Voting Closes Monday, February 17th!

Dispatch Professional of the Year

Meet your candidates!

Candidate #1: Candidate #11 is a critical player in Our Company's Private Fleet.  Her work over the last 7 years in Indy focused on coordinated planning, outlook and driver connection has contributed to Indy's Private Fleet success.  This year truly showcased this in the Private Fleet expansion into Texas.  Her work to support Indy as well as the new Dispatch team in Texas has been amazing to observe.  She executes her role at a high level and plays a pivotal role in setting up our Stores and Drivers up to succeed each day.  

Candidate #2: We are thrilled to recognize Candidate #2 as our Dispatcher of the Year. With over 20 years of dedicated service, Candidate #2 has been an invaluable asset to our team and the Northern Indiana region.  Key Achievements: She has consistently demonstrated her exceptional ability to form and maintain key relationships with our business partners. Her efforts have ensured the continued success and growth of our operations year after year. Her strategic partnerships have been instrumental in delivering outstanding results and maintaining our competitive edge.  Personal Qualities: Her genuine care for the customers she serves and the carrier relationships she maintains sets her apart. Her commitment to excellence and her empathetic approach have earned her the trust and respect of everyone she works with. Her dedication to her role is evident in her unwavering support and her willingness to go above and beyond to meet the needs of our clients and partners.  Impact on Team and Community: Candidate #2's positive impact extends beyond her professional achievements. She is always ready to step in and help wherever needed, demonstrating her team spirit and collaborative nature. Her focus on efficiency and effectiveness has not only benefited our internal operations but has also positively impacted our business partners' bottom lines. Her contributions have made a significant difference in our community, and we are grateful for her tireless efforts.  Conclusion: Candidate #2's outstanding service, exceptional achievements, and admirable personal qualities make her a deserving recipient of the Dispatcher of the Year award. We are proud to have her as part of our team and look forward to many more years of success together.

Candidate #3: Candidate #3 is one of our office's most dedicated and valuable team members. During her three years at Our Company, she has consistently demonstrated exceptional commitment, working long hours while skillfully balancing her personal and professional life.  Her family members in assisted living are a priority for her, and she consistently puts their needs first. Recently, she spent three weeks with a family member during a very difficult and uncertain time, providing unwavering support.  Simultaneously, she is renowned for her professionalism and expertise in working with our drivers, offering them invaluable guidance. She handles the majority of load building in our TMS system and is proactively expanding her career by pursuing bidding on new customer lanes.  As a mother of three, she is a constant source of support and a remarkable role model for her children, setting an example through her strong work ethic. She also provides unwavering support to her husband who owns his own business. They have been married for 21 years. 

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Maintenance Professional of the Year

Meet your candidates!

Candidate #1:
TITLE -  Shop Manager
YEARS IN INDUSTRY - 6 Years
AWARDS - Internal Company Award - First in Class Maintenance 2024
MAINTENANCE RESPONSIBILITIES & OPERATIONS: This maintenance operation is responsible for the preventive maintenance and repair of 40 class 8 company owned tractors, 6 Owner Operators, along with 200 dry van trailers. The fleet is a mix of regional and over the road operations serving customers in 70% of the states. The shop operates 5 days a week on a single shift with a total of 5 technicians / maintenance staff. Two of the technicians are Apprentices. The primary function of the maintenance operation is to provide best in class Preventive Maintenance. Tractor PMs include a 120 point inspection, while trailers PMs include a 90 point inspection. Although the primary function is Preventive Maintenance, all types of minor and major repairs are also conducted in the shop.

Candidate #2:
TITLE - Terminal Lead Maintenance Tech
YEARS IN INDUSTRY - 14 years
AWARDS - SMC Maintenance Tech of the Quarter 2020 (IMTA),  Internal Company Award - Tech of the Year 2021
MAINTENANCE RESPONSIBILITIES & OPERATIONS: Maintaining bulk tanker trucks and tank trailers, used for transporting hazardous materials (HAZMAT), involves several critical operations to ensure safety, compliance, and efficiency.
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Candidate #3:
TITLE - Maintenance Technician
YEARS IN INDUSTRY - 5 Years
AWARDS - Employee has been featured in our employee newsletter 3 seperate times for his work ethic and team player attitude and mindset
MAINTENANCE RESPONSIBILITIES & OPERATIONS: Preventative Maintenance, Predictive Maintenance, doubles & triples, dollies, 28' Pup Trailers with 48' Dry Vans w/ Liftgates

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Safety Professional of the Year

Meet your candidates!

​Candidate #1: I am writing to nominate Candidate #1 for the Safety Professional of the Year Award, recognizing his outstanding contributions to workplace safety and his unwavering commitment to promoting a positive health and safety culture within our organization.  As a Director of Safety at Our Company, Candidate #1 has demonstrated exceptional leadership and innovation in safety practices, positively impacting our employees and the overall workplace environment. He has been instrumental in developing and implementing our new safety policy program which has significantly reduced accidents and incidents while increasing awareness and training among staff.  In 2024, he set out on a mission to lower our CSA scores while continuing to foster the relationships between safety and the drivers. He was able to bring down our crash indicator score down from a 33% to 8% by creating a culture between our drivers and safety department that thrives off respectful and understanding coaching practices.  Candidate #1 worked extremely hard this year to become a CDS and a member of NATMI.  He has consistently fostered collaboration between departments to identify and mitigate potential hazards, ensuring all employees feel empowered to voice their concerns and participate in safety initiatives. His dedication was evident during our summer push for our 360 checks. Candidate #1 made sure he was on the front lines meeting with these drivers and having conversations about what was going well, fielding any questions they might have had, and requesting feedback on what the safety team could do differently to help them continue to be successful and safe professional drivers.   Candidate #1 also plays a vital role in community outreach, educating others about safety standards and practices through his NATMI and IMTA membership meetings where he has a committed focus on learning and receiving others' recommendations and solutions that other individuals or teams have incorporated to make them a successful safety professional as well.  This commitment has played an integral part in making our safety team and our organization as a whole more successful.    In conclusion, Candidate #1 epitomizes the qualities associated with the Safety Professional of the Year Award. His proactive approach, commitment to excellence, and genuine concern for the well-being of others make him a deserving candidate for this prestigious recognition. Thank you for considering this nomination. I am confident that his extraordinary work and dedication to safety will leave a lasting legacy in our industry.

Candidate #2: It is an honor to nominate Candidate #2 for the IMTA Safety Professional of the Year.   With 14 years of dedicated service in the trucking industry, she has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership, innovation, and commitment to safety protocols and procedures that have greatly reduced incidents and improved safety standards within Our Company's fleet.  She began her career as a Safety Administrator and quickly advanced to Safety and Compliance Supervisor, where she oversees all safety and compliance activities for Our Company.  She started when we were a small fleet and has helped grow the fleet to over 600 trucks while maintaining an impeccable fleet safety record.  The experience and knowledge gained through the growth of a fleet is unique, as she had the opportunity to learn not only the safety and compliance side but also the operational side of trucking.  She has completed 12 years of ongoing training through Ifinit-I online training.  Through collaborative efforts, she has effectively addressed and solved numerous safety challenges, ensuring a safer environment for our drivers and the motoring public.  She helped create an in-house driver orientation program for training new drivers and worked with 10th Street to modernize our application process, driver recruiting to include records keeping and compliance.  This has significantly improved the hiring and training of safe, experienced drivers.  She works directly with the VP of Safety and Director of Safety to build policies, procedures, and incentives for Our Company's safety program last year.  This initiative reduced our CSA scores across the board, bringing our ISS score from 92 to 26 in 2024.   Her involvement in this program was monumental in its success.  Not only reducing our CSA scores, also leading to far fewer accidents and maintenance issues making our highways safer for everyone.  She reorganized our DOT Drug and Alcohol policy, not only keeping us in compliance, but this new procedure has also streamlined the collection process and eliminated the possibility of errors with paperwork.  Her extensive training includes certifications in DOT Compliance, Management, and HAZMAT Safety.  Her success in fostering strong relationships and cooperation with government officials has been instrumental in aligning safety initiatives with regulatory requirements and company policies.  Her dedication to transportation safety excellence and her proactive approach to problem-solving have set the benchmark in the industry and for our company. Her commitment to continuous improvement and her ability to inspire and lead our safety team are truly commendable.  She has the ability to view safety through the driver's perspective. She has a way of connecting with the drivers and creating a Culture of Safety by making every stake holder a part of the safety team.  She has won many in-house awards at our company and I think there is no one more deserving of the IMTA Safety Professional of the Year. 

Candidate #3: Candidate #3 goes above and beyond with every task that she manages. She oversees a staff of 6 Safety Dept. Associates. She oversees the day to day operation of HOS, Orientation, driver compliance, and managing issues in the department. Candidate #3 brings a spark of life to the monotonous day to day environment of the safety department. She leads her staff with grace and class, she has a one of a kind style brining difficult conversations to a close. She prides herself making processes and procedures safe for all. She is always positive and up beat, keeps team morale high with her team building activities, games and pitch-ins. Candidate #3 is the perfect example of a leader because she has the perfect mix of experience, communication skills, kindheartedness, and positive company spirit. Her presence is definitely missed every time she is out of the office. She has spearheaded the revamp of our orientation from 2 days to 3 days and is instrumental in conducting winter classes, safety classes, and quarterly safety meetings.