Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/698304
July 2016 | Overdrive | 43 FIND A LOCAL DISTRIBUTOR AT MINIMIZER.COM OR CALL 800.248.3855 MINIMIZER POLY PRODUCTS • TESTED AND TORTURED TM • DAILY BY TRUCKERS FOR TRUCKERS TESTED AND TORTURED TIRE BENCH Times change. So should you. NICE TRY NAILED IT Custom Molded Floor Mats Guaranteed for Life! Typical worthless floor mats Guaranteed to fail TOOL BOXES FENDERS TOOL BENCH TIRE MASK Untitled-10 1 6/8/16 10:15 AM Even with that cautious attitude, Nowak felt it worthwhile to get top-of- the-line equipment. She chose a silver 2016 Volvo 780 with black trim and spec'd it to attract good, safe drivers, including women. "I ordered automatic so they don't have to worry about shifting and I don't have to worry about the clutch," she says. "It's very luxurious, lots of cabinet space, a fridge and the little things that count, like an outlet for a hairdryer." Nowak's next act is her expense-paid trip to Dallas Aug. 25-27 for The Great American Trucking Show, where she will represent Overdrive, receive a makeover, pose for a photography session and sign autographs. "I want to use this opportunity to encourage girls to consider a trucking career. It's a way to grow in your confi- dence, support yourself and your family, and have an adventure along the way." Brita Nowak says the chance to get to know the other nine Overdrive's Most Beautiful finalists through online chat was one of the best parts of the contest. "I'm impressed with the caliber of these women," she says. "They are beautiful, strong and professional." The two run- ners-up were Liberty Fry and Kristen Kudlic. Fry and her husband, Steve, from Leavenworth, Kansas, haul explosives with their 2016 Kenworth W900L Icon Edition and are company drivers for Fleenor Brothers. Fry wanted to drive so that she could be with her husband and finally took the plunge once her younger of two sons turned 18. Liberty and Steve have made health a priority this year and have lost 20 pounds each. A serious motocross accident in 2009 left Kudlic, from Feeding Hills, Massachusetts, with a broken back and paralysis from the waist down. But within a month, she was walking with crutches, and she was walking without assistance by 2011 when she went to get her CDL. "The state trooper denied me as I was walking up because I had a limp," she says. She went elsewhere, got her CDL and now owns a 2011 Kenworth T800. She owns K Kudlic Inc. and hauls mostly construction materials and dirt. Liberty Fry Kristen Kudlic Most Beautiful runners-up