Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85420
logbook Three compete for award The three contenders for the 2011 Owner-Operator of the Year award are Kirby Killgore of O&S Trucking, Larry Severson of Dart Transit Co. and Bryan Smith of Art Pape Transfer. The contest is sponsored by Overdrive and the Truckload Carriers Association. The grand prizewinner will be announced at TCA's annual convention March 4-7, at the Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee, Fla. Also announced there will be the 2011 Company Driver of the Year, sponsored by Truckers News and TCA. The three contenders are John Moeller of Roehl Transport, James Coles of MacKinnon Transport, and Ronald Round of Pottle's Transportation. The six truckers competing for the honors were among other finalists featured in Overdrive or Truckers News during 2011. "We are pleased to be able to honor these exemplary truckers in the pages of Overdrive and Truckers News," said Jeff Mason, senior vice president of trucking for Randall-Reilly Business Media & Information Co., which publishes Overdrive and Truckers News. "And thanks to the generosity of our sponsors – Cummins and Dodge – each winner will receive a Cummins- powered Dodge pickup truck." To be eligible for the contests, driver applicants had to meet certain minimum criteria, such as having driven one million consecutive, accident-free miles. Selection of the top three in each category was based on safety record, efforts to enhance the industry's image and contributions to their communities. For owner operators, judges also reviewed business plans and financial statements. The 2012 competition is underway. Finalists are being profiled in both magazines this year. The top three The 2011 Owner- Operator of the Year will win a Cummins-powered Dodge Ram. Kirby Killgore Larry Severson Bryan Smith in both categories will be named in late 2012 and the grand prizewinners will be recognized at TCA's 2013 Annual Convention in Las Vegas. — Staff Reports SHORT HAULS NEARLY $1.6 BILLION from the Federal Highway Administration will be available to states and territories to help cover the costs of repairing roads and bridges damaged by natural disasters. Vermont, hit by Hurricane Irene, will receive $125.6 million; North Dakota 14 OVERDRIVE FEBRUARY 2012 will receive $89.1 million for damage caused by spring 2011 runoff; and Iowa will receive $37.5 million to repair damage caused by Missouri River flooding. FREIGHT INCREASED 0.3 percent in November from October, as measured by the American Trucking Associations' seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index. For the year, tonnage was up 5.4 percent over the same period in 2010. CLASS 8 TRUCK ORDERS for December were 46 percent higher than in November and 11 percent greater than a year earlier, says FTR Associates. Modest growth is expected in 2012. DAIMLER TRUCKS North America will add a second shift and nearly double production at its Freightliner Truck Manufacturing Plant in Cleveland, N.C., this year. The company plans to hire about 1,100 workers to increase production. The increase in production capacity is designed to reduce a six-month order backlog for Cascadias. Max Heine