The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and CarriersEdge recently released the 8th annual compilation of their Best Fleets to Drive For list, which recognizes 20 for-hire trucking companies from across North America for providing “outstanding workplace experiences” for their employees and truck drivers.
This year, listed in alphabetical order, those fleets are:
- Bay and Bay Transportation, Eagan, MN
- Bison Transport, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- Boyle Transportation, Billerica, Massachusetts
- Central Oregon Truck Company, Redmond, Oregon
- Challenger Motor Freight, Cambridge, Ontario
- Erb Group, New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada
- Fremont Contract Carriers, Fremont, Nebraska
- FTC Transportation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Grand Island Express, Grand Island, Nebraska
- Halvor Lines, Superior, Wisconsin
- Interstate Distributor Co., Tacoma, Washington
- Kriska Holdings Ltd., Prescott, Ontario
- Landstar System, Jacksonville, Florida
- Melton Truck Lines, Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Motor Carrier Service, LLC, Northwood, Ohio
- Nussbaum Transportation, Hudson, Illinois
- Paramount Freight Systems, LLC, Ft Myers, Florida
- Prime Inc., Springfield, Missouri
- TLD Logistics Services, Knoxville, Tennessee
- TransPro Freight Systems, Ltd., Milton, Ontario, Canada
In addition, TCA said five other carriers were identified as “Fleets to Watch” for demonstrating innovation in their driver programs:
- Boyd Bros. Transportation, Clayton, Alabama
- Brenny Specialized, St. Cloud, Minnesota
- Crete Carrier Corp., Lincoln, Nebraska
- Maverick Transportation, LLC, North Little Rock, Arkansas
- Trimac Transportation, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
TCA said two companies – Landstar System and Grand Island Express – reached the milestone of five consecutive years on the Best Fleets list.
The group added that, to be considered for the Best Fleets program, a carrier operating 10 trucks or more had to be nominated by at least one of its company drivers or owner operators.
CarriersEdge then interviewed human resources representatives and executives of the nominated fleets about their corporate direction, policies, and programs. Nominated fleets were evaluated against a scoring matrix covering a variety of categories such as:
- Total compensation package, including base pay, bonuses, vacation, sick days, etc.
- Health benefits
- Pension plans
- Professional development opportunities
- Career path/advancement opportunities
“For 2016, we’ve noticed a trend toward the theme of ‘flexibility’ in job structure and routing, as well as team communication,” noted Jane Jazrawy, CarriersEdge’s CEO, in a statement.
“From within the Top 20 winner pool, it seems that many companies are creating different types of jobs so drivers have more options that suit their lifestyles,” she added. “We’re seeing more and more communication going out on Facebook, meetings via web or conference call, and similar things that just generally make life more convenient for professional drivers.”
Jazrawy also noted that fleets are also moving more of their business into mobile apps or websites, and, in many cases, are providing devices directly to their drivers.
She also pointed out another trend: that the majority of Best Fleets winners are participating in new entrant training. “Most companies are hiring drivers fresh out of school now, or starting their own schools directly,” Jazrawy emphasized.
