Allen and Sandy Smith are one among three finalists for the 2021 Owner-Operator of the Year award, produced by the Truckload Carriers Association and Overdrive. The winner, who will receive a $25,000 cash prize, will be announced in March at TCA’s annual convention in Las Vegas. The sponsors of the Driver of the Year Contests are Love’s Travel Stops and Cummins. The other two finalists are Glen Horack and Gene Houchin.
Allen and Sandy Smith run as a
When Allen was growing up, his father drove a truck locally in West Virginia hauling coal, and Allen always had an interest in driving. His father never saw the appeal of going over-the-road and living in a truck, Allen said. But when he got to be of age, Allen felt OTR work had “a little more pizzazz to it.”
When the couple got married, Sandy had never been around trucks, but she knew it was Allen’s passion got involved from the start. “As far as my getting started, it was ‘Allen loves trucks and Sandy loves Allen,’” she said.
They ran with North American for about a year and a half before Allen’s father got sick and they came off the road for a spell of about 7 months. Allen ordered a 1984 Kenworth K100, which he leased on with Western Express until it was bought out by Ryder and merged with Interstate Contract Carrier Corp. (ICCC). In 1987, he and Sandy went to work with National Carriers, where they've been ever since.
The Smiths paid off that 1984 K100 the same year they started at National, and they have not had a bit of debt since, among the keys to their success.
The Smiths have paid cash for every rig they're purchased since their first one, all of which have been
