TORONTO, Ont. – Kriska Transport dispatcher Monique Ceasor was named the first ever female winner of the OTR/KRTS Canadian Dispatcher of the Year award during the fifth annual Canadian Recruiting and Retention Conference, hosted by Over the Road.

The annual award is presented each year to a dispatcher “who best demonstrates a commitment to customer service, safety, driver well-being, courtesy, teamwork and problem-solving.” The award was presented by KRTS president Kim Richardson.

Caesor draws on more than 24 years of dispatching experience and Richardson explained she “is so valued by her employer that they have gone to great lengths to retain her services, including setting up a satellite office in her home where she dispatches every day.”

An emotional Caesor accepted the award, thanking her co-workers and employer for making it possible.

“Kriska has given me the tools to be able to do the job properly and the best technology and over the years they have let me be who I am and given me control of how I dispatch and how I deal with the drivers, and that’s very important,” she said. “It’s all about people and as long as you remember that, that’s the most important thing.”

Also recognized during the conference were carriers TST Truckload Express and Challenger Motor Freight, which both received OTR/SelecTrucks of Canada Canadian Retention Awards.

TST was recognized in the ‘Fewer than 100 Power Units’ category while Challenger was tops in the ‘100 Power Units or More’ department.

TST Truckload Express earned the award thanks to its Transition Program and Power to Drive Program which have both contributed to the company’s retention success.

Challenger was the winner in the large fleet category thanks in part to a “disciplined hiring process” and an ongoing Driver Management System that ensures each driver’s needs are being met. Challenger drivers are treated as “representatives” and given business cards to reinforce that philosophy, Nevio Turchet of SelecTrucks Canada said in presenting the award. Challenger prides itself on having an open-doors policy so drivers can have their issues and concerns addressed by management at any time.