Small Fleet Champ

Small Fleet Champ
Roadside war stories, camaraderie, ownership advice: Small Fleet Champs deliver
This week's edition of Overdrive Radio drops into the Small Fleet Champ awards ceremony and a side roundtable talk with the four finalists: Clifford Hay Inc., Thomasville Furniture Xpress, Turnage & Sons, and Oberman Logistics. The owners traded war stories from hefty tow bills (how's $15K for four miles) and plenty tried-and-true advice for the move from one truck to many.
November 3, 2025
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Life
'America's Best Drivers' and new NASTC Ambassadors: The 2025 small-trucking team
Meet NASTC's "America's Best Drivers" team, with a combined 585 years and 51M-plus accident-free miles of experience. NASTC also honored three initial inductees into a group it's calling its Transportation Ambassadors, who help reach the public with "a true image of what you guys are all about,” NASTC's president told small fleets and owner-operators.
October 30, 2025
Nastc Best Three Days Trucking 2025 Conference
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March 24, 2025
Overdrive's Partners in Business - The leading business training program for owner-operators.
Business
ELD-data engagement: Your insurance premiums could depend on it
More and more, insurers work with small fleets and owner-ops' ELD systems to capture telematics data as a window on driving behavior, with potential to save on insurance costs. Engaging with the data yourself could be revealing about your own or your drivers' habits, noted one small fleet consultant, presenting opportunity to actively improve.
October 28, 2025
Overdrive Small Fleet Champ for 2025 in the 3-10 Truck Division, Wes Oberman of Oberman Logistics, is among a growing number of owners utilizing telematics-data enagement in tandem with his leased owner-operators to help keep the record clean and costs in line.
Small Fleet Champ
TFX, Oberman come out on top: Overdrive's 2025 Small Fleet Champs
Taking home the Small Fleet Champ title belts in their respective categories were Thomasville Furniture Xpress owners Scott Denmark and Scott Cruthis in the 11-30-truck category, and Oberman Logistics and its owners, Wes and Laura Oberman, in the 3-10-truck class.
October 24, 2025
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Small Fleet Champ
Turnage, TFX, Oberman, Clifford Hay advance to Small Fleet Champ final round
Turnage & Sons LLC, Thomasville Furniture Xpress, Oberman Logistics and Clifford Hay Inc. -- all are mastering the fine arts of trucking-biz management in myriad ways. Two Small Fleet Champs among these finalists will walk away with the title belts at NASTC's annual conference Oct. 23 in Nashville.
October 3, 2025
Four fleets represented by the pictures above will square off in the final round of the Small Fleet Championship for the title belt in their respective categories October 23, 2025, at the annual NASTC conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
Small Fleet Champ
Turnage & Sons strikes balance with 29-truck organic milk-haul fleet
After growing the fleet to as many as 40 trucks, Robbie Turnage discovered that he's better suited to keep the fleet size just shy of 30 trucks to ensure all of his equipment stays maintained and his drivers and customers are all taken care of.
October 2, 2025
Milk tanker-hauling Turnage & Sons LLC operates 29 trucks out of Tylertown, Mississippi, moving organic milk from dairies in region out to Georgia, Texas, Florida and elsewhere. Pictured above, with some of the company's equipment and logo, is father-son duo Robbie (left) and Levi Turnage, representing fourth and fifth generations in milk.
Small Fleet Champ
Diversification key to weathering down market for Hallahan Transport
Diversification has been the name of the game for 10-truck step deck and milk tanker-hauler Hallahan Transport during the challenging trucking market conditions seen for the last several years. Hallahan repeats as a Small Fleet Champ semi-finalist in 2025, out of La Crosse, Wisconsin.
September 30, 2025
Hallahan Transport's company trucks are painted the company's signature custom green with Omaha orange accents.
Small Fleet Champ
LTL furniture specialist TFX lays solid ground for growth, profit, support
Thomasville Furniture Xpress owners Scott Denmark and Scott Cruthis both got their start in the trucking business as owner-operators decades ago. Today, after long careers centered in the LTL furniture space out of North Carolina, their small fleet is poised for continued growth, profits, and service excellence.
September 25, 2025
Small Fleet Champ semi-finalist Thomasville Furniture Xpress has grown quickly since founding within the last decade, helmed by co-owners Scott Denmark and Scott Cruthis.
Small Fleet Champ
Skin in the leased owner's game: Oberman Logistics' simple, transparent plan for expansion
Owner-operator Wes Oberman and his business partner and wife, Laura, have built a home for leased owner-operators at their Tennessee-based fleet with a promise of transparent, simple fees -- and clear investment in the success of their business partners. Growth has been steady over six years.
September 23, 2025
Oberman Logistics owner Wes Oberman's personal truck is this Kenworth T680 -- purchased to replace a lower-fuel-mileage 2020 389 that powered his maiden voyage in trucking as an owner-operator. He's getting 10 mpg now, and providing a reliable home for leased owners has the fleet up to 11 trucks as of August.
Small Fleet Champ
Derrick Wolfe has built a 'sweet' business in New York's Finger Lakes region
Derrick Wolfe grew his New York-based food grade tanker fleet from one truck to nearly 30, and he's still on the road daily to stay connected with his drivers, customers, and the open road. Derrick Wolfe Trucking is a semi-finalist for Overdrive's Small Fleet Champ award.
September 18, 2025
It's taken less than a decade for small fleet owner Derrick Wolfe to grow his New York-based food grade tanker-haul business from one truck to 21 company drivers, seven owner-operators and 10 non-driving employees.
Small Fleet Champ
Mission Complete: Veteran small fleet owner's legion of local support
Scott Smithler trucked through war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan but managed to bring home peace and prosperity with a family biz whose missions are mostly local/regional, ending at home near every night.
September 16, 2025
Small fleet owner Scott Smithler's Mission Complete Transport builds on the owner's history hauling in the military, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mission Complete is among semi-finalists in Overdrive's Small Fleet Championship.
Small Fleet Champ
Small Fleet Champ semi-finalists not afraid to get their hands dirty
Turnage and Sons' father-son team of Robbie and Levi Turnage, and MRL Transport owner Mark Ledford, illustrate value in hands-on operations, training, leadership underpinning their long-term success.
September 15, 2025
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Small Fleet Champ
Up from ashes: Small fleet Clifford C. Hay Inc. thrives 15 years after devastating fire
After taking over the family business in 1999 as a one-truck operation, Clifford Hay II built the fleet to the six trucks and 30 trailers it has today, showing plenty resiliency and commitment to customers. His fleet's a 2025 Small Fleet Champ semi-finalist.
September 11, 2025
Clifford C. Hay Inc. owns six trucks, with four operating on a day-to-day basis. Some of the small fleet's trucks are shown here parked up in front of the fleet's current shop in Cobleskill, New York.
Small Fleet Champ
Right-sizing for management: MRL Transport owner Mark Ledford hits five trucks
Ledford got his start trucking after working a dock where his manager said Ledford would never drive truck. Not only would he drive, he'd grow a fleet well beyond 30 trucks before selling out. MRL Transport is his second turn in the barrel, and Ledford's hit a profitability sweet spot.
September 9, 2025
MRL Transport owner Mark Ledford today hauls direct freight outbound for customers in part built from his years of ownership of another fleet, since sold after years of growth. MRL in some ways is Ledford's effort to right-size a business for his life today.
Small Fleet Champ
Meet Overdrive's 2025 Small Fleet Champ semi-finalists
Spanning seven states and hauling niches from milk and other food grade tankers to dry vans, step decks and flatbeds, RGNs and reefers, these fine fleets are semi-finalists in Overdrive's Small Fleet Championship, with title belts on the line among other perks from award sponsor NASTC.
September 5, 2025
The Small Fleet Championship's title belts are on the line for this year's competition, both to be delivered to a final winner in two categories after the final round October 23 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Small Fleet Champ
Last call! Just days left to compete for 2025 Small Fleet Champ honor
Last call! Small fleet entries are due Thursday, July 31, for your fleet of 3 to 30 trucks. Test your trucking mettle for a chance to take home the 2025 title belt in Overdrive's Small Fleet Championship. Four finalist fleets will ultimately square off in Nashville in late October at event sponsor NASTC's annual conference.
July 29, 2025
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Small Fleet Champ
Sharp new glider additions to Rissler small fleet underscore driver, family value
Walk through two new glider additions to Small Fleet Champ Paul Rissler Transportation, a 2016 flattop Pete and a 2019 studio-sleeper outfitted KW picked up for Wes Martin's wife, Bev, to accompany the longtime Rissler driver OTR.
June 26, 2025
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Small Fleet Champ
Doing it right the first time: Small Fleet Champ Paul Rissler, for the long haul
In this week's edition of Overdrive Radio, listen into a tour around the headquarters of Paul Rissler Transportation, current Small Fleet Champ, on the old home place for the big Rissler trucking family.
June 16, 2025
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Overdrive Radio
How military service set these trucking entrepreneurs straight on course to success
A special Overdrive Radio marks Veterans Day, commemorating the military service of so many around the United States, and in American trucking. Here we honor the stories of two vets -- Army and Navy, respectively -- who are equally clear-eyed emphasizing what their service meant for their long careers as business owners.
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Regulations
Court pauses DOT rule seeking to push 200,000 non-domiciled CDL drivers out of commercial work
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Maintenance
Owner-ops adapt conservative approach to ever-expanding diesel service intervals
Owner-operator Raiko Graveran might be the 'nicest dude in all of trucking,' a version of which has been said by more than one truck showgoer who's found him and his 1995 Freightliner FLD 120 parked up. Here he's showing off fairly recent wins at the Old Town Rig Down event in Nacogdoches, Texas. Look for Graveran out at the Stars, Stripes and White Lines event this week in Atlanta.
Overdrive Extra
Red, white and 'Little Blue': The story of owner-operator Raiko Graveran
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