Four Inducted into NPTC/Lytx Driver Hall of Fame

ARLINGTON, VA– Four truck drivers who have together logged more than 17 million miles of safe driving in approximately 170 combined years of service were honored by the National Private Truck Council (NPTC) and inducted into the NPTC/Lytx^®Driver Hall of Fame during the Annual Education Management Conference and Exhibition held April 29-May 1, 2018 in Cincinnati, OH.

The drivers are from NPTC member companies and have met the minimum qualifications of 20 years, 3 million miles or 50,000 hours of driving without a preventable accident. Many of the drivers have far exceeded these qualifications and are known for having made significant contributions to their industry and their communities. Since its inception, 108 drivers have been installed in the Driver Hall of Fame. This year’s Driver Hall of Fame inductees are:

Rob Harmeyer
Batesville Logistics

Rob has racked up 3.9 million miles in 31 years behind the wheel all without an accident or a moving violation. He joined Batesville in 1988 after working for Don Bruns & Sons from 1977-1986 and then joining Baylor Trucking as a driver for the next two years.

Rob works hard to improve his driving skills by competing in the Indiana Motor Truck Associations Truck Driving Championships and completing monthly training courses, including the Smith System defensive diving course. He is active in the American Trucking Associations’ “Share the Road” program in local high schools’ driver education classes. Not only does he manage all aspects of Batesville’s Trucker Buddy program, he participates as a Trucker Buddy himself. He also participated in the “Touch-a-Truck” program last summer at a local public library where he provided an up-close look at his tractor.

Frank Rice
Shaw Transport, Inc.

Frank’s driving journey started in 1967 driving straight trucks and pulling trailers for the family‐run business, and it is still continuing today. Right out of high school, he joined the U.S. Army where he drove multiple types of trucks stateside and in Vietnam. The son of a truck driver, Frank returned home and began driving profession-ally in 1973 for Salem Carpets. After a short sabbatical as a home builder, he returned to Salem in 1989. Salem was subsequently acquired by Shaw. He has accumulated five million miles without an accident or a moving violation.

Frank has many responsibilities, but he puts customer service at the top of the list. He consistently delivers on time and has a great relationship with each customer he serves. Not only is he responsible for timely and safe deliveries of flooring products and representing Shaw in a professional manner, Frank is a driver trainer. He is responsible for evaluating current drivers and for leading newly‐hired drivers on the path to driving success. Frank is a Smith System certified defensive driving instructor and is responsible for scheduling tri‐annual training for the 35 drivers at his facility.

Larry Thorp
Orscheln Farm & Home, LLC

Larry has been driving professionally for 52 years and has spent the last 11 with Orscheln Farm & Home where he drives about 2,200 miles each week in nine Midwestern states. Over his entire career, he has driven 5.2 million miles (1.3 million with Orscheln) without an accident or a moving violation.

Larry’s first driving experience came at the wheel of a 1948 farm truck and, then, when he returned from service with the U.S. Navy, he began driving for 7-UP Bottling Company on beverage route delivery truck and as an assistant to the semi-driver. When the driver quit to become deputy sheriff, Larry took over his role. After 10 years with 7-UP, he joined Banquet Foods/Conagra Foods for the next 18 years. In 2003 he joined Ruan Transport, a dedicated contract carrier for Conagra, in 2003 for three years before joining Orscheln.

Bradley Wacks
Army and Air Force Exchange Service

Bradley has been driving professionally for 36 years and has racked up a total of 3.5 million miles with-out an accident or a moving violation. Some 2.7 million of those miles have come in the 30 years he has been driving for AAFES.

He developed his interest in trucking from his neighbor, Jack Bostick, who was an Owner Operator. Bradley would spend a majority of my weekends with him on the road. He attended Superior Truck Driving School and obtained his first driving job in 1981 with Dunes Transportation. After a year, he was offered a local position hauling baked goods to restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. He joined AAFES in June of 1987. In addition to his driving duties, Bradley serves as a liaison between the AAFES Distribution Center in Dayton and the Exchange’s stores, ensuring total customer satisfaction and is responsible for training and mentoring new drivers in all aspects of their job. He is currently the Chair of the Terminal Safety Council at the Dayton, OH Consolidation Center. He also rep-resents the Teamsters Local 957 as a Shop Steward.

NPTC President and CEO Gary Petty (right), Jim Rice, CTP, (second from right) Vice President, Commercial Leader (Mid-Market) for Lytx, Inc.; and Carol Heinowski (left), NPTC Board Chair and Logistics Manager, Safety and Compliance, for Meijer, Inc. congratulate NPTC/Lytx Driver Hall of Fame Inductees (from left): Bradley Wacks, Army and Air Force Exchange Service; Frank Rice, Shaw Transportation; and Rob Harmeyer, Batesville Logistics.

About NPTC

Founded in 1939, the National Private Truck Council is the only national trade association exclusively representing the interests of the private truck industry and corporate/business private truck fleet management. With an actively engaged leadership team of Board representatives, member volunteers and staff, NPTC in the past decade has grown significantly to serve a rising professional class of private fleet practitioners meeting the challenges of modern corporate transportation. NPTC is the leading learning resource center, government affairs advocate, and business networking culture for America’s top private fleet and supplier member companies. The Council produces benchmarking, best practices, and economic data reports on the private fleet market; administers the highly regarded Certified Transportation Professional (CTP) training program, and conducts some of the most successful events in the trucking industry including the Annual Conference and Trade Show, the Private Fleet Management Institute, and the National Safety Conference. For more information about the Council’s activities and programs, visit our website at nptc.org.

About Lytx

At Lytx^® we harness the power of video to transform fleets with improved safety, efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Our flagship solution, the Lytx DriveCam^® safety program, sets the standard for driver safety in the industries we serve. The Lytx Video Services^SM program enhancement delivers a highly configurable user interface to provide fleet managers unparalleled visibility into their fleet operations, both in the moment and up to a week later. RAIR^® compliance services helps DOT-regulated fleets comply with safety regulations, complementing the DriveCam^® safety program. Lytx ActiveVision^® service helps fleets detect and address distracted and drowsy driving, both in real time and over time, and additional services offer virtually limitless solutions for fleets and field operations of any profile. We protect more than 3,000 commercial and government fleet clients worldwide who drive billions of miles each year. We enable our clients to realize significant ROI by lowering operating and insurance costs, while achieving greater efficiency and compliance. Most of all, we strive to help save lives – on our roads and in our communities, every day. Lytx is privately held and headquartered in San Diego. For more information, visit www.lytx.com, @lytx on Twitter, or our Facebook page or YouTube channel.