FedEx Canada VP takes Lifetime Achievement award

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TORONTO, Ont. – Arthur Stanley, VP, Operations of Federal Express Canada Ltd. was presented with the Colonel Robert Hardie Award of Lifetime Achievement June 8 at the 36th annual National Transportation Week (Ontario) Awards Breakfast in Toronto June 8.

Each year, during the first week of June, Canadians observe National Transportation Week in recognition of the hundreds of thousands of men and women who keep Canada moving safely, efficiently and reliably.

Ontario’s NTW committee is made up of representatives from CAA Ontario, GO Transit, Ontario Motor Coach Association, Ontario School Bus Association, Ontario Trucking Association and Toronto Transit Commission. For thirty-six years this committee has been promoting the importance of transportation to the Ontario economy.

The award of lifetime achievement is presented to Canadian business leaders who have dedicated their career to the field of transportation and in the process have made a significant contribution to the industry.

The Colonel Robert Hardie Award of Lifetime Achievement was created by the NTW Ontario Committee in memory of Colonel Hardie, who sat on the very first NTW Ontario Committee 35 years ago. Colonel Hardie worked hard raising money and exciting interest in the annual event, through good times and bad. Sadly, he passed away on July 27, 1999. This award is presented to Canadian business leaders who dedicate their careers to the transportation field and in the process make a significant contribution to the industry.

Stanley began his career with Federal Express in 1982 when the company first opened its doors for business in Canada. At the time, FedEx had 74 employees in six stations across the country.

Stanley started in the Calgary customer service department and was promoted to manager of operations in Edmonton only three years later. In 1987 he was promoted to senior manager of operations in Toronto before being promoted to director of western operations in 1989.

Stanley was appointed vice president of operations in 1998. In this position, he is responsible for the strategic direction and management of Canadian operations including district airport ramps, sort, pickup, delivery and systems operations.

He has seen FedEx grow from its modest beginnings in Canada to a company that employs more than 5,000 employees in 69 facilities across the country – 3,100 of these employees work for Stanley in operations.

Stanley has overseen all of the operational milestones in the company’s young history in Canada, including the opening of FedEx hub facility at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport in May 2002.

But Stanley wasn’t the only FedEx staffer who was honoured at the breakfast.

Daryl Samotowka, a cargo handler with Federal Express Canada Ltd., was presented with an Award of Recognition

The award of recognition is presented annually to individuals in the transportation industry for their exemplary conduct.

On Sunday, June 20, 2004 an accident involving two passenger vehicles occurred directly in front of Samotowka’s home. One vehicle, driven by a mother with her seven-year-old son, was struck while making a left turn onto the township road adjacent to Samotowka’s property. The second vehicle had seven passengers, three of which were also children.

Daryl heard the impact while in his house. He went outside to see what had happened. He saw was that people were being pulled from the overturned vehicle. Daryl quickly retrieved the first aid kits from his truck and began to administer first aid to those who were injured.

Once the ambulances arrived, Daryl switched to traffic control. Daryl then noticed one of the cars was leaking gasoline, he ran to his shed, grabbed chemical spill pads and a fire extinguisher. Later that night, one of the kids who was hurt came by with his parents (who were not in the accident) to thank Daryl. His head was wrapped in a bandage, and his glasses wouldn’t stay on because they were so twisted. Daryl took his glasses and reshaped them so the child could see with them.

Another FedEx employee presented with an Award of Recognition was Sharon Gillan.

On September 29, 2004 Sharon Gillan was completing her deliveries in Caledonia when she observed a woman running out of her house with what appeared to be blood on her head and face.

Sharon saw and heard the woman yelling for help, stopped her vehicle and went to assist. It appeared that the woman had been showing a neighbor one of her show dogs which was a rare breed and had just had a litter of puppies. The neighbour said she wanted one of the puppies but when her request was refused the neighbour attacked her host with a fire poker and an electric iron. The neighbour knocked her out and stole the dog and three of its puppies.

Sharon tended to the injured woman, called the police, and stayed with the woman until emergency services arrived.

“She still has difficulty speaking,” said Gillan, who has since stayed in touch with the woman.

The week also kicked off well for Highland Transport, which was presented, with an Award of Excellence at the breakfast.

The award is presented to organizations that have, during the past year(s) made an outstanding contribution to the betterment of the transportation industry in terms of areas such as safety, environment, education, image, technology, policy or corporate development.

For five years, Highland Transport has been actively involved in the Canadian Association of Food Banks’ National Food Sharing System (NFSS). The NFSS is a unique and sophisticated logistics system that distributes major food donations to provincial distribution centers which then distributes the donations to member food banks within each province.

The Canadian Association of Food Banks first met with Highland in 2000 when they agreed to join their pursuit to tackle hunger in Canada. Since they joined the program, Highland has offered nearly 500 FREE trips from the Greater Toronto Area to Montreal (two trips per week), carrying close to 12,500 skids of food to those in need.

“Highland Transport has set an amazing example for many Canadian transportation providers and has championed a spirit of commitment and generosity within the industry,” said Master of Ceremonies and Toronto Sun columnist Mike Filey.

Hardware was also handed out to Arrow Truck Sales, KRTS Transportation Specialists, and TST Truckload Express, who were presented with the Program of the Year Award.

The Program of the Year Award is presented annually during national Transportation Week to a new program, product, service or management philosophy recently introduced that has been successful in increasing sales, profit, reducing cost, or that has improved the image of transportation.

The Power to Drive Program is a collaborative effort between Arrow Truck Sales, KRTS Transportation Specialists, and TST Truckload Express. This highly successful program was launched in 2004 in order to help attract quality people to become owner/operators by supplying training, financing and a contract all in one deal.

“The results and the program speak for themselves,” said Filey. “So far TST Truckload has hired on 16 new owner/operators, representing approximately half of their annual number of new contracts.”

KRTS Transportation Specialists has provided all of the training for the new entrants and Arrow Truck Sales has supplied the new candidates with late model reliable equipment. These new candidates receive ongoing coaching by a TST coach once they are in the program and TST pays the participants $2,000 during this mentorship training. At the end of the training the participant receives a $1,000 signing bonus and if the new owner-operator stays on board with TST for one year the tuition of the Power to Drive Program is reimbursed in full.”

Next came the presentation of the Award of Valour, given to Larry Lewis, Larry Wheatley and Dave Brodrecht, all with Woodcock Bros. Transportation Group (Sebringville).

On August 21,
2004, Woodcock Brothers Transportation Body Shop Mechanic Larry Lewis and Shop Manager Larry Wheatley were on their way to New Hamburg when they came upon the scene of a head-on car/van crash.

The pair immediately phoned 911 and then ran to the accident to find one woman trapped in the van and a man and woman trapped in the car. The van appeared to be burning under the hood.

Lewis comforted the woman in the van and assured her that everything would be fine. He noticed the van was on fire and made the decision that he could wait no longer for emergency personnel to arrive to remove the woman from the burning van.

Putting himself at risk he freed the woman from the van and removed her to a safe place.

Meanwhile, Wheatley took action to deal with the fire by seeking a fire extinguisher from bystanders.

Lewis cut away the woman’s seatbelt and along with Wheatley removed her from the vehicle through the driver’s window and lay her safely on the road away from vehicles.

A third man, owner/operator Dave Brodrecht contracted to Woodcock Brothers Transportation also stepped into the fray. Brodrecht, aided by another bystander, tried to prevent the fire from spreading to the car where the man and woman were trapped.

Attaching a chain to the bumper of the smashed car, they used Brodrecht’s truck to pull it away from the burning van and out of danger.

Shortly after the car was removed, the van became fully engulfed in flames. Brodrecht had managed to get the small fire in the car under control.

Firefighters from Wilmot Fire Department later arrived and were able to extricate the two occupants of the car.

“In recognition of their heroic actions, the NTW Ontario Committee is proud to present Larry Lewis, Larry Wheatley and Dave Brodrecht with the award of valour,” said Filey.

Last, but certainly not least, Richard Gaetz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vitran Corporation, was named the Al Palladini Transportation Person of the Year.

The Al Palladini Transportation Person of the Year Award was named in honour of the former Minister of Transportation and Minister of Economic Development.

Vitran Corporation Inc. is a North American group of transportation companies offering less-than-truckload, logistics, truckload, and freight brokerage services.

Rick Gaetz has been working in the transportation and logistics industry for almost 25 years. When he joined Vitran Corporation 15 years ago as COO the company’s annual revenues were about $20 million dollars with most of its business in Ontario and Quebec.

“Vitran has evolved into a major company with 15 terminals in Canada and about 55 in the United States. Under Rick’s stewardship the company’s revenues have topped $374 million – and that’s in US dollars. Price per share has increased over $5 in the past year alone,” said Filey.

Last November, the National Post Business magazine named Rick Canada’s top-performing CEO – the first person from the trucking industry to ever receive consideration for such an award. And in 2005 Vitran was ranked among the top three in a ranking of Canada’s biggest Canadian carriers.

“The National Post characterized Rick as first and foremost ‘a nice guy,'” said Filey. “He is extremely well regarded within the freight transportation industry. As one of his industry colleague’s says, ‘When Rick has something to say, he not only gets everyone’s attention but he makes his points with clarity and passion.

“At the same time he always has an open mind and is willing to consider new ideas and new approaches.'”

The Nova-Scotia-born father of five holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax and attended the MBA program at Western Washington University. He is a director of both the Canadian Trucking Alliance and Ontario Trucking Association.

Rick is active in a variety of charitable causes. In 1998 he and his wife Barbara Underhill, the former world-champion figure skater, started the Stephanie Gaetz KEEPSAFE Foundation in memory of their late daughter. The Foundation is dedicated to childhood injury prevention and safety education.

Truck News would like to congratulate all the NTW winners and hopes them and all our readers had a happy and safe National Transportation Week.

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Truck News is Canada's leading trucking newspaper - news and information for trucking companies, owner/operators, truck drivers and logistics professionals working in the Canadian trucking industry.


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