Benchmarks – January/February 2009

Bison Transport has placed first in the category of companies operating more than 100 million miles annually in the US-based Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) National Fleet Safety Award competition. The Winnipeg-based freight carrier registered the lowest US Department of Transportation reportable accident rate in its category for the third consecutive year.
In addition to the milestone, Bison driver John (Ralph) Boles has been named a finalist in the TCA’s annual Company Equipment Driver of the Year competition. The winner of the award will be announced in March.

Claudia Milena Giraldo Sánchez has been named the 2009 Young Freight Forwarder of the Year by the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA). Born in Colombia, Giraldo Sánchez works as a freight forwarder at Mellohawk Logistics. In 2008 she completed CIFFA Module 1, receiving the highest mark in her class. Finalists for the award were Sarah Barnes of Icecorp, Madeleine Kersey of Overseas Container Forwarding, Henry Lowis of Schenker and Lisa Steeds of Cargo Alliance.

JD Smith and Sons Ltd has joined the US SmartWay Transport Partnership. The company has made significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through several initiatives, including in-cab heaters to reduce idling in its trucks, electric light retrofits in its facilities and an energy-smart roof replacement.

Buckhorn, Inc supplied the reusable plastic material handling containers for a major charitable event put on by California-based non-profit Operation Gratitude in Washington, DC recently. The day before the inauguration of US president Barack Obama, 10,000 volunteers gathered in the city’s Robert F Kennedy Memorial Stadium to assemble 75,000 personal care kits for US military personnel serving abroad. Buckhorn provided the totes used to hold donated items during the storage, sorting and assembly of the kits.