The Doyle Family.

• Author: Gallion, Mari
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Junior Achievement--2014 Laureate - Doyle Fuel Service, Inc - Services of James H. Doyle

Most residents of Anchorage, Kenai, Fairbanks, and many other Alaska population centers have taken note of the fact that they are sharing the road with ubiquitous light blue trucks; trucks that might belong to Weaver Brothers, Inc. On the Kenai Peninsula, they might belong to Doyle Fuel Service, Inc. Observant Alaskans may occasionally witness one of those light blue trucks, a vintage Kenworth, with "Dream Come True" emblazoned across its doors.

That truck, Dream Come True, is also referred to as #1. It is the first truck purchased by James H. (Jim) Doyle, who would later found Doyle's Fuel Service, Inc. and purchase Weaver Brothers, Inc. Simply owning and driving the truck fulfilled the ambitions of Doyle's youth--and as many successful business people, including Doyle, will attest--if you want to be successful in business, do what you love.

Doyle's enthusiasm for his truck, the road, his customers, his employees, and the people of Alaska, combined with an honest heart and good work ethic, has helped to make Doyle's every venture a screaming success and his brand recognized throughout the state.

Doyle grew up on a ranch in Whitehall, Montana. While he knew he didn't much like ranch life, one day while working in the hay fields, he spied a tractor trailer driving by--and he knew he liked that truck. Driving a truck like the one he saw became his dream.

At the age of eleven Doyle was driving the family car around the fields, and by the age of fifteen he was driving a two-ton truck to make deliveries for his father. Doyle's pioneering spirit combined with a tepid sentiment towards ranch life spurred him on to leave the ranch in Montana in 1957 to seek work in Alaska.

Doyle got his first formal Alaska truck driving job serendipitously: He was offered a job as well as a cabin to live in by Ed Estes, a man who stopped to help Doyle fix a flat tire in Moose Pass. He worked for Estes for five years and credits his learning the business to Estes and his employee, Clyde Smith.

Spending those first few years on the Kenai Peninsula, Doyle gained valuable experience in the trucking industry and got along with all his Alaskan neighbors and co-workers. It was within those years that he bought his first truck and started moonlighting, establishing a business delivering fuel at nights and on weekends. With the growth of the oil industry in the early 1960s, once he had enough business, Doyle sold his pickup and bought his first Kenworth, the truck he named...