NPTC Honors Driver Hall Of Famers
Over the past 17 years, the council has inducted 72 drivers into its Hall of Fame.
Jim Winsor
Executive Editor
Recognizing truckers for their safe driving records is always a good thing. The American Trucking Assns. has its America's Road Team program honoring drivers from ATA-member fleets. These men and women serve for a year as safety ambassadors for the trucking industry. It's a fine program.
A much older program —and one in which I have been involved for 17 years — is the Driver Hall of Fame of the National Private Truck Council (NPTC), an association representing trucking operations of corporate fleets that deliver their companies products. The requirements just to nominate a driver candidate is imposing. For one thing, it's only open to career drivers who have a minimum of 20 years, two-million miles or 50,000 hours of accident-free (non-chargeable) driving.
That certainly narrows the field.
Each year NPTC member companies comb through their driver files seeking drivers who meet these minimums. The selection committee, of which I am a member, typically receives 30 to 40 nominations to review. And each year we always end up with a driver or two who has reached 40 years or more and four million miles or more without a chargeable accident.
This is a remarkable achievement considering that many of the nominees spend much of their time making deliveries in bustling cities, mostly to gas stations, hospitals, beer distributors and the like, where they must constantly deal with heavy traffic and tight delivery locations.
Over the past 17 years the council has inducted 72 drivers into its Hall of Fame. Part of the recognition is an all-expenses paid trip to the annual NPTC convention where drivers are their spouses attend luncheons in their honor. Bridgestone Firestone has been the financial sponsor of the program, paying for the travel and hotel expenses of honorees.
Over the years, I have emceed the program recognizing these outstanding drivers. Being a driver myself, I have even more respect for what these drivers have done. I urge all fleet owners to develop a recognition program for safe driving and especially to honor senior drivers who have chosen to make truck driving their life's work.
Space doesn't allow me to go into much detail about this year's Hall of Fame honorees, but you'll see below what their records are. This year, four drivers are being honored. Collectively, they have amassed 145 years and 15.1 million miles of accident-free driving.
Clarence Almond drives for J.H. Fick Inc., an Anheuser-Busch wholesale beer distributor in Fredricksburg, Va. Almond has 40 years and 90,000 hours of accident-free driving, much of it serving urban and rural customers. Ninety thousand hours equates to about 3.6 million miles of highway driving. He has received letters of commendation from the governor of Virginia and both of Virginia's U.S. senators.
Donald Nutt drives for the Transportation Division of Emerson Electric, Paragould, Ark. He has 26 years and 2.8 million accident-free miles, much of it in long-distance team driving to the West Coast. He currently has a daily run delivering Emerson Electric products to distributors and picking up manufacturing materials to haul back to the factory.
Fonzy Comans drives for Praxair Inc., Brandon, Miss. He has rolled up 4.5 million safe miles and is 39 years accident-free. He mostly transports carbon dioxide and cryogenic chemicals to customers throughout the South. All his loads are placarded hazardous material products.
Vernon Good drives for BOC Gases, Lima, Ohio, another haz-mat trucker. He has 4.2 million miles and 40 years of safe driving, usually delivering medical grade liquid carbon dioxide to customers all through the Midwest. He is BOC's senior driver nationally.
