Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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Equipment: Career Leadership Award known to jump behind the wheel of Ernest's tractor and spell him from time to time in an age when woman truckers virtually were unknown. Even better, Clark's parents treated trucking as a family affair, often taking the youngster on cross-country jaunts. Naturally, the boy fell in love with trucking. His experiences riding across the country with his entire family and observing as his father delivered products to customers created a far more intimate relationship with his future industry than simply watching and waving goodbye as his father drove away. At the same time, Clark was obsessed with machines and a passion to understand intimately what made them tick. His family tells today how as a four-year old, he disassembled the family's kitchen table – while his parents were seated at it. Clark remains fascinated with engines and machines and the way they build upon disparate technologies and sciences working together to function properly. Even though he spends most of his time today sitting behind a desk, Clark's face lights up when he describes the "sheer joy" of bringing a previously inanimate engine to life for the first time and the immense sense of balance, perfection and satisfaction he derives from seeing an engine he's worked on functioning harmoniously. 52 commercial carrier journal CCJ_0313_EquipFeature.indd 52 But most of Clark's childhood was spent in special needs schools that tried to provide some remedial physical Clark contracted therapy in addipolio at an early age – one of the distion to his general ease's last victims education. Despite in the United States. his obvious talent However, he refused for machinery, he to let polio define wanted to follow who he was or limit in his father's his opportunities in life. footsteps and drive big rigs one day. He once mentioned this desire to his father. The conversation at the time didn't seem like a significant one; just one of the simple chats that take place between fathers and sons every day. But his father surprised him by responding, "I'd much rather see you working on them and There was always my strong-willed mother standing there saying 'Tough. You are different. But you've got things to do. So get over that, and get going.' designing them, instead." The comment didn't mean much to Clark at the time, but it clearly stuck in his mind, and he often reflects on it today. His mother also was a huge influence on him during this time. As a polio victim, it was only natural that Clark, limited in his physical abilities, felt "different" and left out of many childhood activities that most of us take for granted. Likewise, bouts of frustration or self-pity were only natural. That, however, was a game that Glenda Clark did not play. "There were those moments as a child where you say, 'I'm different, and I don't like it,' " Clark says today. "But there was always my strong-willed mother standing there saying 'Tough. You are different. But you've got things to do. So get over that, and get going.' " Fundamental changes In 1969, Clark lost his father in a truck accident; it was a profound blow. But at the same time, new opportunities emerged: The owner of a small auto repair shop in town recognized the teenager's inherent mechanical abilities and let him work on cars whenever he could. At school, the verdict passed down by the experts said that Clark would make a decent watchmaker or mechanic – and as far as they were concerned, his physical condition made it apparent which path he would take. Clark defied their expectations and won admittance into Lincoln Technical Institute's Diesel Technician Program. It was at the school where his talents truly blossomed for the first time. No longer constrained by a school system or individual expectations as to what he could or could not do, Clark scored off the charts in all aspects of the program and threw himself into his studies. As he was winding up his time at Lincoln, Ryder Truck Rentals came to the school to hold an employee recruiting session; it was there that another important figure in Clark's life appeared. Bill Stone was part of a team that was establishing a vehicle prep center for Ryder in the Indianapolis area, and he was blown away by young Clark's aptitude and skills scores on the various tests the company administered. "I was very blessed," Clark says today, "because Bill was willing to take a chance on a young fellow who walked funny and put him to work." It didn't take long for Ryder to see it'd made a shrewd move. Clark worked for Ryder part time while he finished at Lincoln. In 1972, he went to work for them full time. In 1973, just one year out of technical school, he won the Indiana Motor Truck Technician of the Year Award. Clark also was growing in other ways. To overcome his physical limitations, he'd | march 2013 2/20/13 11:00 AM