Doyle Coatney

Doyle Coatney, a retired trucking firm owner, a leader in the Louisiana and Texas trucking industry, and former owner, CEO and Chairman of Acme Truck Line, Inc., died Tuesday, May 1, 2018. He was 82 years old.

He was a resident of the New Orleans area since 1968, and of Covington for the past 33 years.

Mr. Coatney, born in Texas, came from a humble farming and ranching background. He put himself through Blinn College, in Brenham, Texas, where he played several sports, was master of ceremonies of the Annual Poet’s Dinner, and was manager of a Country Western band. In 1992, he established an endowment an endowed scholarship fund to Blinn, which has provided aid to a needy student each year from Montgomery High School, his alma mater. He has also contributed to the education of numerous individuals both within and outside his family. He entered the U.S. Army as Private and he was later selected to attend Officer Candidate School at Ft. Benning, Ga., and was honorably discharged as a 2nd Lieutenant Infantry platoon leader. Then he spent nine years with AMF Tuboscope as a field inspector, then salesman, before ultimately becoming sales manager. In 1972, he purchased Acme Truck Line, Inc. in Harvey, Louisiana, which at the time had only six trucks. From its beginnings as an oilfield heavy equipment hauler, the company became a diversified cargo carrier whose customers include several Fortune 500 firms. The company operated 800 trucks when he sold it in 2000.

In an industry, which has always been heavily regulated and difficult to manage, Coatney was known as someone who always fought to protect the livelihoods of his company’s drivers and other employees.

Mr. Coatney was a member of the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, MetroVision, Timberlane Country Club, the Texas Motor Transportation Association, and the Jefferson Business Council.

He served on the board of directors of the former Jefferson Guaranty Bank. He was a former chairman of the board of the Louisiana Motor Transportation Association, and of the Louisiana Oil Field Haulers Association.

He was known by his competitors in the trucking industry as an honorable, tough, but fair competitor, who was responsible for innovating many of the systems and procedures that are used by many other trucking companies today.

When asked about his philosophy, Coatney replied, “It seems that all my life I have had a vision/mission attitude. I have always seen myself and my actions in the present, but for some reason, I also project these thoughts and actions to the future, where I see the various probable sequences of events and consequences that will follow. At all times, my thoughts are on improving myself, my situation, or making a difference in someone else’s life. Even while having fun or enjoying something, I cannot stop thinking of what’s next, or ‘then what’. I also see other people and their actions and I invariably want to help them, because I have this vision of where their thoughts and actions are taking them. Looking at life in this manner is like looking at a chessboard and considering the next move.

After every move or action you take, there will be a ‘what now’ or ‘then what’.” When asked, he answered, “I would like to be remembered as someone who saw value in all of life’s experiences and experienced, experienced, experienced!”

Mr. Coatney was a donor and involved with the Ochsner Clinc Foundation, Blinn College Foundation, and the Northshore Community Foundation.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Karen Coatney, his parents Bryan and Lillie Belle Coatney, brother Clarence Robert Coatney and sister Joan Etta Meguess.

He leaves to cherish his memories his son, Michael Coatney; three grandchildren: Erin, Tyler and Laura; two great grandchildren: Charlotte and Elliot Coatney; five beloved stepchildren: Debbie Boe, Diana Boze, Mark Friedrichsen, Wade Landry, and Matt Landry; five grandchildren: Jessica Duhe, Jacob Boe, Gayla Hamik-Beckley Jacobson, Haley Landry and Avery Landry; five great grandchildren: Cullen Duhe, Jax and Bella Boe, Beckley and Tate Jacobson. He is survived by his sister Jo Ellen Hartnett.

Mr. Coatney’s family wants to give special recognition and thanks to Maria V. Betancourt for the love and care of Mr. Coatney for 36 years. She is loved and part of his family.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Funeral Service at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. on Saturday, May 5, 2018 at 12:00PM. Interment will follow in All Saints Mausoleum. Visitation will begin at 10:00AM.