HAPPY NEW YEAR!
May the New Year bring you more happiness and prosperity than you can handle!
Welcome to 2016, the time of year when we look forward to new beginnings, fresh starts and better times. It’s also a time for reflection and looking back on the people, places and things that moved us, shaped us and brought to this point in time.
What will the new year bring? If the American Political Process is any indication at all, it’s going to be one wacky year!
To quote John Lennon, ‘Let’s make it a good one, without any fear.’
An Economic Year in Review by ATA's Bob Costello
Bob Costello, chief economist for ATA, looks back on 2015 and reviews what the ups and downs of the trucking industry and economy were and what to look for in 2016. ( video)
Speaking of looking back, here’s an article we ran across recently that includes an interesting video you are sure to enjoy!
Overlooked Video Gem Reveals a Bygone Trucking Era
Max Heine - Overdrive Magazine
Sideburns? Check.
Cabovers? Check.
Hardcore CB chatter? Check.
Yes, we’re talking 1970s trucking. Specifically 1979, the tail end of that decade’s trucking craze, popularized by CB lingo, trucker hats and trucker movies.
It was also an era of trucker shutdowns, which brought the industry to the attention of Optic Nerve, a little-known film collective in San Francisco. Optic Nerve in 1979 produced “On the boulevard,” a half-hour trucking documentary. It’s enjoyable partly because it’s so unlike that era’s slick Hollywood productions, such as “Convoy,” “Smokey and the Bandit,” “White Line Fever” and “Duel”. ( continue)
Truckload Carriers Association, Overdrive, and TruckersNews.com Reveal 2015 Driver of the Year Finalists
The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA), Overdrive magazine, and TruckersNews.com, are pleased to announce the finalists for the 2015 Driver of the Year competition. The following owner operators and company drivers will now compete for the prestigious grand prize in their respective categories:
Owner Operator of the Year contest finalists:
- Glen Horack of Elkland, Missouri, who is leased to Prime Inc., of Springfield, Missouri
- Edward Tricco of Brandon, Manitoba, who is leased to Bison Transport of Winnipeg, Manitoba
- Company Driver of the Year contest finalists:
- Guy Broderick of Cambridge, Ontario, who drives for APPS Transport Group of Brampton, Ontario
- David McGowan of Marinette, Wisconsin, who drives for WEL Companies, Inc., of De Pere, Wisconsin
- Danny Smith of Shelbyville, Tennessee, who drives for Big G Express, Inc., also of Shelbyville
“Just like football has its Super Bowl, our Driver of the Year contest is trucking’s way of recognizing the very best of the best,” said Keith Tuttle, founder of Motor Carrier Service, LLC (MCS), of Northwood, Ohio, and TCA’s chairman. “Out of the hundreds of thousands of professional truck drivers out there, to be chosen as a top finalist is a major achievement.”
TCA’s Driver of the Year competition, sponsored by Love’s Travel Stops and Cummins Inc., recognizes and pays tribute to the company and owner operator truck drivers who provide reliable and safe truck transportation in moving the nation's goods. The finalists and subsequent grand prizewinners are selected based on their ability to operate in a safe manner on the public highways, efforts to enhance the public image of the trucking industry, and positive contributions they have made to the communities in which they live.
To be eligible for the contests, driver applicants had to meet certain minimum criteria, such as having driven one million consecutive, accident-free miles. Each drivers’ operating information, work history, and safety record were examined, and each finalist was asked to write a 300-word essay explaining why he/she is a good “trucking citizen” and should be a candidate for the grand prize. For the owner operator candidates, equipment specifications, business plans, and financial statements were also reviewed.
"It is our pleasure to be affiliated with this contest, which draws media attention to the best professional truck drivers in the truckload industry,” said Brad Holthaus, vice president of trucking media sales at Randall-Reilly, the company that produces Overdrive magazine and TruckersNews.com. "I look forward to shaking each of these finalists’ hands as we unveil which of them become the Drivers of the Year."
The names of the grand prizewinners will be announced at TCA’s Annual Convention, to be held at the Wynn Las Vegas Resort, March 6-9, 2016. For further information on the Driver of the Year competition, please visit www.truckload.org/Driver-of-the-Year.
For further information on TCA and its activities, please visitwww.truckload.org
Follow the organization on Facebook—www.truckload.org/Facebook
Twitter—www.truckload.org/Twitter.
For photos of the 2015 Company Driver of the Year finalists, click here.
For photos of the 2015 Owner Operator of the Year finalists, click here. |
