CALGARY — The Canadian Petroleum Products Institute (CPPI) has been honoring western Canada’s finest fuel haulers for five years and while some big fleets are always present, the little guys sure get their due.

Last year, Denwill Enterprises of Burnaby, B.C. took home top honors with the Best Overall Carrier Award, and this year another B.C. outfit earned top honors.

Based in Port Moody, B.C., Wheeler Transport earned “the big one” and was awarded their prize in Calgary on April 16.

With about 25 – 30 power units, Wheeler’s entire business is based on hauling fuel and oil for asphalt throughout southern B.C., and they’ve done worked with all the major oil companies.

The carrier has been around since 1952 and credits three safety initiatives for winning the Best Overall Carrier Award this year: a driver bonus system, a full-time health and safety employee, and the Smith Driving System.

One key aspect to the success of any safety program is buy-in at all levels of the company.

“The Smith Driving System is a progressive defensive driving program,” explains Darrell Spring, president of Wheeler. “We put the mechanics through it, the dispatchers, secretaries, and ourselves. Everybody who works at Wheeler goes through the system.”

“It’s really the drivers who earned this award,” notes Grant Allen, general manager of Wheeler. “Safety is such a big aspect and getting them home is very important.”

At last year’s CPPI awards luncheon, Wheeler took home the Improvement Award for Reduced Product Mixes.

In total, during the 2009 edition of the CPPI awards, four carriers took home honors and combined during the previous year to make 103,962 deliveries.

“We had fewer incidents last year than previous years,” says John Skowronski, director of environmental affairs with CPPI. “Now in the fifth year, this program has been successful in promoting safety and recognition for the carriers.”

Other awards handed out during the ceremony included:
– Improvement Award for Reduced Product Mixes: Mantei’s Transport
– Improvement Award for Reduced Product Spills: Trimac Transportation
– Improvement Award for Reduced Vehicle Accidents: Denwill Enterprises
– Improvement Award for Reduced Personal Injuries: Trimac Transportation