ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
National Carriers has been highly recognized for its work and dedication to safety on the road and recently, the company was able to add some more honors to its list.
Several drivers and the company itself were honored at a special banquet in Topeka and according to National Carriers Director of Safety/Compliance Jill Maschmeier, it was a good evening.
“The Kansas Motor Carriers Association (KMCA) has an awards ceremony each year to honor 12 of the best drivers in the state, and there are also platforms for companies of the year in their respective divisions, and driver of the year,” Maschmeier explained. “This year, we got seven of the 12 Driver of the Month honors, which is huge. To qualify for that honor, the driver must have a good safety record, a certain length of time driving (we have some guys who have been here for more than 30 years), and just all-around good driving records. Those guys got those honors, and Jason Grier and I choose about 10 to 12 to send to KMCA, and that's the group that ultimately chooses the Driver of the Month honorees. Once they're chosen, we pay for them to go to Topeka for a banquet, where they're honored along with their peers and receive a plaque. It's a big honor to be one of the top 12 in the entire state for the year, it's just amazing. And not only did we receive those Driver of the Month honors, National Carriers was also awarded Agriculture Fleet Carrier of the Year, which is also amazing, and we also got some other awards for safety, which is exciting.”
Maschmeier said there were a lot of positive feelings when the word came about the honors.
“Once we submit our choices, and it's a great picture of the driver by their nice, cleaned up truck, we were notified by KMCA of the candidates who were awarded, and then we coordinated with everyone so we could all be at the banquet and so the drivers could bring their families,” Maschmeier said. “With Fleet of the Year and Driver of the Year, no one knows who's getting those until the evening of the banquet, so those are always a surprise. We had three tables full of people at the banquet, and we were all having a good time fellowshipping and talking shop and just spending a nice evening. It was amazing receiving those other honors because again, those are always a surprise until that evening. One of my drivers actually called me after the banquet and was super honored because he didn't realize all the work it takes to receive such an honor, and it involves everyone. With this particular group, most of the drivers are with the Livestock Division and Hide Division, but it takes EVERYONE to pull this off. There are people behind the scenes taking care of the activity logs and accounting and dispatching and maintenance, and getting these types of awards truly is a team effort. There's so much pride that goes with that because everyone works so, so hard at their jobs and to make sure everything goes like it should. So many people work long careers and do a great job, but they're never really recognized for everything they do, and this is a great way for us to show appreciation to our drivers and everything they do. I want to thank all of our drivers for everything they do and for making this company so successful.”
Maschmeier said the company is very blessed to be recognized so much.
“We've been very fortunate to be honored in this way. We were also recently honored by the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) with second place in our class, plus these most recent awards, and we also have a trip to Phoenix in the near future to receive the American Trucking Association Award for second place in our class, which is just amazing,” Maschmeier said. “Out of all the companies in the U.S., for us to be able to shine like we do, it's a huge team effort. And with us being in Liberal and being more isolated, the beautiful part about getting all this recognition is getting to communicate just how hard everyone here works. All of these people deserve all the recognition, and I'm so happy for them. This is actually the third year we’ve rather swept everything, and we’re extremely fortunate to be able to say that. One time is rather a fluke, but if you do it three times, something must REALLY be going right. I just want to give a huge 'Thank you' to the Liberal community for its support, the Dodge City community for its support, and National Beef for its support as our parent company. It's a huge village, and everyone is amazing.”
Maschmeier added she hopes to see the company keep moving forward from the recent momentum.
“I think the main thing for us is to continue what we're already doing. To have seven Drivers of the Month out of 12, that's really impressive. We also want to share that with other companies because to shine like we have the past three years, it's amazing, and there's always someone coming in who wants to do well, and we want to encourage that,” Maschmeier said. “Whether it's with our company or some other company, if they're safe, that's the important thing because safety affects everyone on the roads. We're really good stewards and do a great job of looking out for everyone, and that's a message we want to share. I also have to give a shoutout to the people who tend to be also overlooked in our line of work – the drivers' families back home. Many of our drivers have spouses and children who are keeping everything afloat at home while our guys are on the road, and they also deserve some love because our drivers are gone a lot. We're so proud of all this recent recognition we're getting, and I hope we can continue this momentum we've been seeing.”
