BC fuel hauler best in the west

CALGARY — Last year, Wheeler Transport proved it could match up with any fleet when it came to safety performance and couldn’t be outdone a year later.

For the second year in a row, the Port Moody, B.C.-based carrier was named the Best Overall Carrier by the Western Division of the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute as part of their Fuel Carrier Safety Awards program.

The sixth annual edition of the awards program was held April 22 in Calgary. The carrier safety awards recognize carriers contracted to CPPI members for their reduction in incident frequencies, overall safety performance, and promotion of driver and fleet safety.

“We planned to have this program expand across Canada and not just be in the west,” says Ted Stoner, vice-president of CPPI. “I would love to see our western members as national winners.”

With about 25 – 30 power units, Wheeler hauls a number of different oil products and asphalt throughout southern B.C. and down into Washington. The carrier has been around since 1952 and they’ve done work with all the major oil companies.

At left, Ted Stoner presents the Best Overall
Carrier award to Tony Spring and Kelly Stead
of Wheeler Transport.

Last year, after winning the Best Overall Carrier Award, Wheeler’s president Darrell Spring credited a handful of safety initiatives: a driver bonus system, a full-time health and safety employee, and the Smith Driving System.

That full-time health and safety employee – Kelly Stead, safety supervisor of health and safety – was on-hand at this year’s award ceremony to pick up the company’s award alongside vice-president Tony Spring.

According to Stead, thorough training and constant reinforcement of procedures allows the company to still excel at safety.

“We’re very focused on procedures, especially through the unloading and loading procedures,” explains Stead. “It’s preventative. I’ll go on-site when a driver shows up for a delivery and make sure they’re doing everything correctly.”

“Our new hires go for a month in the truck with a trainer,” adds Spring. “We interview the driver and the trainer before sending them out on their own.”

In total, during the 2010 edition of the CPPI awards, five carriers took home honors and combined during the previous year to make 100,090 deliveries.

Other awards handed out during the ceremony included:

– Improvement Award for Reduced Product Mixes: ECL Transportation

– Improvement Award for Reduced Product Spills: Denwill Enterprises

– Improvement Award for Reduced Vehicle Accidents: Mantei’s Transport

– Improvement Award for Reduced Personal Injuries: Petrohaul


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