happening in their trucks, including their locations and when they should arrive. The technology does put the company at a disadvantage against compet- itors who still operate in the gray areas, he said. But eventually, those competitors will have to adopt the technology. “Anybody who doesn’t have that won’t
survive and won’t make the next five years,” he said. “You’re going to have to be able to give the customer the most techno- logical information that they can get.” The trucking industry has been very
good to Walker, and so he’s tried to give back to it. He has long been active in TXTA and served as chairman of the organization in 2000-01 after being named Leader of the Year in 1998. He said his involvement has given him many opportunities to interact with his fellow trucking executives. “That’s the value of being a member
of TXTA or any trade association,” he said. “It’s not the educational programs. It’s not the political clout. The number one value that you can get is from your pure interac- tion amongst the people that do the same thing that you do day in and day out, and knowing that it’s building a trust within your peers. I want to be able to know that I can sit down and talk to them honestly and not talk to them as if they’re my competitor or my enemy. I want to say, ‘How do you do this? How can I do it better?’ And my sons don’t quite get this yet, but I want to be able to help my competitors because the better my competitors do their job, we all benefit. So if we all play by the same game rules, if we all follow the same laws, and if we all
32 Summer 2016
the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and is currently a board member. That position has given him a role in making the rules and stopping bad rules and legisla- tion. As one of nine board members, he’s been the only one that knew trucking, so when rules are passed, the other board members have looked to him for his per- spective. “I think that God blessed me with a
lot and has given me a lot including the capabilities to be successful in life,” he said. “And I think that I owe it in return to give back to society and pay back some of what I’ve been given. I don’t get paid to do this. There’s not a lot of glory in running the Department of Motor Vehicles in the state of Texas. There’s no perks or anything like that to it. But really, I’m the gatekeeper for the trucking industry when it comes to reg- ulations.” Life is good for Walker. He and Lea
Ann have a one-year-old granddaughter, Madison, and their second grandaughter was born this month. The graduate of Texas A&M who wanted to own a ranch now owns two adjacent ones in Fayetteville, the Tex 6 Ranch and the Two Creek Ranch. Between the two of them, they cover 1,500 acres with about 200 Braford beef cows, which are a cross between Brahman and Hereford breeds. He and Lea Ann are build- ing a home there, and they might retire there some day. Ranch life lets him get away from the busyness of life in the big city. Plus, sometimes cows are easier to move than oil- field equipment. “With a sack of feed, they’ll follow you anywhere,” he said. His best friend and competitor, Bob
McDowell, owner of Houston-based W.M. Dewey & Son, has his own ranch, the Oak Hill Ranch, about 10 miles away. “Bob and I see each other most week-
ends and either have dinner together at our ranches or help each other with work at one of the ranches,” he said. “But we spend more time driving around on an ATV at one of our ranches with a cocktail and just admiring the beauty and solitude of the country and getting away from the fast pace of trucking in the city.” Walker jokes that he “has 500 more
acres than Bob McDowell, which is important.” But McDowell, who is comparatively new to ranching, said Walker has been instrumental in helping him manage his herd of black Brangus. “I never thought I would be a rancher on this scale. I probably wouldn’t be without Johnny encouraging me and telling me he’d be there to help me.” In the trucking industry, McDowell
said Walker is seen by others this way: “As a smart businessman and also knowledge- able about the trucking industry, and very resourceful. And he studies the issues and certainly speaks his mind and asks the questions that a lot of us are thinking but probably don’t want to ask. … Whether it’s our trucking association finance commit- tee meetings or executive committee meet- ings, he studies the issues and asks all the easy and tough questions.” Asked what words would best
describe himself, Walker said he is direct, assertive, hard working and “very tena- cious.” He doesn’t like it when people go to a meeting, nod their head at what is being said and then complain afterwards. “People know who I am, always,
because I tell them who I am,” he said. “And people know my positions because I don’t hold back. If I think that we ought to eat pecan pie instead of lemon pie, it’s not like, ‘Oh, well, OK.’ I’m like, ‘No, I’d rather have pecan … and here’s why.’ It’s just always been my personality. I tell it the way I see it. … I’m not always right, but you’ll always know where I stand.” R
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