Karen Smerchek, President of Veriha Trucking, joined Jeremy Reymer on the latest episode of Taking the Hire Road to discuss how carriers can embrace the current operating environment and improve the lives of both truck drivers and trucking industry personnel.
Smerchek was raised working for Veriha, founded and owned by her father, and returned once she graduated from college. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but you don’t always have good opportunities like that, so I thought I should at least come back to try it,” she said.
Eventually, Smerchek would become the owner of the company, and now she’s proud to be president and owner of one of the few women-owned businesses in the trucking industry.
As she prepared to become the owner of Veriha Trucking, Smerchek attended Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) conferences and seminars to further her education. “They offered educational packages about transferring family-owned businesses and other specifics that I couldn’t get at college,” she said. “It was so refreshing to actually find real-world value.”
While Smerchek initially viewed TCA through an educational lens, she learned that the activist and networking components were just as impactful, if not moreso. Starting with the upcoming term, Smerchek will serve as the chair of the TCA advocacy and advisory committee and hopes to continue the legacy that guided her. “I grew up in this industry alongside TCA, and so getting to serve as the next chair is just giving back to the industry that educated me,” she said.
Political involvement, benchmarking standards and especially networking are all vital for everyone in the transportation industry. Smerchek says that associations like the TCA help carriers leverage trucking industry involvement and community for the benefit of the entire industry.
“There are some conferences that seem like they might not be relevant for me, but when I go, I come back with way more useful information that I could have hoped for just from the conversations I have with fellow professionals during the social moments of conferences,” Smerchek explained. “You can learn so much from people with experience,” she said.
Likewise, forming relationships with mutual trust across the industry is invaluable, according to Smerchek. “Having those relationships means you can lean on each other when you are struggling with a problem,” she added.
In difficult times like today’s freight market, Smerchek says that those networks can help companies survive, along with careful planning and risk mitigation. “Veriha has been able to survive for 45 years precisely because we planned ahead with good business partnerships and diversification, but it’s hard for the people who have only been in this industry for five years,” she said.
Her mantra through the difficult times is to “Embrace the suck.” “I have to encourage my colleagues who haven’t been with me long because they haven’t ever gotten to see the fun side of trucking,” Smerchek added. “Even though we’re dealing with a hard time, I know that a better day is coming.”
According to Smerchek, the fact that trucking was thriving for a time meant that many people and companies were attracted to the industry who are now seeing that there may not be success for them when the margins are slimmer. “As long as you’re appropriately planning from a cash flow, customer and diversification standpoint, hopefully you’ll endure through this season.”
Click here to learn more about Veriha Trucking.
Book recommendations: “Atomic Habits”, “Dare to Lead”, “Principles”, “The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership”
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