Being an owner/operator can be a thankless job. That’s why one of my favourite things to do each year is to call up the winner of our annual O/O of the Year award and let him or her know they’ve been selected. But that’s the easy part. Getting there is considerably more difficult, as we have just one award and so many deserving candidates.

This year’s winner is George Sutherland, a local Toronto O/O for Bison Transport. George just recently took on a local gig after many years over the road. If the name sounds familiar, you may have seen him out advocating on behalf of the industry through his role as an OTA Road Knight.

George stood out because of his industry advocacy, his attention to safety, his business acumen and his willingness to help others when situations arise.

George wins $6,000, a diamond ring, a nice trip to Toronto for him and his family and a bunch of prizes from the sponsors, Castrol, Goodyear and Mack Trucks. I’m not going to get into much more detail here, because you will find an in-depth profile on our winner in the December issues of Truck News and Truck West.

We’ll also have videos of George up on Trucknews.com in the weeks ahead. George is a great ambassador for trucking and exactly the type of O/O the industry needs more of. I can’t wait to share his story with you in the December issue.