Ryder Honors Top Professional Truck Drivers

A Combined 96 Years of Experience and 9.6 Million Safe Miles Lands Three Professional Truck Drivers in the ‘Ryder Driver Hall of Fame’

Ryder System, Inc. announces the winners of its “Driver of the Year” awards, which honor the top professional truck driver in each of its three business units. With more than 96 years of combined experience and nearly 9.6 million miles driven between them, Lance Simmons based out of Pensacola, Fla.; Greg Cassell based out of Georgetown, Ky.; and John “Keith” Kevil based out of Grand Prairie, Texastake their places in the “Ryder Driver Hall of Fame,” alongside an exclusive group of just 128 others over 51 years.

This year, just more than 400 of Ryder’s 11,000 professional drivers received nominations for the honor. Nominees undergo an intensive evaluation process by Ryder executives, safety experts, and professional drivers. The top three standouts are role models who consistently show an outstanding dedication to safety, performance, reliability, and community engagement.

This year, Lance Simmons won for Ryder’s Dedicated Transportation Solutions, for which drivers have the responsibility of operating specialized equipment, supervising unique product handling, navigating complex routes, and meeting demanding customer-service level requirements. During his 32-year career, including 16 years at Ryder, Simmons has logged three million safe miles, with 1.5 million of those at Ryder where he drives for a public utility company. A Ryder Certified Driver Trainer, Simmons is admired by his colleagues and supervisors for his unwavering dedication to safety and professionalism, as well as his exceptional character.

Greg Cassell won for Ryder’s Supply Chain Solutions. Cassell supports the automotive, aerospace, and industrial vertical, which means he’s responsible for delivering products for highly optimized, just-in-time supply delivery systems that feed the assembly lines for some of the world’s largest manufacturers. In Cassell’s line of work, timeliness is paramount to keeping manufacturing lines moving. Logging an impressive 3.3 million miles in his 40-year career, with 1.9 million of those miles at Ryder, Cassell has had zero safety incidents during his 23-year tenure at Ryder. That is particularly impressive given his role as a yard-management driver, which involves completing repeated short hauls in a busy yard and backing trailers into tight spaces.

John “Keith” Kevil won Ryder’s Fleet Management Solutions’ “Customer Driver of the Year” award. With more than 135,000 leased vehicles on the road, operated by professional drivers employed directly by Ryder’s customers, the “Customer Driver of the Year” award recognizes those doing the most to keep roads safe while behind the wheel of a Ryder truck. Kevil has driven for Ryder’s customer Domino’s for 17 of his 24 years driving professionally, logging nearly 2.5 million miles for the customer and 3.3 million in his career. Kevil, a Certified Driver Trainer and member of numerous committees for driver safety and regulations, is known as a leader among his colleagues for his attentiveness to equipment safety and reliability.

“We’re proud to recognize Lance, Greg, and Keith for living Ryder’s values through their commitment to safety and exceptional performance,” says Robert Sanchez, chairman and chief executive officer for Ryder. “These awards serve as a chance to demonstrate that something rare and wonderful occurs when strong work ethic and dedication are combined with character and true leadership.”

To learn about professional driver positions available at Ryder, visit https://ryder.com/careers/drivers.

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