Truckload Carriers Association Announces
Top Six Finalists in 2008 Driver of the Year Contests
Grand prize winners for Company Equipment Driver
and TCA Owner Operator of the Year to be announced
at TCA’s Annual Convention
The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has finished judging the applications for its prestigious Driver of the Year contests and is pleased to announce the names of the 2008 finalists. One of three driver finalists in each contest—the Company Equipment Driver of the Year contest (co-sponsored by TCA and Truckers News) and the TCA Owner Operator of the Year contest (co-sponsored by TCA, International Truck and Engine, and Overdrive)—will be awarded the Grand Prize during TCA’s Annual Convention, March 8-11, 2009, at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, Florida.
The overall goal of both contests is to recognize and pay tribute to the outstanding company equipment and owner operator truck drivers who provide reliable and safe truck transportation in moving the nation's goods. The finalists and subsequent grand prize winners will be recognized and honored based on their performance record, ability to operate in a safe manner on the public highways, efforts to enhance the public image of the trucking industry, and positive contributions to the community in which they live.
To be eligible for the contests, driver applicants had to meet certain minimum criteria, including having driven one million consecutive, accident-free miles and being employed by or leased to a TCA-member trucking company. Trucking companies were limited to nominating only five drivers for each contest.
Each of the three driver finalists for each contest was judged on his final application form, which includes operating information, verification of work history, safety record, equipment specifications (pertains to the Owner Operator contest only), a 300-word essay explaining why the entrant should be a candidate for the grand prize, and a 300-word essay explaining how the entrant is a good "Trucking Citizen."
The grand prize winner of the Company Equipment Driver of the Year contest will receive a Cummins engine-powered Dodge Ram pick-up truck. The TCA Owner Operator of the Year grand prize winner will receive a new International LoneStar tractor (prize includes payment of the Federal excise tax), with a Cummins ISX-550 HP engine, an Eaton transmission, and Goodyear G300 series Fuel Max tires.
The second and third place winners in each contest will also receive a variety of spectacular prizes.
The following drivers are finalists in the two contests:
Company Equipment Driver of the Year Contest Finalists
(listed in alphabetical order)
Ralph Boles
Bison Transport, Inc.
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Mr. Boles has driven more than 4.5 million accident-free truckload miles over the past 34 years. His awards include seven safe driving awards and two Driver of the Month awards from the Manitoba Trucking Association. He sits on his company’s Driver Advisory Board and the Accident Review Committee and has just become an in-cab instructor for Bison’s new driver training program.
Robert Harmeyer
Batesville Casket Company
Batesville, Indiana
Mr. Harmeyer has driven more than 2.4 million accident-free truckload miles since 1988. He has received an Indiana Motor Truck Association Driver of the Month award and participates in the Indiana State Truck Driving Championships and the Trucker Buddy program.
James Loveland
WSE Transportation, LLC
Elm Springs, Arkansas
Mr. Loveland has driven 1.6 million accident-free truckload miles over the past decade. His awards include a 10-year safe driving award, his company’s Driver of the Year award, and membership in the 1.5 Million Mile Club. He has been active in helping with Hurricane Katrina FEMA support in 2005 as well as FEMA pet recovery for Hurricane Gustav in 2008.
TCA Owner Operator Driver of the Year Contest Finalists
(listed in alphabetical order)
Gerald Clouse
Dart Transit Company
Eagan, Minnesota
Mr. Clouse has driven 3.4 million accident-free truckload miles and has been leased to Dart Transit Co. for the past 22 years. He has received the National Safety Council’s Three Million Mile Safety Award and Dart Transit’s 20-Year Truck Trophy Safety Award. In addition, he has been named a Dart Contractor of the Month and has received Dart’s President’s Safety Award and Hall of Fame Safety Award.
Clark Lett
Dart Transit Company
Eagan, Minnesota
Mr. Lett has driven 3+ million accident-free truckload miles over the past decade. His awards include 17 consecutive safety awards from Dart Transit, as well as 18 consecutive safety awards from his previous trucking company. When not on the road, he is actively involved in youth baseball and basketball teams, serves as a deacon, choir member and trustee of his church, and is also a Master Mason Pilgrim.
Wayne Lowe
FFE Transportation Services, Inc.
Lancaster, Texas
Mr. Lowe has driven 4.5 million accident-free truckload miles and has been associated with FFE since 1967. He was selected as the 2007 Texas Motor Transportation Association Driver of the Year and has received many awards from FFE Transportation Services, including a 4 Million Mile Safe Driving Award and first place in the company’s Truck Rodeo.
TCA is the only national trade association whose collective sole focus is the truckload segment of the motor carrier industry. The association represents dry van, refrigerated, flatbed, and intermodal container carriers operating in the 48 contiguous states, as well as Alaska, Mexico, and Canada. Representing operators of more than 200,000 trucks, which collectively produce annual revenue of more than $20 billion, TCA is an organization tailored to specific truckload carrier needs
Your Right to Correct Information Provided by Past Employers
Even When it’s NOT on your “DAC Report.”
Courtesy of:
DOTJobHistory.com
Last month’s column dealt with “Invisible Employment Histories”—those reference checks done by a potential employer that are not on your “DAC Report”—but keep you from getting the job you want. Many drivers believe all their employment is shown on a “DAC Report” while in fact, it is unlikely that all or even most employment will be shown. ( http://www.dotjobhistory.com/articles/Who_Did_I_work_for.asp)
As detailed in last month’s column, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations spell out your rights to review that information directly from the prospective motor carrier. The exact wording is:
Drivers who have previous Department of Transportation regulated employment history in the preceding three years, and wish to review previous employer-provided investigative information must submit a written request to the prospective employer, which may be done at any time, including when applying, or as late as 30 days after being employed or being notified of denial of employment. The prospective employer must provide this information to the applicant within five (5) business days of receiving the written request. If the prospective employer has not yet received the requested information from the previous employer(s), then the five-business days deadline will begin when the prospective employer receives the requested safety performance history information. If the driver has not arranged to pick up or receive the requested records within thirty (30) days of the prospective employer making them available, the prospective motor carrier may consider the driver to have waived his/her request to review the records.
So, let’s assume you exercise your right to obtain this information. And when you review the information you discover that a previous employer has reported erroneous information on you. Before you put your fist through the wall I’d like to give you some personal advice. There’s something called “studs” that builders like to hide behind sheetrock every little bit. They cover their tracks well. Sheetrock gives—studs, not so much.
Anyway, seeing your information is the first step, but maybe not the last. The information may need to be disputed and you may need to add a statement. The Department of Transportation regulations are specific in regard to your right to dispute and add a rebuttal to employment history given by previous employers. While they are specific, the regulatory language can be hard to get your arms around the first seven or eight times you read it—but in short, after you review your information, you have the right to:
- Have errors in the information corrected by the previous employer and for that previous employer to re-send the corrected information to the prospective employer;
- Have a rebuttal statement attached to the alleged erroneous information, if you and the previous employer do not agree on the accuracy of the information;
- Report failures of previous employers to correct information or include your rebuttal as part of the safety performance information, to the FMCSA.
These are your rights—but there are procedures you must follow to enforce your rights.
We’ll cover procedure in a future article, but in the meantime, the regulation for all this can be found at the
FMCSA website.
Last time around we offered up the The TruckDriver.com ?-ession Survey .
We asked: What is the current state America's economy - Recession or Depression?
You answered:
Recession - 21%
Depression - 33%
Temporary downturn - 9%
I am too broke to think about it - 37%
Looks like nearly one-third of you think the country is in a recession/downturn, another third think we are already in a depression and another third are too broke to tell.
We don't have the official statistics, but we're guessing that the results are a fairly accurate reflection of the financial status of the overall population. About one-third of us hanging in there, another third struggling and the final third in deep trouble.
No matter how you slice it, it's not a very tasty pie!
They say in the Spring, a young man's fancy turns to love. We're not sure who 'they' are or why 'they' would say that, but since it's almost Spring we thought we'd play along.
Take The TruckDriver.com Date and Mate Survey and play along with us.
Until next time, keep on truckin' and please drive safely.
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