This time of every year stands among my personal favorites for the work day-to-day put in for Overdrive. The sprint of an entry period for our annual Small Fleet Championship draws nearer to a close, and we begin to fan out virtually across the nation to spend time with the truly exceptional business owners among contenders.
The goal? Get as full a picture of individual entrants as possible, to tell the stories of what makes the biz tick, of lessons learned from OTR struggle and triumph, often enough over decades trucking for many a contender.
Here's a huge thanks to every small fleet owner who's put their trucking company in the running for the 2026 awards, sponsored again this year by NASTC and meant for trucking companies between 3 and 30 power units in it for the long haul, built for safety, for profit and longevity. If you've entered but haven't yet completed the secondary form for semi-finalists I sent your way in email, there's time beyond today's deadline to get that done. (Be in touch with me directly if you didn't get that email.)
For the rest of the small fleet owner-operators reading, I've got other good news: we're extending the deadline a couple weeks through to the 15th of August for initial entry. Get in the running via the form below. (For complete contest rules and eligibility guidelines, follow this link, and after keep a close eye out for email direct from me shortly.)
Overdrive's Small Fleet Championship Entry Form
I caught up with last year's finalists, too, as this last month of the entry period wound down. Want to know opportunities that emerge for owners recognized as champs? 2025 3-10-truck champ Wes Oberman of Oberman Logistics reported a positive talking point during his early-year insurance renewal and bolstered interest from owners leasing on with the Tennessee-based company. TFX owner and 11-30-truck champ Scott Denmark had a blast of a time at the NASTC conference last year for the finals, with intent to return again for 2026.
Other themes emerged, of a fashion. While all four 2025 finalists reported at least some measure of improved positioning this year, whether financially or otherwise, management challenges are ever present. 2026 finalist Clifford Hay for the first time in a decades-long career as an owner took big hits with two accidents, and the tough decision to part ways with an employed driver.
Fuel price run-ups this year are no joke, pressing all owners to beat cost inflation with better rates or, as was the case for Denmark, finding more and more ways to be boost efficiency.
As I know is the case for so many of you, all have their eyes on the future, just what they can do day-to-day, week-to-week and on to build that legacy for their families and their drivers' and other employees'.
For Robbie Turnage and his son, Levi, the latter working his way more directly into all aspects of their Turnage & Sons milk-haul fleet, it's more a matter of adding to a legacy left for the fourth- and fifth-generation truck owners. Both no doubt have "diesel flowing through their veins," as Levi put it to his dad as a teenager, yet Levi's learning much more than just how to turn a wrench and get the freight there on time.
Employed-driver support is always high in mind, and the elder Turnage holds high hopes for the son as he comes into management of the now-30-plus-truck fleet. Primary health and supplemental insurance, 401K retirement investment: Robbie hasn't cracked them all as yet, but he's increasingly confident of who's coming up behind him to take the reins fully.
If you missed any of my updates with 2025 finalists, find them all via the links below, and I'll personally encourage you here to join us in the 2026 event. Enter via the form above or at this link.
Best of luck to all, and I truly look forward to meeting those among you I haven't already. Keep on truckin'.
