NORTH CAROLINA DRIVER OF THE YEAR/DRIVERS OF THE MONTH
NCTA celebrated National Truck Driver Appreciation Week this year by honoring 13 professional drivers that are shining examples of the very best that the trucking industry has to offer. The awards were presented at a luncheon held at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Durham. Among those in attendance were representatives of the many state and federal agencies that served as judges to select these honorees. Collectively, these 13 gentlemen account for over 40 million miles of accident-free driving.
Congratulations!
THE 2008 DRIVER OF THE YEAR
John (J.C.) Miller
Roadway Express
In 1967, John worked the summer delivering sheet metal to all the high schools in Tucson, AZ before beginning college at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. After football season, he drove a milk tank to Phoenix and back, 3 nights a week to help pay for school. 1968, John was drafted and signed up for the USMC, serving with 1st Battalion, 7th Marines in Vietnam. 1970, John returned to NAU to play football and started driving log trucks, eventually buying one before his graduation in 1972. John earned a BS degree in Industrial Arts Education with an Extended Major in Power Mechanics. John traded his log truck for a cab-over hauling produce until fuel got to be .44 cents per gallon in 1978.
In March of 1979, John started with Roadway Express in Kingman, AZ and moved to Salt Lake City in 1981. John transferred to the Kernersville, NC facility in 1994. Listed below are just a few of the many awards and accomplishments that John achieved during the past 29 Years.
| 1990 | 1st Roadway driver to log over 1 Million Accident Free Miles in Triples | |
| 1991 | Placed 1st in Flatbed Class Utah Truck Driving Championship | |
| 1992 | Placed 2nd in Twins Utah TDC Silver Bullet Award from District 26 Roadway Express for Outstanding Performance | |
| 1995 | Certified as Smith System Instructor by Smith System Inc. | |
| 1996 | Selected to North Carolina’s 1st State Road Team Named as Coordinator for Roadway’s District 03 Road Team which covered Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina and grew to 18 members, 11 of whom have been selected as members of the North Carolina State Road Team | |
| 1997 | Presented to NCGHSP idea for truck safety called “Know Your No-Zone” which became a handout published by GHSP Teamed with Kevin Eagon to rewrite Roadway’s Haz-Mat training program which was adopted by the company and used as basis for DVD | |
| 1998 | Developed Haz-Mat Train-the-Trainer course and trained 14 new Facilitators | |
| 2001 | 2 Million Mile Accident Free Award from Roadway Express | |
| 2005 | Placed 1st in 3 Axle Class NC TDC Placed 7th Place 3 Axle Class in Tampa at National TDC Selected as Driver of the Month “May” by NCTA | |
| 2005 | Selected as member of GHSP “CMV Working Group” in Raleigh, NC | |
Currently has over 2,945,000 Accident Free Miles
John has a run to Meridian, MS 3 times per week.
2007 DRIVERS OF THE MONTH
JANUARY DRIVER OF THE MONTH
William "Chester" Lawrence
| Old Dominion Freight Line | Greensboro, N.C. |
| Chester has been a line driver for 40 years, having driven with Old Dominion Freight Line for 31 years. He has driven nearly 4 million miles and is well respected among his fellow drivers. He goes the extra mile when training students and is very safety conscious. | |
FEBRUARY DRIVER OF THE MONTH
Lewis Evans
| Epes Transport Systems, Inc. | Greensboro, N.C. |
| Lewis has been a line driver for 42 years with Epes Transport Systems. He has driven over 4 million miles, and has had 41 years accident-free. Lewis loves bluegrass music. His favorite groups are Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys and Jim & Jessie McReynolds. | |
MARCH DRIVER OF THE MONTH
BILLY LEE SMITHEY
| Tyson Foods, Inc. | Roaring River, N.C. |
| Billy has been a local driver for 22 years with Tyson Foods and has driven over 2 million miles accident-free. He has earned 21 safe driving awards. Billy wanted to be a truck driver since he was a young boy and when asked what other profession he would choose Billy stated he would chose to drive a truck all over again. | |
APRIL DRIVER OF THE MONTH
ROBERT LEE
| Mountaire Farms | Lumber Bridge, N.C. |
| Robert has driven for 28 years with 3 million miles accident-free. He has been with Mountaire Farms as a line driver for two years and been a truck driver for 28 years. He has won numerous awards including High Achiever Award and the 1 million mile safe driving award. He was also driver of the month for January 2008 for his company. | |
MAY DRIVER OF THE MONTH
ALPHONSO HAMPTON, JR.
| Cargo Transporters | Claremont, N.C. |
| Alphonso has been a line driver for nearly 32 years and has driven 2.7 million miles accident-free. He has received the 1 million miles safety award from Cargo Transporters and received the 1.5 million miles safety award from another company. | |
JUNE DRIVER OF THE MONTH
RANDAL C. SHOUP
| Barnes Transportation Services, Inc. | Wilson, N.C. |
| Randal has been a line driver for over 37 years. He has driven nearly 4 million miles accident-free. His hobbies include fishing and he is past president of his JC Chapter. He is also retired from the Kenansville Voluntary Fire & Rescue. | |
JULY DRIVER OF THE MONTH
ROBERT L. DeWITT
| Roadway | Winston-Salem, N.C. |
| Robert has been a line driver for 37 years. He has been with Roadway for 30 years with over 3 million miles driven accident-free. Robert served in the United States Army for three years. | |
AUGUST DRIVER OF THE MONTH
ROBERT A. QUINN
| Barnes Transportation Services, Inc. | Wilson, N.C. |
| Robert has been a line driver for 37 years. Robert has been a line driver for 38 years. He has been with Barnes Transportation Services for the past five years and has driven over 4 million miles accident-free. He has two grandchildren and one of his hobbies is boating. | |
SEPTEMBER DRIVER OF THE MONTH
RALPH LEE HAMILTON
| Old Dominion Freight Line | Charlotte, N.C. |
| Ralph has been a line driver for 39 years and has been with Old Dominion Freight Line for 29 years. He has driven over 4 million miles accident-free. He has competed in the Truck Driving Championship in years 2000 through 2006 and is a member of the North Carolina Road Team and America’s Road Team. | |
OCTOBER DRIVER OF THE MONTH
RONALD MERSON
| Old Dominion Freight Line | Greensboro, N.C. |
| Ronald has been driving for 39 years and has been a line driver with Old Dominion Freight Line for 17 years. He has driven over 2 million miles accident-free. He enjoys teaching new drivers how to safely handle a tractor trailer and is an outstanding driver trainer. | |
NOVEMBER DRIVER OF THE MONTH
THOMAS L. RUFFIN, JR.
| LPC, Inc. | Clinton, N.C. |
| Thomas has been a line driver for 40 years and with LPC for the past 33 years. He has driven over 3.6 million miles accident-free. He is a member of Cory Chapel Church and the Sampson County Blood Bank. Thomas states that driving to New York three times a week will keep a driver on his toes. For the past 33 years Thomas has received safety bonuses and been recognized for his outstanding driving record. | |
DECEMBER DRIVER OF THE MONTH
RONNIE COOKE
| Conway Freight | Charlotte, N.C. |
| Ronnie has been a line driver for over 37 years, 21 of them with Conway Freight. He received the 1 million mile safety award this year for the second time and has driven nearly 4 million miles. He has competed in the North Carolina Truck Driving Championship. Ronnie served as Military Police in Vietnam in the United States Army. | |