Six out of 20 Best Fleets to Drive For Canadian
ALEXANDRIA, VA. — Brian Kurtz Trucking Ltd., Erb Group of Companies, Steed Standard Transport Ltd., TimeLine Logistic International, Trimac Transportation, and Yanke Group of Companies; check them all out, see what types of human resource programs they’re running, and implement those programs into your own company.
All six of the Canadian companies made Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and CarriersEdge 2013 Best Fleets to Drive For list.
Keep an eye on Celadon and Transpro Freight Systems, too — they made TCA’s “Fleets to Watch” list this year.
It’s the fifth year of TCA’s survey, but also Saskatoon-based Yanke’s fifth year of making the list. It’s the only company to hold that distinction. “I think that’s a real achievement, considering how much we’ve seen fleets improve their programs since we started,” said TCA President Chris Burruss. “It’s very difficult to get named a Best Fleet to begin with, let alone remain on the list for five consecutive years.”
How it works is company drivers and owner operators are asked to nominate carriers that operate 10 trucks or more. CarriersEdge then interviews human resources representatives and executives of the nominated fleets about their corporate direction, policies, and programs. Nominated fleets were evaluated against a scoring matrix in a multitude of categories:
- Total compensation package, including: base pay, bonuses, vacation, and sick day allotment
- Health benefits
- Pension plans
- Professional development opportunities (training, coaching programs, etc.)
- Career path/advancement opportunities
- Commitment to employee personal growth, including work/life balance, driver family support, and employee-directed charitable contributions
- Commitment to continuous improvement, including dispute resolution processes and inclusion of driver feedback in policymaking
- Team building and driver community development activities
- Annual driver turnover rate and efforts to improve
A handful of drivers from each fleet are also surveyed. The feedback from those drivers is compared to management’s feedback, TCA explained.
The contest is becoming more popular, too. “We had a 50 percent increase in nominations and participation for the fifth anniversary of the program,” noted Mark Murrell, president of CarriersEdge.
The next phase of the contest is to announce the highest scoring fleets from each of two categories: Best Overall Fleet for Owner Operators and Best Overall Fleet for Company Drivers. That announcement comes at the TCA Annual Convention, March 3-6, in Las Vegas, NV.
Here’s the full list of 20 Best Fleets to Drive For
Brian Kurtz Trucking Ltd. – Breslau, Ontario
Erb Group of Companies – New Hamburg, Ontario
Fremont Contract Carriers – Fremont, Nebraska
FTC Transportation, Inc. – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Gordon Trucking, Inc. – Pacific, Washington
Grand Island Express – Grand Island, Nebraska
Halvor Lines, Inc. – Superior, Wisconsin
Landstar System, Inc. – Jacksonville, Florida
Load One Transportation & Logistics – Taylor, Michigan
Motor Carrier Service, Inc. – Northwood, Ohio
Paramount Freight Systems – Jeffersonville, Ohio
Sammons Trucking – Missoula, Montana
Spirit Truck Lines, Inc. – San Juan, Texas
Steed Standard Transport Ltd. – Stratford, Ontario
Steelman Transportation – Springfield, Missouri
Tennant Truck Lines, Inc. – Colona, Illinois
TimeLine Logistic International – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Trimac Transportation – Calgary, Alberta
WTI Transport – Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Yanke Group of Companies – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Fleets to Watch
Celadon Canada – Kitchener, Ontario
Farm2Fleet – Gibson City, Illinois
Freight Exchange of North America, LLC – Chicago, Illinois
Prime, Inc. – Springfield, Missouri
Transpro Freight Systems Ltd. – Milton, Ontario
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