CON-WAY Driver Appointed Captain to ATA Road Team
24 January 2000
Darren Beard Receives Prestigious Industry Honor
ANN ARBOR, Mich.--Con-Way Central Express (CCX) driver sales representative Darren Beard from Watertown, S.D. has been appointed one of only 13 captains to the American Trucking Associations (ATA) 2000 America's Road Team. Beard will spend the next two years representing the U.S. trucking industry as an information outreach and safety advocate.Beard was among 36 finalists competing before a panel of judges from the trucking industry and trucking media. The competition considered the panelists' industry knowledge, presentation and interviewing skills, knowledge of safety issues and community service. He is the fifth CON-WAY employee to be appointed a Road Team captain in the last four years.
"Darren absolutely deserves this honor. His safety record, community involvement and professionalism make him an exemplary representative of our industry and highly qualified to deliver the industry's message of safety," said Richard V. Palazzo, president and chief executive officer of CCX.
A Con-Way Central Express employee since June 1995, Beard has driven 375,000 miles without an accident. In 1999, he took first place in the South Dakota State driving championship competition in the twin trailer class. In 1998 he placed third in the same competition.
Prior to joining CCX Beard served in the Army in Washington state and volunteered in the1994 Special Olympics in Tacoma. He currently combines his passion for hockey and his commitment to helping kids by coaching youth hockey and being a mentor. Beard and his wife Jennifer have been married 10 years and are expecting their second child in May.
The ATA established America's Road Team in 1986 as a safety information initiative from the trucking industry to the general motoring public. Captains act as safety ambassadors on behalf of America's more than three million professional truck drivers. They will speak at schools, community organizations and other public events to promote safety. In media interviews they will share safe driving tips and offer motorists advice for safely sharing the roads with professional truck drivers.
The 2000 America's Road Team will be the first captains to serve for two full years. The selection process will now occur every 18 months.
Con-Way Transportation Services, Inc., a $1.9 billion company that provides time-definite and day-definite freight delivery and logistics services for commercial and industrial businesses. Within the CON-WAY family are regional less-than-truckload carriers Con-Way Central Express, Con-Way Southern Express and Con-Way Western Express; Con-Way Truckload Services, providing multi-modal, full-truckload shipping; Con-Way NOW, an expedited carrier specializing in emergency shipment service; and Con-Way Integrated Services, a contract supply chain execution service provider.
CON-WAY is a subsidiary of Palo Alto, Calif.-based CNF Transportation Inc., a $6 billion management company of global supply chain services with businesses in regional trucking, air freight, ocean freight, customs brokerage, global logistics management and trailer manufacturing.