LONGTIME DOT FOODS DRIVER “TACO” MCDONALD EARNS NATIONAL HALL OF FAME HONOR

MOUNT STERLING, Ill. — A veteran Dot Transportation driver with more than four decades behind the wheel has earned a place among the nation's most accomplished foodservice truckers.

Steven “Taco” McDonald, 68, was inducted into the International Foodservice Distributors Association's 2026 Truck Driver Hall of Fame, recognizing a long career marked by service and safe driving. The association lists McDonald, of Dot Transportation Inc., among its 2026 honorees with 33 years of safe driving.

McDonald has worked in trucking for about 43 years, including roughly 33 and a half years with Dot, based in Mount Sterling. He estimates his total career mileage at around five million miles.

Originally from Macomb, McDonald acquired the nickname “Taco” while working at a Taco John's restaurant in the 1970s. The nickname stuck so thoroughly that it appears on some of his personal paperwork.

McDonald says keeping his attention on the road, the work and his family has helped him stay consistent through decades of long trips. He also credits the relationships he has built at Dot Foods for making the work rewarding.

Although he is now 68 and spends much of the week on the road, McDonald says he does not plan to retire anytime soon.

The Hall of Fame recognition was awarded earlier in 2026. A newly published interview this weekend brought renewed attention to his career and the people who keep food deliveries moving across the country.

Photo: Dot Foods distribution truck photographed in Michigan. Dwight Burdette / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0. Illustrative photograph; not McDonald's truck.