Heavy Duty Trucking has named four finalists for its annual Safety & Compliance award, with the winner to be honored Friday, Nov. 10, at the Fleet Safety Conference, part of Bobit’s Fleet Forward Conference in Santa Clara, California.

Sponsored by J.J. Keller & Associates, the 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 2023 Safety & Compliance Award winner will also take part in a panel discussion immediately following the awards ceremony, the Trucking Fleet Managers Safety Forum, moderated by HDT Equipment Editor Jim Park. Other panelists include Amanda Schuier, Jetco Delivery; Mike Lasko, Boyle Transportation; and Jonathan Gong, Young's Commercial Transfer.

The 2023 HDT Safety & Compliance Award Finalists

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

• Sarah Cates, Director of Safety, Thomas E. Keller Trucking, Defiance, Ohio. Cates has transformed the safety culture at the company, implemented driver-facing, AI-based camera safety systems without losing any drivers, and slashed its crash indicator score to a fraction of what it was.

• Frank Chauvette, Transportation Safety Manager, Ocean State Job Lot, North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Chauvette was brought in as a dedicated transportation safety manager and has implemented processes, goals, and technologies that cut its crash rate nearly in half.

• Jaime Hamm, VP of Safety and Compliance, Werner Enterprises, Omaha, Nebraska. Hamm has led the roll-out of in-cab cameras, helped implement driver simulators and a switchover to a new ELD system, and introduced hair testing for drugs.

• John Spiros, VP of Safety & Claims Management, Roehl Transport, Marshfield, Wisconsin. Spiros, who's also serving as a state representative, has for more than 20 years led Roehl's growing safety culture, focused on the root cause of crashes, and "operationalized" safety.

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