Congratulations to Bay and Bay Transportation’s professional truck driver, Craig Hvidsten, on being named the April 2017 MTA Driver of the Month! Craig has been driving truck for 17 years and has driven over 900,000 safe miles.
“Craig always does a fantastic job. He is a safe driver and continues to provide feedback to safety and operations. I truly believe that he is a driver by which all others are measured. He keeps setting the standard. A true professional,” said Bay and Bay Safety Director, Todd Outcelt.
Craig entered into the trucking industry a little later in life. After graduating college, he worked for Cargill for 13 years in various financial positions. He then left Cargill and became a contractor for Fed Ex Ground, owning multiple local routes for nine years. At that point he decided he needed a life change and sold his routes to do some soul searching. Due to the poor state of the economy at the time, he ultimately decided to enroll in truck driving school and ended up working for Bay and Bay soon after.
When asked what he loves about trucking, Craig explained, “There is something about moving and seeing the country that I really enjoy. I enjoy meeting our different customers and people from all areas. I find it satisfying to leave them pleased with our service and hopefully a good opinion of Bay and Bay.”
Craig currently does dedicated work at Bay and Bay. He first heads out in his 2017 Kenworth T-680 to deliver a load of various plastic fabricated assemblies from Mikros in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota to Ecolab, usually at their South Beloit, Illinois facility. He then takes an empty trailer from Ecolab and travels to Carpenter Co. in Elkhart, Indiana. From there he leaves with a combination of polymer and foam based products to deliver to Carpenter’s customer back in St. Paul, Minnesota. He finishes it all off by taking an empty trailer back to Mikros to start the process over again. The whole run of just-in-time deliveries takes Craig two days. Completing three turns in a full week requires a wise use of hours and great time management skills on Craig’s part.
In addition to being involved with the Driver’s Council at Bay and Bay, Craig has also won numerous safety awards, as well as Bay and Bay’s Driver of the Year award in 2014. When he is not out on the road you will find Craig making the most of his time at home with his family. Whether it’s working around the house, going out, attending special occasions, or just helping them out in some way, he really enjoys every moment with them. He has also been involved with the American Heart Association as well as Roger’s youth basketball and soccer programs.
Craig’s Safe Driving Tips: I believe strongly in following the five principals of the Smith System, which Bay and Bay uses to train its drivers: Aim high, the big picture, keep your eyes moving, leave yourself an out, and make sure they see you. I work on these every day and believe it’s better to be “steady and safe” than “hard and fast.” You can remember this with the acronym “SMART,” which stands for “speed management allows reaction time.”
In all my life activities, I work on self-awareness and how my actions affect others. Always put yourself in the other person’s shoes and treat them the way you would like to be treated. What goes around comes around!