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.](https://img.overdriveonline.com/files/base/randallreilly/all/image/2018/07/ovd.Tim-Paxton-2017-Ford-Transit-Van-2018-07-23-07-38.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&q=70&w=400)
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.](https://img.overdriveonline.com/files/base/randallreilly/all/image/2018/07/ovd.Tim-paxton-greg-mcclure-2018-07-23-07-57.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&q=70&w=400)
![Paxton’s group’s logo on a sticker on his van. Find it via its home on the Facebook.com social network.](https://img.overdriveonline.com/files/base/randallreilly/all/image/2018/07/ovd.Transportation-life-sticker-tim-paxton-2018-07-23-08-00.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&q=70&w=400)
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.](https://img.overdriveonline.com/files/base/randallreilly/all/image/2018/07/ovd.Eric-Red-Redden-at-expedite-expo-on-top-of-van-2018-07-23-08-16.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&q=70&w=400)
![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.](https://img.overdriveonline.com/files/base/randallreilly/all/image/2018/07/ovd.Eric-Redden-van-2018-07-23-08-36.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&q=70&w=400)
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.](https://img.overdriveonline.com/files/base/randallreilly/all/image/2018/07/ovd.Transportation-life-group-at-expedite-expo-2018-07-23-08-43.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&q=70&w=400)
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.](https://img.overdriveonline.com/files/base/randallreilly/all/image/2018/07/ovd.Eric-Escobar-2018-07-23-08-55.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&q=70&w=400)
![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.](https://img.overdriveonline.com/files/base/randallreilly/all/image/2018/07/ovd.Nancy-Hudson-2-2018-07-23-08-57.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&q=70&w=400)