As the 1992 BMY rolled down the judging lane, thoughts were racing through my mind. Is this a classic? Is it a working truck? It’s got no chrome and the military-green camo paint job is meant for blending in rather than standing out. It was pulling a trailer that looked a little worse for wear.

As guest judge for this year’s Shell Rotella SuperRigs in Bristol, Tenn., I was trying to decide how to judge this rig that did not fit in with the rest at the truck beauty contest. The BMY looked plenty tough, but I dared not call her beautiful.

Then Kilian Flanary shut off the engine and stepped out of the cab. A bunch of curls on his head and wearing his heart on his sleeve. His love for trucking, and the enthusiasm and knowledge about his ride were apparent.

As I was walking around on the first day of the show, I’d noticed Flanary at the registration tent. I assumed he was registering for a family member. He looked very young. I was wrong.

His mother served in Iraq and provided convoy security for trucks similar to the one he was driving. The 20-year-old truck driver bought the vehicle when he was 18 as a tribute to her.

Flanary operates heavy equipment and helps his parents in their family business. He’s the only one with a CDL, so he loads the equipment on the trailer and heads to job sites.

He told the judges that he had spent the previous day installing a seat in the truck. Tough work for a lanky young man in the summer heat, but he did it.

And speaking about tough, I also was blessed to meet Jeffrey Dills, a paraplegic truck driver.

Dills lost the use of his legs after a motorcycle accident in 1994. He went on to become a para-athlete and represented the United States wheelchair basketball team in 2004.

He’d spent his life around trucks and decided to return to trucking in 2006. He drives his big rig using hand controls and uses a custom lift to get in and out of the cab.

His 2007 Peterbilt is beautifully maintained. The truck works hard and has some chips and dings – badges of honor from the road. But the paint was smooth and shiny and the chrome spotless. All the way down to the trailer, it looks like a super rig.

Dills told the judges that the guy who helps detail the truck could not make it to the show. So, he did the work himself. The kind of work that shows pride. For example, the insides of the wheels were shined to a polished finish. Those are hard-to-get-to areas for a physically able person.

Good things come to good people. The judges score trucks on their merit and not the backstory. Dills’ Pete won second runner up in the Best of Show category.

At the show, the Steve Sturgess Award, named in honor of one of the trucking industry’s most respected journalists and longtime judge, is given to a special truck that reflects the quality the late Sturgess admired.

The judges decided to bestow the honor on Flanary. Longtime judge Eric Harley said that Sturgess would be all over the truck, asking questions and seeking details from the young driver.

After receiving the award, Flanary had tears in his eyes. He came up to me and said, “Thank you so much, you don’t know how much this means to me.”

Yes, I do kid. You mean a lot to the industry. May your story inspire others.