At its annual Safety & Security Division Annual Meeting on May 4 in Charlotte, NC, the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) presented the 2015 Clare C. Casey Award to Dean Newell, vice president of safety and training for Maverick Transportation. The award is given to a safety professional whose actions and achievements have had a profound and positive benefit or contribution to better safety on our highways, TCA said. According to TCA, Newell has been employed by Maverick Transportation for more than 30 years. He began as a professional truck driver and then held positions in recruiting, driver services and safety. Today, he manages a fleet of over 1,400 tractors and 2,000 trailers as well as oversees eight terminal/facility locations and eight on-site loading and securement locations that employ over 1,500 people. He continually seeks to develop new initiatives to address the ever-changing safety and driver training needs of the company, TCA said.“Known as a strong leader, he has developed a reputation for assembling the best possible teams and making effective leadership decisions,” according to TCA. “He has won many distinguished awards, including the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) National Safety Director of the Year award, the Arkansas Trucking Association’s (ArTA) Safety Director of the Year, and numerous safety awards from Maverick during his years as a driver.”According to Stephen Selig, the president and COO of Maverick Transportation and the author of Newell’s award nomination: “Dean is whole-heartedly committed to the improvement of trucking safety across the board … not just within the corporate structure of Maverick.”Selig outlined how Newell initiated and hosted the kick-start of a collaborative effort of flatbed safety meetings, in which he invited various flatbed carriers to attend and discuss safety ideas and concerns in a roundtable fashion. He also stated that Newell has made several presentations for conferences and seminars throughout the industry and has never hesitated to share his expertise with others.Throughout the years, Newell has held numerous volunteer positions, most notably as chairman of the ArTA Truck Driving Championships, chairman of the ATA National Accident Review Committee, and twice chairman of the ArTA Safety & Loss Prevention Management Council, TCA said. He has also been active with the Risk and Insurance Management Society, the North American Transportation Management Institute, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, and the Transportation Research Board, among other organizations.According to TCA, award nominees must exemplify leadership and demonstrate the goals of protecting lives and property in the motor transportation industry while serving their company, industry, and the motoring public. The award is named after a safety professional who actively served TCA from 1979 until 1989. He was devoted to ensuring that all truckload safety professionals meet yearly to build the strong safety network this Division provides today, and was instrumental in forming the first annual Safety & Security Division meeting in 1982, according to TCA. Upon his death in 1989, the first award in his name was presented in 1990.
