Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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COVER STORY | CAREER LEADERSHIP AWARD commercial carrier journal | march 2018 55 "At that point [30 years ago], I didn't know that we had A-level, B-level, C-level technicians," Hilton recalls. "You just did what you needed to do. I remember one day when it got slow, Mike asked me to wash down the wash bay walls. I learned real quick we do whatever it takes to keep all the plates spinning." Jeffress says Hilton initially joined a group that consisted of two other technicians with more experience, but Hilton rose to leadership within that group because his peers recog- nized that he had a knack for fi guring things out. With his professional life on the upswing, Hilton's personal life also was in store for an upgrade — again, thanks to a friend. Hilton's roommate had a friend named Ann, who invited Brent to a party thrown in her honor. A year later, Brent and Ann were married. "When I saw him, it was like this rush came over me," says Hilton's wife of 26 years. Through marriage, Brent also be- came a father to Ann's two children, Jennifer and Jeremiah. "He didn't come off as strict," Ann recalls. "He wouldn't yell at them. He'd talk to them. He'd ask them why they did what they did and show them where they went wrong, and there was always a big hug at the end. He treated the kids like he was raised. He took what his dad instilled in him and instilled that in Jenny and Jeremy. And what we see now is Jenny and Jeremy instilling that in their kids." After two years of spinning plates at work, and now with a family at home, Brent moved on to more com- plicated work, transitioning from oil changes to day-shift supervisor in the days of pre-telematics. "About the only thing we never did was rebuild transmissions and rear-ends," he says. "Freight drives what you do day in and day out. We centered all of our work on the loads and based on the driver's needs, where they're at and when the load had to be there." Hilton says before real-time tracking was possible, prioritiz- ing and scheduling the work was a daily challenge. "It was all up to the driver, where to- day the telematics and hours of service can tell us exactly what time that truck needs to leave by in order to make his or her delivery," he says. "Techs communi- cated with the driver and talked to them about when they needed to be out [of the truck]." Brent wasn't the only Hilton enjoying a successful career at Maverick. Ann soon was hired to recruit company drivers, a position she held for 20 years. "We decided we weren't taking work home with us, and sometimes that was hard," Ann says. "We went to lunch together a lot, but it was because we wanted to. It was because we wanted to spend time together, not because we wanted to talk about work." From 1995 to '97, Brent served as Maverick's service manager and oversaw the growing operation. "We added a shop at that time [Gary, Ind.], and I was over that location," he recalls. "We had an acquisition during that time, buying out Kissick Trucking in Kansas City, Missouri." He also oversaw the company's Road Assist program and all outside and in-house work, two responsibili- ties he still holds. From 1998 to 2004, Hilton served as service director, with oversight of outside maintenance and warranty, but a reorganization in 2004 saw Hil- ton named director of maintenance, the position he currently holds. Currently, he oversees all seven of Maverick's shop locations and 95 technicians, 15 shift supervisors, seven service managers, three regional service managers and three district service managers. The day Hilton fi rst walked on to the Maverick lot 30 years ago this year, the trucking company had about 15 trucks. Today, that number has swelled to more than 1,600. "One of Steve Williams' sayings is 'If you're not growing, you're dying,' " Hilton recalls hearing from Maverick's chairman and chief executive offi cer. "And I believe that, too. As an indi- Through marriage with Ann, Hilton's wife of 26 years, he also became a father to Ann's two children, Jennifer and Jeremiah. After graduation, Hilton enrolled at college for a couple of years, but de- cided to leave the classroom in search of his calling.