by Jack Roberts Finding new ways to do things better. That is the essence of innovation, and the qualities HDT looks for in its annual Truck Fleet Innovators every year – fleet executives who are trying to find new solutions, both simple and cutting-edge, to challenges faced by trucking fleets. The 2019 HDT Truck Fleet Innovators […]
Tag Archives | Dan Wirkkala
Heavy Duty Trucking: 2019 Fleet Innovators: Trucking’s Best and Brightest Leaders
by David Cullen Heavy Duty Trucking has been honoring forward-thinking fleet executives for almost 15 years now with our annual Truck Fleet Innovator Awards. This year’s winners are forward-thinkers, all of whom are helping by example to lead trucking by overcoming challenges and leveraging opportunities. Each year, HDT’s editors sift through nominations received from members of the […]
CCJ Innovator: Smokey Point’s driver salary program helps eliminate paycheck fluctuations
by: Jeff Crissey CCJ Innovators profiles carriers and fleets that have found innovative ways to overcome trucking’s challenges. If you know a carrier that has displayed innovation, contact CCJ Editor Jeff Crissey at jcrissey@ccjmagazine.com or 800-633-5953. Dan Wirkkala’s career at Smokey Point Distributing began as a driver recruiter when he was just 19 years old. A few months later, […]
Smokey Point Story: After Promise Made To Dying Friend, 19-Year-Old Agrees To Run This Specialized Carrier
*Written by Dorothy Cox and approved for reprint by www.thetrucker.com As a 19-year-old Dan Wirkkala sat by his dying friend’s bedside, he could see how much pain the man was in. The year was 1985 and the friend, 38- year-old Matt Berry, had been welding a fuel tank in the shop of the open […]