Speakers

Chief Executive Officer and President of CDLLife, Travis Overton, founded CUB Ventures and leads today in developing disruptor level tech software to elevate driver recruiting’s efficiency and extension. Under his guidance, CDLLife has grown to the single largest network of drivers in the world, crafting an engaged audience that reaches 20 million views a month.
Even as the markets contracted during the CoronaVirus pandemic, Travis dauntlessly doubled the CDLLife team and re-doubled his tech innovation efforts throughout 2020-- taking 15 product lines from genesis to maturity in a year. Additionally, Travis has crafted a culture at CDLLife that is transparent and warm, and is characterized by a foundational passion to improve the lives of every truck driver and by extension every family in the United States.

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Kevin has over 47 years of experience in the trucking industry, including LTL, TL, Air Freight and consolidation. Currently, he is Vice President, Governmental Affairs and Sales for Martin Transportation Systems (MTS). Kevin serves on the ATA Executive Committee and Board of Directors. He also acts as co-chairman of the executive committee of the Trucking Moves America Forward image movement.
Kevin is also the past-chairman of the Truckload Carriers Association. Notably, Kevin received the prestigious Mike Russell Trucking Industry Image Award, received the esteemed Dayton Chamber of Commerce Corporate Partner Award, the John H. Patterson Award, and the Lee J. Crittenden Memorial Award from the Professional Truck Driver Institute.

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Sadie Church is the Director of Recruiting and Marketing for Artur Express. She helped establish and grow the CDLLife community. After helping to launch CDLLife, Sadie went on to build the Retention and Marketing Departments at Riverside Transport and eventually became the Director of Recruiting. Sadie launched the company's Brand Ambassador program to attract more female drivers; the same program the company is still leveraging today to attract more drivers.

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Brad Ball is President of Roadmaster Drivers School, which is currently expanding its network of 15 CDL driver training schools in 11 states. He is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Finance. Brad brings 24 years of experience in truck driver training and was heavily involved in developing Roadmaster’s early financing models and contributing to the budgetary, policy and management decisions that led to the company’s growth. He was later promoted to Vice President of the company, and he focused heavily on industry relations until his promotion to President in 2017.
Brad is a past Board Member of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA), as well as past Chair of the Finance, Carrier and Legislative Committees. Brad has developed valuable relationships throughout the industry with trucking carriers and finance companies. CDL training schools frequently request his insight regarding the driver training industry.

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Been in the recruiting / trucking industry for several years. Worked for Covenant Transport for 5yrs and was over the recruiting dept hiring 3000+ drivers a year. During my time at Covenant I worked closely with the CVTA (Commercial Vehicle Training Association). Sat on the CVTA board briefly. Left Covenant Transport to work at SeatMyTrucks (Carrier / Marketing Agency) as VP of Marketing / New Business Relationships. Was at SeatMyTrucks for over a year and decided to start Ten4 Recruiting (3rd Party Recruiting Agency focusing on recruiting drivers for carriers) mid year of 2020. We officially started in Nov 2020. Since then we've grown to 10 recruiters working with some of the best carriers in the business.

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As the chief people officer, Jessie Burnette is responsible for overseeing the company’s global human resource function for all drivers and non-drivers and supporting more than 2,000 team members. When Jessie joined Hirschbach in 2011, she joined the organization in the driver recruiting department. Since then, she has worked in many areas including orientation, training, wellness and HR. Jessie brings a wealth of knowledge in recruiting, retaining and training drivers, along with various sales and human resource experience. Jessie is an active member of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Jessie’s goal is to help continue to build the company’s culture of excellence, equality, and create an engaging workplace environment for all team members. She adheres to the motto of “quality over quantity” within every department and every move she makes.

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Prior to leading the Alabama Trucking Association, Mark advocated for Alabama’s business community: serving various leadership roles at the Business Council of Alabama (BCA), Alabama’s state chamber of commerce, including Interim President, Senior Vice President of Governmental Affairs, and Chief of Staff.
He’s a graduate of Huntingdon College in Montgomery, AL. Forever a Hawk, he serves as a member of the Huntingdon College Board of Trustees and was recently inducted into the Huntingdon Athletics Hall of Fame (Football). He also holds an MBA from Troy University. He is a member of the board of directors for the United Methodist Children’s Home.
The Alabama Trucking Association (ATA) has served the needs of and promoted Alabama’s trucking industry since 1938 through advocacy, training, and the successful implementation of programs including the ATA Comp Fund, Safety & Maintenance Management Council, TRUK PAC, and the ATA Foundation.

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Sherri has almost 30 years of experience in the trucking industry. Sherri became the owner of Garner Trucking, Inc. in July 2012. Garner Trucking, which began business with one truck and was founded in 1960 by her parents Vern & Jean Garner with one truck. Located in Northwest Ohio, Garner currently has 80 power units and 140 associates. Garner Trucking in recent years has received recognition as a Best Fleets to Driver For – 4 years consecutively, Top Trucking Company for women to work for in transportation, and Fleet Owners Flashiest Fleet winner!

Sherri is currently Chair of the Board of the American Trucking Associations, the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation’s freight.

Sherri served as a member of the Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking for the Federal Department of Transportation. She is acting Secretary of this committee. This committee gave recommendations to Secretary Chao to address human trafficking issues in our country as they relate to all transportation sectors. Sherri is committed to training every new hire at Garner with TAT training resources. At the very first orientation, each new hire gains the resources and knowledge to combat human trafficking!

She is a Board of Director of ATA and a member of the Executive Committee, as well as a Board of Director of the Ohio Trucking Association, Indiana Motor Truck Association, and Truckload Carriers Association where she serves on the Nominating, Image, and Highway committees. Sherri is currently the Chair of the University of Findlay College of Business Advisory Board & Adjunct Professor. She serves on the Humane Society Foundation Board of Directors and is the immediate past chair of the Boy Scouts of America Black Swamp Area Council Board. Other organizations important to Sherri are her volunteer efforts with the American Heart Association and bringing a truckload of Christmas wreaths in collaboration with Wreaths Across America to her hometown cemetery. Garner also delivers, annually, a truckload of wreaths to Arlington National Cemetery. She is a member of College First Church of God and performs with the Chancel Orchestra.

Sherri graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Education in Music and received her Master of Education from Bowling Green State University. She is married to Jerry Brumbaugh and they have three sons.

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After graduating from the University of Alabama, Karen joined one of the top advertising agencies in Atlanta. She currently resides in Birmingham, Alabama and has two children. Karen began her career in the transportation industry as the Director of Marketing for Truckers Connection Magazine, a leading publication in the trucking industry for over 30 years. Since that time, she has worked on the advertising agency side of the transportation industry in new business development. Karen is currently the National Sales Director for Conversion Interactive Agency and has been with the organization for over 15 years.
Prior to joining Conversion IA, she was Vice President of Business Development at Communications Development, and Vice President of Business Development for Carter Advertising prior to that. With a strong background in transportation and marketing, Karen has proven to be a great asset to both the agency and the growth and retention of their clients, bringing both media knowledge and agency experience that generates the most effective results for their clients. Her strengths are in identifying areas where fleets need to fill the gaps to take their recruiting and retention plans to the next level. Karen is exceptional at coupling the services and innovative solutions Conversion IA provides to the needs and challenges of their individual clients.

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Greg Iverson has been in the trucking industry for almost 40 years. While attending college, he started as a driver as a way to pay for school: pulling flatbed, heavy haul and vans, and still carries his CDL today.
Currently, Greg is the Recruiting Director for Koch Trucking based in Minneapolis, Mn. and has held positions throughout his career including: Operations Manager, Sales, and Safety Director for private fleets, and for hire carriers. In his spare time, Greg serves on the Board of Directors for a Shriner organization supporting Shriners Hospitals for Children as well as for Masonic Children's Hospitals.

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​Don Lefeve is the President of Glen Drive Strategies, a company he created in 2019 to pursue his passion for client-focused consulting. Don previously served as the President & Chief Executive Officer of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA), the nation’s largest association of commercial truck driving schools. While at CVTA, Don successfully led federal and state advocacy efforts to secure a number of laws and regulatory provisions to improve commercial driver training and address CDL licensing issues.
Throughout his twenty years in government relations, he has had extensive experience representing companies and clients in highly regulated industries such as transportation, education, telecommunications, defense, and homeland security on both the federal and state level. He served on the legislative staff of former United States Senator John Warner and has worked on several Congressional, Senate, and Presidential campaigns.

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At this year’s Turning Point Summit CDLLife and ACT are privileged to be partnering to honor veteran, Ken Mateer, with a wrapped truck, as a tribute to his service. We salute his courage in signing up for the army after the September 11th attacks and his service in both the National Guard and in Iraq. However, Mateer has faced another kind of battlefield: He’s a cancer survivor, but Mateer hasn’t let that slow him down. Today, Mateer’s an avid Chicago Cub’s fan. And he’s putting his 30 years of driving experience to work – He’s training the next generation of drivers to take pride in their work, and to be safe, courteous, and efficient on the road. We invite you to join us outside of the Westin hotel to view Mateer’s new truck and to honor his service in the pursuit of peace and safety for the United States.

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Josh Mecca joined ACT, in March of 2016. He brings 10 years of transportation experience to ACT, having previously served as a director of recruiting and retention, director of logistics, carrier development manager, and pricing and traffic manager. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Carolina-Columbia. He uses his experience and abilities to improve processes, and in turn improve the costing behind them, resulting in a quality and desired brand for drivers and ultimately creating better experiences for ACT customers.

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Leah Shaver is the President & Chief Executive Officer at National Transportation Institute.
Today, NTI works to deliver opportunities for fleets to grow, to attract additional workers, and then expand in their marketplace with that appropriately compensated, engaged and retained workforce.
Recognized as a Top Woman to Watch in Transportation, Leah is a subject matter expert on driver compensation and strategies addressing driver recruiting, retention and development of the driver candidate pool. In addition to owning and operating NTI and contributing on-air at SiriusXM, Leah serves on the Board of Directors of The Next Generation in Trucking Association, as an officer on the Board of Directors of the Women In Trucking Association, on a variety of advisory boards and volunteers as a licensed foster care provider and advocate.

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Melissa Nishan has been in the transportation industry for almost 25 years. She has held various roles in Logistics, Customer Service, and is currently the VP of Driver Recruiting at Epes Transport System LLC, Greensboro NC. In her current role, she oversees Driver Recruiting, Orientation/Onboarding and Driver Marketing for a fleet of over 1,600 trucks. Melissa is a board member for the NCTA (NC Trucking Association), a member of the NCTA benchmarking group, and on the Women in Trucking membership committee. Melissa has been on the WIT top Woman to Watch list, awarded 2017 NCTA HR/Safety Professional of the year, and most recently named one of the top 3 Recruiting professionals for 2019 by Transport Topics. She is passionate about continuously improving the image of the Trucking Industry.

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Tim is the Vice President of Driver Employment at Roehl Transport, Marshfield, WI. He is a graduate of the Ivy College of Business at Iowa State University with a BBA in Transportation and Logistics. Tim has over 33 years in the transportation industry and has held a variety of positions in Operations, Sales, Safety, Driver Training and Development and Driver Recruiting. Tim is a member of the Wisconsin Motor Carrier’s Association where he has served as a past board member and was recently Chairman of the Legislative Committee. He is also a member of the Commercial Vehicle Training Alliance and serves on the client advisory boards of three industry consumer reporting agencies. In February of 2020, Tim was named the 2019 Recruiting Professional of the Year by Transport Topics magazine.

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As Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DriverReach, Jeremy is passionate and innovative in addressing today’s challenges with recruiting CDL drivers. Jeremy brings over 15 years of experience in the trucking industry as both a carrier and a vendor, having led a small truckload operation as well as a regional CDL driver staffing company. As a member of ATA’s Workforce Development Committee and ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee, Jeremy is devoted to solving the industry’s greatest issues. In 2016, Jeremy founded DriverReach, a modern driver recruiting management solution, to address the ongoing challenges with recruiting, qualifying, and hiring CDL drivers.

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Becca Ridge is the Vice President of Operations & Client Services at CDLLife. She successfully oversees 10 digital media strategists and acts as the most senior point of operational & strategic contact for all clients. Under Becca’s leadership, Client Services has tripled the number of active clients CDLLife serves in the last year. As part of the CDLLife Leadership Team, Becca has also been keenly instrumental in CDLLife’s 500% growth over the last two years and in developing and maturing 15 separate product lines along with helping to double the number of her team’s Digital Media Strategists.
Becca cut her teeth in the transportation industry as a Lead Safety Processor seven years ago. She worked successfully as a Processor, and she initiated her time at CDLLife as a Digital Media Strategist: Initially, Becca created ad campaigns & optimized product placement for clients to create a robust advertising strategy to help assist clients and lead generation needs. Becca’s success in this position buoyed her into her current leadership role, in which Becca leads her team in product innovation and executes processes to help mature products into the best lead generation & recruiting tools in the industry.

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Matt Roland is the Vice President of Sales at CDLLife. He has over 25 years of experience in Sales Management and Marketing. Matt’s career experience in sales and advertising spans multiple verticals including: Recruitment, Education, Automotive, and Real Estate. He has been awarded Salesman of the Year for Apartments.com and has started multiple digital agencies throughout his career.
Matt has been at the forefront for the CDLLife sales team over the last three years and has played a critical role in guiding CDLLife to become one of the leading recruitment platforms in the industry. This includes partnering with over 800 trucking companies under the CDLLife umbrella of products and services. An entrepreneurial spirit and strong competitive personality have allowed Matt to continue to be one of the leaders in the Trucking Industry.

Transportation Advisor Marilyn Surber joined Tenstreet in 2019. Marilyn has been a part of the transportation industry since 2008. She is passionate about serving the transportation industry and is an advocate for the community. She has over 12 years experience in corporate communication, recruiting, safety, and driver training. Prior to joining Tenstreet, Marilyn served in a number of roles with Melton Truck Lines and Hilti, Inc.
Marilyn holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication from The University of Tulsa. She served on the Board of Directors for the Commercial Vehicle Training Association, where she was named Member of the Year in 2019. She was selected by Oklahoma Magazine as a Top 40 under 40 for the state of Oklahoma in 2019. Marilyn is an active member of American Trucking Associations, Truckload Carriers Association, Commercial Vehicle Training Association, and the National Association of Publicly Funded Truck Driving Schools.

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He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, summa cum laude, with a degree in computer science. He started his career solving data science and machine learning at Aunalytics. Eventually, he transitioned into building large data engineering platforms and expanded into building full-scale software platforms: He has built platforms from web and mobile applications to ad delivery engines and data engineering pipelines. Bobby has led development at CDLLife for the past 7 years and focuses on leading his team in developing better lead generation products.

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Ellen Voie is the founder of Women in Trucking, where she seeks to promote policies that further gender inclusive measures. She currently serves as the nonprofit organization’s President & Chief Executive Officer. Ellen was acknowledged by the White House with the Transportation Innovators Champion of Change award and is also the recipient of the Frank W. Babbitt Award for outstanding service to the trucking industry.
Ellen has also worked to better the lives of drivers as the Manager of Retention and Recruiting Programs at Schneider, Inc.. Additionally, Ellen promoted driver image and connections, serving as the Executive Director of Trucker Buddy International, Inc., a pen pal program between professional drivers and elementary students.

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