ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) is now accepting nominations for its 2012 Best Fleets to Drive For contest and survey. Company drivers and owner/operators may nominate trucking companies by completing an application form on the Best Fleets To Drive For Web site from now until Oct. 31.

Now in its fourth year, Best Fleets to Drive For is an annual evaluation of the best employers in the trucking industry. CarriersEdge conducts the survey for TCA.

The survey is open to all for-hire trucking companies with 10 or more trucks, regardless of TCA membership status. Participating fleets will be evaluated against a broad range of criteria reflecting current human resources best practices, including benefits, professional development, driver and community support, safety record, and company culture.

The 2012 survey also includes some new questions. In addition to driver retention scores, nominated fleets will be asked what percentage of their drivers have remained with the company for various periods of time (one year, five years, 10 years, etc.).

The survey will also address the topic of harassment, asking how companies ensure that their people are not subjected to (or become perpetrators of) harassment at customer sites, truck stops, on the CB, etc. In addition, the survey will ask for the numeric targets that fleets seek for continuous improvement of things like their collision rates and retention scores.

“When it comes to the new questions we’ll have on this year’s survey, the answers will help us not only to score fleets against general management best practices, but to provide a better picture of what’s really going on in the industry,” said Mark Murrell, president of CarriersEdge. “That’s what everybody wants to know.”

Once a fleet has been nominated and the company has agreed to participate, interviews will be conducted with senior management and a random sampling of the company’s drivers. Top finishers will be identified as Best Fleets to Drive For, and the highest scoring fleets in each of the Company Driver and Owner Operator categories will be named that category’s overall winner.

For more information, visit bestfleetstodrivefor.com.