Welcome to the Team Steve Smith
Help us welcome Steve Smith, one of the newest members to the Stutsman Logistics team. As an account executive, Steve helps SLI discover new customers while managing existing relationships. Having been in the logistics industry since 1982, Steve knows the importance that comes from valuing people and says he has never met a person that he couldn’t learn something from. His extensive industry experience includes working for CAST North America, Heartland Express, Gordon Sevig Trucking Company, and LTI Delivers. We’re excited about the expertise Steve brings to SLI!
The oldest of five boys, Steve grew up on a dairy and row crop farm in Northwest Iowa and joined the US Air Force after high school. His deployments with the Air Force had Steve and his teammates moving constantly, sometimes on short notice with a minimum of personal items. Their specialized equipment traveled separately and always arrived in the right place; this was when Steve first learned to appreciate logistics. After serving in the Far East for nearly four years, he graduated from the University of Iowa and started his sales career with a trans-Atlantic container company in Chicago. Steve was transferred to Boston and then Detroit before returning to Iowa after his first children were born. His return to Iowa helped make family a bigger priority and they could be closer to their parents, siblings and extended family. Steve and his wife of 38 years now live in North Liberty. While his oldest son is in Los Angeles, his other children are relatively close. His daughter is a teacher at Clear Creek Amana schools in Iowa and his youngest son is in Minneapolis.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I spend as much time as possible in the outdoors, backpacking and tent camping. I also take an extended backpacking trip in the US annually. I spent 14 years with the Boy Scout organization with my sons, who are both Eagle Scouts. Now, I teach adults outdoor skillsets about hiking and backpacking safely. I also just began to learn some woodworking skills for my retirement years.
I am also involved with the North Liberty Optimists, our church, Habitat for Humanity (pre-pandemic) and the Iowa City Learning Foundation.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Raising three children and holding on to one spouse.
Who has influenced your career the most?
Russell Gerdin at Heartland Express. His work ethic and direct communication left nothing to the imagination. Over the years, his influence proved to be both positive and negative. A strong dedication to work can lead to other important/personal aspects of life being left in the dust without realizing it at the time.
If you could snap your fingers and become an expert at something, what would it be?
Plant recognition and knowing which plants are safe to consume.
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
From the priest that married us in Richland, Iowa, “There will be times when you will feel like you are putting 70 percent into the success of your marriage and your spouse is putting in 30 percent.” Then he turned to my fiancé and said the same thing. He concluded with, “This is where the strength of your relationship will be tested and refined so that it will endure.” What a great starting point for our marriage!
Who do you look up to?
A rabbi provided the answer that resonates most with me. “We have been focused on inspiring our children. It is time to be vulnerable and create the space for them to inspire us.” Our three children, and younger generations in general, are who I look up.
What is your favorite season to work in?
Fall because people seem to be more receptive to cold call intrusion as we enter the holiday season. Mosquitoes also go away after the first freeze.
What is something random that most people do not know about you?
I studied both Japanese and Chinese languages at the University of Iowa and have not used either one since. Meanwhile, I took evening courses in logistics, or Transportation Management at the time, at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids for two years and have used that knowledge ever since.
What is on your bucket list?
Staying healthy enough to retire and enjoy at least 10 years with my wife and the families of our children. Also, I want to do three long solo backpacking trips in the USA before the age of 75.
What is the title of your autobiography?
Student Teacher All Along
What do you consider to be the most rewarding part of your job?
The most rewarding part of my job is learning from other people. The employees at Stutsman Logistics are patient and willing to teach me the processes and traditions, while also welcoming constructive input from my past. Potential customers are also willing to share what they value in a transportation provider.
What excites you most about the future of logistics?
The increased visibility and value of drivers and front-line employees that keep the promises and make it all work.
Which Stutsman Core Value means the most to you and why?
They are each very powerful. Instill Authenticity: it is the ‘within’ value that we can most easily hide, fake or cheat on. Therefore, it requires the most integrity.