"This year, if it goes like it has this past month, it'll be phenomenal."
--George Kincaid
In this week's edition of Overdrive Radio, an audio window on our feature story about flatbed-pulling owner-operator George Kincaid’s one-truck business, written attendant to the Quinwood, West Virginia-headquartered Kincaid getting the April Trucker of the Month nod from Overdrive.
George Kincaid and his 2001 Western Star 4900EX
Love of trucking has been with him since he was a kid. He and his younger brother both grew up with an eye toward exactly what they wanted to do when they were men. "It's pretty much what we always wanted to do growing up -- drive a truck," Kincaid said, and "have one with our own name on it."
Dive into Kincaid’s story in the podcast:
Also there, the tale of another owner, John Rissler, whose Horse and Buggy Express trucking business out of California, Missouri, morphed into the Horse and Buggy Accessories chrome shop he operates primarily today. It's housed in the Crossroads Shopping Plaza at U.S. 50 and Missouri 87, home too of the annual Crossroads Truck Meet show. As regular readers will be aware, I spent the day out at the Crossroads May 3 for this year’s event, and sat down with Rissler to hear its history, stretching back four years now to the time he and another brother, Delton Rissler, decided to build a new headquarters there.
What’s it like to be the proprietor of a small fleet, a chrome shop with Missouri and Pennsylvania locations, and a truck show all at once? Well it never comes without a hitch, Rissler said. Soon as we sat down for the talk, his phone rang, as it would throughout our conversation. This call he had to take, though, from the man who was ferrying show attendees from the car parking area up to the show on a hay-ride-set-up flatbed trailer toted by an old farm tractor that had developed a pretty significant oil leak, as it turned out.
A hitch indeed, yet they would overcome. Hear more in the podcast.
Though he spends little time of the road today, Rissler holds onto these two KWs below from his and his and wife Karen Rissler's team-haul history. Read more about the Crossroads Truck Meet show at this link.
The 2000 W900 with Studio Sleeper John and Karen bought new.
Bit of upgrade, then, with this 2003 W9 outfitted with a 120-inch ARI big bunk.
Overdrive's 2025 Trucker of the Year program, sponsored by Commercial Vehicle Group and Bostrom Seating, recognizes clear business acumen and unique or time-honored recipes for success among owner-operators. Nominations are open for exceptional owner-operators, whether leased or independent. Nominate your business or that of a fellow owner (up to three trucks) via this link for a chance to win a custom replica of your tractor and a new seat from Bostrom and CVG.
