Man on a Mission – Celebrating Walt Holman, Truck Chaser

Man On A Mission

Asset Recovery Specialist – Walter Holman

By Daryl Chappell

 

It makes you feel good, like the people who hired you value you and you’re an important new part of the team. Change the story to one where you sit down with nothing ready, no one expecting you, and, after putting your hands on the desk or drawers, you discover nasty food and drink spills left from the last person that need attention. Gross!! How hard is it to clean up a desk and a chair for the next person, right?

But, what if your office is also your home? Have you ever tried to move into a nasty apartment? It’s pretty unsettling. When drivers arrive at terminals for upgrade from 2nd to 1st seat, they aren’t just getting a desk, they’re getting an apartment on wheels. But what goes into making a truck ready for a new driver? Well, a lot, actually.

Company policy states that trucks must be returned to a PAM terminal (that’s one with a shop) if a driver decides to leave the PAM family. Sometimes trucks break down on the road and, due to repair times, drivers have to move to another unit. Not all of these folks clean up after themselves. There are drivers who have family or medical emergencies or any number of other circumstances that prevent them from returning a truck to a terminal or even removing their belongings for that matter. And finally, there are the drivers who just quit altogether, leaving the trucks any old place and often left dirty to spite the company.

So, who is left to pick up the pieces? You are. You and the Truck Chasers, that is. Meet Walter Holman.
Walt was born in the tiny town of Louisville, MS, but spent most of his life in Milwaukee, WI until he was drafted into the Army in 1970 as an 11B (or infantryman, for the civilians.) He trained at Ft. Polk, LA, was sent overseas for a year, and returned to the states where he served the remainder of his enlistment before being honorably discharged. During the years that followed, Walt worked for a few different companies, attended Marquette University to earn a business degree, and eventually moved to Georgia. In 2009, he discovered PAM.

“In 2009 I put in an application because I had seen PAM Transportation on the internet. I had also seen a lot of PAM trucks going down the interstate into Atlanta. I said, ‘looks like a good place to work ‘cause everybody I see is smiling! It must be a good place to work.’ So I called PAM, filled out the application, and they got me into school in Little Rock, AR. I finished school and became a first seat driver. I drove OTR and dedicated for about 5 years. One day, I got a phone call from this fella named Daryl Chappell asking me if I wanted to get into the truck recovery business. I thought about it, my wife and I talked about it and said, ‘sure’, so I came into truck recovery where I’ve been ever since. It’s been a great job. It’s a job that makes a fella feel proud, because you do things other folks wouldn’t normally do,” Holman said.

Working as a truck chaser is tough, but rewarding work. They face many different challenges that most drivers don’t. In order to have every possible asset available and working, they must do whatever it takes to get the equipment recovered and do it safely. In this game, failure is not an option.
Holman continues his story saying, “We get trucks in every kind of condition. Some of the trucks we recover are in such awful shape no other driver would want to drive them or take them where they need to go. A lot of times there are mechanical issues. No matter where it’s at, we have to figure out how we’re gonna get it fixed and moved to the nearest yard. It’s on our shoulders to get the truck there because that’s what we do.

So far, I’ve been doing this for about four years now and it’s been prosperous, the pay is great, the people you meet are great… We became very close to the people in the offices. We gained a relationship with Road Rescue. They know our voice when we call them and they wanna help get us out of wherever we are. Because when we call, the trucks are broken down and we’re stranded. Road Rescue plays a big part in our success as well. It made me proud that they offered it to me. So far I’ve had no complaints. Everything is fine. The company has been really, really good to me for all the years I’ve been here. I have a lot of respect for PAM.”

We reached out to his current supervisor, Jay Rivas, for comment and he had this to say about Walt and the team: “With trucks needing recovered at an all-time low these guys still go out and do the job without any grumbling of any kind. And what they get in the field is not always peaches and cream. Some of these trucks are broke down and they have to get them to a dealer and go after something else. They get to trucks that are locked up and they take the time to call local authorities to see if they can get access to it. Some trucks we find in some of the roughest areas of the town, but again, they get in there, get them and get out without fail. When other drivers would say it can’t be done, these guys ask, ‘when do you need it done?’
In the 4+ years that I have been in this position, I can’t remember one truck the guys were sent after that they didn’t find. Pretty remarkable if you ask me…All in all, I have the privilege of working with five of the best drivers a person could ask for. “

During the time Walt has been recovering trucks, he has been paired up with several other team mates, most of who are near half his age. Without fail, he works circles around the younger folks. I asked him why he thought that was and what may have contributed to his work ethic. He told me an emotional story about his childhood. When Walt was only about 12 years old, his father was working in a factory building tractors when tragically, he had a stroke and was left paralyzed on his right side. “My brother, who is two years older, he and I sat down and tried to figure out how we could make some money. At that time it was hard for my dad to get on Social Security because he wasn’t old enough, it was hard to get on welfare and get commodities. My dad had one hundred dollars in the bank. He took 60 dollars and bought us a lawnmower. Me and my brother, we started mowing yards. After a while, we had contracts all over town. We were out there every day pushing that lawnmower and we made enough money that Mom was able to put food on the table and keep the lights on. It was hard times, but we made it.”

About His Teammates
“Well, I work with Ken Williams who is very good, Henry Palmer, there’s Kelly Thomas from North Jackson… all those guys are really good. We also have a new guy, Bobby McCormick, who seems to be doing pretty well. All these guys are top notch. They have no problem picking up trucks. Wherever that truck is, they’ll go try to find it. A lot of times we actually have to hunt the trucks because they can tell us the area the truck is in, but they can’t always tell us exactly where it is. So far we’ve had 100% success finding them.

The thing I like most is the camaraderie. We’re all good friends and we try to help each other when we can. We travel together a lot to keep expenses down and one thing we do when we get to a truck is we all jump out, get the pre-trip done, everybody helps get the driver’s gear loaded into the truck and we NEVER leave a driver until the truck is up and ready to go. And, not just our team, but driver upgrades too!

Quite often we have new drivers that ride with us to recover their truck, and, a lot of the time, I have to spend time with those new drivers because they might know their stuff when they’re with their trainers, but when they’re by themselves, it’s a blank. Ken and I both do this. We’ll sit in the truck with them and go over the Qualcomm, make sure they’re logged in & ready for their first load. I collect maps that get left behind in trucks and keep a couple with me. Most of the time, new drivers don’t even have maps, so I’ll give them one. Then they get a load and say, ‘okay, I gotta go here.’, and I show them how to get started and how to get out of where they are. It’s all I can do. But we do all we can to get those guys going. The response we get from them when we see them on the road is fantastic. They say, ‘Thank you, man. You really helped me out a lot.’ And I tell them, ‘yeah, whatever you need to know let me know. If I’ve got experience I can pass it on to you and make you a better driver. “

The expectations are high for those who would become a “truck chaser” (as they’re affectionately known). They must be top tier performers in every way, self-motivated, with a high level of integrity and a can do attitude. Walt Holman exemplifies these characteristics and more.
Because of Walt and his fellow truck chasers, we’re able to get more trucks back into service than ever before. If you happen to run across any of these unsung heroes out on the road, buy’em a cup of Joe and let’em know they’re appreciated.