Rob Penner, president and Chief Executive Officer of CTYA and OTA member, Bison Transport, has been named chairman of the Truckload Carrier Association (TCA) for the 2017-2018 term.
Penner, the second Canadian to ever hold a chairman position with the TCA, took the stage at the association’s annual convention in Nashville, Tenn.
With over 30 years in the industry, and 25 years with Bison, Penner has been involved with many industry organizations, including OTA, where he served on the board of directors. He began his career in the transportation industry in 1984 as a professional truck driver and joined Bison Transport in 1991, moving through all aspects of operations. He was appointed vice president, operations, in 1998 and was promoted to his current role in January 2017.
“The TCA has had a positive influence on our businesses and has helped us get where we are today,” said Penner. “But there is no question there is big change upon our industry and we must embrace the future and all of the opportunities it will hold.”
During his speech, he announced the formation of a strategic task force that will be responsible for producing a TCA position paper to address issues impacting productivity, profitability, and the movement of freight across North America.
“I challenge our members to be more active and more engaged here, engaged in the current activities and opportunities within the association, and also engaged in bringing many more of our fellow truckload members, those currently not in this room, into this association,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bison was recognized for two other prestigious honours at the TCA event.
Bison Transport’s Murray Manuliak was named the TCA Driver of the Year while Bison Transport was awarded TCA’s National Fleet Safety grand prize for the large carrier category.
The latter award is given to companies who display an unparalleled commitment to safety. Divisional winners were divided into six categories defined by miles driven. Those companies were then invited to compete for one of two grand prizes, one for carriers with annual mileage below 25 million miles and the other for companies that accumulate over 25 million miles.
Companies competing for the award have the lowest accident frequency ratios per million miles annually.