The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and CarriersEdge today (Tuesday, Jan. 26) announced the 2016 Best Fleets to Drive For.
In the eighth annual survey and contest, these 20 for-hire trucking companies from across North America are recognized for “… providing outstanding workplace experiences for their employees and professional truck drivers,” according to a statement by TCA and CarriersEdge.
This year’s Top 20 Best Fleets to Drive For are:
- Bay and Bay Transportation, Eagan, Minn.
- Bison Transport, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- Boyle Transportation, Billerica, Mass.
- Central Oregon Truck Company, Inc., Redmond, Ore.
- Challenger Motor Freight Inc., Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
- Erb Group, New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada
- Fremont Contract Carriers, Inc., Fremont, Neb.
- FTC Transportation, Inc., Oklahoma City, Okla.
- Grand Island Express, Inc., Grand Island, Neb.
- Halvor Lines, Inc., Superior, Wisc.
- Interstate Distributor Co., Tacoma, Wash.
- Kriska Holdings Ltd., Prescott, Ontario, Canada
- Landstar System, Inc., Jacksonville, Fla.
- Melton Truck Lines, Inc., Tulsa, Okla.
- Motor Carrier Service, LLC, Northwood, Ohio
- Nussbaum Transportation, Hudson, Ill.
- Paramount Freight Systems, LLC, Ft Myers, Fla.
- Prime Inc., Springfield, Mo.
- TLD Logistics Services, Inc., Knoxville, Tenn.
- TransPro Freight Systems, Ltd., Milton, Ontario, Canada
Two companies, Landstar System, Inc., and Grand Island Express, Inc., reached the milestone of five consecutive years on the Best Fleets list.
In addition, five companies have been identified as “Fleets to Watch” (honorable mention) for demonstrating innovation in their driver programs:
- Boyd Bros. Transportation Inc., Clayton, Ala.
- Brenny Specialized, Inc. , St. Cloud, Minn.
- Crete Carrier Corporation, Lincoln, Neb.
- Maverick Transportation, LLC North Little Rock, Ark.
- Trimac Transportation, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The overall winners’ names will be announced during TCA’s Annual Convention, March 6-9, at the Wynn Las Vegas Resort.
On March 1 and 3, clues about the winners’ identities will be posted with the hashtag #BestFleets2016 to TCA’s Twitter account (www.truckload.org/Twitter) and Facebook page (www.truckload.org/Facebook).
According to TCA, to be considered for the Best Fleets program, a company operating 10 trucks or more had to be nominated by at least one of its company drivers or owner operators. CarriersEdge then interviewed human resources representatives and executives of the nominated fleets about their corporate direction, policies, and programs.
Nominated fleets were evaluated against a scoring matrix covering a variety of categories, such as total compensation package (base pay, bonuses, vacation, sick days, etc.), health benefits, pension plans, professional development opportunities, career path/advancement opportunities, and more.
A selection of each fleet’s drivers was also surveyed, with their feedback compared to management’s and incorporated into the final score. The responses were then tallied, resulting in the selection of this year’s winners and honorable mentions.
“For 2016, we’ve noticed a trend toward the theme of ‘flexibility’ in job structure and routing, as well as team communication.,” said Jane Jazrawy, chief executive officer of CarriersEdge. “From within the Top 20 winner pool, it seems that many companies are creating different types of jobs so drivers have more options that suit their lifestyles.
“We’re seeing more and more communication going out on Facebook, meetings via web or conference call, and similar things that just generally make life more convenient for professional drivers. Fleets are also moving more of their business into mobile apps or websites, and, in many cases, are providing devices directly to their drivers.”
She also identified another trend: that the majority of Best Fleets winners are participating in new entrant training. Most companies are hiring drivers fresh out of school now, or starting their own schools directly.
“It is very helpful for the rest of the trucking industry to study the trends that come to light with the Best Fleets contest and survey, as these ideas can help everyone to improve their workplace environments,” said John Lyboldt, TCA’s president. “Anything we can do collectively to attract qualified employees – and keep them – is a positive thing.”
Phase two of the contest will be to divide the highest scoring fleets into small and large fleet categories, from which two overall winners will be selected. These awards are sponsored by EpicVue of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Bose Ride of Framingham, Mass.
