Issue 1, 2018

COMBINED TRANSPORT PRIDES itself on being a friendly, collaborative, and family-focused trucking company. But, like any successful business, it takes a lot of hard work! The company currently has four divisions, operates over 400 trucks, and works with 60 additional owner operators in 48 states and Canada. The headquarters and the shop (a few miles away) are based in Central Point, OR. In an interview with Mike Card, the company’s President and Owner, he takes us through some of the strategies he’s used to build his business, ways he gets involved in the industry, and gives us a glimpse of how he’s always one step ahead. Mike Card, with his two brothers, grew up with trucking. His father, Richard Card, was a long-haul truck driver (and even still has a CDL), so the kids were used to their father being out on the open road for extended periods of time and would sometimes ride along in the truck. Mike’s mother passed away from cancer, a tragedy to the family. It was a challenge to find a good nanny for the three boys, but then one day his father met someone. The woman, Virginia, had three children of her own, and eventually became Mike’s step-mother. “We were like the Brady Bunch but with knives and swearing,” Mike jokes. He describes the difficulty his step-mom had raising the six children, and how two families were required to function as one. Over time, we began to really appreciate each other and learn to set aside our differences. So, when Mike’s father decided to start his own trucking business, he named it “Combined Transport.” This mentality is prevalent at the office, too. Mike continues, “I tell my employees, ‘We may argue, and not always get along, but at the end of the day we have to work together. We’re like a family.’” Because his father started as a trucker, he strongly believed drivers should be treated with respect, like any other professional. Since the beginning, Combined Transport’s philosophy has been “drivers are the customers.” Mike explains, “We don’t want to tell our drivers what to do. They chose trucking for freedom to set their own schedule, be on the open road, and make a good living. We trust them to make the best decisions. For example, if they need to refuel, we want them to ask us what the most cost- effective option is.” Richard Card was strict and hard-working. Often Mike and his siblings were required to help fix and clean their father’s truck. 18 Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch MIKE CARD