Some people make a difference in their careers. David E. Stubblefield is one of those individuals, which is why the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) has chosen to present the former president of ABF Freight System Inc. with the 2003 McCullough Logistics Executive of the Year Award.

The McCullough Award recognizes an individual for his or her record of achievement and leadership in the transportation industry. It is cosponsored by NITL and Logistics Management magazine. The award is named after John T. McCullough, a former chief editor of Distribution magazine, one of the predecessors of this publication.

A past member of NITL's executive advisory council, Stubblefield served as president and chief executive officer of ABF from 1995 to 2003. He worked for the Fort Smith, Ark.-based motor carrier or its affiliates for more than 40 years before retiring in February.

NITL chose Stubblefield as the 2003 McCullough Award winner not only for his experience but also for his character. "During his long and distinguished career, Mr. Stubblefield was a leader in the transportation industry," NITL President John B. Ficker says. "This leadership was characterized by honesty, integrity, and accessibility." NITL's officers also noted that Stubblefield is highly regarded in the transportation community. "I can't think of a finer gentleman with everything he's done for the trucking industry," said NITL Chairman Thomas Pellington in announcing the award.

As ABF grew from a regional trucker to a major national and international carrier, Ficker notes, Stubblefield kept his focus on customer service while spearheading the development of technology to improve the flow of information between carrier and customer. "He was a strong supporter of the League and believed strongly in the spirit of collaboration between shippers and carriers," Ficker says.

Executive Editor James Cooke recently spoke with Stubblefield about the many changes the veteran trucking executive has witnessed over the years.

LM You've been involved in logistics and transportation for more than four decades. What's the biggest change you've seen in this field during your long career?

DS Certainly it's deregulation. When I reflect back on what our life was like in the trucking business prior to deregulation, it was such a different world. In the first place, there were very few truckload carriers. Essentially, the LTL carriers handled all the truckload freight because they had the operating rights. But none of the carriers could serve the whole nation. Until the latter part of the '60s, no one went coast to coast. You had to pass it off from one carrier to another. We really had our hands tied.

If we wanted to expand into a new market and grow our company, the only way to do that was to apply for a "public convenience and necessity" certificate and prove that the public needed that service. If any carriers were serving that market, they would go in and protect their territory. Our only alternative was to buy other carriers. It was difficult to expand.

The pricing was done with a roomful of tariffs. We couldn't name our own price; it had to be approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Since we all had the same price, we competed on how we served the customer. That's not all bad. Carriers that had the direct operating rights had an advantage over those who had to interchange with another carrier.

All the paperwork was manual. We had a tremendous number of clerical employees at every freight terminal. We had to have rate clerks and billing clerks. It was a nightmare as far as paperwork was concerned. So it was a totally different kind of world.

Frankly, there was a lot of built-in cost because of the regulations. It was not a good thing for the shipper or for the carrier. When deregulation came along in 1980, everything went free market. That was a good thing. Certainly it's competitive now because of that—only five of the 50 largest motor carriers [at that time] still exist. They could not adjust to the free-market environment.

LM The trucking industry was rocked with change this past year. We saw CF bite the dust, and now Yellow and Roadway are proposing a merger. Will we see more consolidation in the coming year?

DS Yes, I think you will see more consolidation going on. It's not necessarily the economies-of-scale advantage [that is driving consolidation]. It's the ability to meet the needs of large, complex shipper customers.

The reality is that you can customize the processes if you're one of a few carriers serving a customer. … So there's an interest on the part of shippers to use fewer carriers. At the same time, because shippers are demanding coverage throughout the nation and internationally, they need carriers that can meet all those requirements and needs. Those that are large enough and who can handle that complexity will survive and do well.

LM What's the future of the motor carrier industry in your view?

DS There will be some more consolidation. Technology will move it further. I have some concerns with the infrastructure of this country and its ability to move the amount of freight that will have to be moved. The infrastructure will have to go through tremendous change to accommodate that.

Rail works on a limited basis. The reality is that there are only some lanes where it's efficient. They can improve. But shippers of this country don't locate in the middle of metro areas, which is where the rails go. They're out in the suburbs and there are no rail connections. Their shipments are going to have to start out by truck.

I really have concerns about this because there's so much congestion. As more products continue to move in this country and as manufacturing declines and shifts to China, [the economy will become more dependent on freight] transportation. So the infrastructure is my largest concern.

LM More and more shippers want their own personalized rates for trucking. Will this trend continue?

DS I would say in ABF's case almost every single customer has a personalized rate. No two are alike. Everyone has their own pricing, and those are addressed individually. Every relationship is individual and personal with each shipper. We couldn't do that without technology.

LM How will shippers and carriers cope with growing security regulations and still expedite the movement of freight?

DS That is a truly tough issue. It's been addressed for some time on an international basis by airfreight companies. If you're not a "known shipper," the carrier has additional responsibilities [to verify shipper information]. Once you become a known shipper with a known commodity, there's reason to allow that freight to flow.

What we've discovered over the years at ABF is that we sometimes end up with a shipment from someone we don't know at some warehouse in the middle of nowhere. You don't have the tendency to inspect it in detail. That's a problem. If we go to a known shipper, we know his products and there's reason to allow that freight to flow through. Whether people in Washington are comfortable with that has yet to be seen.

LM Any chance that we'll see re-regulation under the guise of increased security?

DS No, I don't think so. I can envision a motor carrier would have to have some kind of sign-off as to whether they are a secure carrier.

That would mostly impact truckload-type companies. Typically, an LTL carrier has to have a home base and a local pickup and delivery operation. They have to be pretty well established to attract freight. Whereas a truckload company can go through a broker and show up at a dock, and the shipper has no idea who he is.

LM How has technology changed the trucking industry?

DS There's been enormous change… Back in the early '60s, we had five people working in an office in the little town of El Dorado, Ark. Now we have one who's not even full-time. The difference is that now we are receiving bills of lading electronically from some of the major customers. Therefore they do not have to be re-entered. If we have to rebill, the billing clerks hit a code, the bill of lading comes up on the screen, and we fill in the blanks. It's almost automatic. It hits the Fort Smith facility and the computer is rating 90 percent [of the shipments] without anybody looking at them, and the bills are created. All that paper work has been eliminated. It's all done with technology.

LM What are the biggest challenges facing NITL as an organization in the coming years?

DS It's a refreshing organization. The people in charge are willing to be open in examining how to change.

As I see it, they are testing the water with the concept of bringing carriers in as full partners. They are going to have more problems dealing with rails and shippers than they will with motor carriers and shippers.

There are so many needs in the area of communication between shipper and carrier. The only way to accomplish things is to come together. NITL is a good conduit for that. We can work together through educational activities on what we need to accomplish.

Carriers and shippers can work together in Washington to improve the efficiencies of rail and trucking networks. You can accomplish more than if you have only one group carrying the banner. … There are so many environmental and security issues that if the carriers and shippers don't work together, Washington will drive us nuts.

LM What will transportation and industry professionals need to master to stay on top of the industry in the next five years?

DS On the shipper side, what I've seen in past years is that you had so many people involved in the product itself. You had the purchasing guy buying freight for inbound production, so he was concerned about getting it to manufacturing. You had a different guy involved in management of inventory. You had a different guy for warehousing and transportation. There was no one person who got his arms around the whole thing. Now we're seeing the logistics expert has his fingers on all of that and is managing that entire process. That transition has lowered costs and taken out inventory.

That individual has to know finance. He has to be familiar with transportation. He has to be an operations-type guy to understand warehousing and manufacturing. He has to have a broad capability to really address the different issues.

On the trucking side, it's much the same way. You almost need an engineer to understand the process of moving freight and matching the balances. You have to know finance. Freight is inventory turnover, and if you don't manage it, your costs go up.

LM Would you recommend transportation and logistics as a career to young people?

DS I would. I did to my son. Unfortunately, he ended up being a lawyer. And I didn't recommend that!

Over the years, it was never dull because the industry was constantly changing with the many issues involved in moving product from one place to another. There are so many possibilities. I like that kind of activity because it's not boring. It is an exciting business and it will be, going forward.