Trucking news and briefs for Monday, March 11, 2024:
CVSA opens nomination period for driver excellence award
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) is now accepting nominations for its International Driver Excellence Award (IDEA), an annual award that recognizes professional truckers and other commercial drivers and their commitment to public safety. The deadline for nominations is Friday, May 10.
The 2024 IDEA recipient and a guest will receive a complimentary economy flight to Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport and a one-room, two-night stay at Big Sky Resort to attend the CVSA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Big Sky, Montana.
The IDEA winner will be recognized at the annual conference general session and awards ceremony on Sept. 9, where they will receive a $5,000 prize and a crystal trophy.
[Related: 4.1-million-mile safe driver wins prestigious CVSA award]
Nominees must have:
- At least 25 cumulative years of crash-free driving in a commercial motor vehicle with a clean driving record for the past three years
- No felony convictions
- No safety-related driving suspensions in the past three years
- No driver violations in the past three years, excluding form and manner violations
IDEA is open to the entire commercial vehicle industry. Nominees do not need to be a member of or affiliated with CVSA to apply.
CVSA’s simplified application enables individuals to easily fill out the nomination form and submit the required supporting documentation, all online.
[Related: Put your own -- or another owner-operator's -- business in the running for Overdrive's Trucker of the Year award]
Fleetcor rebranding as Corpay
FleetCor Technologies, Inc., the parent company of Comdata and other payment solutions companies, announced last week its plans to rebrand the company to Corpay.
The name change better reflects the company’s current portfolio of corporate payment solutions, the company said. It will take effect on March 25, 2024, when the company’s stock begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol CPAY.
“The Corpay name better represents what we do now, which is provide corporate payment solutions,” said Ron Clarke, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FleetCor. “We will use Corpay as the go-to-market brand for our Corporate Payments segment and retain our existing popular go-to-market brands in our Vehicle Payments and Lodging Payments segments.”
Driver recognized for helping after car struck cow
The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named it's latest Highway Angel -- truck driver Paul Lamoureux, from Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, stopped to help a woman and her son after their car hit a cow and crashed in the middle of the night. Lamoureux drives for Bison Freight out of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Paul Lamoureux
“I passed the animal that they hit, I knew it was gonna be bad,” said Lamoureux, who has driven for Bison since 2015. “They hit a large cow that had somehow got out of its fenced off area. As they came over the crest of the hill, they nailed him.”
The driver, Jamie Price, was returning home to Fairchild, Wisconsin, with her 18-year-old son from vacation. She said they hit the cow, and it flew over the car.
“You don’t think livestock is gonna be in the middle of the road,” said Price. “I can’t believe my son and I are alive.”
Price and her son sustained extensive cuts and abrasions but no major injuries. Lamoureux invited the crash victims into his truck and offered them some wet naps and bandages to help clean the cuts and remove the glass from their wounds while they waited for state troopers to arrive on-scene.
“I’m so blessed and thankful that he was there,” said Price. “I don’t know what we would’ve done -- he kept me safe.”
[Related: Shootout disrupted, crash victim saved in remote desert: Two Highway Hero winners]
