Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/634029
Logbook 16 | Overdrive | February 2016 The Truckload Carriers Associa- tion, Overdrive and Truckers News have announced finalists for the Owner-Operator of the Year and the Company Driver of the Year awards. Owner-operators Edward Mark Tricco and Glen Horack are compet- ing for a $25,000 prize to be awarded by Overdrive and TCA in March. Also, TCA and Truckers News will award $25,000 to one of three Company Driver of the Year finalists. The awards, sponsored by Cum- mins and Love's Travel Stops, recog- nize drivers who have driven safely, enhanced the image of trucking and served their communities. The five finalists will receive an expense-paid trip to TCA's annual meeting, March 6-9, in Las Vegas, where the winners will be announced. The runners-up in each division will win $2,500. Overdrive will profile the winning owner-operator, and Truckers News will profile the winning company driver. Tricco, of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, has logged more than 4.3 million accident-free miles during his 35-year driving career. He has been leased to Bison Transport of Winni- peg, Manitoba, Canada, since 1996 and runs a reefer. Tricco won the Manitoba Trucking Association's Industry Excellence Award in 2013 and has won safe driving awards from Bison. He was named the Manitoba Trucking Asso- ciation/Manitoba Public Insurance Driver of the Year in 2013, and the Canadian Trucking Alliance/Volvo Canada National Driver of the Year in 2014. Horack, of Elkland, Mo., has been driving professionally for 31 years and has accumulated more than 4.3 million accident-free miles. He's been leased to Springfield, Mo.-based Prime Inc. since 1992 and runs a reefer. Horack was an Owner-Operator of the Year runner-up in 2014 and was named a Missouri Trucking Association Driver of the Month in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. He placed fourth in sleeper class in the 2011 Truck Driving Championships, sixth in 2012 and second in 2013. He's also won company awards. The Company Driver of the Year finalists are: • Guy Broderick of Cambridge, Ontario, who drives for APPS Trans- port Group of Brampton, Ontario; • David McGowan of Marinette, Wis., who drives for WEL Companies Inc. of De Pere, Wis.; and • Danny Smith of Shelbyville, Tenn., who drives for Big G Express Inc., also of Shelbyville. – Matt Cole A U.S. House amendment to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 would, in part, allow for 33-foot double trailers. Introduced Jan. 12 by Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), the amend- ment would amend the U.S. code to increase the permissible length of doubles from 28 to 33 feet. Congress, with the passage of the FAST Act highway bill in December, removed language in a previous version of the bill that would have allowed for 33-foot doubles. The omnibus appro- priations deal that passed in December also didn't include language for 33-foot doubles that had been included in previous versions of the bill. The American Trucking Associa- tions generally has supported mea- sures to increase size and weight limits on trucks, while the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Teamsters Union have opposed size and weight increases. – Matt Cole Finalists compete for two $25,000 prizes Congress removed language in a previous version of the FAST Act that would have allowed for 33-foot doubles. Bill would allow longer doubles The owner-operator and company driver awards are sponsored by Cummins and Love's Travel Stops. Edward Mark Tricco is leased to Bison Transport of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Glen Horack is leased to Spring- field, Mo.-based Prime Inc.