L.E. Walker trucker named Canadian Driver of the Year

TORONTO — One of Ontario’s safest drivers has now been crowned Canada’s Truck Driver of the Year.

The honor, sponsored by the Canadian Trucking Alliance and Volvo Trucks, was given to Mervin “Merv” Connolly, an owner-operator contracted to L. E. Walker Transport Ltd.

Connolly, who was named the Volvo Trucks Driver of the Year for Ontario in 2005, has driven over five million collision free kilometres in 39 years of commercial driving and has been recognized with an OPP award of lifesaving.

“L E Walker Transport Ltd is honored to have Merv within our driver ranks,” says Julie Tanguay, President. “We have a lot of wonderful drivers working for us and to be honest, they all do us proud each and every day. We thank Merv and all of our drivers for their dedication to this industry and the public while on the road.”

Each year, the award goes to a professional transport driver who has a collision-free driving record and is an exemplary truck driver both on and off the road. The recipient is selected by a panel of judges made up of representatives from the: Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada Safety Council, the Traffic Injury Research Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Trucking Alliance.

In March 2005 Connolly was awarded an Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner’s Citation for Lifesaving, for helping lift a vehicle off a trapped man and assisting a passenger who had been ejected from the vehicle following an accident along Hwy. 401 near Windsor, Ont. earlier in the year.

In accepting the award, a modest Connolly said in front of hundreds of fleet owners: “I may not talk so well, but I can sure drive pretty good.” He received a standing ovation.

A keepsake trophy and cash prize was presented to Connolly and his wife.

(For more award winners honored at the OTA, be sure to check the latest headlines at TodaysTrucking.com).