Friday, July 20, 2007

USF Holland drivers hit safety milestone

Company to honor truckers for logging million miles without preventable accident

Two truck drivers with USF Holland's Akron terminal reached a rare milestone this month.

Robert Leighnor Jr. of Alliance and Richard Stokes of Uniontown both logged 1 million miles without a preventable accident.

Leighnor and Stokes, both 52 years old, have been driving with USF Holland for more than 20 years.

Dwane Ferguson, manager of the Massillon Road facility, said 18 of his 65 line-haul drivers have reached that pinnacle.

``We consider it a huge milestone. It takes about eight years without any incidents to achieve that,'' he said. ``These guys drive over open roads, through cities and towns and high traffic areas,'' not to mention Northeast Ohio's challenging weather.

The men will get a plaque, a jacket, a gift certificate and have the option of putting their names on their trucks, Ferguson said.

USF Holland is owned by YRC Worldwide, a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest transportation service providers in the world, employing 66,000 people.

YRC also owns Roadway Express, which had a driver from the Copley terminal reach the elite status of 3 million accident-free miles in March.

In his 27 years with Roadway, Don Robinson of Green had driven the equivalent of 120 trips around the world without causing so much as a fender-bender.

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