CHARLOTTETOWN, (Oct. 29, 2004) — In between a fabulous lobster feast and charity casino, the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association managed to find time to honour a handful of members, drivers, and associates on the second day of the trucking association’s annual convention.

Donnie Fillmore Sr., president of Clairville, N.B.-based Fillmore Trucking Inc., received a standing ovation from colleagues and industry representatives as he was presented with the Trailmobile Canada Service to Industry Award today. The award is handed to an individual who has made an outstanding commitment to the trucking industry over the past year.

Fillmore has been an APTA member for a number of years, and serves on the board of directors.

Gordon Phippen, a 23-year veteran of the highways, was named APTA Driver of the Year, sponsored by Volvo Trucks Canada. Phippen, a driver with Florenceville, N.B.-based Fastrax Transportation, has racked up 3 million accident-free miles during his career.

The quick-thinking, and exceptional driving skills of Saint Antoine, N.B. native Leonard Maurice Belliveau won him the 2004 Good Samaritan Award, sponsored by Marine Atlantic.

While driving on Route 185 in Quebec this past February, Belliveau came upon an accident in which five occupants of a van were disabled after getting involved in an eight-vehicle pileup. He was able to veer his tractor-trailer away from the van and save the lives of the occupants. His actions earned him praise from local police and his company, Fillmore Trucking.

Meanwhile, Frank Henderson’s dedication to safety earned him the 2004 APTA Safety To Motor Transportation Award, sponsored by Markel Insurance Canada.

Henderson, owner and GM of Commercial Safety College in Masstown, N.S., was instrumental in helping make the 12-week Truck Driver Training Program. As Henderson enters “semi-retirement” he continues to participate in APTA’s human resources sector council and the National Truck Driver Review.

Finally, the APTA’s Dispatcher of the Year Award went to local resident and Seafood Express route man Leslie Waite of Charlottetown. The award, sponsored by Cancom Tracking, recognized Waite for his skills as a dispatcher, as well as his respect and unwaivered commitment to every driver in the fleet.

“I will be a driver for as long as Leslie’s a dispatcher,” one company driver said of his dispatcher.