TCA, CarrierEdge to sponsor Best Fleets to Drive For survey

Ray Haight, chairman of TCA, talks about the best fleets program at a news conference at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas Thursday. (The Trucker/Dorothy Cox)

The Trucker News Services

8/21/2008

DALLAS —  The Truckload Carriers Association, an organization dedicated to representing the interests of truckload carriers, and CarriersEdge, the leading provider of online driver improvement programs, announced today they will launch the first annual Best Fleets to Drive For survey.

The announcement came at a news conference at the Great American Trucking Show under way here through Saturday.

The survey will identify and celebrate the top employers in the North American for-hire trucking industry,

Winners will be announced at the TCA Annual Convention in March 2009.

All fleets with 10 trucks or more (whether TCA members or not) are eligible to participate. To be included, fleets must be nominated by at least one of their drivers (either company driver or owner operator). Nominated fleets will be evaluated in a number of areas, including driver compensation, pension and benefits, professional development, driver and community support, and safety record, among others.

TCA chairman Ray Haight, executive director of MacKinnon Transport in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, said the contest would show the industry’s “great places to work.”

“Drivers like to recognize good companies,” he said, it’s because of good drivers that companies achieve the success they do.

“The TCA is committed to promoting the positive aspects of the trucking industry, and this survey provides a great opportunity to do just that,” said Debbie Sparks, spokesperson for the TCA. “There are so many fleets out there doing so many great things for their drivers. We’re very excited to share the details of those exceptional workplaces.”

“Too many people think the trucking industry is nothing but dead end jobs and unethical employers,” Mark Murrell, president of CarriersEdge, said. “This survey offers a platform for setting the record straight-showcasing the great employers out there and publicizing their best practices.”

Nominations will be accepted up to Nov. 30, 2008. More information is available at www.BestFleetsToDriveFor.com.