NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — A Manitoba Mountie who frequently gets his man has been recognized by the RCMP and the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) for helping make our highway network a safer place to truck.

Constable Ken Walkden has played a key role in finding drug transporters, illegal alien carriers and other criminals, so he was presented with the very first Canadian Trucking Alliance Police Highway Interdiction Award at the Third Annual National Pipeline/Convoy Workshop/Conference here in the Honeymoon Capital of the world.

Says CTA CEO David Bradley: “Being able to work in conjunction with law enforcement in fighting crime on and around our highways is a privilege for CTA and the trucking industry.

“We appreciate the opportunity to recognize the people whose job it is to perform this vital role.”

The CTA-sponsored award will be presented annually to a front-line individual or individuals who have made the most significant contributions toward the furtherance of Canada’s National “Pipeline/Convoy/Jetway” program through the Commercial Motor Vehicle Interdiction Process in Canada for the year. (Actually, the award will be announced every year but presented every two years, at the bi-annual conference.)

The “Pipeline/Convoy/Jetway” program, which has been in operation for nine years, aims to detect criminality on the highways. According to RCMP Seargent Bob Ruiters, the National Program Coordinator for the pipeline project, the aim is to bring together the vigilance of the trucking community with the goals of the police to eventually drive illegal activities off the highways.

Essentially, Sgt Ruiters told TodaysTrucking.com the award recognizes the officer’s ability to spot unusual behavior and act on it, whether that means a driver acting strangely or a commercial vehicle appearing off a commercial route. It’s a skill he’d like to impart to members of the trucking industry, he said, because fighting crime is something the industry and the police can do together.

To that end, Sgt Ruiters makes extensive presentations to carriers on what sorts of tricks they can teach their drivers so they remain vigilant as well as the kinds of technologies that are available to bolster fleet safety.

At the same awards ceremony in Niagara Falls, The Yanke Group of Companies received the Partnership in Highway Interdiction Award on behalf of the Canada Pipeline/Convoy/Jetway program for the company’s unstinting assistance.

Scott Johnston, Yanke’s President and chief operating officer, who attended the conference as a guest speaker used to be a member of the RCMP and his company was one of the earliest to embrace Sgt. Ruiter’s program.

“Since 1994, we’ve been reaching out to industry and saying ‘listen, we’re willing to help create the awareness within the industry as well as solve the problem,'” Sgt. Ruiters said.