In shops, terminals, offices, and back lots across Alabama, a quiet shift is taking place. New voices are stepping into conversations once dominated by veterans who built their livelihoods in Alabama’s trucking industry. You see it in the way problems are solved, in how teams communicate, and in the fresh confidence that comes when someone realizes they’ve earned a seat at the table.
Our Next In Line honorees are part of that shift. They’re early- and mid-career professionals who didn’t wait to be invited into leadership — they simply began acting like leaders. Their decisions shape workdays, influence culture, and set standards their coworkers rely on. Some manage people; others manage freight, information or relationships. All of them have already changed something within their companies, even if the change seems small from the outside.
What connects them isn’t a single background or career path, but a shared seriousness about the work and a willingness to learn, to observe, to take responsibility, and to keep showing up with intention. In an industry built on experience and credibility, these honorees are earning both, one long day at a time.
They are the people colleagues call when something needs to be figured out. They are the names that come up in meetings when someone asks, “Who’s ready for more?”
And they are the ones building the next era of leadership in Alabama Trucking — not through slogans or speeches, but through consistent, deliberate work and innovation.
Meet Servant Leader Michael Fancher of Southland Transportation Group in Montgomery, Ala.
Michael Fancher, the lead technician for Southland Transportation’s Montgomery branch, has always been good with his hands. Growing up in a family of woodworkers, he thought he’d follow in their footsteps, building furniture or houses. But his late Uncle Billy, who ran a trucking shop in Illinois, saw a different path for him. Following his uncle’s advice, Michael enrolled in the diesel technology program at Trenholm State Community College in Montgomery — a decision he’s never regretted.
For nearly a decade, he’s been one of the go-to guys keeping Southland’s customers on the road and in the black. And since last year, he has been the shop’s all-star quarterback, highly skilled, trained, and able to triage and perform diagnostics to assist the other technicians with their work orders, while consistently maintaining his own workload.
“I especially like being a mentor to the new techs who come through. They are the future of this company and the industry. It’s a great career — especially for someone who enjoys a fast-paced job that is never the same day in and day out.”
It’s in that role where he derives his ultimate purpose for his profession: helping others. “I love helping our customers, my managers, and the guys in the shop,” he says. “I especially like being a mentor to the new techs who come through. They are the future of this company and the industry. It’s a great career — especially for someone who enjoys a fast-paced job that is never the same day in and day out.”
He says his dedication to the future comes from his own personal battles. He was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of three, and, through the grace of God, the incredible team of doctors, nurses and staff at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, and the dedication and love of his parents, Lisa and Rickie, he remains cancer-free nearly 36 years later.
He credits his illness for shaping his finest qualities, instilling in him greater patience and a deep drive to pursue a purpose beyond just earning a paycheck. This resolve even inspires him to serve as a volunteer firefighter. “I live life to the fullest,” he says. “And part of that is being a leader and guide for others so they can do the same.”
Read about the Alabama trucking industry’s “Next in Line” which highlights the next generation of men and women leading the way in trucking. This issue also features highlights on the “Trucking Resurgence” plan to safeguard the industry from fraud, failure, and those who cut corners.
