Several new carriers appeared among the prestigious 2022 Best Fleets to Drive For finalists, which honors North American trucking fleets that provide the best working environment for company and independent drivers.
To make room for the new names among the 20 finalists, the Best Fleets program created an even higher tier for perennial top carriers: The Best Fleets to Drive For Hall of Fame. The inaugural class includes eight companies named Best Fleets finalists for at least 10 straight years—or at least seven years if the company was an overall winner. This is the contest’s 14th year.
The 2022 overall winners—one small fleet and one large fleet—will be announced by the Truckload Carriers Association and CarriersEdge during TCA’s Annual Convention, Truckload 2022: Las Vegas, held March 19-22 at the Wynn Las Vegas.
"What an exciting time for this coveted contest as we launch the hall of fame category,” TCA President John Lyboldt said. “During Truckload 2022: Las Vegas, we’re eager to recognize 28 fleets who are dedicated to providing the best possible workplace experience to their essential workers—professional truck drivers. Be sure to attend this year’s revamped awards presentation in March.”
See also: Best Fleets to Drive For creates hall of fame for perennial top carriers
The 20 winners are made up of for-hire trucking companies from across North America that are being recognized for providing exemplary work environments for their professional truck drivers and employees, according to contest organizers.
“This year, we saw more than 200 fleets nominated by their drivers for this program, and all participants were clearly stepping up their game,” said Jane Jazrawy, CarriersEdge CEO. "This year's Top 20 and hall of fame fleets rose to the top with a range of innovative and effective programs that continue to improve the work experience for their drivers."
A higher recognition for top fleets
As the nominated fleet list keeps growing—and top carriers continue to give voters a reason to place them among the Best Fleets to Drive For—it was becoming harder for other deserving carriers to crack the top 20, Mark Murrell, president of CarriersEdge, told FleetOwner.
“We are resilient, and we’re adaptable, and that’s a characteristic of our industry as a whole,” Andrew Boyle, co-president of Boyle Transportation, said during the 2021 Best Fleets awards ceremony. His fleet is in the inaugural hall of fame class recognized this March in Las Vegas.
“We all spend a lot of money on equipment, a lot of money on technology, and a lot of money on facilities, but ultimately, it’s a people business,” Boyle said. “This program is excellent because it creates a healthy sense of peer pressure for us to continually evolve and improve.”
Top carriers such as Boyle were what spurred the Best Fleets organizers to create that higher tier of recognition, Murrell said. But this isn’t your standard hall of fame, where once you’re inducted, you’re in for life. “It’s the Hall of Sustained Excellence,” Murrell explained. “The challenge with this is we don’t want to put them out to pasture because they’re still working. They’re still trying to do things. And because we know that things can change, we don’t want somebody in the Hall of Fame sort of trading on that three years from now when they’re not really at that level anymore.”
The hall of famers will have to requalify for the distinction each year. “That way, we'll ensure that they keep continuing to push,” Murrell said. “Also, they'll keep pushing everybody else forward too. Because when we score it, we just score the whole pile together.”
The 2022 Best Fleets to Drive For finalists
To be considered by the Best Fleets program, carriers must be nominated by a professional company driver or independent contractor. In addition, the drivers are asked to recognize successes within their company’s culture, such as compensation, benefits, safety practices, equipment, training, and other intangibles.
After the Best Fleets’ leaders go over the nominations, they reach out directly to the companies to conduct deeper surveys about the fleets’ policies and practices in search of the most innovative carriers on the road.
Here are 2022’s top 20 finalists. The two overall winners awards, to be announced in March, are sponsored by Eleos Technologies and TruckRight.
American Central Transport, Kansas City, Missouri
Brenny Specialized Inc., Saint Joseph, Minnesota
Challenger Motor Freight Inc., Cambridge, Ontario
Chief Carriers Inc., Grand Island, Nebraska
Continental Express Inc., Sidney, Ohio
Decker Truck Line Inc. Fort Dodge, Iowa
Erb Transport, New Hamburg, Ontario
Fortigo Freight Services Inc., Etobicoke, Ontario
Fremont Contract Carriers Inc., Fremont, Nebraska
Garner Trucking Inc., Findlay, Ohio
K&J Trucking Inc., Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Landstar Transportation Logistics Inc., Jacksonville, Florida
Leonard's Express, Farmington, New York
Liberty Linehaul Inc., Ayr, Ontario
Thomas E. Keller Trucking Inc., Defiance, Ohio
TLD Logistics Services Inc., Knoxville, Tennessee
TransLand, Strafford, Missouri
TransPro Freight Systems Limited, Milton, Ontario
Veriha Trucking Inc., Marinette, Wisconsin
Wellington Group of Cos., Aberfoyle, Ontario
American Central Transport and Thomas E. Keller Trucking appear on this list for the fifth straight year.
Inaugural Best Fleets to Drive For Hall of Fame
The 2022 Best Fleets Hall of Fame class includes eight fleets that have appeared among the top 20 for at least 10 straight years or seven straight years that included being an overall winner at least once. The Best Fleets to Drive For Hall of Fame is sponsored by EpicVue
Bison Transport Inc., Winnipeg, Manitoba
Boyle Transportation, Billerica, Massachusetts
Central Oregon Truck Co., Redmond, Oregon
FTC Transportation Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Grand Island Express, Grand Island, Nebraska
Halvor Lines Inc., Superior, Wisconsin
Nussbaum Transportation Services Inc., Hudson, Illinois
Prime Inc., Springfield, Missouri
“This is pretty humbling to share the stage with a group of outstanding carriers,” Brent Nussbaum, CEO of Nussbaum Transportation, said after winning the overall award in 2021. “On any given day, any one of them are doing things when it comes to taking care of their drivers. The Best Fleet to Drive For award is a reminder that the best asset when running our business is taking care of our people.”
Five fleets to watch in 2022
In addition to the Top 20, TCA and CarriersEdge identified five Fleets to Watch, which are honorable mentions for fleets that fell just outside the 20 finalists.
Epes Transport System LLC, Greensboro, North Carolina
GP Transco, Joliet, Illinois
Magnum LTD, Fargo, North Dakota
Stokes Trucking LLC, Tremonton, Utah
TP Trucking, Central Point, Oregon
To be considered for the Best Fleets program, companies operating 10 or more trucks had to receive a nomination from one of their company drivers or owner-operators. The fleets were then evaluated using a scoring matrix covering a variety of categories, including total compensation, health benefits, performance management, professional development, and career path/advancement opportunities, among other criteria. Driver surveys also were conducted to collect input from drivers and independent contractors working with the fleets.
Nominated and winning fleets are encouraged to use the hashtag #BestFleets22 on social media leading up to the ceremony at Truckload 2022 in Las Vegas; more details are available at BestFleetsToDriveFor.com.
