Driver of the Month Hails from Earling, Iowa
Kelly Schwarte, truck # 80158, was named National Carriers Driver of the Month for September. He is an owner operator on the regional refrigerated fleet. Traveling into Chicago and throughout the midwestern states, he focuses on safety and customer service. His driver manager for the past ten years has been Jeff Chance.
Chance said, “It has been a pleasure to work with Kelly since August 19th,2002.
As an Owner-Operator on a percentage contract he has provided superior service to our customers. He managed the Smithfield/Farmland Dedicated lane for years. One day his truck transmission went out & he went to Omaha and purchased another one and was up and running the next day. He is now operating in the regional division. A real self-starter and an Air Force Veteran providing for his family…and he has always had a good-sounding truck!”
“Keeping expenses down is the greatest challenge I have week to week. Over the past 20 years technology has been the biggest change. I used to call from a pay phone each morning and night into a dispatcher. Now everything is done by cell phone including talking directly to shippers, receivers, and lumpers. I have a great dispatcher in Jeff Chance. He is very detail oriented, puts in lots of hours, and I think we work great together,” Schwarte explained.
Making his home in the southwestern Iowa town of Earling, a 2005 Kenworth W-900L is his truck of choice. A native Iowan, he and his wife Tina have three school aged children; Parker 14, Piper 13, and Paxton who is 10 years old.
(Kelly is shown above with his Black Labrador, Duder.)