Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024:
TA accepting Citizen Driver Award nominations
TravelCenters of America is now accepting nominations for its 2025 Citizen Driver Award.
This is the 15th year of the program that TA created to recognize professional drivers who demonstrate traits that bring a high level of respect to the truck driving profession, including good citizenship, safety, health and wellness, community involvement and leadership.
As part of the honor, Citizen Driver Award winners may select a TA, Petro Stopping Center or TA Express location to be dedicated in their name, allowing their story to be continuously displayed for all travelers that pass through. In addition, the winner will receive $5,000 in prize money and TA will make a $2,500 donation to each winner’s organization of choice.
[Related: Owner-operators, enter Overdrive‘s Trucker of the Year competition]
Nominations are being accepted through Oct. 7. Truck drivers can nominate themselves or others for this award. A panel of trucking professionals will review all the nominees to select the finalists.
More than 150 nominations for the award were received last year, from fleet owners and executives, professional drivers, trucking organization members and trucking industry suppliers.
To date, 44 Citizen Drivers have been awarded with the prestigious honor.
[Related: Werner team, FedEx driver named TA Citizen Drivers]
I-17 closure planned this weekend
SB I-17 will be closed at Jomax Road in north Phoenix this weekend for ongoing pavement improvement work, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.
The closure is scheduled from 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16, to 5 a.m. Monday, Aug. 19.
Traffic will detour along the southbound I-17 off- and on-ramps at Jomax Road. Southbound I-17 also will be narrowed to one lane between Loop 303 and Jomax Road. Drivers should allow extra time, consider traveling during non-peak morning or nighttime hours and stay on the designated detour route.
[Related: Owner-operators’ worst roads in America, take two]
Longtime Schneider driver hits rare milestone
Greg Swift, a longtime driver for Schneider National, has achieved an extraordinary milestone: five million miles without a preventable accident.
Schneider driver Greg Swift surpassed 5 million miles without a preventable accident this week.Schneider
Swift crossed the ceremonial five millionth mile at Schneider’s corporate headquarters in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, Aug. 13. The company recognized the achievement with a parade and Sound the Horn celebration — a long-standing tradition of sounding a truck horn inside the headquarters building to celebrate such accomplishments, according to the company. Schneider also delivered Swift a $10,000 bonus (that’s in addition to the years of additional performance pay Swift has earned for his record).
“Reaching five million miles seemed unimaginable,” Swift said. “It’s an immense honor to be recognized and to be part of a company that equips us to succeed. Safety is the key to long-term success.”
Swift, who began his career with Schneider 33 years ago after leaving a teaching job, currently runs a dedicated route for longtime Schneider customer Georgia-Pacific. He notes he appreciates the reliability and home time the run provides.
“We are in the service business, and professional drivers like Greg are the foundation of our success,” said Schneider President and CEO Mark Rourke. “Drivers who dedicate their careers to safety, who put their customers first and for whom excellence is non-negotiable, leave a legacy for others to follow. Greg is one of those drivers, and I’m grateful he’s been an integral part of our team for so long.”
[Related: 4 million miles of increasing efficiency for owner-op’s 1995 Kenworth T600]