Brother truckers get petroleum services safety award

RED DEER, Alta. — Brothers Bert and Bruce Robinson, drilling rig truckers for Swanberg Bros. Trucking, recently received a Safe Driving Award from the Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC).

The Robinson brothers, from Fort St. John, come from a line of rig movers. Their father did it, as did an older brother, now semi-retired, according to the Medicine Hat News.

Despite the dangerous conditions in the patch, neither brother has ever had an accident.

The brothers and their wives attended the PSAC ceremony in Red Deer where they received their awards, which are intended to promote transportation safety within the petroleum services sector.

In the Over 10 Million Kilometres category, Ron Holt accepted the 2006 Carrier Safety award on behalf of Schlumberger Canada Ltd. In the One to Five Million Kilometres category, Craig Chayba accepted the 2006 Carrier Safety award on behalf of Calgary’s Champion Technologies Ltd.

Champion, the world’s largest private upstream chemical manufacturer, has 11 drivers who haul its products throughout Alberta and into British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

In 2005, Producers Oilfield Services Inc. — which later merged with Mullen Transportation, acquired Swanberg Bros. The carrier has about 150 tractors and 300 trailers, making it one of the largest transporters of drilling rigs in Western Canada. It also provides related oilfield services in Northern Alberta, Northern B.C. and the Northwest Territories.

— with files from the Medicine Hat News