Dan HeisterDan Heister, a 45-year-old steel hauler, has been named Overdrive’s 2011 Trucker of the Year. A driver for Clanton, Ala.-based Boyd Bros. Transportation for 15 years, Heister netted nearly $80,000 in 2008 and says he expects to surpass that figure in the 2010 rebound.
Heister is featured in Overdrive’s February issue in a cover story by Todd Dills and was the magazine’s Trucker of the Month in July 2010. Heister wins an all-expense-paid trip to the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas and a trip anywhere in the continental United States, with $1,000, from Overdrive, as well as gifts from trucking companies and suppliers.
The Erin, Tenn.-resident started hauling for Boyd, a flatbed carrier, in 1996 and bought his first and so far only truck, a 2003 International 9000ix in 2006. Experience as a driver and mechanic during military service from 1984 to the ’90s helped him advance his trucking career, Heister says.
He resides in Erin, Tenn., with his wife, Tawn, and their 13-year-old son, Jake. Father and son work on restoring classic cars, including two Ford Gran Torinos, more details of which can be seen in the cover story here and at Overdrive Videos here.
