ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A group of Canadian fleets have been listed among the 2011 Best Fleets to Drive For, a survey and contest that identifies North American for-hire trucking companies that provide the best workplace experiences for their drivers.

Out of the 20 winners, six Canadian carriers made the prestigious list: Bison Transport of Winnipeg, Man., Erb Group of New Hamburg, Ont., Brian Kurtz Trucking of Breslau, Ont., MacKinnon Transport of Guelph, Ont., Vedder Transportation Group of Abbotsford, B.C., and Yanke Group of Saskatoon, Sask. Trimac Transportation’s Houston, Texas operations also made the cut.

In addition, five companies have been identified as “Fleets to Watch” (honorable mentions) for making rapid progress toward an outstanding driver workplace. Two Canadian fleets made this list of up-and-comers: Drive Logistics of Windsor, Ont. and Turk Enterprises of St. Andrews, Man.

The nomination process for the third annual contest began in the fall of 2010, when company drivers and owner/operators were asked to nominate carriers that operate 10 trucks or more. After confirming the validity of the nominations and the trucking companies’ desire to participate, CarriersEdge interviewed human resources representatives and executives of the nominated fleets about their corporate direction, policies, and programs. Nominated fleets were evaluated against a scoring matrix covering a variety of categories, such as total compensation package – including base pay, bonuses, vacation, and sick day allotment; health benefits; pension plans; professional development opportunities (training, coaching programs, etc.); career path/advancement opportunities; commitment to employee personal growth, including work/life balance, driver family support, and employee-directed charitable contributions; commitment to continuous improvement, including dispute resolution processes and inclusion of driver feedback in policymaking; team building and driver community development activities; annual driver turnover rate and efforts to improve; and fleet safety record.

A selection of each fleet’s drivers was also surveyed, with their feedback compared to management’s and incorporated into the final score. The responses were then tallied, resulting in the selection of this year’s 20 winners and five honorable mentions.

“We were pleased to see that for 2011, drivers nominated 30% more fleets over last year. Also, fleet participation [fleets who agreed to participate in the phone interviews] went up by over 80%”, said Mark Murrell, president of CarriersEdge. “We had a much higher level of interest, especially from first-timers.”

The next phase of the contest will be to announce the highest scoring fleets from each of two categories: Best Overall Fleet for Owner Operators and Best Overall Fleet for Company Drivers. These overall winners will be honored at the TCA Annual Convention at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront and Convention Center in San Diego, Calif. March 13-16.