Bill Gagnon of Big Freight Systems has been named the Manitoba Trucking Association/Volvo Trucks Canada Driver of the Year.

Gagnon, a 43-year veteran of the highway, was named the province’s top driver during a recent awards banquet. He began his driving career with the Canadian Armed Forces and continued working as a driver in the military until 1983 before moving into the trucking industry.

He began his stint as a civilian truck driver as a bush driver in northwestern Ontario. Gagnon then moved on to haul Super-Bs for six years before transitioning to reefers for a seven-year stint. Next, the driver took on grain hauling for eight years before finally joining Big Freight.

Adrian Van Rassel, operations/ CC planner with Big Freight Systems, says Gagnon is “courteous and on-time, all the time” and that he “goes out of his way to make himself available for any jobs.”

Gagnon is also known to help new drivers with tarping and load securement and has a great relationship with dispatch and other office staff, his employer says. Gagnon has a wife, Tisha, and six children. He runs about 110,000 miles per year coast-to-coast in Canada.

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SAF-Holland has added to its Canadian sales and service team by appointing new representatives in eastern and western Canada.

Brent Hameluck will cover Alberta and Saskatchewan while Bruno Auclair will represent the company in Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland, SAF-Holland announced. Both reps have more than 10 years’ experience in sales and marketing within the commercial vehicle industry. Hameluck, a Calgary, Alta. resident, previously served as the southern Alberta territory sales rep for Manac Western.

Auclair, a Granby, Que. resident, has worked extensively in the aftermarket distribution channels through the OEM segment of the industry and also ran his own marketing agency focused on heavy-duty transportation industry product sales.

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Tom Payne, Jr. of Payne Transportation will serve as new president of the Manitoba Trucking Association. Payne was selected by the MTA’s board of directors at a meeting June 22. Payne will be taking over the reins from outgoing president, Susan Snyder of Searcy Trucking. MTA officials say Snyder has resigned her position for family reasons, but Snyder herself noted how much she enjoyed her tenure as MTA president.

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Xantrex Technology has appointed Will Tomkinson as sales manager for the company’s North American mobile product line, based in Vancouver, B.C. In his new position, Tomkinson is responsible for servicing and developing both OEM and distributor accounts in the commercial and industrial segments including EMS, material handling, work truck up-fitting, equipment OEM and fleet management.