28 Oregon Trucking Association, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch The Many Faces of Trucking, cont. Maintenance Manager Mike Vallery—Oak Harbor Freight Lines As the Portland facility Maintenance Manager for Oak Harbor Freight Lines, Mike Vallery never knows quite what to expect when he walks into work every day. While Mike is responsible for all facets of service, including hiring people, assigning work, contacting terminals, calling out sub-units to drivers on the road, dealing with vendors, getting parts, and working with insurance companies, what he enjoys the most is figuring out how to fix whatever challenge rolls into his shop on any given day. “It’s an exciting field. You never know what you’re going to see today, but when you get done, you get to say, ‘Hey, I fixed it’,” said Mike. “You have it figure things out. You say, here’s the problem, how are we going to fix it? You may never have seen it before, but you get it done and you can say ‘look what we did’.” As technology in trucking has evolved, Mike and his team are constantly being challenged to continue to learn about the new vehicles they’re working on. “The truck operates the same, but you have to figure out what the differences are,” said Mike. “It’s always been exciting to learn something new. The only way you can keep up is to keep learning. When training processes come up, you have to make the commitment to keep learning.” More than anything, Mike knows that he and his team have the responsibility of making sure that they put a safe product out on the roads. “I may not be the one turning the wrenches, but I need to make sure the guy who is, knows how to do it and do it properly,” said Mike. “It’s important to me that the vehicles that leave here are done properly and will go up and down the road safely.” Dispatcher Shane Camky—Terrain Tamers Chip Hauling, Inc. While drivers are arguably the most critical cog in the machine that keeps a trucking company moving and gets goods where they need to go, dispatchers play a critical role in making sure that machine operates smoothly and efficiently. As the Logistics & Retention Director at Terrain Tamers Chip Hauling, Shane Camky works to keep the trucks loaded, mills serviced, and drivers making the most money in the least amount of time. “We are the connection between the drivers and customers,” said Shane. “We have to understand both sides, the needs of the customers and the needs of the drivers. That’s my favorite part of the job, making everything connect: upper management, customers, and drivers.” Shane says their dispatcher motto is “Think like a dispatcher, act like a driver,” something that comes naturally to Shane, who is a trained professional truck driver himself. “After years of people management, I decided I wanted to pursue all kids’ dream and went to truck school,” said Shane. “Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have gone a lot sooner.” Shane wishes more people knew that local work can be the answer folks are looking for in a career in trucking. Their team at Terrain Tamers has embraced changes to improve work-life balance, encouraging drivers to take time off even if they are out of PTO, and ensuring that three-day weekends and half days are the norm, targeting their drivers for 55-hour work weeks and rewarding them with a tenure bonus on their anniversary.
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