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    Read through the candidates and vote for your favorite in each category.
    Voting closes on Friday, March 24th.      
    Do not vote if you are NOT an SMC member!

    Safety Professional of The Year

    ​Candidate One - Candidate One is a NATMI Certified Driver Trainer (CDT), NATMI Certified Safety Supervisor (CSS), and a NATMI Certified Director of Safety (CDS). In this capacity, the candidate is utilized to train newly hired Safety Managers not only within Indiana, but our entire region, consisting of the states of Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Candidate One is regularly relied upon by our team of Safety Managers to offer his insights, based not only on his experience as a Safety Manager, but also his experience as a Class A CDL driver. Candidate One has developed and implemented several safety initiatives, as well as facilitates, implements, and monitors the safety initiatives that are rolled out to us from our Home Office partners within Fleet Safety. Currently overseeing the daily Safety Operations for one of our three Indiana locations, as well as our newest grocery facility to expand to an entire private fleet operation in Garrett. Despite the growth in drivers that are new over the past 3 years, Candidate One has been able to continue to improve on OSHA Incident Rate (OIR) and Preventable Collisions per Million Miles (PCMM), which directly contributed to not only success in the local offices, but also the reduction in both categories for our Region, and the Private Fleet as a whole. Candidate One is directly responsible for the safety and compliance of approximately 250 drivers and 200 trucks between both locations and has been directly responsible for the success of two other locations before moving to this facility. A leader and a guiding source on all topics related to Truck Driving Championships Candidate one has been key to our rolling the competition back out to our private fleet. Due to COVID we have not held internal TDCs since 2019, and many of our Safety Managers in role now were not in role then. Candidate one has risen to the challenge of partnering not only with his local team to ensure that we’re still meeting the needs of our customers shopping at Walmart, but also the needs of his colleagues who have questions on how to keep the integrity of the competition. Candidate one has worked closely to ensure that each of our locations within Indiana knows and understand the ATA competition guidelines as well as completing the competitions in a timely manner to meet registration requirements. He has volunteered at several Indiana and Michigan TDC’s as well. Candidate one has one of the most caring hearts of anyone I know, even with personal struggles, candidate one has a passion for the Safety profession that is hard to ignore. Drivers respond to Candidate one because they know and believe that he is looking out for their well-being, evidenced by how highly they speak of Candidate one. As Candidate one's supervisor I know that I can rely on not only hearing about the numbers and metrics, but also the person reflected in the number because candidate one takes time to get to know our drivers, local partners, as well as our Safety Managers in our Region and beyond. Candidate one is honest with feedback without being abrasive, and not afraid to stand up for what is right. 

    Candidate Two - Candidate two has been in the trucking industry for nine years and currently holds the title of Director of Safety & Compliance. Candidate two attended IU and received a BA in applied health science for safety with a minor in Environmental Management. Candidate Two is a member of the IMTA's Future Leaders of Indiana and NATMI Certified as a Certified Safety Director. Under Candidate Two's guidance and willingness to work across internal departments our pool of drivers grew from 168 to over 200 in less than a year. Candidate Two's interagency cooperation with the operations team earned Candidate Two the Dispatch of The Year award for July 2021. Key to the companies day-to-day operations Candidate Two has improved CSA scores by identifying and managing negative trends and driver performance to maintain score levels. Not only does Candidate Two holds mock internal audits to ensure operations under is management are performing efficiently and complying with industry rules and regulations, but safety dept. managers competency is also mentored based on their knowledge of protocols and procedures throughout the organization. Seeing toll fees increasing Candidate Two took the initiative to reduced the company's toll fees by identifying and partnering with a third party vendor.​    

    Dispatch Professional of the Year

    Candidate One - Candidate One has been Dispatch Manager for fifteen years and responsible for; morning mail and paperwork form the night before, Lot check, update of available trailer, truck and driver board, check the status of drivers from the load that went out the night before all while answering the phone and make outbound calls, book backhauls and maintain the backhaul file, complete drivers summary and load sheet reports and takes drivers calls at all hours to update warehouses of load delays.  Candidate One is a flexible hard worker that’s ready to take on and conquer anything that steps in the way. An analytical and organized dispatcher that keeps the crews on schedule by planning optimal routes and driver schedules Candidate One excels at monitoring operations and proactively correcting complications with driver or load issues. Loyal, dedicated, know for punctuality, customer service and always having a positive attitude is what sets Candidate One apart from the rest. When the game is on the line and there are seconds left on the clock, you put the ball in the pro's hands. That is how I would sum up the description of Candidate One. A Professional Dispatch Manager who gets the job done and more.

    Candidate Two - Candidate Two has been in the trucking industry for 39 years and is currently the Director of Dispatch and was awarded Dispatcher of the Month in November, 2020 and August, 2021 and Dispatcher of the Year both years by the company. Candidate Two holds certifications in Reasonable Suspicion Training, Retention Training, Emerging Leader training and Supervisor Training. As Director of Dispatch Candidate Two maintains a goal oriented atmosphere, encouraging employees to utilize innovative thinking and planning. Responsible for the overall driver pool and load status Candidate Two is responsible for the company's reputation of service to the customers and our commitment to a standard of service. Our companies success relies on delivering world class performance and exceeding the capabilities fo the strongest competitors. Candidate Two drives execution and sets his drivers and staff up for success. Candidate Two's commitment and work ethic is unmatched, ensuring the job is completed. On a Friday afternoon the company received eight high value high risk loads after the load boards were set for the weekend. Candidate Two stayed late to rework the boards, assigning teams strategically based on the lane, and waited for each team to come in so they understood the value of the load to the company. Candidate Two continued over the weekend to monitor the loads ensuring all were delivered on time, securely and safely.    

    Candidate Three - Candidate Three has been Dispatch Manager for twelve years and believes that the job requirement is "to take care of the Drivers, make their jobs easier and make sure they always feel supported." Daily duties of Candidate One consists of overseeing the day-to- day operations of the dispatch department; load planning, team management and driver oversight, programming metrics for customers, the TMMS provider and more. Available to drivers and the dispatch team 24/7, even giving their personal cell phone so they can reach her anytime. 
    Candidate Three also volunteers frequently at work events in the community and with the Salvation Army, Girl Scouts of America, and United Way.   Having originally started to school on a path to elementary and special education, Candidate Three joined our team answering phone and quickly realized her passion was in transportation and taking care of the team.  A driver's thoughts of Candidate Three " An extremely compassionate and empathetic person, Candidate Three truly cares for all of the drivers and wants too ensure they are happy. Noticing when we are on a route we don't like and taking it personally I know I can count on candidate three to stay positive even when I am not and no matter what we will always be greeted with a smile. I am glad to have a dispatcher that is always in my corner".  An internal coworker stated that "no matter the personal responsibilities the tenacity to be a strong and fearless leader and help others grow in the transportation industry is what drives Candidate Three. 
 
          
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