It has been a helluva month for Mark Seymour and Kriska Group. After announcing a blockbuster deal in which it partnered with Mullen Group to form a new growth-oriented trucking business, Kriska was named the Volvo Trucks Fleet Safety Award winner for large fleets with more than 25 million annual miles. The award was presented at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition. And it went largely unnoticed but there was a Canadian connection to the winner in the <25M miles category as well: Britton Transport of Grand Forks, N.D. is owned by Bison Transport. Congratulations to both companies.

They both will take home $25,000 to spend on their safety initiatives, courtesy Volvo and co-sponsor Michelin. In Kriska’s case, this windfall will be matched by the company and then awarded back to the company’s safest operators in the form of travel vouchers.

Mark Seymour spoke of Kriska’s focus on safety, upon accepting the award.

“Safety is part of our culture here at Kriska. The people who deserve the most credit for the accomplishment we’re here celebrating today are our drivers and owner/operators. Safety is not negotiable at our place,” he said. “It has, over recent times, limited us from growing because we’re so absolute about safety at our place, it is sometimes difficult to get someone convinced it’s the right thing to do.”

More details can be found here.