The Expediter of the Year award, in its second year and delivered in conjunction with OnTime Media’s Expedite Expo show in Lexington, Ky., was delivered Saturday to Barrett Directline-leased cargo van expediting owner-operator Tim Paxton of Akron, Ohio.
Paxton hauls in this 2017 Ford Transit cargo van, with much of his freight running within the Midwest. A trip to the West Coast isn’t all that out of the ordinary, however.Paxton and his wife, Dawna, manage the business closely, keeping close track of cost per mile and opportunities to boost revenue. Paxton, meanwhile, has utilized social media to build a community of expedited drivers and other industry participants to assist one another. A few among the 1,800-plus members of the “Transportation Life: ‘Wheels, wings and rudders'” group on Facebook.com were present in the flesh to cheer on Paxton in Lexington, where he won after being named as one of three finalists.
Among group members on hand was Greg McClure (pictured, right, with Paxton), owner-operator of a 2011 Ford E350 Econoline, his third van in what has been a 20-year, 2.5-million-mile-plus career leased to Panther.
Paxton’s group’s logo on a sticker on his van. Find it via its home on the Facebook.com social network.Nominated for this year’s award by several among his fellow haulers, Paxton transitioned to running in a cargo van after some years hauling Class 8 tanker, finding more independence with business ownership first with a used Econoline he’s since sold to group member Eric “Red” Redden, owner of Red’s Custom Design, based in Indiana near Louisville. Redden was on-hand in the drivers’ lot behind the Lexington Convention Center this weekend, installing roof fans for several cargo-van owner-ops.
Eric “Red” Redden hard at work at Expedite Expo on a roof fan install. His Red’s Custom Design business is based in Taswell, Ind.
The Ford van in which owner-operator Paxton began his expediting career was on hand at the show, hauling in parts in Eric Redden’s expediter-van-upfitting business, Red’s Custom Design.In the end, as a group member noted after Paxton won the award at the end of the show Saturday, Paxton clearly has a knack for giving credit where it’s due. The award belongs as much to his close-knit community, those who’ve helped him get to where he is, as him. Their big presence at the show is all the evidence one needs of that.
Transportation Life group members pose for a photo by the Expediter Services booth at Expedite Expo, where Paxton’s award was announced Saturday.Two other finalists were also honored at the event:
Eric Escobar of Northfield, Mich., Fudpucker Expedited small fleet owner-operator — Escobar hauls in a Class 8 straight truck and owns six cargo vans, employing 10 drivers, all running under the authority of Premium Transportation Logistics.
Past owner-operator and current driver Nancy Hudson drives a T680 Kenworth tractor in the expedited operation of AD Transport. Hudson lives in Columbus, Mich.
