Expedite Expo Revisit From Years Past Part 1

With no Expedite Expo this year that means we do not need to do a pre-show and post-show article.? That got us to thinking how about looking back over the years we have been to the show and do some reminiscing.? We thought it would be best to break this up into three articles.? This one will be from 2012 to 2017.

Our first show we attended was in 2012 and have been to everyone since then.

Expedite Expo 2012 (Wilmington, OH)?

This show was a really whirlwind two days for us.? Stephen had just got his Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDL), bought a truck and now needed to find a carrier to lease onto.? Yes, he did it backwards?.he should have found a fleet owner to try this out first.? We got luck and was able to meet some great folks at this show and most of them have been lifelong friends.? Both of us were just overwhelmed at the amount of information from the workshops and the people we talked to.

While at this show we were able to lease onto Panther and a month later Stephen was done with orientation and running loads.? With plenty of questions and dealing with a steep learning curve.? A couple we meet at this show who became like family and are our mentors was Bob and Linda Caffee.? Do not know how many times Stephen called then with questions and for guidance.

Expedite Expo 2013 (Wilmington, OH)

A year later we were still full of questions and soaked up all the information we could from the workshops and people that we met.? We were starting to build connections with peers that could help us in our business.

Expedite Expo 2014 (Wilmington, OH)

This show was really special for us.? We were happy that Sandy was alive and able to attend the show.? At the end of June, she was diagnosed with colon cancer and had surgery at the end of June and a few weeks from being released from the hospital (July 4th).? The only thing we really remember from this show is how supportive everyone was to Sandy.? While Sandy was in the hospital recovering she told Stephen ?life is too short to be away from the ones you love??..?let?s build a new truck and drive as a team?.? Stephen came off the road to take care of Sandy she had six months of chemotherapy to go through it was every two weeks.? At the show we worked with Jeff Jones on designing our new truck and got the ball rolling.?

This was back when we did PJ health walks every morning and here is the picture of the walkers.? Even less than a month from having surgery Sandy was out front leading the walkers.

PJ walker?s

Expedite Expo 2015 (Wilmington, OH)

This show was really different Expo for us.? The carrier we were now leased to V3 Transportation wanted to use our new truck in the booth.? We had not seen the truck almost done until the Expo.? We did not know what to expect on our custom graphics.? Not all the graphics we on the truck also.? We spent most of time in the V3 booth talking with people and showing the truck.

?Our first look at our new truck

The graphics on the truck try to match our local police departments.? Our chief came out to see the truck and saw extra space in the booth and asked if we wanted one of the new police cruisers in the booth.? Well, what could we say but yes.

In the booth if the Police Chief and Operations Sgt.

We ended up winning Best of Show.? With that we got a trophy and $500.? We donated the cash in ours and V3 Transportations names to the Clearcreek Township Police Department for use in the yearly Safety Town event for the Township kids.

In this picture is both of us with CCPD Constable Eric Ney.

Expedite Expo 2016 (Lexington, KY)

Again, V3 asked if they use the truck in the booth.? They also stated they were expanding the booth and including a second straight truck.? Ontime media asked if they could use our truck for the Kentucky State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement use it to do mock Level 1 inspections.? We were more than happy to say yes since our tie in to law enforcement on the truck.

KSP Level 1 Inspection Workshop

Bob and Linda Caffee were going to be busy with a special all-day workshop on setup day and asked us to pull their truck into a booth.? What an honor they asking us to do this.? Their truck was going to be used for doing pre-trip inspections and everyone would be graded and prizes would be given out.

Caffee Truck used for pre-trip inspection

Another honor was Sandy was asked by Ellen Voie the founder of Women In Trucking (WIT) to be on the panel of her workshop.? To say the least Sandy was scared and nervous being so new in trucking.? But, with the help from our family and mentor Linda Caffee she participated.

Panel of WIT workshop.

Just for fun we captured this picture from our hotel room.

Expedite Expo 2017 (Lexington, KY)

Our truck was used again in the V3 booth.? This year Ontime media ask if we would moderate round tables.? This was a lot of fun and allowed to network with those at the table.

Lexington Police Department stayed in the parking lot and we were able to get a picture of one of their cruisers next to our truck before we went into the building to the booth.

LPD Cruiser next to our truck

The round table sessions were well attended.? A lot of great information was shared at each one.

New for 2017 was the Expediter of the Year award.? From all the people that were nominated the judges had to narrow that down to three.? The winner was Robert Burton who was leased to V3 Transportation.

The other finalists that year were:? Bob and Linda Caffee with Landstar and Edward Estes with Bolt Express.

That takes care of years 2012 thru 2017.? Stay tuned for next article which will cover years 2018 to 2020.

Thanks for reading hope you enjoyed going down memory lane as much as we did.

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Sandy & Stephen

We?re Burning Daylight - ?Wil Anderson? (The Cowboys) John Wayne