American Trucking Associations’ Safety Management Council has named Sam Faucette of Old Dominion Freight Line as the winner of the 2018 National Safety Director Award. The award was presented during the Awards Banquet at the ATA Safety, Security and Human Resources National Conference and Exhibition in Long Beach, California and is the council’s most coveted safety award for trucking executives.

Faucette’s career in trucking spans 38 years, of which 17 were spent in safety. He has held almost every job in the industry, starting as a driver, then a mechanic, and eventually working his way up the ranks in safety, serving as a field safety supervisor, a manager of safety, a director of safety and his current position as vice president of safety and compliance.

 Under Faucette’s leadership, Old Dominion’s safety performance has improved year after year, even as the company’s driver workforce, service center locations and annual mileage has tripled in that time. Currently, Faucette helps oversee the company’s safety programs encompassing 10,083 drivers, operating more than 8,700 power units and more than 32,445 semi-trailers. In 2017, Old Dominion drivers accounted for nearly 750 million miles.

“Sam exemplifies the level of attention, innovation and dedication it takes to create and expand a culture of safety in the trucking industry,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “Old Dominion Freight Line and our industry are fortunate to have Sam on our team, leading the charge to promote highway safety among trucking’s workforce.”

Faucette’s impact stretches beyond his work at Old Dominion. He is active in the North Carolina Trucking Association, American Trucking Associations, and many transportation advisory boards and safety groups. In 2018, Faucette served as chairman of the National Truck Driving Championships Committee of the Safety Management Council, a role in which he guided more than 400 truck drivers and hundreds of volunteers and committee members through the trucking industry’s premiere four-day truck driving competition. 

 Since 1960, ATA’s SMC National Safety Director Award has become the apex of safety achievement in the trucking industry. Candidates for the award are experts in the field of safety, dedicated to educating and training truck drivers and other safety professionals to ensure safety is the priority for all sectors of the industry. Nominations for the award are reviewed by past National Safety Director Awardees, and ultimately selected by representatives of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and law enforcement officials.

The 2018 National Safety Director Award is sponsored by Great West Casualty Company.