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.
Meet Operations Mastermind Trent Stone of Wright Transportation in Mobile, ALA
When Wright Transportation set out to make safety a responsibility shared by every department, the effort was led by Trent Stone. The results were measurable — a 44% reduction in accident loss runs — and helped define the leadership approach that would later elevate him to Vice President of Operations, where he is now a trusted advisor and leader within the company.
“I had to earn the respect of my drivers. My philosophy has always been to be open to learning — to shut up and listen, to let them teach me, and to take care of their needs.”
Stone’s rise reflects a familiar path in trucking: learning by doing, leading by example, and earning credibility through work ethic rather than title. That approach, rooted in accountability and consistency, has allowed him to connect with drivers and team members alike — including some of the industry’s most seasoned, old-school professionals.
Under Stone’s leadership as Director of Safety, Wright Transportation earned multiple safety awards while fundamentally reshaping its internal culture. He championed a philosophy that “safety must exist in all departments,” reframing it as a shared responsibility rather than a departmental function. The cultural shift not only reduced accident loss runs by 44 percent but also strengthened operational alignment across the company.
Stone joined Wright Transportation shortly after graduating from Auburn University’s Harbert School of Business with degrees in Finance and Supply Chain Management. “I was hired by Pat Wright, who pushed me to learn the business top to bottom,” he says. “For a decade, I had various roles in dispatch, personnel and recruiting, and safety. Pat was a gracious mentor, and I’m grateful he invested in me. As he stepped back and Cameron and Daniel Wright took the lead, I’ve learned so much from each of them. They complement each other’s talents.”
That foundation continues to shape his leadership today. “When I came to the company, I was 22 years old, and while I had a lot of training from Auburn, I didn’t really know what it meant to be a truck driver,” Stone recalls. “I had to earn the respect of my drivers. My philosophy has always been to be open to learning — to shut up and listen, to let them teach me, and to take care of their needs.” It’s an approach that has helped Wright Transportation maintain an industry-leading driver turnover rate of less than 35 percent — and one that makes Stone a natural fit for Alabama Trucking’s Next In Line.
Read more features on the Alabama trucking industry’s “Next in Line” in the latest Alabama Trucker. This issue also features background on Clinton Seymour, Alabama Trucking’s new Director of Safety Intelligence and Regulatory Affairs along with updated on the SMMC Fleet Safety Award winners and much more.
