Career Mileage - Red Eye Radio

Nominee:
BILL ATER
Location:
ARLINGTON, TX
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Nominated b
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MARK GILLETT TONE, FRIEND
DENNIS BLACKS
Driving Career: 42 YEARS
Employer: ATER TRUCKING, INC. / LANDSTAR (since 2003)
Annual Mileage: 80,000
Career Mileage: 2.5 MILLION
Accident Free Mileage: 2.5 MILLION (1 million with Landstar)
Military: NO
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Bill Ater is the epitome of an individual who
totally enjoys the profession he has chosen
to call his career for the past 42 years. He is
a compassionate, hardworking professional
whose positive attitude is contagious. He’s
quick to offer advice and has a heart for people
in need, going out of his way to make sure they are fed,
sheltered and safe.
Bill is an active member of his church, and puts his life in
priority of God, family and work, in that order. Though he’s
away from home a lot, he values the importance of family
and makes sure to stay in touch with them while he’s gone,
and spend time with them when he’s home.
He dresses nicely, and treats customers and co-workers with the utmost respect,
care and compassion. This has resulted in several Landstar Stars of Quality.
These awards are given to Landstar’s independent owner/operators who have
been nominated for “going above and beyond the call of duty”, doing an
exceptional job and upholding Landstar’s values of Safety and Service excellence.
To date, Bill has received 4 Gold Stars, 1 Silver Star and 1 Bronze Star. He is a
wonderful asset and ambassador to the Trucking Business!
With 2.5 million accident free career miles,
Bill is committed to safety. He’s also dedicated
to helping others understand truck safety
as well.
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He led a No Zone Trailer event for
Landstar, teaching children and customer employees about the dangers of driving
too close to a big truck and trailer.
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Bill supports Landstar’s safety programs, including their M.U.S.T. program - Mutual Understanding of Safety Together. For example, as a result of Bill’s safety issue concerns at the loading dock of one of their customers, a
Landstar safety representative evaluated the situation and determined how
to improve the experience. In time, this same customer was named a
Landstar M.U.S.T. customer of the year. But Bill does not rest on this. He
continues to identity issues at all Landstar’s customers to improve safety
and the loading experience for both himself and fellow drivers.
Bill Ater’s involvement in the community can be defined in one word - Available!
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For the past 10 years, he has annually visited the
school where his wife teaches to let the kids
climb inside his truck, while teaching them
about the importance of trucks and being
safe around them.
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Bill has been very active with FEMA in providing
hurricane relief. All told, he’s helped in the
aftermath of 12 hurricanes! He is among the
first in line to take loads to devastated areas,
but he doesn’t stop there. He puts himself in
the middle of the people who are affected by the storms
to show them that someone cares. After Hurricane Katrina, he even took a displaced woman under his wing to feed her and help her find permanent housing. He then made it a point to visit her and check upon her for several years afterwards. After an Oklahoma hurricane, he took a week off from work to volunteer with the clean-up.
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He has participated in several charity events,
including a MS 150-mile bike ride, a 5K run with is son Josh to raise money for a Lake
Arlington Baptist Church camp, and drove his truck in the 18 Wheels of Hope Parade at the first Great American Truck Show.
• Bill is a Certified Brake Inspector for
Landstar, evaluating brake training facilities.
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Bill is involved with Mission Arlington, a
local homeless/needy mission and food
pantry. He arranged to have a trailer
donated and then he delivered it to them.
For several years, he also helped deliver Christmas toys to them that were sent
from a GM plant.
• He has taken time off to be a sponsor
at a youth camp, and drive their bus.
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He is very active with his church. He attends every
Sunday he’s in town and is a member of the Men’s group. In the past, he helped start a Blended Blessings class for people who were previously married and
were blending with a new family. He makes himself available to drive shuttle buses to various events.
The way Bill lives his life and naturally leads is evident. He is a leader by action,
not by pointing. If he sees a need, he takes it upon himself to help, or lead others
to help. If someone says “This can’t be done.” Bill says, “Why not?” and proceeds
to lead in a manner that incorporates unity and joint work ethics. The people
he comes in contact with may be intentional, such as his family or friends, or it
could be a stranger who soon turns into a lifelong friend. Professional drivers
have countless opportunities every day to make a positive impression on people
they don’t know. Bill does not force himself on you. However, he does let you
know he cares and will put a smile on your face.
“As noted before, Bill has worked relief for quite a few hurricanes and I am always
proud of him for doing so even though I worry about him working in those conditions.
Our church volunteered to house refuges from the Katrina hurricane until we could
find them places to live. When Bill got home from working the initial disaster relief, he
went up to church to help there. While there he saw an older lady sitting off by herself
looking lost, sad – almost in tears. This was, of course, an extremely hard time for her
– she had lost her home and all her possessions other than a suitcase she was able to
pack with some pictures, a few clothes and her bible.
Bill walked over to her and introduced himself, as he so often does, with “Hi, I’m Bill
Ater, how do you like me so far?” which produced the desired result of making her
smile. As he talked to her and learned more of her story he felt God was leading him
to help her specifically. Bill brought her home for dinner so that I could meet her too.
We spent the next couple of weeks getting to know her and her family as we helped
get her an apartment and get settled in Arlington. We took her to Mission Arlington
and found furniture and dishes and a bed. Bill took her to the store and bought her a
mattress along with some towels and toiletries. Bill’s willingness to get involved with
people, to help them and care for them, has always been one of his best qualities. He
cared enough about this woman to not just hand her off to someone else when he
learned all she needed, but took her arm, took her home and fed her, and helped her
feel God’s love. She called him her Angel sent by God.
I also wanted to tell you more about our family. When I met Bill, he was the single
father of Mark (a 16 yr old) – or so I thought. When I visited his home shortly after
meeting him I kept seeing a picture of another boy on the wall next to Mark’s pictures.
I found out his name was Brett and he was Mark’s half brother. From the time he was
6 months old (Mark is 4 ½ years older than Brett) Bill welcomed him into his life as his
son. Even though he did not have any legal responsibility for Brett, he treated him as
his son. When he would pick Mark up for his custody time he would take Brett, too.
(Brett’s biological father was not in the picture at all until Brett was 11/12 years old). He
never made a difference between the boys. Until Brett was 10 years old he thought Bill
was his dad.
Mark came to live with Bill when he was 14 years old. It broke Bill’s heart that he could
not get custody of Brett too.
In addition to his physical charity efforts, Bill is one of those truckers who believes in parking the farthest from the entrance of the truck stop to get the most
exercise. He eats out of his truck; salads are a staple of his healthy diet. He exercises regularly, including the rigorous activity since he started trucking back in
1973 of strapping, chaining, and taping freight on his step deck trailer.
Shortly after Bill got custody of Mark, Mark and Brett’s mother died. Brett went to live
first with an aunt then with his biological father and his family. This was NOT a good
situation for Brett and he needed a place to live. We welcomed him home when he
was 13 years old and adopted him less than a year later. Not many men would have
willingly taken on the responsibility of another man’s son – and made him so completely HIS son.
My husband Bill is not perfect (none of us are!) but he is a man of great compassion for
others. Thank you for considering him for this honor.”
Kathi Ater
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