Hoyt Moore | Topeka Business Hall of Fame
Most little boys are fascinated by big trucks, but few pursue a career path that lets them play with trucks their entire lives. Hoyt Moore turned his love for trucks and diesel engines into a thriving family-owned business.
Although Hoyt passed away unexpectedly in August 2025, his legacy lives on through the family and employees who continue to operate the business he built on a foundation of hard work and never saying no. That legacy is being honored with Hoyt’s posthumous induction into the Junior Achievement of Kansas Topeka Business Hall of Fame.
He grew up in Colorado and started working at age 10 for his dad in the family tire store. While he learned a lot about tires, it wasn’t enough to satisfy his curiosity about how engines worked. After completing a shift in the shop, he would seek out mechanics working on larger tasks, volunteering to assist them so he could learn more about engines.
Hoyt’s love for big trucks had him pursuing his commercial driver’s license (CDL) as soon as he graduated from high school. He began his first “adult” job driving for Steinbecker Brothers, a trucking company based in Colorado. When that company went out of business in 1987, the owners started a new company, Trans America By Steinbecker (TABS).
His work as a mechanic for TABS brought Hoyt to Topeka, where he would work four days on and four days off. However, on those days off, Hoyt would drive a semi for TABS, hauling shoes for Payless Shoesource.
“Dad never really took days off,” said Hoyt’s oldest daughter, Savannah Falley, who serves as operations manager for the family’s trucking companies. “For him, days off meant time to learn something new and keep bettering himself.”
Hoyt was one of those people seemingly blessed with the uncanny ability to fix anything mechanical. But those who knew him well saw this ability for what it really was: pure hard work. Yes, Hoyt could fix almost anything. But the real secret to his success was a passion for discovering the root cause of a mechanical failure, so he could help prevent future issues.
In addition to trucks, Hoyt loved sports. He joined the Topeka Rugby Club, where he made lifelong friends. This is also where he met his wife, Laurie, who was a student at Washburn University School of Law at the time.
“A lot of the law students played rugby,” Laurie said. “I went to watch my friends play and this attractive man with a pretty blue pickup caught my eye.”
Once again, the trucking company he worked for went out of business. This time, Hoyt took control of his own future. He purchased his first truck, a Kenworth T600, in 1991 and spent the next two years over-the-road (OTR) driving.
While Hoyt loved his truck and the experience of being out on the road, he knew the OTR life wasn’t suitable to start a family. So, he hired a driver for his truck, started Hoyt’s Truck Repair in September 1993 and married Laurie in December that year.
He leased a small space with one bay and an office out by Jake’s Fireworks on North Highway 75. As word of mouth about Hoyt’s repair services began to spread, business steadily grew.
“He had a lot of business relationships that were based on a simple handshake,” Savannah said. “He was a man of his word and he honored his commitments.”
These relationships led to a new business venture in 1997, Savannah Transportation, which specialized in hauling hazardous waste from the West Coast to the Mississippi River.
With business steadily growing, Laurie joined the business full time in 1998 to manage the company’s administrative functions.
Having outgrown their current facility space, Hoyt purchased some land and built a larger service facility with three bays on each side and office space, which opened in 2002. Now with 16 bays, Hoyt’s Truck Center is still operating out of this facility.
“Within the transportation/trucking industry, Dad was a trusted advisor. People called him for advice about everything and he would help anyone who asked,” Savannah said.
Always looking for ways to better serve customers, Hoyt started branching out into services outside of truck repair. Another business joined the Hoyt family umbrella of companies in 2015 with the addition of Hoyt’s Trailer Sales and Service, which offers a variety of new and used trailers, parts and service.
“That is when things really started to pick up,” Savannah said.
The company began providing semi-trailer repair and service in 2015 and opened Hoyt’s NationaLease, a truck rental/lease company in 2019. Further expansion came in 2021 with the purchase of Masters’ Mechanics in Emporia, Kansas.
“Hoyt was always open to new ideas,” Laurie said. “But the ones he pursued were always a natural fit for what we already had in place. Failure was never an option because Hoyt would always find a way to make things work.”
Those ideas have resulted in five separate companies that employ 90 people, all operating under Hoyt’s philosophy of “I didn’t build this place on No’s.”
“Customers would come to Dad and ask if we offered a specific product or service,” said Hoyt’s son, Nathan, branch manager at Hoyt’s Trailer Center. “He never said no.”
For Hoyt, this mindset of never saying no played out in every aspect of business. It also bled over into community service. When Hoyt heard that Family Service and Guidance Center needed a new shuttle bus, he took it upon himself to find one. He not only said yes to helping them locate a new bus, but once he found one, he flew out to Oregon and drove it back to Topeka himself.
Similarly, when the Boys and Girls Club of Topeka needed bus repairs, Hoyt stepped up to offer those services free of charge, allowing the organization to spend more money on resources to help kids find success.
“Dad felt that God gave him gifts that involved trucks and transportation,” Savannahsaid. “He used those gifts to pay it forward for others.”
While Hoyt was passionate about his business and serving his community, his family was always his top priority. Even though he was working tirelessly to grow the business, Hoyt rarely missed his children’s sporting events — a significant commitment given all three kids played multiple sports.
“Dad was almost always there, but you wouldn’t find him sitting in the bleachers,” said Hoyt’s youngest daughter Jenna, controller at NationaLease. “He couldn’t sit still. He would spend the entire time wandering around.”
Hoyt’s need for constant motion meant no relaxing on family vacations: Why lie around on a beach when there were trails to hike, dirt bike trails to ride and new experiences waiting to be discovered?
“Hoyt loved to travel. We have been all over the United States, Hawaii, the Galápagos Islands, New Zealand and more. But it was never to relax. It was about finding that next adventure,” Laurie said.
Hoyt was a people person who was more of a friend than a boss. He always claimed people didn’t work for him; they worked with him. His employees were his friends and his friends were his family. His lighthearted, funny approach to everything in his life helped bring happiness to those around him. Hoyt had a way of bringing a smile for every person who crossed his path through his endless supply of jokes and laughter.
“Dad used to carry a brown foam letter E around with him. He would ask, ‘Do you want a brownie?’ If someone said yes, he would pull out the brown E,” Jenna said.
“He also had one of those large googly eyes that he would put on someone and say, ‘I’ve got my eye on you,’” Nathan said.
“He fake shot me with his finger once while I was running the bases and I actually tripped,” Savannah said. “You never knew what he might do.”
When Hoyt passed away unexpectedly last year, it left a huge void felt by his family, friends, employees and business associates. But even in his absence, Hoyt’s legacy lives on, carried forward by Laurie and their three children.
“Even after everything that Hoyt accomplished, he was most proud that all three of his children want to be part of this business,” Laurie said. “There was never an expectation of that, but here they are.”
As for Hoyt’s children, they all see a little bit of their dad in each other. Savannah shares his vision and insatiable drive to see that vision come to life. Nathan embodies his resolve and ability to bring stability to any situation. And Jenna brings the same sense of independence and meticulous attention to detail that Hoyt was known for.
While Hoyt’s family is proud he is being honored by the Junior Achievement of Kansas Topeka Business Hall of Fame, they admit he would have felt like he didn’t deserve it.
“Dad wasn’t one to want to be in the spotlight,” Savannah said. “He didn’t do things for the recognition. He did it because it was the right thing to do.”
