Landstar News & Resources

When she became an over-the-road team driver with her husband Del, LaBree says she never imagined her trucking career would take her down the path of advising or coaching other owner-operators.

Landstar has created a more formal approach to the support of its independent owner-operators and their success on the road.

A former professional truck driver and logistics coordinator, Gherzu opened her Land O’Lakes, Florida-based independent Landstar agency with more than 20 years of industry experience and a book full of potential customers.

As the first generation of independent Landstar entrepreneurs tells it, what hasn’t wavered is Landstar’s commitment to its independent business owners.

In their 30s, this group of millennial business owners are eager for the future, to grow their businesses and the freedom to succeed with Landstar.

Although Mariana Gherzu is a “rookie” to the Landstar agent network, she’s not new to the transportation industry.

Her business motto of putting customers first and “making their problems go away,” are among the reasons she was named Landstar’s Rookie of the Year.

Just 6 percent of drivers in the trucking industry are women and the industry goal is to double that percentage, according to the Women in Trucking (WIT) Association.