Driver of the Quarter: Mike McAlister

on Monday, February 17, 2025 in Awards & Recognition

TMC is proud to announce that Mike McAlister has been named Driver of the Quarter for the third quarter of 2024.

Mike has been driving for TMC since 2013. Having achieved more than one million safe miles, he’s well known as a driver who takes safety and securement seriously, while always pushing himself to do better than he did yesterday. “Mike is an outstanding man,” says Operations Manager Chris York. “His patience, reverence, and knowledge make him an outstanding driver and trainer for TMC. Mike prides himself on every aspect of the job.”

‘I’m a Numbers Guy’

After working in a factory and serving in the National Guard for many years, Mike was ready for a change and decided to pursue his dream of driving a truck in 2010.

After driving for about a year, however, Mike needed to be home more to help care for his father, who was battling cancer. He returned to working at a factory assembling machinery, but he missed driving. “When the machines got ready to ship out, the trucks would come in, and I’d think, ‘I could be there,’” he says. Eventually, Mike’s father beat his cancer, and Mike was ready to return to TMC in 2013.

Mike’s time working in a factory gave him an appreciation for metrics and numbers, which he brought into his career as a driver. In the factory, he says, “it was all about the numbers. And that’s the way I am—I’m a numbers guy.”

Mike carefully tracks metrics around his driving, always pushing himself to improve. He is especially dedicated to keeping his idle time low through efficient driving practices.

He says his motivation for doing this is two-fold. First, he strives to continuously improve in every way he can. “Never think you’re the best; just try to do better,” he says. “If you think you’re already the best, you never try to do better.”

But Mike also knows that, thanks to TMC’s employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), the fuel he saves by keeping his idle time low benefits the company and his future. “If we’re not wasting fuel, where does that money go? It goes back in the pot, and it goes into ESOP,” he says. “And where does ESOP go? That’s our retirement.”

Mike’s fleet manager, Brad Carlson, says that this commitment to continuous improvement is part of what makes Mike a great driver and so deserving of recognition as Driver of the Quarter. “Mike is the definition of TMC and what TMC wants in a driver,” Brad says. “He does everything the correct way and takes pride in his securement, safety, and idle time day in and day out.”

Training New Drivers

In addition to being a standout driver, Mike has been a driver trainer for a decade and has trained more than 60 TMC drivers. He says he strives to prepare new drivers to be safe and efficient, and to always plan ahead. He encourages his trainees to “always think two turns ahead”—not only literally when it comes to their routes, but more generally in planning for the future, making smart choices, and managing their time. “At the end of the week, that extra 15 minutes you save might mean you have enough time to get home,” he says.

His current trainee, Jorge Rodriguez, says that Mike is a great trainer who has prepared him to be successful in his own truck. “I think he’s one of the best—the way he secures the loads, the way he teaches,” Jorge says. “He really is the best.”

‘A Generational Change’

When he’s not out on the road, Mike enjoys spending time with his wife, Annette, and their family. Mike says that wanting to make life better for his children and grandchildren is part of what motivates him out on the road. “I want to make a generational change,” he says, to help his children have security in the future. Driving for TMC allows him to do just that, thanks to our ESOP and our percentage pay system, which rewards smart driving.

As Chris says, “Mike is a great example of what every driver at TMC should try to emulate.” Congratulations to Mike McAlister on being named Driver of the Quarter.