Mike Miller, executive vice president and COO for Covenant Transport presents Johnnie and Alimeda Adams with the 3 Million Mile Safety Award.
Covenant Transport recently honored husband/wife team drivers Johnnie and Alimeda Adams with the 3 Million Mile Safety Award.
The Tonkawa, Okla., residents have been with Covenant for 13 years.
“We came to Covenant because we were looking for a home and someone we could work for until we retire, and we found it,” Johnnie Adams says.
Star Drivers
Nashville, Tenn.-based Star Transportation honored more than 20 drivers in July with Safe Driving Awards for their combined safety efforts.
Recognized were: David Bleichner, 16 years; Eugene Simington, 14 years; Hilliard Herbert, 12 years; Vernon Eggleston, eight years; Floyd Kee, seven years; Gerald Emerson, seven years; Monty Novonty, six years; Tim McClelland, six years; Wade Herrell, six years; Richard Fort, five years; John Phillips, three years; Sean Taylor, one year; Dewey Hilton, one year; Robert Rodgers, one year; Jesse Barner, one year; John Huffman, one year; Terry Bennett, one year; Saidou Colley, one year; Rebecca Ladd, one year; Gregory Weller, one year; Carroll Flora, one year; and James Williams, one year.
Top Contractors
FedEx Custom Critical Inc. recently honored 50 of its top contractors with the 2003 Four Star Award.
This is the fourth year for the Four Star Award. Owner-operators who qualify for the distinction must meet the Four Star criteria for the fiscal year, including accident-free driving, on-time service, availability and load acceptance. More than 300 owner- operators qualified as finalists for the award. The greatest number of shipments completed during the year determined the final 50 winners. All of the winners and their spouses or guests were treated to three nights at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Cleveland for a weekend in their honor.
Maverick Drivers
Maverick Transportation announced its second quarter recipients of Driver of the Month honors for 2003: April Driver of the Month was Bob Davis of Wynne, Ark., May Driver of the Month was Sid Brewster of Buffalo, Mo., and June Driver of the Month was LeRoy Twisdale of Little Rock, Ark.
Each driver has received numerous safety awards from the Arkansas-based flatbed carrier.
Master Truckers
Celadon Group Inc. recently announced that four of its drivers have been awarded the Master Truck Driver Award from the Indiana Motor Truck Association. The winners were Jimmy Wayne Brown of Hartselle, Ala.; Andrew Boyd Wilson of LaPorte, Texas; Jessie Greers of Baconton, Ga.; and Mark Sexton of Ocala, Fla.
Recipients of the award had to meet minimum qualifications, which include at least 1 million accident-free miles or 10 years of accident-free driving, no traffic citations on motor vehicle record for the past three years and either completion of the Professional Truck Driver Improvement Course of the National Safety Council, a record of community service, participation in a Truck Driving Championship or an act of heroism.
Melton Ambassadors
Melton Truck Lines recently inducted eight [JL2]new drivers into its Melton Ambassadors of the Road: Richard Baringer, John Hall, Alton Jackson, Brian Parnell, Dave Schindler, DeeAnn Schindler, James Thornbrugh and Steve Weaver.
The Ambassadors of the Road are drivers who have driven 1 million miles for Melton and exhibit exemplary dedication and professionalism on the road. Newly inducted Ambassadors get to order a Kenworth W900 or T600 to their specifications with an additional $1500 for options. They also receive a personalized Ambassador jacket and special decal for their truck recognizing their achievement.
National Van Lines Honors Agents
National Van Lines recently recognized its top hauling agents for 2001 and 2002. Honored were American Way Van & Storage (Dayton, Ohio), represented by Bobby and Diana Vann; Mercury Movers, Inc. (South Gate, Calif.), represented by Ruben and Maria Gil; John and Mubeena Rockey from Rockey’s Van Lines (Killeen, Texas), and Bill Gerber of Gerber Moving & Storage (Bonner Springs, Kan.).
The company also presented awards for longevity with the van line. CEO Maureen Beal handed out awards to Arnell Mumford of AMC Relocations, Inc. (Waldorf, Md.) and Richard King of King Moving & Storage (Valdosta, Ga.) for their 10-year achievement; Pat Kelly of Valley Moving & Storage (Mt. Vernon, Wash.) for his 15-year commitment; Steven Hernandez of Active Moving & Storage (Pensacola, Fla.) and John and Rhona Boyce of A-Plus Van & Storage (Norfolk, Va.) for hitting their 20-year milestone of van line representation. Maureen also honored Judy and Ervin Marshburn of Piedmont Van & Storage (Fayetteville, N.C.) for their 25 years of service and accepted the 50-year service award on behalf of Gary Plummer, Peninsula Moving & Storage (Salinas, Cal.).
Wal-Mart Recognizes Schneider National
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. recently recognized Schneider National Inc. as the recipient of the company’s annual Intermodal Carrier of the Year award.
Selection criteria for the award included revenue/growth, ease of doing business, communication, flexibility, customer service and follow-up/correction of errors.
Schneider National provides truckload, intermodal, and dedicated services for Wal-Mart’s transportation network.
Ryder Drivers Win Trip
Ryder System, Inc. honored its annual “Driver of the Year” awards to three drivers who, combined, have driven more than 12 million preventable collision-and-violation-free miles and have more than 100 years of professional driving experience.
Each recipient will receive a five-day, four- night cruise to Key West, Fla., and Cozumel, Mexico, a trophy, and will be inducted into the Ryder Driver Hall of Fame.
David Baba was named Ryder’s Fleet Management Solutions Driver of the Year 2002. Baba has worked with Ryder as a member of the Sweetheart Cup Co., Inc. facility located in Hartford, Conn., since 1979. During his tenure with this Fleet Management Solutions customer, Baba achieved more than 2.5 million collision-and-violation-free miles.
John Finley was named Driver of the Year 2002 for Ryder’s Supply Chain Solutions business segment. Based in Olive Branch, Miss., he has served Ryder’s Mazda Olive Branch since 1998 in its automotive parts supply division. He has been a Ryder employee for more than 10 years, and during his tenure, Finley has driven more than 1 million miles without a preventable collision or traffic violation and has logged more than 4.5 million miles throughout his professional career, which began in 1954.
William Ingram was named Driver of the Year 2002 for Ryder’s Dedicated Contract Carriage business segment. Ingram is based in Dallas and for nearly three years has served Ryder’s Atrium account. He has exceeded 4.5 collision-and-violation-free miles since he began driving professionally in 1968.
Transport America owner-operator Dave Wickenhauser unloads water for riders during the Noran Clinic MS Bike Tour.
Transport America Helps Charity
More than a dozen Transport America drivers and owner-operators donated their time, effort and trucks in June to raise money for the Minnesota Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
This is the 14th year that Transport America has sponsored the Noran Clinic MS Bike Tour. This year more than 2,500 riders raised $1.2 million for the Minnesota MS Society. Bikers collected pledges for the 154-mile journey that began at Spirit Mountain in Duluth, Minn., and finished at Washington County Fairgrounds in Lake Elmo, Minn.
Transport America drivers loaded 13 53-foot trailers with participants’ bicycles and hauled them to the starting line. A refrigerated trailer also was loaded with food and beverages and delivered to rest areas and meal stops along the route. Owner-operators who participated include Dave Wickenhauser, Mark Dowd, Terry Anderson and Mark Dresser. Company drivers Pat Burns, Wayne Carlson, Keith Loging, Russ Way, Don Wilson, David Hanson, Steve Mills, Donna Strovers, Steve Job and Aron Autio also donated their time for the cause.
CFI Drivers of the Month
Contract Freighters Inc. has named its May 2003 drivers of the month.
Company Driver of the Month was Andrew Quiritt of El Paso, Texas, who joined CFI in 1995.
Company Team Driver of the Month was awarded to John Dotzler and Alicia Cardenas. Dotlzler is from Manassas, Va., and Cardenas lives in Las Cruces, N.M. Both have been with CFI since 2002.
Contractor of the Month was Michael Padilla of El Paso, Texas, who joined CFI in 1999.
Contractor Team of the Month went to Jamie and Leisl Groover of Haskell, Ohio. Both joined the company in 1998.
Winners are automatically nominated for the 2003 year-end award in their respective categories.
Graebel All Star Fleet
Graebel Van Lines, a division of Graebel Companies Inc., recently announced its 2002 All Star Fleet.
The Graebel All Star Fleet recognizes drivers and contractors who in the last 12 months demonstrated outstanding performance in the areas of customer satisfaction, safety and low interstate cargo claims. This year, 255 drivers qualified for this award, compared to 133 in 2001.
Kelvin Tate and partner Lisa Mae Woollam were named Driver of the Year, having earned a near-perfect score in all categories.
Magazine Recognizes Heartland Express
Heartland Express was ranked as one of the “Hot Growth Companies”for 2003, according to the June 9 edition of Business Week. Heartland was ranked 81st out of the 100 companies on the annual listing.
The magazine reported Heartland’s current sales results for the latest 12 months as $362.3 with earning of $44.3. The three-year average of return on capital was reported as 15, increase in sales of 9.1 percent and increase in profits of 9 percent.
