ATA Featured Member: McKelvey Trucking
McKelvey Service Since 1957
Headquartered in Phoenix, AZ, McKELVEY Trucking specializes in truckload, dry-van service with traffic lanes between Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah. January 2007 marks the company’s 50th anniversary of service, a milestone that has prompted the company to refocus its energies on what it does best.
McKELVEY Trucking is a western regional carrier that provides its customers with a level of on-time service that ranks among the best in the industry. Company leaders attribute McKELVEY’s success to its people. Customer service personnel are trained, experienced professionals that identify problems and implement effective, efficient solutions without negative impact on the company’s shipper-partners. The commitment and dedication of McKELVEY’s people has enabled the company to achieve a measurable degree of success in a challenging economic climate.
In the next few years, McKELVEY may expand the number of states in which the company offers service by adding equipment and owner operators, as well as through company acquisitions. McKELVEY’s continued vision is to be one of the very best, safest carriers in the western United States.
During the past 20 years under the leadership of CEO Dale Finck, McKELVEY’s fleet has grown from 8 trucks to 300. The business currently serves eighteen Fortune 500 companies.
“I have enjoyed seeing my employees grow in knowledge and stature, I value the fact that year-in and year-out we are recognized as a safe carrier. I appreciate and take great pride in the contribution that our drivers and owner operators have made to our safety record, as well as the quality of service that we have provided to our customers.”
– Dale Finck, Chief Executive Officer, McKELVEY Trucking
McKELVEY has been a member of the Arizona Trucking Association since August 1964. Company officials and employees actively participate in the well-known ATA-sponsored program Share the Road, often volunteering the company’s No Zone trailer for safety demonstrations. By sharing knowledge about how to safely drive around trucks, McKELVEY helps to reduce accident frequency and severity. VP of Safety Mark Guin currently represents McKELVEY on ATA’s Board of Directors, is a member of its Strategic Planning Committee and is also serving as Chair of the 2007 Truck Driving Championships.
Finck extended his personal thanks “…to the hard work of Mark Guin and his safety department and to Harold Kayser and his operational group for coordinating the day-to-day business of serving our customers. But most importantly, I would like to thank our drivers and owner operators for the job they do every day. Ultimately, it is their performance that serves our customers and delivers the safety record for which McKELVEY is recognized.”
For the past 18 months McKELVEY has been training and certifying all drivers and owner operators in the Highway Watch® program. The training has created a heightened awareness amongst company employees that, as professionals—their observations during the course of daily activities—can help to keep the nation’s highways safe and secure.
Like many other carriers one of the biggest issues that McKELVEY faces is the shortage of qualified truck drivers. The company has been studying the research and looking at many ways of dealing with the shortage and with driver turnover, including:
- Increasing public awareness of professional truck driving as a viable career opportunity within the industry.
- Consistently providing drivers with scheduled home time is considered very important to improved retention.
- Empowering drivers to further develop their skills and to transform their skill set into earning potential.
- Making the relationship between driver and company the core of the successful trucking company business model will attract more people to a career as a professional truck driver, thus improving the company’s ability to hire drivers at a rate that better addresses demand.
It is vitally important that the interests of the Arizona-based trucking companies be represented in a positive manner both politically and publicly, McKELVEY officials said. “The key value of being a member of the Arizona Trucking Association is the benefit received from the association’s ongoing political involvement. ATA keeps its members informed on key issues and industry trends and also serves as a watchdog to make sure that elected officials are knowledgeable and concerned about those issues that affect the wellbeing of the industry.”
When asked about the key value of being a member of ATA and other industry associations, Dale Finck said, “ATA does an excellent job of promoting a positive, professional image that reflects our never-ending commitment to public safety. Additionally, ATA provides educational and leadership skills through various training and workshop programs, as well as the much-needed services of the Title and Registration Department.”