Truckers ‘make the world turn’: This Minnesota driver has logged millions of miles without a crash.

Roger Zima is a member of the 5 million-mile club, and the truck driver doesn’t have a single blemish on his driving record.

For that, and his dedication to the profession displayed during his nearly 40 years at Foltz Trucking, he’s now the Minnesota Trucking Association’s 2024 Driver of the Year.

In a rarity, Zima, 69, put on a suit and tie and stood before his peers at a banquet Tuesday night where he accepted the Minnesota Trucking Association’s (MTA) highest accolade, which has been presented annually since 1949 to the state’s safest truck drivers.

“It’s overwhelming,” Zima said during a ride-along Wednesday. “I’m honored.”

Trucking got into Zima’s blood as a teen working on the family farm north of Detroit Lakes, Minn. After high school, he took a seasonal job driving a gravel truck for a company based in Moorhead. A couple of years later, he joined Foltz Trucking and has been behind the wheel ever since.

He has delivered malting barley for Anheuser-Bush, and hauled agricultural products and ingredients for the pet food industry, making deliveries in 15 different states and three Canadian provinces.

“We make the world turn,” said Zima, of Ogema, Minn., a town north of Detroit Lakes in northwestern Minnesota. “It is a rewarding job.”

Driving a 53-foot big rig is also one that comes with challenges that range from brutal Minnesota weather to dodging road hazards, namely distracted and discourteous drivers.

Once, Zima recalled, a motorist came up on his right as he signaled to change lanes to access the ramp from Interstate 494 to southbound Interstate 35W in Bloomington. The motorist switched lanes, passed Zima, then pulled in front of him, slowed down on the ramp and gave him the famous one-finger salute.

Zima avoided a collision, but at every moment, “you have to be on your game when driving,” he said.

His Volvo is equipped with cameras, sensors and braking systems to help ward off mishaps. Zima is constantly scanning ahead and using his mirrors to see behind and beside.

But drivers need to do their part to keep truckers like Zima accident-free.

“Don’t cut off trucks,” said MTA’s President John Hausladen. “Don’t tailgate and don’t hang out in the blind spot.”

Zima was one of 12 drivers up for the Driver of the Year award. Each month, MTA selects a driver of the month, with each winner becoming eligible for the association’s top prize. Winners are bestowed with a black jacket and a trophy.

Zima’s co-workers said the honor was long overdue.

“Roger is quality from the word go,” said Josh Loeffen, operations manager for the Detroit Lakes-based Foltz Trucking, which has been in business for 67 years. “Roger exhibits exactly what the ‘driver of the year’ is, integrity, safety-minded, keeping equipment in safe operating condition, respectful and professional. We are extremely proud he is a part of the family at Foltz Trucking, and we wish him more success in the coming years.”

As the odometer rolls, Zima passes the miles by listening to ‘70s and country music and lots of talk radio. And he has no plans to turn in his keys anytime soon.

“I can’t sit and watch cars go by,” he said.