Trucker of the Month: Tough Calls
38 OVERDRIVE SEPTEMBER 2009 L ucinda Coult er Robert Wilbur, a 29-year veteran with Bennett Motor Express and the fleet's 2008 Driver of the Year, stopped his 2004 Freightliner Clas-sic in Cottondale, Ala., while en route from Ft. Polk, La., to Ft. Campbell, Ky., with a cargo truck and John Deere gator loaded on his 53-ft. step-deck. R obert Wilbur became an owner-operator the same day he became a trucker. In 1980, Wilbur bought a 1970 Dodge dump truck and began hauling build-ing materials for construction sites of MARTA, Atlanta's rapid rail transit system, near his Acworth, Ga., home. I got a chauffeur's license and started trucking with pretty much no experi-ence, Wilbur says. Twenty-nine years later, he's ap-proaching two million accident-free miles and holds the honor of being the Bennett Motor Express 2008 Trucker of the Year, his second such award with the company. Wilbur signed on with the fl eet in the mid-'80s after building over-the-road experience in a 1972 International TranStar he bought in 1981 from a friend. He said I needed to get out of the dump truck business and start doing over-the-road, Wilbur, 55, recalls. He leased to Plantation Transport and began hauling lumber for saw-mills in Georgia. When Plantation had fi nancial trouble, Wilbur signed on with National Freight, stayed there three years and in 1987 went with Bennett. (The owners are not related to his wife, the former Wanda Sue Bennett.) Tough calls Robert Wilbur's dependable nature makes him the go-to guy for all manner of challenging and lucrative hauls BY LANIER NORVILLE