TORONTO, (June 8, 2005) –Vitran CEO Rick Gaetz — one of this industry’s most affable, but sharpest operators — has been named the 2005 Transportation Person of the Year.

The award — officially known as the Al Palladini Transportation Minister of the Year Award, named after the late Ontario Tory transport minister — was presented to Gaetz at the National Transportation Week Ontario Awards Breakfast in Toronto this morning.

It’s just one more trophy for the much-celebrated Gaetz. In November, the National Post Business Magazine named him Canada’s top-performing CEO.

And no wonder. Since Gaetz joined Vitran 15 years ago as COO, the LTL giant has grown from a $20-million CDN operation to a $327 million (US) international success. Price share has gone up by more than $5 in the past year alone.

The Nova-Scotia born father of five holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and he attended the MBA program at Western Washington University. He’s on the boards of both the Canadian Trucking Alliance and the Ontario Trucking Association.

He’s also well known for his considerable charitable work. In 1998, he and his wife Barbara started the Stephanie Gaetz KEEPSAKE Foundation in memory of their late daughter. The foundation is dedicated to childhood injury prevention and safety education.