Marshfield, WI—Flatbed truck driver Tom Pliska recently received a rare career honor: his Three Million Mile Safe Driving Award. It is an achievement that reflects not only Pliska’s professionalism and skill, but also Roehl Transport’s twin values of safety and driver success.

A Plover, Wisconsin resident, Pliska, 56, has been a long-haul truck driver for 34 years. Over the past 23 years with Roehl Transport, hundreds of cars have dangerously cut in front of him... there have been sudden brake lights as the traffic ahead rapidly compressed from highway speed to a dead stop... debris on the road around blind curves... and a thousand other conditions that could have led to an accident... but Pliska, has not had one DOT reportable accident in over three million miles behind the wheel with Roehl. “The secret,” Pliska claims, “is to follow the rules, do your job and pay attention.”

“Tom’s approach to driving corresponds well with Roehl’s exclusive safe driving training program—a unique approach which goes beyond traditional ‘defensive driving’ and teaches instead protective driving,” Roehl Vice President of Safety John Spiros noted. “Our drivers don’t just try to avoid being caught up in an accident, they actively help protect others by driving to prevent accidents. Regardless of which vehicle or circumstance may have precipitated the accident sequence, even if our truck would not be entangled in it, our drivers take action to keep the accident from happening,” he explained.

It also helps to be with a company recognized by the American Trucking Associations and the Truckload Carriers Associations as one of top three safest large “for-hire” truckload carriers in the nation. Pliska is the company’s fourth active driver to have earned a Three Million Mile Safe Driver Award and one of over 100 Roehl drivers with a million or more consecutive miles without an accident. “It is a big help that everybody in the company—from our driver service reps and fleet managers to our maintenance people— everyone is committed to my safe operation,” Pliska said. “My call in the name of safety will always be supported up and down the line, and the same goes for every Roehl driver.”

A perennial industry safety leader, Roehl Transport has proven there is a strong correlation between safe operation, helping drivers realize successful careers and exemplary customer service. “The Roehl WayTM—Roehl’s protective driving program, for example, is based on the premise of personal responsibility. That sense of responsibility not only shapes driving behavior, it also shows in our drivers’ commitment to treat customers well and provide them reliable service,” Spiros said.

Headquartered in Marshfield, Wisconsin, Roehl is one of the 100 largest trucking companies in the U.S. and provides truckload services throughout the nation and Canada.