Travel Centers of America names seven winners of its inaugural Citizen Driver of the Year Awards

Do you have a favorite truck stop where everybody knows your name – where you spend so much time you feel they ought to name it after you? That fantasy is coming true for six individual truckers and a trucking couple who are the grand prize winners in Travel Centers of America's inaugural Citizen Driver of the Year competition.

TravelCenters will be naming seven TA and Petro truck stops after the winners, who were chosen from 88 nominees, including many OOIDA members. The name changes will take place the week of April 14. The winners, and their truck stops, are:

• Henry Albert, Laredo, Texas, TA: "Henry Albert Laredo Travel Center"
• Jimmy Ardis, Manning, S.C., TA: "Jimmy Ardis Travel Center"
• Linda and Bob Caffee, Petro North Las Vegas: "Linda and Bob Caffee North Las Vegas Stopping Center"
• Charley Endorf, York, Neb., Petro: "Charley Endorf Stopping Center"
• Jerry Fritts, West Memphis, Ark., Petro: "Jerry Fritts West Memphis Stopping Center"
• Shawn Hubbard, Ontario, Calif., Petro: "Shawn Hubbard Ontario Stopping Center"
• Norman Knight, Columbus, N.J., TA: "Norman Knight Columbia Travel Center"

The winners were announced at TravelCenter's annual driver appreciation lunch on Friday, March 28, at MATS. TravelCenters' President and CEO Tom O'Brien announced the competition last year at MATS, and in a video played at the lunch he said the competition will be an annual event.

Collectively, the 88 nominees have clocked more than 100 million accident-free miles. They came from 27 states and Canada, and represented 55 trucking companies. They included a number of Trucker Buddy participants, a Highway Angel of the Year, a Highway Hero finalist, volunteer firefighters, former police officers, volunteers in a wide array of community endeavors and at least one member of his town's city council.

O'Brien said The Citizen Driver Award is designed to help dispel the stereotypes many outside the trucking industry hold about truckers. Drivers not only keep America moving, but also serve their communities at many levels. Truckers and those who work in other aspects of the industry know that. Now it's time to educate others.

"The professional and personal standards held by this year's Citizen Driver Award recipients are the same standards held by thousands of fellow professional drivers across this nation," O'Brien said. "We are looking forward to awarding Citizen Driver status to as many of these fine individuals as we can for years to come."