Tim McVay & Marco Transport: Hauling Heavy Iron — and Stage-4 Cancer — with Unbreakable Grit

On this episode of ADAPT or Die: Transformative Leadership Conversations, former tech-CEO-turned-executive-coach Andreas Pettersson sits down with Tim McVay, second-generation president of Marco Transport—a 31-truck heavy-haul fleet moving 260-thousand-pound “yellow iron” across the Southwest. Tim recounts how a routine scan in 2023 blindsided him with Stage-4 colorectal cancer and why he still shows up at 6 a.m., greets every nurse with “I’m fantastic,” and opens the company books so employees feel like owners.

Challenge → A sudden terminal diagnosis, surging insurance costs, and a labor market where driver turnover can hit 100 %—all while Tim’s father’s legacy company faced expansion decisions and six-figure safety liabilities.

Adaptation → Tim set a strict “10-minute pity limit,” shifted to radical transparency, and invested in Saturday safety summits, load-board tech, and a one-year payroll reserve—empowering crews while he tackled bi-weekly chemo and radiation.

Success → Zero catastrophic accidents, industry-low turnover, a new Kingman, AZ outpost, and a culture so tight former drivers come out of retirement for another rig. Doctors now rank Tim in the 95th-percentile for treatment response—and he’s shopping new skis for the next powder run.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat: Tim’s “fantastic” greeting rule, the open-books buy-in hack, and why every crisis gets a chair at the campfire (but only one beer).

Think cancer means hitting the brakes? Tim’s story will make you floor the throttle—on business and on life.

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