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Broadway in North Little Rock.
“But you could tell,” said Selig. “If
you’d met Steve, if you would’ve known
Steve then… I could just tell that the “iN the military, you Need to be able to do
company had a lot of potential.”
“He came to work for me in a sales what you asK your trooPs to do.”
capacity and he was the sales depart-
ment, if you will,” said Williams.
“Stephen was a friend to start off with, For example, Selig had a natural staying longer than the veterans who
so I knew who he was, I knew the man strength for administrative responsibil- tend to turn to another ‘better deal’ all
he was. That’s what intrigued me about ity and maintaining the carefully devel- the time. Cultivating a new driver cul-
him coming to work for us.” oped management infrastructure of the ture could be the key.
Both Selig’s sales acumen and his company. Selig believes his ability to create
experience in the building materials “Stephen excels at that,” explained the sale has obviously benefitted the
industry proved to be a potent com- Williams. “I on the other hand, by the company. But the art of selling takes
bination. “We used to make a lot of nature of the name ‘maverick’ that is time “to develop relationships with
sales calls together, whether Chicago or something I struggle with.” customers.” He also thinks it’s much
Cleveland or Pittsburgh, predominately Selig recalled that Williams set the easier to promise than to deliver on
in the steel-shipping community for bar pretty high. “Steve was the first those promises. “If we make a promise
the major integrated steel mills,” said one to arrive in the morning and the to a customer or a commitment to a
Williams. “Some of my fondest memo- last one to get home. He worked a lot customer, then we’re going to do what
ries were the tag-team approach we took of Saturdays. So I had a lot of respect we say.”
together on sales calls when we probably for him as an individual even though, There’s no one secret to a compa-
had 100 trucks, but we acted like we at first, I didn’t know much about his ny’s success. He feels that Maverick has
had 500. business or what he was doing.” developed a culture that incorporates
“It’s a cool experience when you He was a fast learner though. In a several attributes – ethics, morals, prin-
have that kind of chemistry with each 2001 Arkansas Trucking Report article on ciples and values.
other,” he said. “We could still do it, Maverick, Selig, newly named as presi- “I enjoy coming to work,” he said.
blindfolded.” dent, projected that the company could “We have some really talented young
“His word means a lot and it goes double its growth in just five years. He people in our organization and that’s
both ways,” said Williams. “He expects was right on the money, as Maverick one of the things that really excites me
people to deal with him the way he does grew from $97 million in revenue in when I come to work every day now.”
with others and that is honestly and 2000 to $200 million in 2005. He’s proud that his two sons, Drew and
truthfully. And people, whether they The company has grown steadily, Matt, have joined Maverick.
are customers or just people within the generating $240 million in revenue last So you could say that for Stephen
company, can trust he is going to be year. Today, Maverick operates about Selig, getting to run the day-to-day
there for them.” 1,350 trucks – all Freightliners, all com- operations of a big trucking company as
pany-owned and all maroon .Its growth its president is a really enjoyable job.
ExpaNdING rolES over the years has been steady but delib- But it would be much more fun to
In 2001, Williams decided to del- erately so, and that’s one reason Selig bring this all back around to a baseball
egate the day-to-day operations of the believes the company has weathered analogy, where Williams is the high-
company to someone else so he could two major recessions. profile owner, iconoclastic and beloved,
work on developing some long-term Creating a stable driver workforce but with duties that keep him from
strategic initiatives. He asked Selig to is every trucking company’s dream. spending his time directing the guys
become president. To that end Selig says Maverick rigidly from the dugout. Hence he taps Selig to
“Stephen had proven himself,” said screens applicants to try and improve be his man on the ground, the one with
Williams. “When it came time for me retention of drivers. But he thinks link- the best view of the field, who’s direct-
to try to do some other things and I had ing the “combination of R&R – recruit- ing the team, setting the tone and call-
to find someone to be the president of ing and retention” are the obvious keys ing the plays.
the company, he was the logical choice to success. The challenge is in knowing In other words, Selig is finally get-
because of our very similar competitive how to do both well. ting to play catcher again. And he’s
styles.” And the company is experiencing a enjoying the view of the field from
But it was also their differences new phenomenon. New drivers who’ve behind the plate.
that made this a smart move, he added. had no previous experience are actually

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