Results are in from the first judges’ round in Overdrive‘s 2024 Trucker of the Year award competition, and here’s a big congrats to the three finalists at the top of the heap you see above: Oakridge Transport’s Alan Kitzhaber, operating with authority in the Menard’s distribution network; Long Haul Trucking-leased owner-operator Gary Schloo; and Zimmerman Ag co-owners Daryl and Nelson Zimmerman, with two trucks serving an array of agriculture-industry customers and famers in the region around a Minnesota home base.
The three finalist selections followed a year’s worth of highlighting 10 different contending owner-operators, beginning in January and ending in October, as Overdrive 2024 Truckers of the Month. Based on those reports and accompanying podcasts, and a wealth of information submitted by entrants as part of the process, judges then reviewed all the materials and rated each independent business, weighing a variety of factors that will be evident in commentary that follows, from profits and smart practices to community contribution, history and the businesses’ foundations for longer-term success. (Does your own rate high on those factors? Do you know another owner you admire that fits that bill? You can now enter yourself or another deserving owner in our 2025 Trucker of the Year competition via this link.)
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Overdrive‘s Trucker of the Year competition is sponsored by Bostrom Seating, who will deliver a new seat, up to a $2,500 vlaue, among other perks, to 2024’s ultimate winner, to be announced in the new year.
Though the equipment used and the freight hauled is as varied as the trucking industry itself, I’m 100% certain you’ll find at least a little to learn from them all, a perennial goal of the Trucker of the Year award program.
So here’s a salute to the entire 2024 Trucker of the Year competitive field. Click/tap through the name of each finalist and contender below for their stories. (Catch two recent podcast roundtables with most of them for a late-2024 update and more insight via this link or the embedded episodes at the bottom of this story.)
2024 Trucker of the Year finalists:
Pictured here is owner-operator Gary Schloo’s shop on his property in Austin, Minnesota. You can just see the back of the conestoga-setup flatbed he owns in addition to his 2014 Peterbilt 386. From one of the judges about Schloo’s long history in trucking, which dates back to the 1970s: “Schloo loves trucking and trucking loves him back. He’s earned an unimaginable stockpile of trucking knowhow, a kind of wealth that up and down cycles can’t touch.” Schloo Trucking’s been leased to Albertville, Minnesota-based Long Haul Trucking through much of this century, serving dedicated accounts for a lot of that time.
The elder of this pair of partner owner brothers in two-truck Zimmerman Ag, Daryl (left, pictured with Nelson), though just in his early 30s, has amassed decades’ worth of knowhow through his career, nearly all of it spent as an independent owner-operator in service to agriculture. What the judges had to say: “A solid business plan, with a truly in-house approach to the operation! Love the very measured plan of growth, with the primary customer base direct. And yet they’re smart to stay versatile when times are lean.”
Owner-operator Alan Kitzhaber’s 1995 Kenworth T600 this year passed the 4 million mile threshold, all of those miles run under his tutelage, for more than a decade now with authority hauling dedicated in the distribution network of Menard’s. Judges lauded his meticulous approach to both maintenance and efficiency throughout the operation. “One of the best and most solid business plans I have ever heard another truck owner operate by,” said one. And another: “I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of an owner who so maximized the potential of a truck, and who is still wringing every last drop out of it. A smart businessman. Really a monument to the craft of trucking as an owner-operator.”
2024 Truckers of the Month
Pictured is Costerus’ and his Alpha Drivers Transportation company’s recently renamed “Blue Nova” 2024 Volvo VNL, one of two rigs that were in the fleet when we told his story of comeback after years leased to Landstar, a huge health scare that resulted in a kidney transplant, and a trucking career reboot that’s delivered. Judges lauded the relativley young ADT business’ long strides in fuel efficiency. In the words on one: “His contributions to improved fuel economy are something that every truck owner, fleet owner and even mega carrier can learn and profit from. He is trying something unique to improve the industry and tackle one of the toughest problems both drivers and truck owners face, a testament to his willingness to find new and better solutions.” You can read about some of those efforts in his own words in this story penned earlier in 2024 for Overdrive.
Bitterman Trucking owner Leslie Bitterman’s truly inspiring story of comeback after a year and more’s worth of COVID complications, after a near-death experience with the illness, prompted plenty in the way of commendation from judges for sticktoitiveness, for the determination to build on her personal family legacy in independent hauling out West. “Never the thought crossed her mind to do anything but succeed,” said one, “as a business owner, through the most challenging of personal circumstances. That she’s carved her niche with ag customers makes it all the more amazing, and a testament to her clear acumen.”
Like Alan Kitzhaber’s T600, the 2000 Kenworth W900L here pictured, R&M Transportation owner Holguin’s rig, has been under the owner’s tutelage for almost his entire history trucking. Near all of that history, too, has played out on his terms with a distinct do-it-yourself approach to maintenance and business, generally. He’s spent his entire trucking career running with authority. He “followed his dream to truck ownership with authority,” noted one of the judges, “and has lived it for the last 21 years. He uses the knowledge he’s gained efficiently and pays it forward to help others reach their dreams, helping family members learn the ropes before getting their own authority.”
Pictured here is Nichols’ “Lesa Marie III” 2020 Freightliner Coronado leased to Wayne Transports and hauling dry bulk freight in their network. Judges lauded Nichols’ clear business acumen, yet for many it was his passion for the business of trucking that truly showed through: “Mike Nichols’ love of trucking is 100% clear in his outreach efforts as an explainer of the business and life to the general public. Serious, smart, and tough — he’s found his niche and is making the absolute best of it, and not giving up on the outreach mission” in the process. Nichols urges association membership for other owners as a way to maximize their own voices’ potential to make a difference, whether a national group or their state association. As Overdrive Radio listeners will be aware, he’s long been a member of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and is currently on the ballot to potentially become a board alternate this year.
Owner-operator Marley is pictured here with his 2020 Peterbilt 579, currently leased to Mercer after the last few years spent hauling with authority. Her story elicited praise for a “no quit approach” from judges, likewise the smarts and tenacity both to pivot when “being an independent didn’t work. Instead of giving up, she found an effective ownership niche as a leased owner-operator. Gives back to others, too, just awesome.”
Pictured here is Labosky’s 2017 Freightliner, with which he’s found his niche in a relatively short several years after a long hiatus from trucking. In Amazon’s system, he’s worked the angles to his advantage leaning on what judges called an instinct to learn as much as possible to do himself as much of the work as possible, whether maintenance-, load-planning- or general business-related. Said one: “He’s figured out how to make the system work for him, which has allowed him to achieve a high rating, opening up more opportunities for better-paying freight.” And another: “Amazing perspective and planning! Love that he doesn’t shy away from what others might deem ‘cheap’ for his success.” Labosky knows what he needs for profit, and that it “doesn’t matter if somebody else is making more.”
Leased to Oakley Trucking pulling company-owned hoppers is the 2014 Freightliner Cascadia here pictured, owned by Viaille and his Goat’s Transport business. Said one of the judges, remarking also on Viaille’s long and storied history in trucking, “another example of knowing where your strengths truly sit and finding that niche to let them shine. Doug’s got drive enough to persevere through the tough times, setting him and his family up to weather the challenges of life.”
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