Text and Photos
By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

Column Note: This is the 52nd column in the Diners and Dives series in which a small group of Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club members and their guests road trip to explore the restaurants of Kosciusko and the surrounding area.

WARSAW — Maybe you’ve driven by the unassuming exterior of Top Thai at 820 E. Winona, a few hundred times and wondered if you should try it. Stop wondering, park, and go in for a culinary treat. On Friday, we gathered over steaming plates of curry, pad thai, ginger stir fry, and fried rice with some unique wildcards — two local women in the trucking industry.

Diner Dash Specials

Top Thai Restaurant is a comfortable and quiet space for a healthy and affordable lunch. Several of us ordered pots of tea with our $10.99 lunch options. They played soft music “a jazz club vibe,” REMAX Jeff Owens clarified. This made it easy to converse from one end of the table all the way to the other without yelling. Excellent waiter Ken S. handled the entire room by himself, and the food arrived quickly.

The Wildcards

TranZstar Trucking President Aubrey Rife and Safety Director Cara Metzger defy traditional trucking gender stereotypes. They wore trucking logo T-shirts that Cara had made herself. “Martha Stewart has nothing on me!” She showed us her ironed-on trucking logo. Both women wore big grins as they told stories. “Truckers aren’t exactly PG though!” Cara warned us after ordering the cashew chicken. “But I can make any trucker blush.”

“True,” Aubrey agreed. “The trucking industry is not for delicate flowers.” TranZstar is a local family-operated trucking company with the unusual addition of a Food Grade Kosher Truck Wash. They also have 65,000 square feet of warehouse space and 34 employees. “We started with one truck hauling eggs,” Aubrey forked up some of her pad Thai with pork. “It’s very yummy.” She waved a carrot. “And not too spicy either.”

The Cub Scout

The most important employee at TranZstar is the 3-month-old office puppy named Tony, the runt of litter. “He’s really a mutt,” Aubrey told us. “Part corgi and collie and something else.”

Cara pulled up a picture of Tony on her phone. “He’s our emotional support dog. Everyone loves him. Even some of the gruff truckers.”

“It’s true,” Aubrey agreed. “He’ll be zooming around greeting everyone and even guys I never thought would smile, will scratch his ears.”

“He does have a struggle snuggle though,” Cara added. “Sometimes he chews on my hair or the doorstop.” Cara has a great way with words. She has an enormous following on Facebook and Instagram with over 62K followers. Here’s a huge welcome to Cara’s followers!

The Head Honcho

“Did you grow into trucking or go to school for it?” Bowen Center Mike Murphy asked as he worked on his neat mound of white rice. Lunch specials come with soup and a spring roll, and you can choose from chicken, pork, beef, tofu, or vegetables, with shrimp or calamari being a little extra.

Cara laughed, “I have a degree in radiology, but I was practically born in a truck stop with my whole family in trucking.” Cara’s grandfather’s truck was even featured in the movie Smokey and the Bandit II.

Aubrey went to Purdue for an English degree and returned to the family business and worked her way up to the top position as President of TranZstar.

“Aubrey is a great boss!” Cara said enthusiastically. “Most of our office is female so sometimes new truckers walk in and feel out of place. They don’t know what to do as they are used to the profession being mostly male.”

The Green Velvet Couch Rest Stop

Aubrey grinned. “Yep. Sometimes we also function as nurses or therapists to the guys. My office door is always open to discuss issues.” Aubrey has a green velvet couch the truckers love to rest on when they visit. “I’ve even had to remove splinters.”
“Her office is very Zen calm,” Cara added.

Aubrey loves to affectionately poke fun at the tough parts of her job. “I have a candle that has the smell called Toxic Masculinity,” she laughed. “It smells pretty good.”

Truck Stops And Cargo Captains

We discussed truck stops which are mostly chains these days. “There aren’t many old-school ones with like the greasy spoon and everything,” Aubrey told us. “The guys like the ones with clean showers.” She paused. “We very much prefer when truckers take showers too!”

“I make a homemade trucker spray,” Cara said. “Sometimes I tell a trucker they need to go say hi to Jean. Hy-giene, that is!”
Consultant and Outdoor Guy Kris Williams mentioned the World’s Largest Truck Stop, the Iowa 80 Truckstop, near Walcott, Iowa boasts eight restaurants from Orange Julius to Blimpie’s, a truck showroom, a movie theatre, and functions like a small city.

“Truckers are independent people.” Aubrey dipped her spring roll. “They don’t like micro-management and are often loners, but they love to chat with people when there’s time. They are salt-of-the-earth kind of people.”

Just like Diners and Dives visits, TranZstar has seen lots of interesting types of loads through their facilities. Loads of chicken fat, liquid eggs, canola oil, maple syrup. “Even a whole truck of liquid chocolate” Aubrey raised her hands in wonder. “And once, a truckload of movies.”

Where Should US 30 Go?

“For our trucks, keeping US 30 on the same route would be the best option.” Aubrey contemplated the future. “The least disruptive option.” In her role as president, Aubrey has viewed a lot of video footage, enough to know that the behavior of cars cutting in front of her heavy trucks often causes avoidable accidents.

I asked where the biggest problem for trucks in Warsaw was located. They both agreed that the truck route going through Warsaw is difficult, especially when cars don’t stop at the white lines to leave enough room for semis to make those corners.

The Handles

As our lunchtime petered out, we wanted to know about trucker nicknames. We liked Cara and Aubrey’s create their own T-shirt ideas and thought about getting more Diners and Dives T-shirts with our handles on the back.

1st Source Banker Paul said he used to have the nickname Sixpence. Aubrey thought a moment. “We have truckers named Peanut and T-Bone.”

“T-Bone isn’t about his driving skills, is it?!” Attorney Tony Garza laughed.

“No, No, more about his physique,” Aubrey chuckled. “But we did have a driver named Pinball once.”

Cara has the nickname Cupcake.

“As the boss, I get called a lot of things,” Aubrey shook her head wryly.

I asked them what nicknames we should get. “Ooh, hard one,” Cara frowned. “Well, Jeff loves to play Pickleball. Maybe Stinky Pickle?” Jeff Owens of REMAX Results did not celebrate this name. Since REMAX Results recently unveiled an entirely new team campaign entitled A Whole Team. One Agent, maybe he could get some nickname assistance from other parts of his team?

Cara and Aubrey turned to Bowen Mike who cocked an eyebrow at several of us who are a little older than he is. “They invited me to bring down the average age, I think,” he jabbed.

Cara laughed. “Juvy then. Short for juvenile!”

“Maybe don’t get a T-shirt with that handle…” I advised the groaning Mike.

Cara went on, “We can call Shari Fine-Tip since she always has a pen and paper.”

I scooped the last of my sweet and sour pork up with my spoon and returned to my fine-tipped pen with a satisfied sigh. Top Thai delivered lunch with all 18 wheels.

TIP: Diners and Dives T-Shirts Available

Diners and Dives T-shirts are available for a limited time by stopping by The Papers Office at 114 W. Market St., in Warsaw. They are only $10, and proceeds will benefit the Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club Foundation Scholarship Fund. You can send pictures of yourselves wearing the shirts to the new InkFreeNews Diners and Dives Facebook tab for posting.

Do you know of an interesting place, restaurant, nonprofit, or person that you’d like to see featured in Diners and Dives, Whirlwind Wanderlust Travels, or Profiles Behind the Scenes? Send SB Communications LLC Shari Benyousky an email at [email protected].