Robert named NTW Person of Year; Drumbo chief also honoured

TORONTO, (June 8, 2004) — Claude Robert, the outspoken and charismatic president and CEO of Groupe Robert Inc., has received the Al Palladini Transportation Person of the Year at the 35th annual National Transportation Week Ontario Awards Breakfast in Toronto this morning.

The award is named in honour of the late Minister of Transportation and Minister of Economic Development Al Palladini, who is remembered for his efforts working with the trucking industry to improve the safety of Ontario’s roads.

Claude Robert is widely recognized as a leader in the trucking industry he grew up in. In 1973, he took over the helm of the company his father started in 1945. At the time, the company was already a respectable size, with a staff of 75 people, 140 pieces of equipment, and annual sales of $5 million.

Under Claude Robert’s guidance, the company now employs nearly 2,200 people in 14 terminals and 2 operations centres in Quebec and Ontario, as well as 8 distribution centres in Quebec, Ontario and Michigan. Their fleet of 1,150 vehicles and 2,800 trailers operates across North America and generates annual sales of more than $250 million.

“Claude is a man of vision with a strong spirit of innovation, who leads by example and is prepared to go to the mat with his team,” one of Robert’s employees described him. “He also succeeds in striking a delicate balance between reason and passion — he is one of those rare people with a warm heart who can keep a cool head.”

Meanwhile, Ellen Poll, president of Drumbo Transport Limited of Ayr, Ontario, was presented with the Colonel Robert Hardie Award of Lifetime Achievement today. The NTW award is given every year to a Canadian business leader that has dedicated their career to the field of transportation.

Poll’s career started in 1953 when she and her husband Alvin invested in a truck. Six years later they purchased Drumbo Transport, and soon after McDonald’s Transport. Ellen took over as president of Drumbo Transport after the death of her husband Alvin in October, 2000. Today, Drumbo Transport owns 14 tractors, employs 21 people and has 3 independent brokers. Ellen and Alvin’s four children, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law and one grandchild are all involved in the company.

Poll is seen as a strong advocate for the trucking industry in Ontario, and currently serves on the board of directors of the Ontario Trucking Association.