Landstar Systems’ Gary Buchs won $25,000 Tuesday night when he was named 2016 Owner-Operator of the Year by the Truckload Carriers Association and Overdrive.
The announcement was made at TCA’s annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn., where Murray Manuliak of Bison Transport was named 2016 Company Driver of the Year, also winning $25,000.
The contests are sponsored by Cummins and Love’s Travel Stops.
In accepting his award, Buchs thanked his parents, who are deceased, for teaching him and his siblings “a tremendous work ethic on the dairy farm — to have a caring attitude about life, to care for livestock and the value of life.”
Citing a recently published story that highlighted his emphasis on people, Buchs said, “Technology’s great, but it doesn’t feel, it doesn’t care. People are what matters.”
The other owner-operator finalists were Philip Keith, leased to WEL Companies, and Kevin Kocmich, leased to Diamond Transportation System. The other company driver finalists were William Poteet of Saddle Creek Transportation and David McGowan of WEL Companies. The four runners-up will receive $2,500 each.
