Throughout my career, I have often been brought into an organization to solve one specific problem.

Then the responsibility expanded.

Not because of a title.

Not because of a résumé.

Because of the work.

I have repeatedly entered trucking companies through maintenance, identified broader operating issues, helped solve them, and then been asked to take on more responsibility across the business.

That pattern has followed me for years.

Today, that experience allows KME to advise trucking owners and senior leaders on the maintenance, asset, cost, reliability, and operating decisions that determine fleet performance.

KME initially entered the company through maintenance.

Within approximately two weeks, I was asked to assume the Chief Operating Officer role.

What began as a maintenance assignment quickly expanded because the issues affecting fleet performance were connected to operations, safety, cost control, vendor management, fuel, insurance, equipment utilization, and leadership accountability.

During that engagement, results included:

• More than 30% reduction in maintenance cost
• Approximately 50% reduction in ISS score
• Approximately 8% reduction in insurance cost
• Approximately $300,000 in annual fuel savings

The work started in maintenance.

The value extended across the business.

In March 2021, KME entered another organization as a maintenance consultant.

Three months later, I was asked to take responsibility for Safety in addition to Maintenance.

One year later, I was asked to add Operations while continuing to lead both Maintenance and Safety.

Then, in April 2023, the Board of Directors asked me to assume the role of Chief Operating Officer.

The progression looked like this:

March 2021 — Maintenance Consultant

June 2021 — Maintenance + Safety

June 2022 — Maintenance + Safety + Operations

April 2023 — Chief Operating Officer

I was not hired as COO.

I was asked to become COO after two years of increasing responsibility inside the company.

That distinction matters.

In another recent engagement, KME again became involved initially around specific operating and maintenance concerns.

The scope expanded considerably as the work progressed.

The engagement ultimately included operating performance, maintenance, equipment utilization, financial improvement, vendor negotiations, systems, leadership support, and broader business decisions.

Measured results included:

• More than 20% reduction in maintenance cost
• More than $100,000 per month improvement in cash flow
• Improved rate per mile
• Improved rate per load
• Reduced cost per mile
• 30% reduction in annual ELD cost

Once again, the original assignment became something much larger.

These experiences are not isolated.

Companies have repeatedly brought me in to solve a specific problem and then asked me to take on more of the business.

That is because maintenance gives you a unique view into how a trucking company actually operates.

Maintenance touches:

• Operations
• Safety
• Drivers
• Finance
• Equipment
• Purchasing
• Vendors
• Technology
• Customers
• Leadership

When maintenance is underperforming, the root cause may not be in the shop.

It may be poor planning.

Poor communication.

Bad purchasing.

Weak vendor controls.

Improper equipment specifications.

Driver behavior.

Lack of accountability.

Poor data.

Or leadership decisions.

The repair bill may be where the cost appears.

It is not always where the problem begins.

My career began in trucking maintenance.

Over time, that experience expanded into fleet management, operations, safety, financial performance, executive leadership, and responsibility for major operating organizations.

I have managed large P&Ls.

I have led maintenance organizations.

I have overseen safety.

I have run operations.

I have served as Chief Operating Officer.

I have worked as an outside advisor to trucking companies that needed experienced executive insight, clear direction, and measurable improvement across maintenance and fleet performance.  

That combination matters.

I understand what happens in the shop.

I understand what happens in operations.

And I understand what the owner, president, or board expects from the business.

KME Services is not built around theory.

KME is built around decades of operating experience and a simple approach:

Understand the problem.

Find the root cause.

Establish accountability.

Fix what is not working.

Measure the result.

I am often brought in because a company has a maintenance problem.

But maintenance problems rarely exist in isolation.

That is why my work often extends beyond the shop.

Because the ultimate objective is not simply lower maintenance cost.

It is a safer, more reliable, better-managed, and more profitable trucking operation.

EXPERIENCED FLEET INSIGHT. MEASURABLE RESULTS.

KME Services provides experienced fleet maintenance and asset performance advisory to trucking companies that need practical solutions, disciplined execution, and measurable improvement— not another layer of theory. The work may start with maintenance.

But the value often goes much further.

My career in trucking began in 1987 as a trailer mechanic with Overnite Transportation Company—the moment captured in the photograph above. That shop floor became the foundation for everything that followed.

Over the next 35+ years, I built my career from the ground up, progressing from hands-on maintenance into fleet and maintenance leadership and ultimately executive management. Along the way, I led maintenance operations, managed fleets, directed safety programs, developed teams, improved financial performance, and assumed executive responsibility for complex transportation organizations—including full accountability for a $248 million P&L.

My career has included leadership roles with respected transportation companies including Overnite Transportation, J.B. Hunt Transport, Roadrunner Transportation Systems, Jones Logistics and Southwestern Motor Transport. Those experiences gave me a perspective that extends well beyond the maintenance shop. I understand how maintenance decisions affect equipment availability, driver productivity, safety, customer service, capital requirements, and ultimately the profitability of the business.

Today, I bring that combination of hands-on maintenance experience and executive perspective to KME Services. I work with owners, presidents, and fleet leaders to strengthen maintenance operations, control costs, improve reliability, develop maintenance teams, and establish the accountability and performance disciplines required to operate a high-performing fleet.

I started in the shop. I eventually led from the executive office. Today, I bring both perspectives to every KME engagement.

To raise the standard of fleet maintenance and asset performance across the trucking industry by helping carriers build safer, more reliable, disciplined, and profitable operations.

KME Services brings more than 35 years of trucking and fleet maintenance experience—from hands-on work in the shop to leadership in the executive suite. This combination of practical maintenance knowledge and executive-level business experience provides a perspective few maintenance consultants can offer.

Every KME engagement is grounded in firsthand experience leading maintenance operations, managing fleet assets, controlling costs, developing teams, and making the difficult operational and financial decisions required to keep equipment productive and fleets performing.

• 35+ years in the trucking industry
• Career foundation in hands-on truck and trailer maintenance
• Senior leadership responsibility for fleet maintenance and asset management
• Executive leadership with responsibility for a $248 million P&L
• Experience across maintenance, operations, safety, finance, procurement, and asset management
• Leadership experience with private, public, and family-owned transportation companies
• Advisor to trucking company owners, presidents, and senior executives

Ken Eggen has contributed his experience and perspective to leading trucking and transportation industry publications, including:

Transport Topics
CCJ
Fleet Equipment
Fleet Maintenance
Heavy Duty Trucking

Ken has served as Study Group Chair for both the S.5 and S.3 study groups with the Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC)

Ken has led as well as presented in several technical sessions at TMC events.