PIONEER AWARD
BY STEVE BRAWNER Contributing Writer
Edited from remarks from presentation The Pioneer Award was created by the
Board of Directors in 2006 in recognition of members who contribute much to ATA, their communities and the transportation industry. This year’s award is the 17th such award since 2006. Honorees are listed on a permanent award that is displayed in the ATA lobby, in the Chairman’s Corner. In presenting the award, Hurley
Transportation’s Bill Ewing said, “It’s my pleasure today to present the 2012 Pioneer Award to an individual who officiated when I was presented my Pioneer Award a few years ago! He probably doesn’t remember that, but I do, because he’s someone I very much respect and admire in our industry. Our honoree was the unanimous choice of the ATA Executive Committee, and as soon as I start to describe him, you’ll know who it is. So I’ll tell you. The recipient of the 2012 Pioneer Award is Kevin Knight, Chairman & CEO of Knight Transportation, husband of 37 years to Sydney, father of Casey; Cody; Jake; Kylie; and Megan; and strong community and industry leader! Congratulations, Kevin…and I think it’s about time you were selected for this award! “Just a few words about Kevin and
Knight Transportation, since most of you probably know their history pretty well. Kevin started out in trucking in Utah, where his first boss was Betty Moyes, Jerry’s mother! He relocated to Phoenix in 1976. From 1976 to 1984, and again from 1986 to 1990, Kevin was employed by Swift Transportation, where he served as Executive Vice President and President of Cooper Motor Lines, Inc., a Swift subsidiary. He started Knight Transportation in 1990 and has led it through remarkable
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Kevin Knight, Knight Transportation,was presented with prestegious award
growth over the past two-plus decades – from a handful of trucks and one service center in Phoenix to over 4,000 tractors, 8800 trailers, nearly 5000 associates and a nationwide network of service centers. Knight is now a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has been named by Forbes Magazine to its list of the Top 200 Best Small Companies for 15 years running,” Ewing said.
Kevin currently serves on the Board
of Directors and Executive Committee of the American Trucking Associations, is a Past Chairman of Arizona Trucking Association and is the current Secretary/ Treasurer of the Arizona Transportation Education Foundation. But that’s the public side you know. What you may not know about is all that Kevin, along with his family and his wife Sydney, does for the community and for those less fortunate. Kevin and Sydney are strong
supporters of St. Mary’s Food Bank, and served as co-chairs of its capital campaign to build its transportation center. Not only did they chair the campaign, but they were its largest donors. In addition, Kevin came up with an innovative idea for helping St. Mary’s meet its transportation needs at a reduced cost. Under this unique program, Knight provides the food bank with good used trucking equipment at cost, which has allowed St. Mary’s to dramatically cut its transportation and maintenance costs. Kevin is also a strong advocate of
Special Olympics, raising funds through an annual golf tournament jointly sponsored with Swift Transportation and contributing funding, trucks, drivers and personnel to the annual Truck Convoy. Just a few of Kevin and Sydney’s other charitable efforts are supporting the Challenger Space Center; the local chapter of the American Red Cross
through its Tiffany Circle; the Institute for Addiction; and their church. Kevin was also a charter donor to
our own Arizona Transportation Education Foundation, serving as a Board Member and now its Secretary/Treasurer. In 2002, he and Sydney’s Foundation established an annual scholarship in honor of Terry Smalley at ASU and continued it for several years. They now contribute $2500 annually to the ATEF Scholarship Fund, which helps dependents of trucking industry employees go to colleges or vocational schools. Kevin is always there for ATA and the
industry when asked, whether it’s a political contribution to a worthy candidate, funding for scholarships, or this year – serving as the principal sponsor of our 75th Anniversary BBQ and Truck Display in May. And we are almost certain he does a lot of other things for the industry and the community that we never hear about. His wife Sydney had this to say about him: “I am very proud of Kevin. He is very
task-oriented – that’s the part of him that most people see and remember – but he also has one of the kindest hearts of anyone I have ever known. He truly cares about people and wants to do his part to make the community a better place. I also really like the guy – which is nice to be able to say after 37 years of marriage!”
Arizona Trucking Association 2012 Post-Conference Report
Knight
PHOTO: JON D. KENNEDY
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