Here is a fun little trucking story for you. My good friend Andy Styrczula (45) of Orland Park, IL started driving Chicago to California and back in 1996 and never stopped. He just loves this route – especially in the winter months. In the early years, he would fuel up at an old school truck stop in Beaver, UT known as Ernie’s, and there would always be a few super nice truck pics, ripped out of magazines, hanging above the fuel desk. Andy thought about how cool it would be to have a truck this nice and see his own picture hanging there one day! Well, his dream came true sometime in 2015 when 10-4 Magazine editor Daniel Linss printed a full-page story with Andy’s green Volvo and a little write-up. In the story, it stated that Andy was one of the guys with a clean and sharp truck trying to turn the typical Chi-Town immigrant trucker stereotype into something better to “start a new trend” – and, as it turns out, that wasn’t just some cheesy story or empty promise. Last month, five years later, Andy and his wife Donna invited a few friends and their families over for a little hangout at their 7-acre ranch south of Chicago (recently bought from driving those 5M miles) – and many showed up, along with their trucks. The event was so nice we called it Andy’s Truck Show, and plan to do it again next year. Andy is one of the most passionate and successful one-truck owner operators I have ever met. Being an immigrant, he literally started with nothing, and as an immigrant and trucker myself, I (and probably a lot of you, as well) know how hard that can be. I can’t wait to see everyone at Andy’s place again next year. It’s guys like Andy that are helping to keep the Spirit of the American Trucker alive!