Manitoba drivers picked for excellence

WINNIPEG — The Manitoba Trucking Association introduced the MTA-Custom Truck Sales Industry Excellence Award last week and named four drivers as the inaugural recipients.

The revamped driver award is designed to recognize industry excellence. Members of the committee look at four main areas when choosing recipients for this award: commitment to industry, commitment to safety, commitment to customer service, and acts that go above and beyond what is normally expected of drivers in day-to-day operations.

Bob Dolyniuk, general manager of the MTA, also believes strongly that the contributions made by drivers to the industry can not be understated.

“Manitoba has many, many top-notch drivers, and we are so pleased to be able to recognize the top-tier drivers in our industry,” he says.

The winners were Bruce Wright with Northern Deck, Robert St. Vincent with Bison Transport, Doug Ducharme with Arnold Bros. Transport and Fred Barnett with Len Dubois Trucking.

From left Earl Coleman, president of the MTA; Bruce Wright,
Fred Barnett, Robert St. Vincent, and Jim Clark with Custom Truck Sales.
Missing from picture: Doug Ducharme.

Each of these four drivers will be nominated for the MTA-Volvo Trucks Canada Manitoba Driver of the Year Award, which is awarded annually at the driver awards banquet. Nominations are being accepted for the remainder of the 2009 year and forms can be found on the MTA’s website.

Wright began his trucking industry career in 1981 as a general shop labourer with George Smith Trucking Company. Since then, he moved into a role as a shop mechanic before becoming a long haul driver in 1987. He has spent the past 14 years as a driver with Northern Deck and has committed himself to becoming an industry leader in all aspects of the job.

With six years as an owner-operator at Len Dubois Trucking, Barnett has received numerous compliments from customers regarding his professional manner, excellent work on multi-drop and job-site deliveries, and on-time service.

Ducharme has more than 36 years of driving experience and a clear driver’s abstract. He has won a number of safety awards, including safety bonuses, safe driver awards, safe miles awards, and accident-free awards. His safety record can be described as “excellent,” a term also used to describe his attitude towards the care of equipment.

While long haul truckers face perils and hazards on the road every day, St. Vincent is also credited with saving the life of another driver by manoeuvring his rig on an icy stretch of northwestern Ontario highway, avoiding a collision. He has 27 years of driving experience hauling flat decks, dry vans, reefers and LCVs.
 


Have your say


This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.

*