AMTA presents five awards at management conference

The Alberta Motor Transport Association marked its first post-merger management conference this past weekend in Lake Louise, Alta. The AMTA was formed earlier this year when the Alberta Trucking Association merged with the Alberta Trucking Industry safety Association.

Throughout the four-day conference, the AMTA acknowledged and awarded five Alberta-based individuals for their contributions to the trucking industry in Western Canada. The first award, AMTA Driver of the Year sponsored by Volvo Trucks, went to 50-year veteran driver Victor Lachance of Red Deer-based Petrohaul Ltd. To this day, Lachance has never been involved in an accident or even hit any wildlife while on the road.

The Bow Valley Insurance-sponsored Safety Person of the Year Award went to Canadian Freightways’ safety and loss prevention advisor Dennis Pettit. After 40 years in the industry, 38 of them with CF, Pettit says he has seen many areas in trucking safety that have changed for the better, but is still dedicated to improving image and driver training.

Alvin Beitz, who retired as vice-president and general manager of Economy Carriers in 1984, accepted the General Motors Canada Industry Historical Award. Beitz, who served twice as Alberta Trucking Association president, co-founded what has now grown into the ECL Group of Companies, which has over 500 employees and focuses on hauling various forms of petroleum.

Bob Warawa, of Edmonton-based Finning Power Systems, was presented with the Associate Trades Award. Warawa has been chair of the ATA Board of Directors for five years. He was also chair of the ATA’s Associate Trades Division for eight years, and has been recently asked to serve as chair of the AMTA’s new Membership Services Committee.

The final award of the conference, the Trailmobile Canada Service to the Industry Award, was handed to Jurgen Mantei, president of Mantei’s Transport, a family-run fleet based in Calgary. Mantei served as the last ATA president and the first of the newly formed AMTA. In 1999 he chaired Task Force 2000, the group charged with the task of creating a new Strategic Plan for the provincial association and laying out the foundations for the merger.