Schuier Carries on Family Tradition With Trucking Career
[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]
NEW ORLEANS — Amanda Schuier is a fourth-generation trucking industry professional.
Her great-grandfather owned a trucking company, her grandfather bought a truck dealership, and her father worked at a dealership.
But when Schuier — installed as the 65th chairman of the Technology & Maintenance Council on March 5 — went off to college at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., a career in trucking wasn’t exactly on her radar. She earned a degree in journalism and Spanish.
“I didn’t go to school saying I wanted to be in trucking,” Schuier recalled.
Of course, that would eventually change. Today, the new chairman is strategic maintenance director at Houston-based Jetco Delivery. She’s married to a dentist and has two children, a boy, 8, and a girl, 11, who wants to be a truck driver.
Kicking it on @RoadDogTrucking this morning with KC Phillips!! Had a blast and can’t wait to go back! #TMCAnnual24 pic.twitter.com/ME3njx5kZQ — Amanda Schuier (@ASchuier) March 5, 2024
After college, Schuier started her career in marketing. After being laid off from a job, she found an opportunity for a corporate-type job at a truck dealership. While at the dealership, she spent time visiting the employees in the parts room and also spent time with the techs and truck salespeople.
“I found I fit in better there than the corporate environment,” she said. “I wanted to be where the action is. I really liked the work, and I really liked the people. It was too quiet upstairs in the corporate world.”
She quit the dealership job for a gig hiring diesel techs with a fleet, and learned that the people she was hiring were making $30,000 more than her. “That really stood out to me because I found out that’s how important these careers can be,” she said. “They make good money.”
The fleet job allowed her to become a TMC member, which in turn put her on a path to become only the second woman to be named TMC chairman.
Calhoun
“She’s been absolutely committed to this for quite a while,” said Ken Calhoun, fleet optimization manager for Altec Inc. “Amanda is TMC all day, every day, all year long.”
Calhoun, a former TMC chairman himself, has served as a mentor to Schuier, challenged her along the way, and has watched her grow into a professional who is ready for the TMC leadership post.
Braswell
“Amanda has been an exemplary member of TMC, including winning the council’s highest honor — the Silver Spark Plug,” TMC Executive Director Robert Braswell said. “Her professionalism and commitment to trucking make her an outstanding choice to be TMC general chairman and treasurer.”
Schuier noted that she is the only person to complete both the LEAD ATA mentoring initiative for emerging executives in trucking and also the TMC Leaders of Tomorrow program.
Still, it’s no cakewalk to climb into the TMC chair. “First you have to get nominated by a nomination committee. Then the TMC membership votes you to the board of directors. Once you’re on the board of directors, there’s another election by the board for you to become a chair,” she said.
Before that, she had to serve as vice chairman of the council.
COMTO's April Rai offers tips to increase workforce diversity and grow profits.. Tune in above or by going to RoadSigns.ttnews.com.
“I’ve worked a lot on recommended practices, and I chaired the S5 Fleet Maintenance Management Study Group for four years,” she said. “I’m not as technical as some of our other chairmen have been. One of the ways I’ve overcome that is by being involved in a lot of the recommended practice work and being involved in some of the technical sessions.”
Schuier said her primary goal as chairman is to get TMC members more engaged with the council. She also wants to encourage more young people to become TMC members and volunteers.
“One of the things that I try to live by is if I ask somebody to do something, it’s not something that I wouldn’t do myself,” she said. Case in point: To get the feel for what her truck drivers experience in their cabs, she installed a rear-facing camera in her car for 2½ months. “I learned a lot about my driving habits,” she said.
And Schuier has no problems rolling up her sleeves with the mechanics when the job calls for it.
“I will go out in the shop with them,” she said. “I used to do preventive maintenance inspections with the techs. I have zero qualms getting down and dirty.”
Want more news? Listen to today's daily briefing below or go here for more info:
