Seventh Linde driver inducted into Driver Hall of Fame
Driver has driven safely for nearly 50 years
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Murray Hill, New Jersey, U.S., May 11, 2005 -- A Linde truck driver who has driven safely for nearly 50 years, accumulating over five million miles, has become the seventh Linde driver inducted into the National Private Truck Council's (NPTC) Driver Hall of Fame.
Erwin Deelsnyder, who is based at Linde’s carbon dioxide plant in Pekin, Ill., is the fifth Linde driver in the last five years to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. More Linde drivers are in the NPTC Hall of Fame than any other private fleet company.
To be elected to the NPTC Hall of Fame, which is sponsored by Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, a driver must be an employee of an NPTC member company and have met the minimum qualifications of 20 years, 2 million miles or 50,000 hours of driving without a preventable accident.
“This is an absolutely remarkable accomplishment. Our hats are off to Erwin for his achievement. It’s a great honor for Linde and a well-deserved recognition for Erwin, whose professionalism and dedication to safety is reflected in his outstanding driving record,” said Charlie Koehler, director of Safety, Health, Environment and Quality for Linde in North America.
Deelsnyder, 67, had nearly two million miles on the road before joining Linde in 1975. He started driving for his father at the age of 17, delivering limestone and fertilizer to farms throughout the Midwest.
After joining Linde, Deelsnyder drove for locations in Iowa and Illinois before coming to the Pekin facility in 1982. One of the trips he will always remember was the time he saw a tornado while driving through rural Illinois. “I rerouted myself out of the path,” he said. “When I completed the trip the next day, the trees and farm buildings were gone.”
Deelsnyder’s favorite bit of advice to all drivers is “always yield to other vehicles.”
Erwin was inducted into the Hall of Fame at NPTC’s Annual Education Management Conference and Exhibition in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 26. The other six Linde drivers in the NPTC Hall of Fame are: Leon Crosslin (1993), Jake McElroy (1996), John Palmer (2001), Virgil Deck (2002), Vernon Good (2003) and Ferdinand George (2004). Since the NPTC Hall of fame was founded in 1987, 76 drivers have been inducted.
The National Private Truck Council is the only trade association in North America devoted exclusively to the interests of the private corporate trucking fleet industry and its professional practitioners. NPTC represents a cross-section of manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and public service organizations ranging in size from family-owned small businesses and town utility fleets to Fortune 500 global conglomerates.
The Linde Group (NYSE: BOX), the world-wide industrial gases, vacuum technologies and distribution services company, serves two million customers in more than 50 countries. It employs 30,000 people and had annual sales of over $8.3 billion in 2004.
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