Robert Hoffman Named TMC's 2025 Wheel Master

on Monday, March 23, 2026 in Awards & Recognition

Every year, TMC recognizes one outstanding driver as a Wheel Master. This award honors someone who has demonstrated career-long excellence, hard work, and an unwavering focus on safety.

We’re so proud to announce that Robert Hoffman is our 2025 Wheel Master. While Robb’s tenure and safe miles—nearly 25 years with TMC and 2.7 million safe miles—are incredible on their own, the story of his career at TMC and the reputation he’s built at our company are even more remarkable. Customer Service Representative Mike Makovec sums Robb up simply: “He’s just unbelievable.”

Beginning a Great Career

Robb came to TMC after serving in the Air Force. His military service and his time at TMC have had many things in common, he says: “The standards, the discipline, the need to do the job correctly the first time. If you don't take pride in what you do every single day, it's just not worth doing. And it's something I'm very proud of.” And Robb has certainly demonstrated this pride every day of the nearly 25 years he’s been behind the wheel for TMC.

When he came to TMC’s Des Moines terminal for training in 2001, Robb saw the wall of photos of Wheel Masters. “You’re like, ‘Maybe someday you'll be on that wall,” he recalls. But in the meantime, he focused on staying safe and developing the skills that would allow him to be successful.

 Robb’s first dispatcher was a young fleet manager named Travis Johnson.

“Travis was quite the taskmaster—he still is,” Robb laughs. “I loved working with him.”

“Robb was probably one of my top drivers that I had on my on my fleet back then, and I had a lot of good drivers on my team,” Travis recalls. “Robb took every single load I ever gave him. I don't recall him ever refusing a load or even he and I getting into any kind of an argument at all. He was he was just a great guy to work with.”

Becoming a Wheel Master

Over the years, as Robb moved forward in his career, Travis did the same, becoming a vice president, then an executive vice president, and, in 2025, president of TMC.

The two men have kept in touch, and their respect for each other has only grown over the years. “To this day, I know that if I have an issue, his door is always open,” Robb says.

So it was truly special when Travis was the one to call Robb and let him know that he had been chosen as the 2025 Wheel Master.

Robb describes that moment as “really overwhelming—for him to call me and tell me was a very proud moment. And for him to tell me that he was proud of me—it's huge. It's very, very hard to describe because you want to make him proud.”

Travis’s pride is clear when he talked about Robb becoming a Wheel Master: “I couldn't be more proud of that guy. He was very, very proud of getting this award and this honor, to join this elite group of drivers.” The achievement is only made more special by the history Travis and Robb share. “The first year that he was here, that wasn't anything that was even on his radar,” Travis says. “And, 25 years later, here we are. He's come a long ways.”

‘The Guarantee’

Since 2012, Robb has been driving for the Worthington Steel dedicated account.

Fleet Manager JB Bleadorn says that this account requires a lot from drivers due to its challenging cargo and sensitive timelines. “A lot of it has to do with automotive industry, so a lot of it is time-sensitive material,” JB says. We have to make sure we're on time, and a lot of loads come up last minute where we have to make sure we come up with the truck to cover the loads.”

Robb’s skills as a driver, his worth ethic, and his dependability make him a great fit for this account.

“We don't hear a lot from him because he's so good at what he does,” JB says. “He's professional in everything he does. When we put a load on Robb, we know he's going to be on time, if not early.” Robb also stands out because of his interactions with customers, JB notes: “He's always very helpful and very courteous at the same time. He also has a great rapport with the customers.”

Dedicated Customer Service Rep Mike Makovec, who works closely with JB on the Worthington account, agrees that Robb is a driver he can always count on.

“He's always on time. He's always safe. I kind of just started calling him ‘the guarantee,’” Mike laughs. “You just knew if he was doing it, it was getting done—and whether it was a load that everybody wanted or a load that nobody wanted.”

On one Friday afternoon, Mike says, he called Robb about a load that needed to get delivered before the weekend. “I said, ‘What do you think? Do you think you'd be okay with it?’” Mike recalls. “And he just kind of paused, and he said, ‘You know I'm just going to do it, right? You don't even have to ask. You know I'm just going to say yes.’ It's that kind of mentality. He's like, yeah, I'll do it, whatever you need.”

What Robb likes about driving for a dedicated account, he says, is “knowing what I'm doing from day to day. Sometimes I know 2 or 3 loads ahead of time.” He also enjoys the opportunity to build relationships with customers, he says. “The thing that gives me the most peace of mind,” he notes, “is that I get to go to repeat customers, and you get to know them, and you establish a rapport with them, and they know you and they know what to expect when they see you. So that makes it really gratifying for me.”

Taking Safety Seriously

But no matter how predictable driving for a dedicated account may be, hauling 40,000-pound steel coils is never something to take lightly.

Robb has a healthy respect for the cargo he hauls and a keen understanding of how to haul it safely. “I don't think that a lot of people understand the amount of destruction a steel coil can do,” he says. “If you don't secure it right, and something happens—somebody cuts you off, you lose focus, and you take a turn too fast—something really catastrophic is going to happen. It's always in the back of your mind.”

The key to his approach to safety, he says, is simple but powerful: “Patience. That is my whole thing. And you have to tell yourself, just be patient. That load is going to get there about two seconds after the front wheels hit the driveway. You have to be so defensive all the time and stay focused. Patience is your best friend.”

Driving for NASCAR

In addition to being an outstanding driver over the last 25 years, Robb was also part of TMC Racing history.

In 2007, Robb was chosen to drive NASCAR driver Michael Annett’s racecar hauler. This, he says, is one of the proudest moments from his TMC career. “When they asked me to do it, I was really humbled and extremely grateful,” he says, “It was quite the experience—one that I will never, ever forget.”

As part of this adventure, he also had the opportunity to spend some time with Harrold Annett, the founder and then-CEO of TMC—and Michael’s father.

“When we were at Phoenix, I got to sit with Harrold, and that was really kind of surreal—because he was just being a dad. To get to see the owner of this company just doing dad stuff was really quite amazing.”

From a Job to a Career

There’s no doubt that Robb is an outstanding driver. In fact, Mike Makovec noted that some other drivers thought he was already a Wheel Master. And while some drivers of his caliber may be tempted to see if the grass is greener with another company, Robb says that TMC is where he belongs.

“I love working for this company,” he says. “There's really nobody that I could see myself driving for.”

Though Robb stays incredibly humble and focuses on getting the job done, his reputation as a great driver is well known throughout TMC. Many office staff and shop technicians—and even members of senior leadership—greet him by name when he’s at the Des Moines terminal. “When you have a company of this size and [executive vice presidents] know specific drivers, I find that really comforting,” Robb says. “You're not just a number.”

TMC is so proud to recognize Robb as a Wheel Master. It’s been an honor to have him drive for our company for his entire career and to watch him develop into the incredible driver he is today.

“What started out as a job for Robb,” says Travis, “has turned into a career here at TMC, which is exactly what we want drivers to come here for.”

Head over to our YouTube channel to hear more from Robb about his time at TMC!