Sun Prairie, Wisconsin-based John Schiltz, 57, has been around trucking since he got his first seat time on the family farm when he was just 8 years old. His father was an over-the-road trucker even before that, too, and Schiltz followed in those footsteps hauling locally in Wisconsin at 18. He moved agriculture commodities such as sweet corn, cabbage and green beans.
Two different stints in the Army totaling 17 years enabled him to parlay a love of trucks and trucking as a heavy-truck mechanic. Between those two stints, he pulled for Bradley Farms out of Sun Prairie (among other outfits), moving crops as far as Arkansas in a day cab, sleeping on the seats.
His second stint in the Army -- which included two tours in Iraq for eight months in 2003 and for a year from 2004-'05 -- ended when he was medically retired in 2010 as a disabled veteran. He earned a Bronze Star during one of his deployments to Iraq.
He didn't purchase his own trucking equipment until that year, yet it's Schiltz's success as an independent business owner that truly stands out for the woman who nominated him for Overdrive's 2023 Trucker of the Year award. Schiltz's wife, Sarah, commended both John’s attitude and drive for that success. His motto -- “A quality carrier isn’t expensive; a quality carrier is priceless” -- shows through in all the work he does for their direct customers and brokers.
“I wanted to nominate him because he deserves it,” she said. “We honestly do love what we do. Recognition, I feel like he deserves it. I want to shout from the rooftops, 'here’s someone doing it right.'”
Now running independent with a two-truck operation and Sarah likewise behind the wheel, Schiltz has persevered through a variety of challenges, and for these and other qualities the owner's Veterans Transportation Services LLC is Overdrive’s Trucker of the Month for October.
