In the 2007 TCA Company Equipment Driver of the Year contest — sponsored by the Truckload Carriers Association, Detroit Diesel and CCJ‘s sister publication, Truckers News magazine — Doug Ladds, a company driver for MacKinnon Transport, was named the Grand Prize Winner. The awards — presented Monday, March 3, during TCA’s Annual Convention at The Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas — were based on the drivers’ excellent safety records, unblemished work histories, and community and industry involvement.
Ladds has been a truck driver for 24 years, working for Guelph, Ontario-based MacKinnon since 1994. During his career, he has logged more than two million accident-free truckload miles. A member of his company’s driver-trainer team for 14 years, Ladds is now the head driver trainer. He is a member of the executive board for the MacKinnon Transport Drivers Association, and is also the first driver to attain the President level of MacKinnon’s Road Masters Program, an initiative designed to recognize both a driver’s safety-first attitude and his general knowledge of the trucking industry.
Ladd is also currently serving a two-year term on the Ontario Trucking Association’s Road Knight Team, a select group of 10 truck drivers who speak to the media, students, civic groups, driving schools and other interested parties about the trucking industry, safety and sharing the road with trucks. In 2001, Ladds received TCA’s Highway Angel Award for assisting three young motorists in a burning vehicle.
“Doug Ladds is genuinely concerned about the transportation industry,” says Jeff Lehmann, MacKinnon’s safety and compliance manager. “He portrays the image of a tractor-trailer driver with a courteous, professional attitude. This is reflected by his continued efforts to enhance and elevate his personal knowledge and also to share his experience within the industry.”
As the Grand Prize Winner, Ladds will receive a Cummins engine-powered Dodge Ram pickup truck; an all-expense-paid trip for two to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn.; a GPS navigation system; $10,000 in cash; $5,750 in truckstop gift cards; and a $500 truck parts gift certificate.
