2026 Leadership Conference

October 4 – October 7, 2026
Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort | Scottsdale, Arizona

What to Expect at the Leadership Conference

Elevate Your Insights and Expand Your Network
Prepare for a transformative experience at our premier Leadership Conference, hosted at the prestigious Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort from October 4-7, 2026. Join forces with industry leaders for a unique blend of cutting-edge education and unparalleled business networking opportunities.
Can non-members attend the Leadership Conference?
Yes. Non-members can attend if they are attending with, or are sponsored by, an MCIEF member. Both the member and non-member must stay at the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. If a non-member does not have a sponsor, please reach out to us.
Unparalleled Business Networking
Discover the power of connections as you engage with industry leaders and peers. The MCIEF Leadership Conference is more than an event; it’s a dynamic platform for fostering relationships and expanding your professional network in the heart of Arizona.

Agenda

Saturday, October 3, 2026
3 – 6pm Registration Opens

Sunday, October 4, 2026
10am – 3pm Registration Continues
10am – 3pm Welcome Hospitality

Pete Gunn Memorial Golf Tournament
9:30 – 10:45am – Golfers – Enjoy Brunch at Leisure, Optional Skins/Mulligans Available, Beverage Cart Hosted, Driving Range with Balls included, Lunch included
11am – 5:30pm MCIEF Pete Gunn Memorial Golf Tournament
5:30pm Transportation returns Golfers to Hyatt
6:45 – 8:45pm Opening Reception
8:45 – 10:45pm Invitation Only – After Dinner MCIEF Board, Sponsors & Fellows

Monday, October 5, 2026
7 – 10:30am Registration Continues
7:30am – 9:15am MCIEF Breakfast for Registrants and Social Guests
9:45 – 11:15am MCIEF Hospitality Suite
9:30 – 10:15am MCIEF ’27 Survey Results – Top Trucking Insurance Issues
10:30am – 12pm Persistent Trucking Issues – An Insurance Discussion
11am – 3:30pm Social Guests Shopping and Lunch Activity
12 – 1:15pm Registrant Lunch
1:30 – 2:45pm Leadership Challenges in the Post COVID World
3 – 4:15pm From Washington: A Trucking Regulation Update
4 – 6pm MCIEF Sponsored Networking and Private Meetings
6 – 7pm Registrant and Social Guests Cocktail Hour
7 – 9pm Registrant and Social Guests Dinner
8 – 10pm After Dinner Drinks on the Upper Pool Deck – Firepit Area

Tuesday, October 6, 2026
7:30 – 9:15am MCIEF Breakfast for Registrants and Social Guests
9:30 – 10:45am MCIEF State of the Market Economic Report
11am – 12:15pm MCIEF Highlight – Keynote Speaker Sponsored by Ryan Specialty
12:15 – 1:30pm Registrant and Social GuestsLunch
10am – 3pm Social Guests Activity to be announced
1:30 – 2:45pm Human Intelligence Approach to the AI Explosion
2:45 – 5pm MCIEF Sponsored Networking and Private Meetings
2:45 -5pm MCIEF Hospitality Suite
5 – 6pm Free Time

6pm – 7pm Registrants and Social Guests Cocktail Hour
7pm – 9pm Registrants and Social Guests Dinner

Wednesday, October 7, 2026

7 – 9am MCIEF Departure Breakfast
9am – noon MCIEF Departure Hospitality
noon – Meeting Adjourns

Pricing

Attendee: $1500
Social Guest: $750

Who is a social guest?

A social guest can be a spouse, significant other, or family member. They attend for the social events and to enjoy the facilities and venue, not for business purposes. Social guest meals are covered, but this is not a business registration. Social guests have their own separate agenda focused on the social part of the conference. Social guests can also register for the Pete Gunn Memorial Golf Tournament.

Can my spouse who works in trucking industry, come as a social guest to the conference?

Your spouse can come as a social guest to the social events only. If they want to attend any business sessions, they need to register for a full-price conference registration. Social guest registration is for social events and does not include access to business sessions.

2027 Trucking Insurance Economic Forecast

Each October, the findings of the Trucking Insurance Industry Survey take center stage at the MCIEF Leadership Conference. This gathering brings together leading voices from across the industry—seasoned executives, regulatory experts, and influential thought leaders—to evaluate the survey results and engage in robust dialogue. During these sessions, attendees delve deeply into the data, contextualize the responses, and collectively identify the issues where MCIEF can make the most meaningful contribution through its educational outreach and industry engagement.

This annual review process transforms member-driven feedback into actionable priorities. By identifying trends, challenges, and opportunities, the Leadership Conference acts as a bridge between the insights and the educational strategies that MCIEF deploys in the following year.

Featured Speakers:

Mark Seymour

CEO of Kriska Transportation Group and Chairman of Truckload Carriers Association (TCA)

Mark Seymour is a second-generation trucking executive with more than 40 years of industry experience. Mark has built his career around the day-to-day realities of running a carrier and leading through change. Over the course of his career, he has helped guide Kriska’s growth from a smaller operation into a major transportation company, while staying focused on safety, service, innovation, and long-term leadership development.

Mark is known across the trucking industry for bringing a practical, people-focused leadership style to complex business and operational challenges. His experience spans fleet growth, driver issues, safety priorities, technology adoption, regulatory concerns, and the broader market pressures that affect motor carriers across North America. In his role as Chairman of TCA, he brings an industry-wide perspective to the conversations shaping the future of truckload transportation.

Mark offers attendees more than a carrier executive’s point of view — he brings insight from someone who understands how leadership decisions affect safety, operations, profitability, relationships, and risk across an entire organization. That kind of perspective is valuable for insurance professionals who want to better understand the businesses they serve and become stronger leaders in their own right.

Mark has seen the trucking business from multiple angles and understands that strong leadership is not just about strategy at the top. It’s about building trust, making smart decisions under pressure, supporting people across the organization, and staying grounded while the market keeps shifting. Those lessons connect directly with the kind of conversations MCIEF is creating at the Leadership Conference.

Whether speaking about carrier operations, industry advocacy, or what it takes to lead in a demanding and fast-moving business, Mark brings the kind of clear, real-world perspective that resonates with both seasoned executives and rising professionals. His session will give MCIEF attendees a chance to hear from a leader who is actively shaping the future of transportation and who understands why leadership, relationships, and industry knowledge matter so much right now.

Dean Croke

Principal Analyst at DAT Freight and Analytics

Dean Croke is widely recognized as one of the trucking industry’s leading voices on freight markets, data analytics, risk, and operational performance. Over a career spanning 35 years, Dean has built an unusually broad background across transportation, supply chain management, insurance risk management, telematics, and data science, giving him a perspective that connects market trends with the real-world challenges carriers face every day.

Before joining DAT, Dean served as Chief Insight Officer at FreightWaves, where he led the company’s freight market intelligence team. Before that, he was Vice President of Data Products at Spireon, where he helped develop telematics-based data products for the trucking, passenger automotive, and insurance markets. His work has consistently focused on turning large sets of operational and market data into practical insight that businesses can use to make better decisions.

Dean also brings direct insurance leadership experience to the conversation. He previously ran Lancer’s long-haul truck insurance business and spent many years as Vice President of Omnitracs Analytics, formerly Qualcomm, where he worked on data science technologies including machine learning, business rules engines, and advanced analytics for transportation companies. He was also one of the original founders of FleetRisk Advisors, the Atlanta-based company later acquired by Qualcomm and now known as Omnitracs Analytics.

What makes Dean especially compelling is that his career isn’t built only on analytics or executive roles. He comes from a family-owned trucking business in Australia and remains closely connected to the industry. Having logged nearly 2 million miles as a long-distance truck driver in Australia, and still holding a U.S. Commercial Driver License, Dean brings a rare blend of driver experience, operational knowledge, and high-level analytical skill. That mix gives him credibility with both executives and front-line industry professionals.

Earlier in his career, Dean worked at Lancer Insurance in New York, where he developed the “Risk Never Sleeps” sleep management program for commercial drivers, a well-known approach centered on managing sleep rather than simply talking about fatigue. He has also held senior roles with Circadian Technologies, Allianz, OAMPS, and the Australian Trucking Association, where he helped shape programs such as TruckSafe and the Fatigue Management Program. Those efforts reflected his long-standing focus on safety, compliance, human performance, and risk reduction across the transportation sector.

Dean’s background makes him especially relevant to the MCIEF Leadership Conference because MCIEF has built this event around leadership, industry perspective, and the future of trucking insurance. He brings a rare ability to connect freight economics, carrier operations, insurance risk, safety, technology, and leadership decision-making in one conversation. For insurance professionals, that matters a lot. His insight helps attendees better understand what is happening in the market, why carrier behavior shifts, how data can sharpen risk decisions, and what leaders need to pay attention to as the business keeps changing.

For MCIEF attendees, Dean offers more than commentary on freight trends. He helps explain how market cycles, operating pressure, human performance, safety, and analytics all work together. That kind of perspective is a strong fit for a leadership-focused conference, especially for people who want to become better advisors, better decision-makers, and stronger leaders in the trucking insurance industry.

Dirk Nohre

President of Nohre & Co., S.C.

Dirk Nohre, CPA, ABV, CPCU, works with closely held businesses and their owners on accounting, taxation, financial management, appraisals, valuations, and merger and acquisition services. He brings more than 40 years of experience advising business leaders on financial strategy, ownership issues, and long-term planning.

Dirk’s background is especially valuable because it combines deep financial expertise with insurance knowledge. In addition to his CPA and Accredited in Business Valuation credentials, he holds the CPCU designation, which gives him a strong connection to the insurance side of business leadership and risk. His work has centered on helping business owners make better financial decisions, prepare for growth, manage transitions, and think clearly about value over time.

Many professionals in the leadership space are not just dealing with coverage and risk issues. They are helping lead agencies, carrier-focused businesses, and organizations that need smart financial thinking, succession planning, and clear decision-making. Dirk brings practical insight into those leadership challenges from the viewpoint of a trusted advisor who has spent decades working closely with owners and executives.

His experience is especially relevant for attendees who want to think beyond day-to-day operations and focus on the bigger business picture. Whether the topic is company value, ownership transition, financial health, or leadership planning, Dirk understands the kinds of decisions that shape a business over the long run. That makes his voice a helpful addition to a conference focused on leadership growth, industry perspective, and preparing people for what comes next.

David Heller

Senior Vice President of Safety & Government Affairs at Truckload Carriers Association (TCA)

David Heller is responsible for communicating and interpreting trucking-related regulations, safety issues, and legislative developments for TCA members and their representatives on Capitol Hill. In this role, he helps connect the day-to-day realities of the trucking industry with the policy and regulatory decisions that shape carrier operations across the country.

David has worked for TCA since 2005 and has served in several leadership roles during that time, beginning as Director of Safety and later moving into government affairs leadership before being promoted to Senior Vice President of Safety & Government Affairs. Before joining TCA, he spent seven years as Manager of Safety Programs for the American Trucking Associations, giving him a long track record in trucking safety, regulatory education, and industry advocacy.

He is well known for helping carriers and industry professionals make sense of federal and state issues tied to transportation safety, legislative activity, and regulatory rulemaking. MCIEF’s own conference materials note that David provides updates on congressional actions and regulatory changes affecting motor carriers, including issues such as speed limiters, younger drivers, automatic emergency braking, autonomous vehicles, and the broader challenges tied to improving safety performance.

That experience makes David especially relevant to the MCIEF Leadership Conference, which is focused on developing stronger leaders in the trucking insurance industry. Insurance professionals need more than a surface-level awareness of regulations. They need to understand how policy, enforcement, safety standards, and government action affect the businesses they insure, the risks they evaluate, and the advice they give clients. David brings that bigger-picture perspective in a way that is practical and directly tied to real operating conditions in trucking.

His perspective is also a strong match for MCIEF because leadership in trucking insurance today means staying informed, making smart decisions with incomplete information, and helping organizations prepare for what may be coming next. David’s work sits right at the intersection of safety, regulation, advocacy, and industry change, which gives attendees valuable insight into the outside forces shaping carrier behavior and insurance risk.

For MCIEF attendees, David Heller offers the kind of insight that helps leaders think more clearly about risk, carrier operations, compliance pressure, and industry direction. Whether the conversation is about safety technology, Washington policy shifts, or the practical effects of regulatory action on trucking businesses, he brings a clear and informed voice that fits well with MCIEF’s goal of helping professionals grow into stronger, more knowledgeable leaders.

J.W. Taylor

Managing Partner, Taylor Nelson Slattery Bernard PL

J.W. Taylor is Managing Partner of Taylor Nelson Slattery Bernard PL, a boutique transportation and logistics law firm with a national practice and offices across Florida and beyond. He is a business law and commercial litigation attorney whose work centers on the transportation and logistics industry, and he has built a strong reputation for advising clients on the legal and business issues that affect carriers, brokers, shippers, and other transportation-related companies.

J.W. founded the firm in 2011, then known as Taylor & Associates, and has helped grow it into a full-service transportation law practice. His leadership has guided the firm’s expansion into multiple offices and a broader platform serving clients across the transportation sector. That background reflects not just legal experience, but also the kind of strategic leadership needed to build and lead a specialized business in a demanding industry.

He is especially well known for his focus on transportation and logistics, where legal, operational, and business decisions are often closely tied together. His work gives him a direct view into the kinds of contract, claims, liability, regulatory, and risk issues that shape the day-to-day realities of trucking and supply chain companies. For insurance professionals, that kind of legal perspective can be incredibly helpful, since it connects coverage, exposure, operations, and dispute risk in a practical way.

That makes J.W. a strong fit for the MCIEF Leadership Conference, which is focused on developing stronger leaders in the trucking insurance industry. MCIEF has positioned the conference around leadership growth and meaningful industry perspective, and J.W. brings a valuable point of view from the legal side of transportation. He understands how business leadership, legal risk, and industry operations all affect one another, which gives attendees useful insight they can take back into underwriting, claims, agency leadership, and client relationships.

His experience is especially relevant for attendees who want to think more broadly about what leadership looks like in transportation insurance today. Strong leaders in this space need to understand more than policy language or market trends. They need a better handle on how legal developments, operational practices, contractual relationships, and dispute issues can affect the businesses they serve. J.W.’s background helps bring those pieces together in a way that is practical and grounded in the real transportation marketplace.

At the MCIEF Leadership Conference, J.W. Taylor offers a perspective that bridges law, business, and transportation operations. For attendees, that means hearing from someone who works at the intersection of leadership, risk, and industry reality, which is exactly the kind of insight that helps insurance professionals grow into stronger and more effective advisors.

Second Annual Pete Gunn Memorial Golf Tournament – Honoring Legacy, Supporting the Future

Join us in Scottsdale for the Annual Pete Gunn Memorial Golf Tournament held during the MCIEF Leadership Conference. This special event honors the legacy of Pete Gunn and other industry pioneers who paved the way for today’s leaders. Proceeds will benefit the MCIEF Scholarship Fund, helping support the next generation of trucking and insurance professionals. Don’t miss this opportunity to network, enjoy a great day of golf, and make a lasting impact.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are conference materials and fees included in the registration?

Yes. Conference materials and fees are included in the registration.

Is there a discounted room block at the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort for attendees?

Yes. Once you register, you’ll automatically receive a link to book your room at the discounted rate. Since the conference is held right at the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort, staying there makes everything easier. No long commutes, no rushing between sessions.

What is the deadline for the discounted room block at the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort?

The discounted room block is available until September 3rd, 2026. Once you register for the conference, you’ll automatically receive a link to book your room at the discounted rate. If you’re planning to attend, it’s a good idea to reserve your room before the deadline to guarantee the rate.

Are meals provided during the conference?

Yes. Meals are provided during the conference.

Who is a social guest?

Can my spouse who works in the trucking industry, come as a social guest to the conference?

What is the best way to get to the hotel from the airport?

You’ll need to arrange your own transportation from the airport to the hotel. Rideshare services like Uber and Lyft are easy options, and taxis are available, too.

Is there a dress code?

We recommend business casual. Think of what you’d wear to meet clients or attend a professional workshop. Comfortable enough for long days, polished enough to make a good impression.

Will CE credits be provided?

No. CE credits are not provided for this conference.

What is the focus of the Leadership Conference?

This conference centers on leadership, industry insight, and relationship-building in the trucking insurance world. MCIEF positions it as a place to tackle current challenges, hear from experienced speakers, and build a stronger professional network.

Who is the Leadership Conference for?

The Leadership Conference is for trucking insurance professionals, MCIEF members, and people who want to grow as leaders in the motor carrier space. It’s a good fit for folks who want useful ideas, strong conversations, and time with people who get the industry.

Can non-members attend the Leadership Conference?

Yes. Non-members can attend if they are attending with, or are sponsored by, an MCIEF member. Both the member and non-member must stay at the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. If a non-member does not have a sponsor, please reach out to us.

Is this conference only for senior leaders?

No. It’s for current leaders, rising leaders, and anyone in trucking insurance who wants to build confidence and sharpen their leadership skills. The conference is designed to also help develop the next generation of leaders, not just people already in top roles.

Will there be chances to network?

Yes. Networking is a major part of the conference, with time built in for conversations, connections, and relationship-building throughout the event. This conference a dynamic platform for fostering relationships and expanding your professional network.

Can social guest attend parts of the conference?

Yes, please check the agenda for designated social guest activities.

When and where is the conference?

The 2026 Leadership Conference takes place October 4 through October 7, 2026 at the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona.

What kind of sessions can attendees expect?

Attendees can expect keynotes, fireside chats, discussions, and networking opportunities built around real issues in trucking insurance. The event is designed to give people a roadmap for handling challenges and making better decisions in their work.

Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort

Immerse yourself in a conference experience that goes beyond expectations at the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort. With its strategic location, exceptional meeting spaces, and a commitment to unparalleled comfort, this hotel sets the stage for a transformative 2026 MCIEF Leadership Conference. The hotel’s central positioning facilitates organic networking opportunities, creating an environment where industry leaders can effortlessly connect and collaborate. Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort takes pride in providing exceptional meeting spaces, ensuring that the MCIEF Leadership Conference experience is both seamless and impactful. From spacious conference rooms to intimate breakout areas, each venue is designed to foster engagement, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas.