Bison Transport and Paramount Freight Systems have been honored as the Best Fleets to Drive For by the Truckload Carriers Assn. and CarriersEdge. The fleets were announced as the winners of the annual contest at the recent TCA annual convention in Grapevine, TX.
Bison is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was selected as the Best Overall Fleet for Company Drivers, while Paramount Freight Systems, of Ft. Myers, FL, was selected as the Best Overall Fleet for Owner-Operators.
The Best Overall Fleet for Company Drivers award is sponsored by Framingham, Massachusetts-based Bose Corp., manufacturer of the Bose Ride system for heavy-duty trucks. The Best Overall Fleet for Owner Operators award is sponsored by New York, NY-based Marsh, Inc., an insurance broker and risk advisor.
“Bison and Paramount are at the forefront of an industry that recognizes our most important asset is our people. They have carefully studied what people need and want in a job, as well as what motivates them to stick with a career in trucking long-term. Congratulations to these companies for figuring out what works and then making it happen,” said Chris Burruss, TCA president.
Best Fleets to Drive For, now in its sixth year, identifies North American for-hire trucking companies that provide the best workplace experiences for their drivers. Nominated carriers are evaluated on the range and depth of offered programs, the overall effectiveness of those programs across key metrics, and the responses of surveyed drivers. The top finishers are identified as Best Fleets to Drive For, and the highest scoring fleet in each category is named overall winner.
This year marks the fourth time that Bison Transport has made the list of Top 20 winners for this contest, and it has also won numerous safety awards from TCA in the past, the association said. The company received the highest score ever recorded in the “programs” section of the evaluation, very close to the maximum points in every area measured. It also demonstrated outstanding driver-retention numbers for a fleet of its size, with an extremely rare turnover rate of less than 20%.
This is the third time that Paramount Freight Systems has been named an overall winner of Best Fleets to Drive For. The company has implemented an innovative bonus program that compensates for the fact that contractors do not receive holiday pay. It also provides more than a week of training per year to contractors. Such perks may be the reason why Paramount received the highest driver-satisfaction score in the program this year.
“We continue to be amazed by the terrific programs the Best Fleets winners are coming up with. The investment these companies are making in their people is clearly a success story for all parties involved — from support staff, to drivers, to the chief executive officer,” said Mark Murrell, president of CarriersEdge.
The Best Fleets to Drive For survey and contest was open to any fleet operating 10 or more trucks, regardless of TCA-membership status. Fleets had to be nominated by at least one of their drivers (either a company driver or an owner operator). Those companies were evaluated against a broad range of criteria reflecting current human-resources best practices in areas such as driver compensation, pension and benefits, professional development, driver and community support, and safety record.
