Heavy Duty Trucking has named five finalists for its annual Safety & Compliance award, with the winner to be honored Friday, Nov. 6, at the Fleet Safety Conference, part of Bobit’s Fleet Forward Conference in San Diego. 

This award recognizes safety and compliance executives at trucking fleets for their leadership and innovation. It is open to individuals in leadership positions in safety, risk management, human resources, and similar areas at trucking fleets.

The 2024 Safety & Compliance Award winner and finalists will take part in a panel discussion immediately following the awards ceremony, Ahead of the Curve: Trucking Safety Leaders Share Insights,moderated by HDT Editor and Associate Publisher Deborah Lockridge.

The 2024 HDT Safety & Compliance Award Finalists

Finalists for the award, as chosen by HDT editors, are:

Frank Chauvette, Transportation Safety Manager, Ocean State Job Lot, North Kingstown, Rhode Island. 

This is the second year in a row as a finalist for this award for Chauvette, who was brought in as a dedicated transportation safety manager and has implemented processes, goals, and technologies that cut its crash rate nearly in half. This past year, he worked to create a Zero & Zero program, emphasizing a goal of zero accidents and zero injuries.

Rich Kaczynski, Loss Prevention Manager at A. Duie Pyle, West Chester, Pennsylvania, and Chairman of the ATA Safety Management Council Management Advisory Board. 

By drawing on his extensive driving experience, Kaczynski has cultivated a strong safety culture at the company. He developed a four-and-a-half-day hands-on driver orientation program for expert drivers that covers 15 key safety topics. He also leads the accident report and investigation procedures program, among other things.

Dylan West, Safety Training Manager, Keystops, Franklin, Kentucky. His safety director credits West for being instrumental in the fleet’s 30% growth over the past five years.

With the challenge of hiring hazmat drivers and navigating the new entry-level driver training requirements, West took control of the onboarding process, enhancing it to include multi-day orientations covering company policies, The Smith System, best management practices, and in-house developed simulation technology. 

Darrel Wilson, Founder & CEOofWilson Logistics, Strafford, Missouri.

It’s unusual for a top executive to be considered for this award rather than someone directly responsible for safety and compliance, but his entire management team made a heartfelt case for Wilson’s commitment to a culture of safety.

"For the last 11 years, he has demanded solid discipline in making sure our team demonstrates best practices in safety every day, even when that requires we re-route or re-schedule a load."

Chris Woody, Director of Safety, M&W Transportation Nashville, Tennessee.

In his nearly 13 years at M&W, Woody has promoted a culture of safety allowing the company to become a nationally recognized, top-tier safety program. He has made safety not just a department, but the very foundation of the business, and shares his insights about the importance of safety culture with others in the industry.

Who Will Win HDT’s 2024 Safety & Compliance Award?

Factors considered in determining the winner of the HDT Safety & Compliance Award include:

• Making a difference in a fleet’s safety performance

• Role in company safety culture

• Recent safety initiatives

• FMCSA Safety Measurement System data

• Innovative thinking

• Technology adoption

• Safety processes

• Safety measurement and improvement

• Industry involvement and leadership