Paschall Truck Lines operates a company store at its corporate office in Murray, Ky. The store has 1,280 square feet of hats, clothing, mugs, bags and other merchandise, all of it emblazoned with the PTL logo.
“Our company store is an outlet for team spirit,” said Deane Sager, PTL vice president of safety. The goal of the company store, opened in January 1998, is to increase camaraderie among PTL drivers who meet on the road, and give them an opportunity to take pride in the company name. “When drivers purchase items in our company store it gives them a sense of identity with fellow PTL drivers,” said Sager. “In 1997 we purchased T-shirts for our drivers and we were surprised by the positive atmosphere it created. We opened the PTL Company Store, and it has grown into a major source of our team spirit.”
Prime Champions
Three Prime, Inc., drivers took top honors in the Missouri Truck Driving Championships, held in Joplin, Mo., in June.
Steve Yarbrough of Malakoff, Texas, won first place in the sleeper division; Charlie Hibbard of Nixa, Mo., won second place in the flatbed division; and Tom Barnes of Yellville, Ark., won third place in the flatbed division.
CFI Drivers
Contract Freighters, Inc., announced the recipients of its monthly driver awards for June 2001:
Rick Fortune received the company driver of the month award. He joined CFI in 1992 and lives in Clinton Township, Mich.
Chuck and Debra Spicer of Oldfield, Mo., won the company team of the month award.
A five-year employee of CFI, Freddie Kensler of Corpus Christi, Texas, was named the contractor driver of the month.
Kenny and Michelle Mays of London, Ky., were awarded contractor team of the month.
Requirements for the award are no moving violations, no accidents and no out-of-service violations through state/federal inspections in the previous 12 months.
J.B. Hunt Drivers
Forty of J.B. Hunt’s safest drivers were recognized at an April ceremony for a combined 46 million safe miles of service.
Thirty-four were recognized for their 1 million safe mile achievement, and six were honored for driving 2 million safe miles.
J.B. Hunt presently has 769 1 million mile safe drivers, 29 2 million mile safe drivers and two 3 million mile safe drivers.
Four Star Awards
FedEx Custom Critical, Inc., honored more than 50 of its independent contractors with the Four Star Award in July.
Recipients were selected who excelled in the areas of service, safety, availability and load acceptance during the company’s fiscal year, which ran from June 1, 2000, to May 31, 2001.
Honorees were treated to an all-expenses-paid weekend in Cleveland, complete with an awards gala, receptions and tours of the city.
2-Million-Milers
Heartland Express, Inc., recently recognized drivers Greg Brockman and John Stigall for racking up 2 million miles without a single preventable accident.
Brockman hails from Fenton, Mo., and started with Heartland Express in 1981. He reached his second million-mile mark late this spring, operating from the corporate office in Iowa City, Iowa.
Stigall, from Havana, Ill., has been driving for Heartland Express since 1982, and runs the 35 states east of Denver.
GEO Honors Drivers
GEO Transportation named David Cunningham of Evansville, Ind., driver of the month for July 2001, and Jeffery P. Kitchens of Morgantown, Ky., driver of the month for August 2001.
Wheaton Drivers
Wheaton World Wide Moving of Indianapolis honored 12 drivers as drivers of the month for February, March and April.
Sam Swindell, a driver with A-1 Quality Moving & Storage, Wilson, N.C., and James Barfield, of Winston-Salem, N.C., each received a permanent fleet driver of the month award for performance in February. Swindell and Barfield have logged 200,000 and 800,000 safe miles, respectively, while in Wheaton service.
Butch Beaudin, with Badgerland Movers of Janesville, Janesville, Wis., and Clyde Gibbs, a driver with A.B.C. Moving & Storage Co., Inc., Nashville, Tenn., were selected as February drivers of the month from the intermittent fleet. Beaudin has logged 400,000 safe miles, and Gibbs 100,000 safe miles, since they qualified with Wheaton.
Kenneth Ivey, of Smithfield, N.C., and John Sanders, of Mena, Ark., each received a permanent fleet driver of the month award for performance in March. Ivey has logged 1,100,000 safe miles with Wheaton, and Sanders has logged 950,000 safe miles. Steven Williams, of Norwood Moving Systems, Mountain Home, Ark., and Ben Slabaugh, of Preferred Moving & Storage, Mt. Clemens, Mich., were named drivers of the month for March from the intermittent fleet. Williams has logged 200,000 safe miles, and Slabaugh 600,000 safe miles, under Wheaton’s Safe Mileage Program.
Robert Krumpols, with Preferred Movers, Inc., Crossville, Tenn., and Art Kelly, of Rowlett, Texas, have been honored as April drivers of the month from the permanent fleet. Krumpols and Kelly have logged 50,000 and 950,000 safe miles, respectively, since they qualified with Wheaton. Marion Spencer, who drives for Bell Moving & Storage, Cincinnati, and Jeff Schmidt, a driver with Alabama We-Haul Movers, Huntsville, Ala., each received an intermittent fleet driver of the month award for April. Schmidt has driven 100,000 safe miles for Wheaton.
Each driver will also be eligible for the 2001 Super Service driver of the year awards to be presented this fall.
