The editors of Heavy Duty Trucking magazine have announced the 2018 HDT Truck Fleet Innovators, five fleet executives who are being recognized for their leadership and forward-thinking in areas such as improving business, managing employees, and saving money.

Each year, HDT's editors sift through nominations from the industry as well as consider the fleets they have come into contact with throughout the year to single out three to six fleet executives who have consistently shown innovation in areas such as leadership, productivity, business practices, safety, maintenance, spec'ing, technology, human resources, fuel efficiency, the environment, and so on.

This year’s honorees are being saluted for management accomplishments in areas ranging from rethinking the buying of power units and road-testing fuel-saving concepts to launching new streams of revenue and improving driver health and satisfaction:

• Andreea Crisan, COO and executive vice president, Andy Transport, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec

• Joel Morrow, director of research and development, Ploger Transportation, Bellevue, Ohio

• David Myers, senior vice president of operations, Sygma Network, Dublin, Ohio

• Sergio Rojas, director of wellness, Hirschbach Transportation, Dubuque, Iowa

• Tom Schilli, CEO, Schilli Transportation Services, Remington, Ind.

The five 2018 Truck Fleet Innovators will be honored during the Heavy Duty Trucking Exchange, an invitation only fleet networking event scheduled for May 9-11 at The Scottsdale resort at McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale, Ariz. Following an awards ceremony, this year’s Innovators will participate in a panel discussion to share more about their accomplishments as well as to discuss industry issues.

For the second year, the HDT Truck Fleet Innovator Awards are sponsored by Phillips Industries.

This sponsorship is a great fit, because “Phillips Industries has built its brand on creating innovative solutions that solve our fleet customers’ challenges," explained Rob Phillips, president and COO.

"These five honorees see not only where the trucking industry has been, but where it is heading. They have ap­plied new techniques and tech­nologies to increase efficiency that will boost profits. They helped grow their fleets while adding innovation to their companies and the in­dustry as a whole."

Each Truck Fleet Innovator was profiled for the cover story of HDT's May Issue, which will appear online next month.