At its annual conference in Nashville this week, the National Private Truck Council added four new members to its Drivers Hall of Fame, bringing the total to 160.
The Hall of Fame honors four drivers annually from the private trucking industry who have driven accident-free for a minimum of 20 years and 2 million miles.
This year’s winners are:
Roger Horling, Meijer Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich. He has 40 years and 2.5 million miles of accident-free driving delivering foods and other products to 61 company stores throughout Michigan. He had been named Company Driver of the Year for 2000.
Charles McKenna, PETCO Animal Supplies, Portland, Ore. He’s driven a total of 36 years and 2.8 million miles accident-free, the last 350,000 and 4½ years for PETCO. McKenna delivers to PETCO stores in the Seattle area at night, unloading 6-foot-high pallet loads of products and spotting them in PETCO stores, many of them inside malls.
John Palmer, BOC Gases Inc., Cortez, Colo. He’s been a team driver with his wife Pat for 25 years. They deliver compressed gases such as CO2, nitrogen and oxygen to customers in the western states and Canada. Palmer has driven for the same company accident-free for 45 years and 5 million miles and is only the second driver in the Hall of Fame to pass the 5 million milestone. In 1995, Palmer was honored as BOC’s Driver of the Year with a fancy watch; gold, ruby and diamond ring; $1,000 and a week-long, trip to Alaska.
Frank Watson, Giant Food, Landover, Md. Now in his 46th year, he’s driven accident-free for 2.8 million miles, the last 20 years and 1.1 million miles with Giant. Watson delivers trailer loads of food products to Giant supermarkets in the heavily congested East Coast markets of Washington, DC., Baltimore, Wilmington, and Philadelphia. He was Maryland Driver of the Year in 1999 and Giant Food Driver of the Year in 1988.
