TCA Announces 2015 ‘Best Fleets To Drive For’
The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and CarriersEdge last week announced the winners of this year’s Best Fleets to Drive For contest.
The annual contest spotlights carriers that have been nominated by drivers. The companies that were nominated are then evaluated on a “broad range of criteria” such as driver compensation, benefits, driver support, the company’s commitment to a favorable work-life balance, safety, annual turnover rate and more.
This year’s winners are as follows:
| Bay and Bay Transportation | Eagan, Minnesota |
| Bison Transport | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Boyle Transportation | Billerica, Massachusetts |
| Central Oregon Truck Company, Inc | Redmond, Oregon |
| Erb Group | New Hamburg, Ontario |
| Farm2Fleet | Chattanooga, Tennessee |
| Fremont Contract Carriers, Inc. | Fremont, Nebraska |
| FTC Transportation, Inc. | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Grand Island Express, Inc. | Grand Island, Nebraska |
| Halvor Lines, Inc. | Superior, Wisconsin |
| Interstate Distributor Co. | Tacoma, Washington |
| Kriska Holdings Ltd. | Prescott, Ontario |
| Landstar System, Inc. | Jacksonville, Florida |
| Liberty Linehaul Inc. | Ayr, Ontario |
| Motor Carrier Service, Inc. | Northwood, Ohio |
| Nussbaum Transportation | Hudson, Illinois |
| Paramount Freight Systems | Ft Myers, Florida |
| Tennant Truck Lines, Inc. | Colona, Illinois |
| TransPro Freight Systems Ltd. | Milton, Ontario |
| WTI Transport | Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
In addition, the following five carriers have been identified as “Fleets to Watch” (honorable mentions):
| Challenger Motor Freight Inc. | Cambridge, Ontario |
| Drive Logistics | Windsor, Ontario |
| Veriha Trucking, Inc. | Marinette, Wisconsin |
| Melton Truck Lines, Inc. | Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Raider Express | Ft. Worth, Texas |
To be considered for the contest, carriers must operator 10 or more trucks and have been nominated by at least one of the carrier’s company drivers or owner operators.
CarriersEdge interviewed the carriers’ human resources representatives and executives.
Nominated fleets were evaluated against a scoring matrix covering a variety of categories, such as:
- Total compensation package – including base pay, bonuses, vacation, and sick day allotment
- Health benefits
- Pension plans
- Professional development opportunities (training, coaching programs, etc.)
- Career path/advancement opportunities
- Commitment to employee personal growth, including work/life balance, driver family support, and employee-directed charitable contributions
- Commitment to continuous improvement, including dispute resolution processes and inclusion of driver feedback in policymaking
- Team building and driver community development activities
- Annual driver turnover rate
- Fleet safety record
“This year, we saw a large increase in the number of companies with retirement plans that included a company match, like a 401(k),” said Jane Jazrawy, chief executive officer of CarriersEdge. “We also noted that many companies are providing mobile devices to their drivers, often with custom mobile apps to go with them. New for this year, we saw a few fleets offering guaranteed pay for their drivers, similar to the base salary that sales reps or consultants might receive.”
Brad Bentley, president of TCA, said, “I’m pleased to see that four of these companies were flagged as Fleets to Watch in the past and five are also finalists in TCA’s National Fleet Safety Awards. Clearly, these fleets are doing something right, and their efforts are paying off on multiple levels!”
The finalists will now be divided into large and small fleet categories, from which two overall winners will be selected and the overall winners will be announced March 19th at the TCA’s Annual Convention.
For more details about Best Fleets to Drive For, visit www.BestFleetsToDriveFor.com.