Ron Szapacs’ career in fleet maintenance has spanned five decades, and his legacy will continue much longer through his industry involvement and his encouragement of the next generation.
Had you known Ron Szapacs as a child, you hardly would be surprised that he would spend his life working with vehicles. Growing up in Slatington, Pa., as the third child behind brother Joe and sister Jan, Szapacs did all the stuff kids usually do, such as Boy Scouts, football and other sports. But he really loved anything mechanical. At 10, he was the crew for Joe’s Soap Box Derby car. A few years later, he built his own go-kart to race, and later still, he worked weekends and summers for the local Chevrolet dealer.
In 1967, Szapacs began a career in fleet maintenance that continues to this day. Along the way, he has served the industry through tireless involvement in technical associations and by devoting countless hours to cultivating the next generation of fleet professionals. Ron Szapacs’ dedication and leadership have earned him the respect of his peers as well as the honor of the 2009 Commercial Carrier Journal Career Leadership Award.
Getting started
After graduating from Slatington High School in 1963, Szapacs enrolled in a local college, Spring Garden, where he ultimately gravitated toward automotive technology. He graduated in 1967 and soon found himself with an offer to work in the West Chester, Pa., rebuild shop for major bulk hauler Matlack as a machines and fuel injection specialist. United Parcel Service also had come through with a similar offer, but it was in Philadelphia, which didn’t suit the small-town native. Four years later, Szapacs transferred to Northampton, which was Matlack’s largest bulk terminal.
It was around this time that Szapacs married his longtime sweetheart, Lois. Even during the wedding ceremony, he couldn’t escape trucks. During the vows, he noticed the sound of an idling diesel engine. It turned out to be a truck with a flatbed trailer on which benches had been nailed to cart the wedding party through town. Ron and Lois are celebrating their 39th anniversary this year, and Ron credits her for allowing him to spend so much time in various activities throughout his life. “She has sacrificed a lot over the years.”
During the 1970s, Szapacs was moving through the ranks at Matlack and even taking on some unusual special projects. John Rollins, owner of Matlack as well as Rollins Leasing, once asked him to set up a maintenance shop for all the equipment and vehicles he needed for his Rose Hill Plantation resort on Montego Bay in Jamaica. Lois, who was expecting their first child, Becky, went along for the assignment. Local hospitals left much to be desired, and Ron and Lois barely made it back to Pennsylvania for Becky’s birth. Everything worked out fine, though, and today Becky is a labor scheduling manager for Disney in Orlando, Fla.
By 1978, Szapacs was running the largest shop in the Matlack system. Through a local organization, the Lehigh Valley Fleet Maintenance Supervisors Association (LVFMSA), he had become friends with Paul Manwiller, who headed maintenance for Allentown, Pa.-based Air Products & Chemicals. Manwiller, who CCJ honored in 1989 with the Career Leadership Award, asked Szapacs to join the growing Air Products organization to design and lay out vehicle maintenance shops, which he did at more than 20 locations.
