2018 Citizen Drivers recognized for trucking professionalism, leadership and more.
TravelCenters of America LLC (TravelCenters), operator of the TA and Petro Stopping Centers travel center brands, announced its fifth annual Citizen Driver honorees during the Citizen Driver ceremony at the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum in Walcott, Iowa.
Citizen Driver recognizes professional drivers who help bring respect to the truck driving profession.
TravelCenters launched the Citizen Driver program in 2013 in an effort to honor the many great, hardworking professional truck drivers that keep our economy going. Citizen Drivers not only have an exemplary career in trucking, they are great examples of the kind of people who honor the great profession of truck driving by demonstrating their good citizenship, safety, community involvement, and leadership. The 2018 Citizen Drivers are listed below. Each driver has picked their favorite TA or Petro Stopping Centers location to be named after them. Citizen Drivers will also be the recipients of individual banquets and unveiling ceremonies hosted by TA executives at their chosen locations.
Roland Bolduc — TA Branford CT — “Roland Bolduc Branford Travel Center”
Ingrid R. Brown — Petro Oklahoma City, OK — “Ingrid R. Brown Oklahoma City Stopping Center”
Danny & Cindy George — TA Wheat Ridge, CO — “Danny & Cindy George Wheat Ridge Travel Center”
Carol Wolder-Nixon — TA North Bend, WA — “Carol Wolder-Nixon North Bend Travel Center”
With this group of honorees, there are now 28 TA or Petro Stopping Centers locations across the country named to honor professional truck drivers.
“It’s hard to believe we’ve been honoring such hard working men and women as part of this program for five years now,” shared Barry Richards, president and COO of TravelCenters. “We could not be more proud of the character these individuals display both on the road and off, demonstrating the true spirit and grit of a professional truck driver and we hope to continue this tradition for many years to come.”
TravelCenters accepted nominations for the 2018 Citizen Drivers throughout last year, and received nominations from a wide variety of people — fleet owners and executives, other drivers, friends, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, trucking organization members, and trucking industry suppliers — wanting to recognize the deserving drivers who have touched their lives.
Distinguished members of the trucking industry, Chris Spear, president and CEO of the ATA; Todd Spencer, acting president of OOIDA; Ellen Voie, president and CEO of Women In Trucking; David Cullen, executive editor of Heavy Duty Trucking; and on air trucking radio personalities, Eric Harley of Red Eye Radio; Dave Nemo of Road Dog Trucking; and Steve Sommers of America’s Truckin’ Network, judged the submitted nominations and selected the honorees who excelled in the identified categories.
The 2019 Citizen Driver nomination form, rules and other information will be posted to the TA and Petro Stopping Centers web site in June 2018. Nominations will be accepted through September 30, 2018. The new honorees will be announced at the 2019 Citizen Drivers Award Ceremony.
