The Truckload Carriers Association has announced the grand prize winners of its 2005 National Fleet Safety Awards: Bison Transport of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada won in the category of companies operating more than 25 million miles annually; and Rocha Transportation of Modesto, Calif. won in the category of companies operating less than 25 million miles annually.
TCA presented the awards to Rob Penner, vice president of operations of Bison Transport, and Henry Dirksen, president of Rocha Transportation, at the annual Banquet and Awards Dinner on Tuesday, March 14 at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, Fla. The two were selected from among 18 division winners in the National Fleet Safety Division Awards announced in January. TCA says both companies met stringent standards in their overall safety programs, on and off highway, and were judged to be the best in their commitment to improving safety.
Bison Transport was the first trucking company in Canada to purchase and employ stationary and full-motion simulators as part of its Tatonka training program. Bison says that since 2002, its annual accumulated safe driving miles have increased by almost 50 percent.
After Rocha Transport suffered a number of backing accidents, the company initiated its G.O.A.L. program, requiring drivers to get out and look before backing, and succeeded in reduced backing accidents by 80 percent.
