The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has announced a new recognition program — this one for carriers — and the grand prize for next year's Equipment Driver of the Year contest.
In conjunction with CarriersEdge, a provider of online driver improvement programs, TCA has launched the first annual Best Fleets to Drive For campaign to identify and recognize the top employers in the North American for-hire trucking industry.
“This is an opportunity for drivers and owner operators to nominate their company as being one of the best to work for,” said TCA chairman Ray Haight, executive director of MacKinnon Transport.
“The program will enable us to showcase the great and innovative things fleets - large and small - are doing to make their company a great place to work,” CarriersEdge president Mark Murrell added.
Any for-hire carrier in North American with 10 or more trucks is eligible to participate. Membership in TCA is not a requirement, but nominations may come only from a company's driver or owner operator.
Nominated fleets will be evaluated in a number of areas, according to an objective scoring matrix, on elements that make for a great work environment, explained Murrell. The assessment will cover such things as driver/owner operator compensation, pension and benefits; professional development opportunities; driver/owner operator and community support; and safety record.
Nominations will be accepted up to November 30. The winners of the Best Fleets to Drive contest will be announced at the TCA Annual Convention in March 2009.
The image of the trucking industry is very important, said Haight, and “doing these types of recognition programs helps improve our image.”
TCA president Chris Burruss announced that the top winner of the TCA's 2008 Company Equipment Driver of the Year will again receive a Cummins engine-powered Dodge Ram pickup truck as part of the prize package.
The recognition honors company drivers for their excellent safety records, unblemished work histories, and community and industry involvement.
Top winner of the 2007 recognition was Doug Ladds of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, a company driver for MacKinnon Transport. He received the inaugural Cummins engine-powered Dodge Ram pickup prize.
There is a similar yearly recognition program for owner operators.
