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USA Truck Executive Leaves Company to Stay in Dallas

2 min read

Jeffrey Lester, an executive vice president with USA Truck Inc., resigned Aug. 24, after CEO Tom Glaser asked him to work from the company’s headquarters in Van Buren on a daily basis.

USA Truck reported the resignation in a one-sentence filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Glaser said in a phone interview that he had no hard feelings about Lester’s departure.

“Jeff was given a choice,” Glaser said. “Jeff was commuting back and forth between Dallas and Fort Smith-Van Buren every couple of weeks. What I asked Jeff to do was really make a commitment to USA Truck and to the community. I think it’s important all the executives commit to the community as well as the company. I asked Jeff if he could be here Monday through Friday to work in Van Buren and Jeff chose his family, and I respect that.”

Lester joined USA Truck in August 2013 as part of former CEO John Simone’s executive team and had an agreement with Simone that allowed him to commute from Dallas. Simone, who resigned in July to deal with his lung cancer treatments, lived in Dallas and Florida during his time as CEO but spent the entire work week in Van Buren, Glaser said.

Glaser said Lester was spending only a couple of days a week, on average, in Van Buren. Lester earned $669,322 in salary and bonuses in 2014 according to the company’s proxy filing with the SEC.

Glaser said the directors of risk, safety and driver orientation reported to Lester. Those divisions were in capable hands, and Glaser set no timetable on when he would replace Lester.

“Because it happened so quickly, I don’t have replacements,” Glaser said. “It is urgent, but I want to make sure we get the right people. It’s important to me to commit to the company. That means you have to be here.”

Lester is the fourth high-profile executive to leave USA Truck in the last year. Simone resigned in July and the man he replaced, Cliff Beckham, stepped down as CFO in September 2014. Burton Weis, the company’s longtime vice president of human resources, resigned Aug. 13 after 22 years with the company.

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