It’s not unusual for long-haul drivers to travel through all 48 lower states. It’s another thing when an OTR driver is described as a “world traveler.”
That was one of the descriptors for 2017 Owner-Operator of the Year finalist Phil Keith during the Truckload Carriers Association’s closing banquet at its recent annual meeting in Kissimmee, Florida. Minutes later he was announced as winner, and the recipient of the honor’s $25,000 cash prize, made possible by sponsors Cummins and Love’s Travel Stops.
Addressing a few hundred fleet executives, Keith cited the millions of accident-free miles driven by him and owner-operator award finalists Kevin Kocmich and Bryan Smith. “There’s only 24,000 miles around the equator,” he said. “So keeping that in mind, we’ve been in orbit for a long time.”
The global orbit for Keith has been a zigzag one, beginning long before he learned to drive a truck. He beats most truckers in the range of places he’s been as well as modes of transportation he routinely uses. He and his team-driver wife, Eva, enjoy sailing in the Gulf of Mexico, close to their home, and taking long motorcycle trips.
Keith, who turns 60 this month, was born in France. He later lived in Spain, then moved to the United States. He grew up mostly in Freeport, Illinois, though his family relocated frequently. Much later, he returned to Europe for a long vacation, but his biggest international road trip came via service with the U.S. Marines from 1975 to 1983. That included a four-year stint in the Philippines, but he also was stationed in Hawaii, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Okinawa.
—
