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Million Miler Club
These truck drivers could safely get to the moon and back.
The Million Miler Club currently recognizes 120 C.R. England truck drivers who have driven more than one million miles without an accident—that’s enough miles to travel to the moon and back four times. To recognize these accomplished, quality truck drivers we’re giving them each a plaque and tokens of our appreciation including a pin, a belt, a leather hat, and a t-shirt. Each million miler is profiled in our monthly newsletter “The Roundtable” and recognized in monthly safety meetings.
Lolohea Toko – 3 million miles
During his 20 years as a truck driver with C.R. England, Lolohea has driven more than three million miles. Born and raised on the island of Tonga, Lolohea moved to America when he was 19 years old. He and his wife Vasimata have nine children and four grandchildren. Lolohea enjoys spending time with his family, camping, traveling, and participating in church activities. He attributes his truck driving success to always completing a trip plan before each load. Lolohea encourages other drivers to always double check equipment and their surroundings.
Michael Richards – 2 million miles
Michael has been a truck driver with C.R. England for 15 years. He was born in Trinidad, grew up in Brooklyn, New York and now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Micheal has six children whose ages range from four to 22. He enjoys target shooting and riding his motor bike. Michael encourages other drivers to follow all of the C.R. England safety rules.
Robert Fogg – 1 million miles
Robert has been a truck driver with C.R. England for 11 years. Currently he resides in Ontario, Oregon with his wife of 32 years. They have four children and six grandchildren. Robert enjoys boating, fishing, woodworking, and spending time with his grandchildren. Robert says, “The key to my driving success is to do whatever it takes to do the job safely and correctly.” He encourages other truck drivers to trip plan and get out and look [when problems arise].
Rigoberto Castillo – 1 million miles
In nine short years, Rigoberto has safely driven a million miles as a truck driver with C.R. England. Born in El Savador, he now lives in Kearns, Utah with his wife and six daughters. His hobbies include golfing, swimming and camping with his family. Rigoberto says attending the monthly safety meetings and having a good attitude have helped him to be a safe driver. He recommends that his fellow truck drivers slow down and adhere to the “safe driving triangle” in order to be a safe and successful driver.
Knights of the Road
As truck drivers you get to see a lot while you’re on the road—from beautiful mountain vistas to the ocean coasts, unfortunately you also witness traffic accidents and people in distress. And we often receive reports from the road about our drivers’ good deeds. Here are a couple recent reports—we’re so proud of our fleets.
Charles (Steve) and Kim Cooper
On October 20, truck driver Charles Cooper was traveling westbound on Arkansas’ I-40 with his wife Kim on a load from South Carolina to Oregon. A steady rain had become a heavy down pour as they navigated moderate traffic moving at about 60 MPH. As they were following an SUV with about 300 yards in between, a small, two-door car passed them and then made a lane change between the SUV and his truck. When the car split the lanes it began fishtailing four or five times. Charles quickly backed off before the car spun clockwise 2 ½ times and then careened off the road. Traveling backwards down a ravine, the car’s rear hit a small tree which spun it hard counter clockwise before resting in a ditch with approximately three feet of water in it.
Charles’ first concern was that the car had landed upside down so he instructed his wife to call 911 while he ran to the car. When he got there, he was relieve to see that the automobile had landed right side up, but the lone driver—a 19-year old woman—was in shock, convinced her car was sinking; her panicked state made it difficult for her to release her seatbelt. Charles waded into the water to demonstrate its depth, eventually convincing her that her car wasn’t sinking. He was then able to get her safely to his truck where the police took over. The young lady was fortunate—she walked away with only a surface scrape on her head. Charles says he and his wife, who have an 18-year old daughter, only did what he hopes anyone would do for him.
Debbie Benish Olisewski
Kathy and Joseph Sealy gave us the following account of Debbie Benish Olisewski coming to the aid of a young woman.
Kathy and Joseph were in their vehicle at a truck stop in New Mexico when they witnessed a man hitting a young girl. Then they saw C.R. England truck driver, Debbie Olisewski, intervene. From her truck Debbie saw what was happening and her instincts kicked in. She asked someone to call 911, then jumped out of her truck and confronted the man with physical force. A fist fight ensued. While Debbie took some punches, she gave even more. The man finally ran away, but Debbie’s assistance didn’t stop there. After finding out that the girl was just 18-years old, she took her to the bus stop, got her a ticket home and gave her money, a jacket and other clothes.
Here’s what Debbie, who had some stomach pain after the incident, wrote about the encounter: “I don’t have a blackbelt. I just have a daughter that age. The girl came on for one trip with her boyfriend and he would not take her home. She had been out a few months and he was making her drive his truck. I just made sure she got home, that’s all.”
Drivers of the year and month.
Yearly, and every month, we select truck drivers to receive awards based on their exemplary commitment to truck driving safety and their service record.
Here are two of our yearly award winners:
Scott Wilson – Company Driver of the Year
Scott, a truck driver with C.R. England for 25 years, recently received his 4 million mile award, becoming only the second C.R. England associate to achieve that distinction. His former driver manager, Gary Van Ekelenburg recalls, “He is a very reliable, steady runner, and a true professional.” Scott’s dedication to safety is obvious; in 25 years he has never had a preventable accident. Congratulations Scott!
John Tremeroli – Independent Contractor of the Year
Our Independent Contractor of the Year, John Tremeroli, has received high praise from his former truck driver manager Gary Van Ekelenburg. “When you talk about service, he may be the best that C.R. England has. He can always be counted on to deliver his freight on-time.” And with over 1.8 million accident free miles, that’s no small feat. John encourages new drivers to love what they do and to take pride in their profession. Congratulations, John!