Introduced in 2002 to honor heavy-duty parts operations for their unique and vital position within the trucking industry, the Distributor of the Year has grown to become the most recognized and coveted award in the North American independent aftermarket.
This year’s finalists are an excellent representation of the program’s wide open nature, with a mix of new participants, prior finalists and company sizes that wonderfully display the diverse landscape of the independent aftermarket.
They are Acme Truck Brake & Supply, Freedom Truck & Trailer, Kelly’s Truck Parts, Parts For Trucks and The Service Company.
“The aftermarket has done it again. It never ceases to amaze me how each year our industry provides us such great businesses to feature in our Distributor of the Year Award program,” says Lucas Deal, TPS editor and content director. “To consistently suggest a unique list of distributors — small and large, prior participants and first-timers, VIPAR Heavy Duty and HDA Truck Pride members — is really quite a feat.
“I believe it speaks to the people of the aftermarket. There are a lot of great people in this industry and everyone knows someone else who deserves and is worthy of recognition. It is that commitment to each other that ensures we always have such great candidates for our award. I could not be more thrilled to recognize these businesses in the 25th year of our program, and look forward to getting started.”
Acme Truck Brake & Supply and Kelly’s Truck Parts are participating in the program for the first time in 2026. The Service Company was previously a finalist in 2024, and Freedom Truck & Trailer earned back-to-back nominations in 2023 and 2024.
[RELATED: Wisconsin-based Truck Equipment wins Distributor of the Year]
Parts For Trucks is a finalist for the fourth time, but the first time since 2012. It also was a finalist in 2003 and 2009.
Acme has two locations in suburban Chicago, Kelly’s a pair of stores in east Texas. Freedom Truck & Trailer is located in Salt Lake City and The Service Company has five facilities across Ohio. Parts For Trucks, which three years ago acquired 2011 Distributor of the Year Fleet Brake, has 30 facilities stretching from Newfoundland across Canada to Vancouver.
Nearly two dozen aftermarket operations earned nominations for the 2026 Distributor of the Year — including nine prior finalists and two past winners.
Additionally, nearly 100 nominations were cast during our three-month open nomination period and our finalists represent the distributors who received the most support from the industry.
TPS will highlight our finalists across the second half of the year leading up to our award presentation in January at Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW) 2027 in Grapevine, Texas.
