Since the mid-1970s, the Truckload Carriers Association has been recognizing the safest fleets in North America through its National Fleet Safety Awards.

The awards honor trucking companies that demonstrate a superior commitment to safety and accident reduction. Eighteen companies have been selected as division winners for the 2013 competition and will now attempt to capture one of two grand prizes.

Companies applying for the National Fleet Safety Awards have completed the first of a two-step process. First, their accident frequency per million miles driven was calculated for each of six mileage-based divisions. The top three division winners were selected and have been audited by an independent expert to verify their accident frequency numbers.

The division winners will be recognized at an awards ceremony to be held during TCA’s Annual Convention, March 23-26, at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas. They will also be recognized during TCA’s Safety & Security Division Annual Meeting, May 18-20, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch in St. Louis, Mo.

All division winners are now eligible to compete for two grand prizes, one in the “less than 25 million annual miles” category and one in the “25 million or more annual miles” category. To win the grand prize, companies will be judged on their overall safety programs, both on- and off-highway, including employee driver/independent contractor selection procedures, training, supervision, accident investigation, inspection and maintenance of equipment, and outside activities including general highway safety.

As with the division winners, the two grand prize winning companies will be honored at an awards ceremony to be held first during TCA’s Annual Convention and then again during TCA’s Safety & Security Division Annual Meeting.

Below are the names of the 2013 top divisional winners based on low accident frequency ratios per million miles. Companies are listed according to the order that they placed within each category.

Division I Winners (Under 5 million miles)

1. FTC Transportation, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
2. Specialty Transport, Inc., Knoxville, Tennessee
3. Art Pape Transfer, Inc., Dubuque, Iowa

Division II Winners (5-14.99 million miles)

1. Brian Kurtz Trucking Ltd, Breslau, Ontario
2. MacKinnon Transport Inc, Guelph, Ontario
3. Diamond Transportation System, Inc., Racine, Wisconsin

Division III Winners (15-24.99 million miles)

1. A&A Express, LLC, Brandon, South Dakota
2. Convoy Systems, LLC, Kansas City, Kansas
3. Jet Express Inc, Dayton, Ohio

Division IV Winners (25-49.99 million miles)

1. N.Yanke Transfer, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
2. Erb International, Inc., New Hamburg, Ontario
3. Hill Brothers Transportation, Inc., Omaha, Nebraska

Division V Winners (50-99.99 million miles)

1. May Trucking Company, Salem, Oregon
2. Groupe Robert Inc., Rougemont, Québec
3. J & R Schugel Trucking, Inc., New Ulm, Minnesota

Division VI Winners (100+ million miles)

1. Bison Transport Inc, Winnipeg, Manitoba
2. Gordon Trucking Inc, Pacific, Washington
3. Roehl Transport Inc., Marshfield, Wisconsin

Updated to reflect a correction from TCA. The original information listed incorrect rankings for two of the Division V winners.