In the oil fields around Carlsbad, New Mexico, trucking is a way of life for many. Some drivers spend their entire career in the fields — while some, like TCA Professional Driver of the Year Tommy Cash, parlay the experience into much more.
“The oilfield was booming pretty good here, but you had to be 21 to drive a truck in the oil field, and I was 20,” he said of his early days in trucking.
An uncle and cousins taught him to drive hauling hay on a farm truck, verifying his experience on a Department of Motor Vehicles document so that Cash could take the written exam to obtain his chauffeur’s license.
Cash eventually got his oil field job … but the good times couldn’t last.
“Like it always does in the oil field, the bottom fell out,” he said.
Cash was hired by a friend in El Paso to transport auto parts out of Mexico to assembly plants in Detroit and in Canada. It was his first over-the-road driving job.
“Here I am 43 years later — still out on the road,” he quipped. Over the years, he’s hauled a variety of goods, from auto parts to milk, petroleum and other products.
But for the past 20-plus years, he’s transported Transuranic Radioactive Waste (TRU) — clothing, tools, debris and other items that have been contaminated by plutonium or other radioactive elements — to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) near Carlsbad.
Once delivered, the waste is permanently stored in a salt bed 2,000 feet beneath the earth’s surface.
“It’s a little different, a check mark on something I’ve done,” he said.
Driver qualification standards for transporting TRU are tough, and the training is rigorous.
A conviction for a moving violation or a chargeable accident in a commercial motor vehicle means disqualification from hauling waste. Rule violations, such as unauthorized deviation from a route or failure to make mandatory notifications, can get a driver removed. Any drug/alcohol test violations or conviction for a DUI in any vehicle are immediate disqualifiers.
Cash was recommended for the job by his ex-wife, who knew of his exemplary safety record.
The DOE contracts with carriers for five-years periods, and when the company that initially employed Cash lost the bid, he was quickly hired by another carrier.
CAST Transportation brought Cash on board as lead driver. Today, he transports specially designed transportation containers to the WIPP site for permanent disposal.
While Cash is proud of what he does, he says he never expected to be recognized for it. He remembers receiving a call from Mike Savage, CAST’s director of safety.
“I was on the road coming back from Idaho,” Cash recalled. “He told me, ‘I’m gonna put you in for this award, if it’s OK’ — and I said, ‘What award?’”
Savage explained TCA’s Professional Driver of the Year program to Cash and then walked him through the process, asking questions for the submission. Cash went back to work and the matter quickly faded from his thoughts, until….
“I was on the yard one day and my boss called me in and told me I had won,” he said. “I had already forgotten all about it!”
Cash and four other outstanding drivers were honored during TCA’s 2026 annual convention, held in Orlando, Florida, in early March.
“They treated us wonderful down there,” he said. “The first few nights were dinner and luncheons, and a special day at Disney World they took us to by bus.
“Then they had the awards banquet and each of us got to go up on stage, followed by a live concert,” he continued. “It was an awesome time.”
Back at work, hauling hazardous waste is only a part of Cash’s daily routine: He also trains new drivers for CAST.
“A new driver has to go through the qualification training and then, after he gets his qualifications from DOE, he’ll ride with me,” he shared. “I’ll take him four or five loads and then they’ll put him in a truck with one of the other drivers and they’ll follow me for four or five loads.”
Many of the loads Cash hauls are Highway Route Controlled Quantity (HRCQ) and must follow specific routes. The trucks are monitored 24 hours a day through the TRANSCOM system.
“We have to run this route, no matter what,” he said. “If we have weather warnings like high wind, winter weather, tornado, we’re not allowed to enter the county where the warning is issued.”
In some cases, Cash says, he’s allowed to park at a truck stop or rest area to wait out the warning. In severe cases that are expected to last longer, he might be directed to a safe haven, an area where the truck can be secured while he visits a motel to wait out the storm.
Like any driver, Cash has a message for his peers on the road:
“Take pride in your job, take pride in your equipment and take pride in yourself,” he said. “You see some of these guys get out of their truck and wonder if they just crawled out of bed.”
Another important piece of advice he often shares is this: “Give yourself plenty of time, and don’t rush yourself. Don’t get in a hurry; that’s where you’re gonna mess up.”
Savage says he’s glad Cash is on the CAST team.
“You don’t get 43 years of safe driving under your belt unless safety is at the forefront of every decision and action you make,” he said. “Tommy has proven he is what it takes to be the best of the best. We are truly honored to have him be a part of our operation, and we’re incredibly proud that he was selected as a 2026 TCA Professional Driver of the Year.”
When he isn’t driving, Cash enjoys camping and fishing — especially when accompanied by one of his daughters, a grandson or some friends from the Carlsbad area.
“We try to sneak off somewhere whenever I’m in,” he said. “We just get out of town and go relax and fish a little bit.”
Cash says he’s given up another hobby that wasn’t quite as relaxing: He recently sold the car he raced at the drag strip.
As for the future, he plans to drive at least a few more years before considering retirement.
“I’m enjoying what I’m doing, so I’m gonna keep going,” he said.
This story first appeared in the July/August 2026 print edition of Truckload Authority, the official publication of the Truckload Carriers Association.
Cliff Abbott is an experienced commercial vehicle driver and owner-operator who still holds a CDL in his home state of Alabama. In nearly 40 years in trucking, he’s been an instructor and trainer and has managed safety and recruiting operations for several carriers. Having never lost his love of the road, Cliff has written a book and hundreds of songs and has been writing for The Trucker for more than a decade.
