ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Canadian trucking companies were well represented in the 2011 Best Fleets to Drive For contest organized by the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and Ontario-based online training provider, CarriersEdge.

Overall, seven out of the 20 fleets to make the list are based in Canada, and some of the nameplates are familiar to this contest.
They are, Bison Transport, Winnipeg, Man.; Erb Group, New Hamburg, Ont.; Brian Kurtz Trucking, Breslau, Ont.; Trimac Transportation, Calgary; Vedder Transportation Group, Abbotsford, B.C.; and the Yanke Group, Saskatoon.

As well, five other companies have been identified as "Fleets to Watch" (honorable mentions) for making rapid progress toward an outstanding driver workplace, including Drive Logistics of Windsor, Ont. and Turk Enterprises, St. Andrews, Man.

The fleets were evaluated against a scoring matrix covering a variety of categories, such as total compensation packages (including base pay, bonuses, vacation, and sick day allotment); health benefits; pension plans; professional development opportunities (training, coaching programs, etc.; career path/advancement opportunities, among other criteria.

"We were pleased to see that for 2011, drivers nominated 30 percent more fleets over last year. Also, fleet participation [fleets who agreed to participate in the phone interviews] went up by over 80 percent," said Mark Murrell, president of CarriersEdge. "We had a much higher level of interest, especially from first-timers.