In addition to Overdrive's Small Fleet Championship honors, a huge part of the recognition delivered annually at the "Best Three Days in Trucking" of the National Association of Small Trucking Companies' annual conference is NASTC's driver of the year honors.
Many honored drivers made the trip to Nashville the final week of October for a Friday salute in the Omni Nashville Legends ballroom, with entertainment by recording artist and prolific singer-songwriter Jeffrey Steele and plenty of kudos from their nominating companies.
The recognition's oft-considered highest among professional achievements, as Overdrive's own Long Haul Paul Marhoefer was reminded during the celebration of the life of longtime milk hauler Bill Wilker in recent weeks. Wilker's 3 million safe miles in 2018 earned him a spot on NASTC's "America's Best Drivers" team.
[Related: Remembering 'Milkman' Bill Wilker, Feb. 1954-Oct. 2026]
The trucker team saluted at the 2026 NASTC conference has hauled cumulatively close to 69 million such miles over their careers, spanning together more than 700 years.
Speaking to the small fleet owners and drivers in attendance during the opening night program, David Owen nodded to drivers' achievements. The association's worked for 38 years to keep small trucking “viable in the marketplace, and we’ve done a pretty good job of that," he said. "But we haven’t done as good a job of that as you have. We know for a fact that you’re the safest, most profitable carriers” and drivers the nation over.
America's Best Drivers team 2026
- Gary Hilsenbeck, All Star Trucking, 40 years, 4M accident-free miles
- Brent Bingham, BTB Transportation, 32 years, 2.5M miles
- Kerm Brunner, Capela Transport, 45 years, 4.68M miles
- Mike Duprey, Cayenne Express, 36 years, 1.05M miles
- Mark Brown, Coomes Inc., 27 years, 2.8M miles
- J.L. Robertson, Dave Meeker Auto Inc., 36 years, 3.4M miles
- Ed Mayle, Dick Lavy Trucking, 28 years, 2.35M miles
- Dean Thomas, Axline Trucking, 29 years, 3.6M miles
- Richard Noack, Gold Standard Transportation, 54 years, 2.5M miles
- Larry Gausmann, Hull Transport, 39 years, 3.3M miles
- Brantley Rogers, Jade Tank Lines, 13 years, 1.5M miles
- Donald Der, Karl's Transport, 40 years, 4.24M miles
- Marcus Morris, Long Haul Trucking, 36 years, 3.5M miles
- Tom Flanagan, Maple Lane Transport, 30 years, 1.39M miles
- Chaye Wilcher, Marine One Transport, 18 years, 2.65M miles
- Nick Smith, Naeve Inc., 46 years, 5M miles
- John Rickers, QLF Transportation, 45 years, 6.3M miles
- Keith Roth, R'N'R Truckin', 30 years, 5M miles
- Toby Akins, Schwend, Inc., 29 years, 1.5M miles
- David Stump, St. Joseph Plastics, 27 years, 3M miles
- Rick Tackett, True Road Logistics, 38 years, 4.5M miles
[Related: 'Truckers are survivors': Otto Transfer, TruckWise pay tribute accepting Small Fleet Champ honors]
Axle Logistics bags Broker of the Year recognition
NASTC's "Best Brokers" group started its life as a collection of recommended middlemen direct from NASTC member small fleets early in the life of the organization. The goal? According to Owen, in delivering the annual Broker of the Year honor last week to a member of that group, Best Brokers aggregates those with a real "commitment to building strong relationships" with carrier partners.
Owen named Axle Logistics the 2026 Broker of the Year for its "continued support of small carriers," he said, representing "what a great broker-carrier relationship should be."
NASTC remained committed to work to improve those relationships, too, he added. "You know how critical it is right now. We have a very symbiotic relationship."
In recent years, with the rise of vetting tech platforms and the hyper-speed of spot contracting, "there are a lot of things that have gotten in the way of that relationship," he added. "We’re doing everything we can to repair those schisms.”
[Related: How owner-ops dodge shady brokers, ensuring freight's paid when due]
For a close look at owner-ops' experience of brokers' vetting practices -- and ways to vet freight middlemen yourself -- download Overdrive's 2026 research report via the form below. (Find a summary of highlights at this link.)
