TUSCALOOSA, ALA. (February 2011) – The editors of Commercial Carrier Journal selected Mondovi, Wis.-based Marten Transport, Ltd. as the magazine’s Innovator of the Year for 2011. Marten was one of 11 truck fleet operations recognized as Innovators by CCJ in 2010, qualifying them as finalists for the 2011 award. Several Marten executives accepted the top award at a banquet during the CCJ Innovators Summit, held Jan. 26-28 in Duck Key, Fla.
In November 2010, CCJ featured Marten’s efforts to save fuel – especially an initiative that saves more than $1.5 million a year by challenging a longstanding industry practice of maintaining frozen foods at -10 degrees Fahrenheit. Marten worked with its customers to show that -1 degree was sufficient to maintain standards, saving about 130,000 gallons of diesel burned by its trailers’ refrigerated units each quarter.
Among a number of strong candidates, Marten stood out because of its creativity and willingness to challenge conventional wisdom, says CCJ Editor Jeff Crissey.
“Marten’s management team exemplified a trait common to all prior CCJ Innovators of the Year: An eagerness to question standard operating procedure,” Crissey says.
“It’s a mindset that says we aren’t going to do things the way everyone else does just because that’s the way they have always been done,” adds CCJ Executive Editor Jack Roberts, who chronicled Marten’s efforts in the November article. CCJ will explore Marten’s operation in greater detail in its annual Innovator of the Year feature to be published in the April issue.
Other finalists for the 2011 award were McMahon Transport Group, Lockport, Ill.; Aim Dedicated Logistics, Girard, Ohio; AAA Cooper Transportation, Dothan, Ala.; Roehl Transport, Marshfield, Wis.; Estes Express, Richmond, Va.; Andrews Logistics, Irving, Texas; Con-way Truckload, Joplin, Mo.; CrossCountry Courier, Bismarck, N.D.; Jet Express, Dayton, Ohio; and Integrated Freight Corp., Sarasota, Fla.
CCJ began recognizing innovative truck fleet operations monthly in 2003 and previously selected six Innovators of the Year: Hogan Transports, Watkins & Shepard, Pitt Ohio Express, Dart Transit, Lakeville Motor Express and O&S Trucking. Sponsors of the CCJ Innovators program are ACS, Inc., Castrol, J.J. Keller and PeopleNet. For more on the program, visit www.ccjinnovators.com.
CCJ, which is published by Tuscaloosa, Ala.-based Randall Reilly Business Media and Information, this year is celebrating 100 years of continuous publication.
About Randall-Reilly
Founded in 1934, Randall-Reilly (www.randallreilly.com) is the premier U.S. media and information company focused on the trucking and construction markets. The company’s trucking division serves the fleet, owner-operator, recruitment, truck stop, pre-owned truck and trailer, dealer and heavy-duty aftermarket segments.
Randall-Reilly’s construction division covers the highway and heavy construction, road building, aggregates, landscaping and used equipment markets.
The company’s Equipment Data Associates business is an industry-leading collector and aggregator of equipment purchase and financing data, which it offers to its customers in industrial equipment end markets for sales lead generation and market intelligence. The company’s Custom Media Division provides major corporations with customized brand marketing programs.
Randall-Reilly has offices in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Chicago, Charlotte, N.C., and New Berlin, Wis.
