2022 January

As a longtime Texas rancher and high school football coaching legend, Ken Purcell knows how to win and inspire teams.

Purcell’s 40-year career in Texas high school athletics earned him nine championship rings, athletic director hall of honor recognition and a Fox Sports TV commentator slot for local Friday night football games.

In his opening remarks as Trailways annual meeting’s keynote speaker, Purcell praised members as the risk takers of the world. “You’re the type of person who I’ve always wanted to play for me,” he said. “You are not afraid of facing challenges.”

Purcell, who also co-authored “All I Need to Know I Learned from My Texas High School Football Coach” in 2017, stressed six traits for building a vision and a philosophy for one’s business and life:

1. Keep your eye on short and long-term goals. When plowing a field, furrows will be crooked if you keep your eye only on the plow blade. “The key is you’ve got to look down and up to plow straight, said Purcell. Continuous review of short- and long-range goals helps you achieve them.
2. Plant seeds. Don’t wait for things to happen, share your plans with those who may be able to help. Purcell landed at Fox Sports after mentioning to the TV producer of his championship games that he would be retiring from coaching and still wanted to be part of the sport. Fox picked Purcell as a commentator without an audition. 
3. Put others first. “People don’t care how much you know until you show them how much you care,” he said. Putting this creed into practice with colleagues and customers builds lasting relationships.
4. Respond, don’t react. By keeping calm, you’ll think more clearly and solve most problems.
5. Make everyone part of your team.  Anyone who gets a check from your company is someone on your team. Treating each individual as part of your team improves morale and increases productivity.
6. Don’t be afraid to fail. Many of life’s greatest achievements require going outside of your comfort zone. Risk takers accept losses and move on to the next challenge.

“In coaching, it’s all about impacting kids’ lives,” said Purcell. “I always told the kids on my teams; be happy with who you are today. Happiness is a philosophy. I hope I’ve brought happiness to you today and wish the same for you all the way to 2023.”

In a follow up email to John Zaworski, Dean Trailways, Purcell, who speaks to a lot of groups throughout the country wrote that Trailways is a special group. “They are the hard workers of our country and I have great respect for them.” He thanks Trailways for the opportunity to be the keynote speaker at the 2022 annual meeting.

Leaders spotlight digitally driven ticket and charter sales growth,
driver training, and awards during busy sessions

Trailways is charting a new course for 2022 and beyond. The renowned national travel brand elected its first female Board Chair in its 85-year history and unveiled a cutting-edge online charter booking technology, customized online driver training modules and other programs at its annual meeting January 6-8 in Grapevine, TX.

Amy Brooks elected Board Chair of Trailways Transportation

During its annual meeting, Trailways’ Board of Directors elected Susquehanna Trailways’ Vice President of Sales Amy Brooks as the new Trailways Board Chair.  A board member since 2019, Brooks succeeds Patrick Dean, Vice President of Dean Transportation in Lansing, MI.  Dean will remain on the board as Joe Kobussen, of Kobussen Trailways, Kaukauna, WI retires from the Trailways board. Bob Brisman, President of West Point Trailways, Vails Gate, NY joins the board representing the Northeast region.  

“When I joined the Susquehanna team in 1981, we were a school bus operator with three charter coaches, and today we have 30 coaches,” said Brooks. “We became a Trailways member in 1982. My boss, Carl Kephart, Jr., told me he was considering joining Trailways and asked me what I thought. Adding Trailways to the end of Susquehanna added instant familiarity, credibility and respectability in the travel marketplace.”

Brooks sees Trailways’ new ticketing and trip-planning technology leading the way. “We want Trailways.com to become the one-stop-shop for anything travel, whether purchasing a ticket to a city destination or a group looking to charter a bus,” said Brooks. She added that a more powerful Trailways.com “will lead to greater growth for current members and help attract operators who never thought of becoming Trailways members until now.”

Susquehanna Trailways, a third-generation, family-owned motorcoach company based in Avis, PA, was Brooks’ first job after college. She answered phones there for eight months before leaving to attend graduate school at Eastern Illinois University’s College of Business and Technology, where she founded a chapter of her national sorority. When she returned to her hometown and rejoined Susquehanna, she applied her education to create a computerized tour reservation tracking system for the company and rose through the ranks.

“Trailways is known across the globe,” Brooks told the members. “We have the ability to pick up the phone and reach out to other members in every circumstance. It’s not about being competitive, it’s about being a teammate. Everyone brings something different, their specific talent, to the team. I am a salesperson, and this business has been my life’s work. I am thrilled to stand at the podium for Trailways as its first female chair. I am committed to advancing Trailways.com and bringing charter booking and greater growth to members and new members to fruition.”