Page 25 - ATR 3 2013

ABF president Roy Slagle is bringing
management savvy to the job

“I enjoyed the job tremendously,” attempting to build a new facility
By eric francis he said. “I loved Cincinnati, it’s a great to replace the one we had outgrown
Contributing Writer place to live, and I had a lot of success in Carlisle,” he said. “An opposition
in that terminal because we had good group formed. It was called Concerned
Eighteen months into his ten- people there.” Citizens for Development or something
ure leading ABF Freight System Inc., Then the position he’d always like that and for a year and a half I was
President and CEO Roy Slagle has found wanted finally came open, to become on the local news two or three times a
the same things keep him engaged manager of a break bulk facility, this week, and in the local newspaper and
today that drew him to the industry in one in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. For those I had more fame than I ever desired,
the first place, four decades ago. readers unfamiliar with the terminol- before or since.”
“I found it interesting,” he said. ogy, Slagle explained. “Of course, now He held the position until 1988,
“There was variety, every day was dif- they’re called distribution centers but when he decided to take an unusual
ferent. It was true at that point in my imagine the hub and spoke system turn. He asked for a demotion, not nec-
career and it holds true today.” airlines use to move people. American essarily the typical strategy for corpo-
He will celebrate 38 years with the Airlines flies passengers into DFW from rate advancement. But, after a divorce,
company on August 1 . “I heard a lot of the surrounding area to consolidate he wanted to be near his three teenage
st
good things about ABF,” said Slagle, who them into full flights to other destina- sons who were back in Ohio. Of course,
was living in Peoria, Ill., at the time. A tions. For example, in order to fly from the company could have ignored the
fellow named George Myers, (another Fort Smith, AR to Los Angeles, one request. Thankfully, it didn’t. Slagle got
long time ABF executive who was elect- would fly Ft. Smith to DFW, then DFW his wish. It was an accommodation by
ed chairman of the Arkansas Trucking to Los Angeles and so a nationwide the company that he was grateful for,
Association in 1993) was the branch less-than-truckload carrier like ABF use he said – and one that worked out par-
manager and I set out to bug him to similar hubs to move pallets.” ticularly well, since a few months later
death until he just had to hire me. So “It was really an exciting time,” he the Cincinnati terminal position came
he put me on nights so he wouldn’t said. “It was a time period where we open and he found himself once again
have to see me anymore.” were opening a terminal a week, a time managing a break bulk facility.
After a few years Slagle worked his of rapid expansion and a lot of activity.” But as was typical in the post-
way up to the operations manager, and And that expansion led to Slagle deregulation, fast track pace of the
in 1981 he took his first branch man- getting those 15 minutes Andy Warhol trucking industry throughout the
ager job in Cincinnati, where he stayed liked to talk about. 1980s, executives were always on the
for four years. “During my tenure, we were road. Relocation was a way of life. So,


arkansas Trucking reporT | issue 3 2013 25