ATA Honors Industry Champions, Leaders at MCE
AUSTIN, Texas — American Trucking Associations recognized champions from recent industry events, trucking companies focused on safety, emerging leaders and state trucking association executives during its annual Leadership and Awards Luncheon.
The acknowledgments were made during its annual Management Conference & Exhibition here Oct. 28 before industry peers.
“Every day, our industry provides countless examples of professionalism, hard work and commitment to safety. Today, we take time to recognize those individuals who have gone above and beyond in their dedication to excellence and have earned the title of ‘champion’ over the past year,” ATA President Chris Spear said.
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Among those honored were:
Woodrome
• Scott Woodrome, a professional driver with FedEx Freight from Middletown, Ohio, and the Bendix Grand Champion of the 2018 National Truck Driving Championship.
• Phillip Pinter, a technician with FedEx Freight from Ida, Mich., who competed in the 2018 National Technician Skills Competition and became TMC SuperTech Grand Champion.
• David Boyer, a professional driver with ABF Freight System and an America’s Road Team captain, from Wytheville, Va., who was named ATA National Truck Driver of the Year.
Also, three fleets were recognized with the ATA President’s Award, which goes to carriers that demonstrate innovative approaches to safety and also “go the extra mile” to keep America’s highways safe:
• Sinclair Trucking Co. based in Salt Lake City, for fleets traveling less than 25 million miles.
• Cargo Transporters based in Claremont, N.C., for fleets between 25 million and 100 million miles.
• Hub Group based in Oak Brook, Ill., for fleets with more than 100 million miles.
Meanwhile, ATA announced its sixth class of the LEAD ATA program while recognizing the graduation of the fifth class of the trucking industry leadership program.
Graduates of LEAD ATA's fifth class display their certificates at the awards luncheon Oct. 28 (John Sommers II for Transport Topics)
Spear said the federation strives every year to assemble a class of executives “that we feel shares our desire to promote the importance of the trucking industry and invest in them as they learn more about our industry and the role of ATA.”
Those in the 2019 LEAD ATA Class are: Wayne Bailey, FedEx Freight; Jeremy Byrd, SmartDrive Systems Inc.; Brett (Sean) Connell, Bergstrom Inc.; Erica Denney, Denney Transport; Wesley Dunn, RangeWay Carriers; Amber Edmondson, Trailiner Corp.; Anna Faford, C&K Holdings Acquisition; Cristian Garcia, Alto Systems Inc.; Soona Lee, ERoad; Allison Meiners, Ruan Transportation; Barkely Park Jr., UPS Freight; Amanda Pearson, Pottle’s Transportation; Andrew Petrofsky, J&M Tank Lines; Terrance (Terry) Pump, CRST Expedited; Whitney Massengill Stokes, Big M Transportation; and Ryan Walpole, Walpole Inc.
LEAD ATA participants are uniquely set up to become future leaders in the trucking industry. Sponsored by Trimble Transportation, the program provides information about the regulatory and legislative processes within the industry as well as the important work that ATA does to educate policymakers throughout those processes, according to the association.
Participants in LEAD ATA also learn about ATA’s image and outreach programs, the American Transportation Research Institute, Transport Topics and develop leadership skills through team-building exercises and media training.
Prior to the awards luncheon, ATA’s membership staff also honored Tom Lee, vice president of Empire Warehouse Inc. in Denver with the 2018 Rocque Dameo Award for his service as an ATA state vice president.
Since 2014, the Dameo Award, has been awarded to ATA state vice presidents who have gone above and beyond in advancing the goals of the trucking industry and ATA. The award carries with it a $5,000 donation to the winner’s state association.
ATA plans to announce the winners of National Safety Director of the Year and National Safety Professional Award of Excellence at the Safety, Security & Human Resources National Conference & Exhibition on Nov. 12-14 in Long Beach, Calif.
