ATA Selects 13 Drivers as 'Best of Best' for America's Road Team in 2005-06
merican Trucking Associations last week selected 13 drivers to represent the trucking industry as safety ambassadors and role models as part of America’s Road Team for 2005-06.
ATA President Bill Graves introduced the Road Team captains as the industry’s “best of the best,” with combined driving experience of 312 years and nearly 19 million safe-driving miles — “the equivalent of 40 round trips to the moon.”
“The general public and other motorists get their impression of the trucking industry from how our drivers behave on the highway,” Graves said in a ceremony Jan. 12 at ATA headquarters in Alexandria, Va., where he helped the drivers don their America’s Road Team jackets.
ATA created the America’s Road Team program in 1986 and new teams are created every two years. The 2005-06 team members were selected from a group of 28 finalists by a panel of judges from the trucking industry and media. The competition included trucking safety knowledge, communications skills and community service records.
Volvo Trucks North America has sponsored the program for the past three years. Matt Kelly, executive director of marketing for VTNA, said, “Volvo supports the program, which reflects our core values of quality, safety and care for the environment.”
The 2005-06 America’s Road Team members are:
LI> Richard Alford, ABF Freight System Inc., Louisville, Ky., who has also driven for 25 years and has more than 2 million accident-free miles.
LI> Gerard Avossa, FedEx Freight, Duncan, S.C., who has been driving for 11 years and has 1 million accident-free miles.
LI> Randy Broderick, also with FedEx Freight, Mansfield, Ohio, a driver for 12 years with 750,000accident-free miles.
LI> Ted Cash, C.R. England Inc., Redmond, Wash., a driver for 30 years who has 2.5 million accident-free miles.
LI> Ralph Garcia, ABF Freight System, Albuquerque, N.M., a driver for 27 years with 2 million accident-free miles.
LI> Charles Goodrich Jr., Overnite Transportation Co., Mechanicsville, Va., who has been driving for 30 years and has logged 1.5 million accident-free miles.
LI> Phillip Gould, Jevic Transportation, Delanco, N.J., a driver for 40 years who has 2 million accident-free miles.
LI> David May, Con-Way Central Express, Cheektowaga, N.Y., with 24 years and 1.3 million accident-free miles.
LI> Steven Norbeck, Roadway Express Inc., Shrewsbury, Mass., a driver for 32 years and 1.6 million accident-free miles.
LI> Joseph Orie, FedEx Ground, Lewisbury, Pa., a driver for 23 years with 1 million accident-free miles.
LI> Linda Schriner, FedEx Ground, Bloomington, Calif., a driver for 10 years with more than 1 million accident-free miles.
LI> Jeff Vermillion, Con-Way Western Express, Denver, a driver for 21 years with more than 1 million accident-free miles.
ATA said that after several weeks of driving with members of the retiring road team, the new captains will go out on their own, speaking on behalf of the industry to news media and the public until their term ends in December 2006.
This story appeared in the Jan. 17 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
