Know your board: OOIDA Director Mark Elrod
When he was a kid, Mark Elrod couldn’t wait for summer break.
“My grandparents had a farm over in Delphi, Ind.,” he said. “My folks would send me over during wheat harvest. I thought I was big stuff driving trucks to the combine and back. I looked forward to it every year.”
After graduating high school in 1971, Mark got his chauffeur’s license as soon as the law allowed, but he didn’t truck for a living to begin with.
“I got hired on at Chrysler around the same time I started my own radiator shop,” he said. “I bought an old Kroger fleet slab-cab with a 390 Detroit in it and put a buddy of mine in it hauling coal in and out of Peru, Ind., while I worked the radiator shop and Chrysler.”
He laughs about it now.
“I was what you call ‘diversified.’ There was way too much going on. I was married, had a young family, and Margo didn’t really want me to truck. I’d haul a load every now and then. I always liked driving.”
One of the reasons he enjoys being an OOIDA board member is working with and learning from different types of drivers.
“There’s such a variety of experience around that table. I learn something every time I sit down at it.”
Mark has always supported workers’ rights. Blue-collar industry experience from an early age taught him the importance of advocacy on the workers’ behalf.
“There are a lot of rights workers wouldn’t have without being organized. It only makes sense to support the people advocating for you.”
Q&A
When did you get your commercial driver’s license?
“I got the chauffeur’s license when I was 18 – 1971. I went back later and had them upgraded to a CDL whenever they made it a rule (1986). I started driving on my grandparent’s farm a long time before I got my chauffeur’s or CDL. I got a lot of my driving experience on farm fields and roads before I was licensed. Book learning is great, but experience is invaluable.”
What kind of freight do you specialize in?
“I’ve been hauling palletized firewood for a while now. I have a few direct deliveries to campgrounds in the summertime, but mostly I haul to the distribution center. Depending on where I’m going, it’s flatbed or box. I usually try to use the box as much as I can, so I don’t have to get out the straps.”
Why did you join OOIDA?
“I had always been active in advocacy. I worked for Central Transport as a union operator and a union steward. I was still a member of the union when I joined OOIDA. I felt like the Association was solid in their leadership and mission. I met Harold Landry, and he invited me out to the board meetings in Las Vegas when they were in between buildings in Grain Valley. Instead of taking off to gamble and see the shows, I stayed and listened to what they had to say. I felt like OOIDA was the organization going to Washington with the driver’s best interest in mind.”
If you could make one significant change in the industry with a snap of your fingers, what would it be?
“As far as regulations go, I’d reduce all of them, starting with the log book. I’ve never been a fan of a log book. If I could make a change within the industry, I’d bring back the respect between the drivers, shippers and receivers. I’d tell people to love their fellow driver and help them instead of all this back-biting and division in the industry.”
What legacy do you hope to leave?
“I’d like people to remember that I tried to treat people like I’d like to be treated. It would be nice if people said that about me. It’d be nice if people would do that.” LL