Celadon Group Inc.'s (NYSE:CGI), Celadon Trucking Services today announced that the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and Carriers Edge named Celadon Canada (CELCAN) one of 2012's Top 20 Best Fleets to Drive For. The award utilizes comprehensive survey results, including driver nominations, interviews, and fleet scoring to identify North American for-hire trucking companies that provide the best workplace experiences for their drivers. This year's award is even more meaningful, based on a significant increase in carrier nominations and overall competition. "We saw a 35% increase in the number of fleets that not only agreed to participate, but completed all their interviews and paperwork on-time to make it to the final segment of the competition," said Gary Salisbury, TCA's 2011-2012 chairman. "But I have to say it's not easy to become a Best Fleet...it takes serious thinking outside the box and a willingness to do whatever it takes to improve the quality of life for your drivers."

Nominated fleets were evaluated against a scoring matrix covering a variety of categories, such as:

  • Total compensation package - including base pay, bonuses, vacation, and sick day allotment
  • Health benefits
  • Pension plans
  • Professional development opportunities (training, coaching programs, etc.)
  • Career path/advancement opportunities
  • Commitment to employee personal growth, including work/life balance, driver family support, and employee-directed charitable contributions
  • Commitment to continuous improvement, including dispute resolution processes and inclusion of driver feedback in policymaking
  • Team building and driver community development activities
  • Annual driver turnover rate and efforts to improve it
  • Fleet safety record

Celadon President and COO, Paul Will, believes he knows the reason the company scores so well with drivers. "We take driver relations very seriously at Celadon," Will stated. "We realize that our drivers are our most important resource and we manage our business with that in mind. Whether that means providing on-site primary physician care, prescription services and physical rehabilitation as we introduced in 2011 with our new corporate medical center, or constantly striving to offer competitive pay packages that actually give drivers a real choice in their overall compensation packages, we understand the need to be proactive in our approach to hiring and maintaining one of the highest quality driver fleets in North America."

Celadon Group Inc. (www.celadongroup.com), through its subsidiaries, provides long-haul, full-truckload freight service across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The company also owns Celadon Logistics Services, which provides freight brokerage services, less-than-truckload services, as well as supply chain management solutions, including warehousing and dedicated fleet services. Celadon also owns a minority interest in TruckersB2B (www.truckersb2b.com) which provides cost savings to member fleets.

Celadon Group Inc.
Jeryl Desjarlais, Communications Manager, 317-972-7070 Direct
jdesjarlais@celadongroup.com