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.

Workers at Four Carriers for DHL Choose the Teamsters

All Allentown Couriers and Related Workers Join 12,000 Teamsters in DHL System


On July 19, workers at two independent cartage carriers (ICCs), delivering for DHL, E.D. Express and Supreme Delivery Service, voted for Teamster representation. These newest victories mean that all workers at the four ICCs in Allentown, Pennsylvania are now Teamsters.

“I voted to join the Teamsters because they have lived up to everything they’ve promised,” said Ryan Barrall, a lead courier at E.D. Express. “We’re going after better wages and structured hours. These things are a must.”

“Protecting workers’ jobs and ensuring solid wages and benefits are standards that we want to bring to employees at ICCs in Allentown,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “Our new members join the thousands of other employees of ICCs delivering for DHL that we represent. The Teamsters are the union in the DHL system.”

Last week, workers at two other Allentown ICCs joined the Teamsters. Employees at Jennings and Associates overwhelmingly voted to become Teamsters, and following a dramatic march on the boss, Northeastern Express voluntarily recognized the workers’ wishes to join the labor organization. ICCs sort and deliver DHL packages.

“Employees at Allentown independent cartage carriers for DHL know what they want—they want Teamster representation,” said Dennis Hower, Vice President of Local 773 in Allentown. “We have a reputation for getting things done and improving the work life of thousands of parcel workers at DHL and UPS. We are eager to bring Teamster benefits to ICC employees here in Allentown.”

More than 4,500 workers at DHL in the Northeast corridor have successfully won union representation as Teamsters—from Baltimore to Boston. And more than 12,000 workers in the DHL system are already Teamster members, including workers at DHL facilities in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. In the package-sort-and-delivery industry, more than 200,000 workers at UPS are Teamster members.

“Workers at cartage carriers, sort centers, gateways and other operation centers throughout DHL are joining the Teamsters,” said Jeff Farmer, Teamsters Director of Organizing. “It makes perfect sense. As more workers in the system become Teamsters, their power becomes even greater.”