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Arizona Trucking Association Announces 2019 Safety Award Winners

Arizona Trucking Association Announces 2019 Safety Award Winners

Tolleson, AZ – Today, the Arizona Trucking Association announced the Fleet and Safety Awards for 2019.

The safety awards honor our dedicated professional drivers, our safest fleets, and the individuals — supervisors, managers, and maintenance technicians — all who play an important role in the continuous improvement of highway safety.

The safety awards are some of the most important recognitions the Arizona Trucking Association and the Arizona Transportation Education Foundation, who manage these awards, give during the year.

DRIVER OF THE YEAR

The “Driver of the Year” award is intended to recognize a career driver who exemplifies outstanding standards of conduct and ability, and who is a credit to the Arizona transportation industry.  Nominees must have no DOT recordable accidents or moving violations within the past three years as shown through a current MVR, while operating full time in interstate or intrastate commerce. The nominee must also be actively engaged in mentoring, scene of accident support or other examples of professionalism.

The 2019 Driver of the Year is Brian Lee Sprowel – J & L Transportation Inc.

Brian is an avid mentor in Truckers Against Trafficking and has the great responsibility of driving the Truckers Against Trafficking “Everyday Heroes” Truck. Brian is also involved in ATA’s teens and trucks program teaching new drivers how to safely operate around a commercial vehicle. Like many of our candidates, Brian participates in the Truck Driving Championships and was the 5-axle state champion in 2016.

2019 Driver of the Year
Brian Lee Sprowel – J & L Transportation Inc.

SAFETY PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR

ATA’s Safety Professional Award recognizes individuals who, by past record, exemplify the type of career safety professional whose high standards of conduct and ability are both an asset to their company and a credit to the transportation industry in the State of Arizona.

The 2019 Safety Professional of the Year is James E Calen – Marathon Petroleum.

Before becoming a safety professional, James had a 24-year career as a Hazmat driver. During that time, he was a driver trainer, lead driver and never had a preventable accident, spill, injury, or contamination. He utilizes that experience in his safety role. He continues to educate himself and is a SMITH trainer, and an MSHA mining trainer. Jim volunteers his time through ATA’s Share the Road program, RoadCheck, and the Truck Driving Championship. Since entering the safety profession, Jim has had a passion for keeping his drivers safe and influencing industry peers to do the same. He is a leader in his field and is well deserving of this award.

2019 Safety Professional of the Year
James E Calen – Marathon Petroleum.

FLEET SAFETY AWARDS
For the fleet safety awards, our judges looked at a fleet’s accident rate, weighed against total Arizona miles during calendar year 2019, the fleet’s Inspection Out of Service Rate in SAFER, along with these additional factors as listed on the entry form: workplace safety;  community outreach, including Share the Road, Teens & Trucks, participation in RoadCheck, or other safety events;  Driver/Employee recognition programs; and  other demonstrated efforts to enhance the image of the transportation industry.

The 2019 Fleet Safety Award Winners are as follows:

  • 1 to 500,000 miles category, Precision Heavy Haul, Inc. – Michael Poppe, President
  • 500,000 to 1 million-mile category, J & L Transportation Inc. – Mike Jimenez, President
  • 3 to 7 million miles goes to Barney Trucking Inc. – Glen Barney, Owner and Founder

Congratulations to all of our winners and thank you for your service to our industry and profession.

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