Rick Austin Dispatcher Award
RICK AUSTIN DISPATCHER AWARD
The Rick Austin Dispatcher Award has been established to honour the memory of one of CPC’s Fleet Dispatchers, Rick Austin, who passed away suddenly on March 15th of 2017.
Rick began his career in the transportation industry right out of high school. He started with a dry wall company loading, tarping and strapping trucks and decided not long after that he would rather be behind the wheel. He eventually became a broker and at one time ran team loads to California with his cousin, Dave Armstrong. Rick joined the John Deere Canadian Fleet on November 25, 1991 and quickly developed a reputation as a dependable driver with a great work ethic. Rick earned his Million Mile Award and started to train to provide relief dispatch and then moved into the full-time dispatch role in 2000.
For a time, Rick dispatched all units in both Grimsby and Regina. As the fleet grew and we discovered the kind of effort that Rick was dedicating to his role, the dispatch office was expanded and Rick received the CPC Logistics President’s Award in recognition of his exceptional loyalty, service and dedication.Because of his years on the road, Rick fully understood the demands and strains on a long-haul driver, and he was not only a dispatcher, but a good friend and wise council to drivers over the years. He understood that the job needed to be done, but also wanted the drivers running safe and legal at all times. Whether he had the time or not, he always took the time to communicate with the drivers and tried to make sure that they kept life in balance.
It's a testament to Rick’s dedication, along with the rest of the supervisory team, that the John Deere Private Fleet has won the PMTC National Fleet Safety Award in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2024.
This award is designed to help recognize the exceptional and often under-appreciated efforts of dispatchers who have made an outstanding contribution to their company in the past year or over their career.
PMTC President Mike Millian stated “The PMTC and its members are truly honoured to be able to help recognize the efforts of those dispatchers who go above and beyond the call of duty to help ensure the drivers and fleets that employ them are the safest operators that they can be, and the fact that we can help honour the memory of a truly great individual to recognize these efforts makes it that much more special.”
The award application will be made available on our website soon and ready for entries when they open in January. Some of the information for criteria and eligibility are listed below.
Criteria
- Letter of nomination from employer that is supported by driver testimonials.
- Made an outstanding contribution to their company in the past year or over their career.
- Contributed to the development and improvement of fleet safety and efficiency initiatives.
- Has an excellent rapport with the drivers and strong communication skills.
- Promotes core values of the fleet to the drivers.
Eligibility
- Limited to an employee of a private or dedicated fleet, PMTC membership is not required.
- Must have years of service to the Industry
This award is Sponsored by: