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For Immediate Release
June 21, 2021

For Information Contact:
Gary Petty, NPTC
703-838-8876

Four Inducted into NPTC/Omnitracs Driver Hall of Fame

ARLINGTON, VA – Four drivers, who collectively had driven for more than 167 years while racking up more than 19.8 million miles of service without a chargeable accident, have been inducted into the NPTC Driver Hall of Fame sponsored by Omnitracs. The recognition took place June 14 in conjunction with the NPTC Annual Education Management Conference and Exhibition, which was held live and in-person in Cincinnati, OH.

The drivers are from NPTC member companies and have met the minimum qualifications of 20 years, three million miles or 50,000 hours of driving without a preventable accident. Many of the drivers have far exceeded these qualifications and are known for having made significant contributions to their industry and their communities. Since its inception, 112 drivers have been installed in the Driver Hall of Fame. This year’s Driver Hall of Fame inductees are:

  • Michael Gray Baity, Unifi Manufacturing Inc.
  • Mike Hetric, KeHE Distribution
  • Agustin Tamayo, Shaw Transport Inc.
  • Luther “Junior” Weaver, Mohawk Carpet Transportation of Georgia, LLC

NPTC President and CEO Gary Petty (right) and Ayron McLochlin, VP of Sales, Omnitracs (left) congratulate NPTC/Omnitracs Driver Hall of Fame Inductees Mike Hetrick (second from left), Mike Baity (center) and Luther Weaver (second from right).

Michael Gray Baity -Unifi Manufacturing Inc.

In 35 years behind the wheel, Mike has accumulated 3,2 million miles of safe driving without a single accident or moving violation. He joined Unifi in 1979 as a yard switcher moving trailers at the company’s distribution center in Yadkinville, NC and, in 1986, he was given the chance to drive over-the-road, moving trailers between the company’s plants. After proving his ability to be a safe driver he was promoted to local truck driver. He currently works 50-55 hours per week, driving around 1,800 miles primarily in Western North Carolina, hauling textiles and general merchandise.

He has won numerous company safe driving awards in addition to being named the North Carolina Trucking Association Driver of the Month in 2011. But Mike doesn’t rest on his laurels. He finds ways to sharpen his skills by completing defensive driver training and first-aid training. Plus, he gives back to Unifi as a driver trainer.

He has delivered food and supplies to hurricane and flood victims in Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina and he delivers Christmas presents and clothes to families in West Virginia for Christmas for God’s Pit Crew. He is a member of Peace Haven Baptist Church where he has served as a Deacon, the Children’s Sunday School Director, and an Assistant Sunday School Teacher. He also has volunteered in local mission projects, as a coach in both youth baseball and football and was the President of the Forbush High School Athletic Booster Club.

Michael Hetrick – KeHE Distributors

Mike started his driving 37 years ago and has been with KeHE for the last 26 years. He has driven a total of four million miles without a chargeable accident or a moving violation. In the 26 years, he has been with KeHE, he has racked up 2,6 million of those miles. At KeHE, he drives a tractor with trailers ranging from reefer pups up to 53′ reefer trailers accumulating about 1,900 miles/week delivering dry, refrigerated, and frozen goods from the company’s Bloomington, IN distribution center to grocery stores, health stores and independent stores in Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee.

Mike learned to drive at the Diesel Driving School in Sun Prairie, WI. His driving career began in 1984 driving straight trucks, delivering candy and cigarettes to convenience stores. In 1986, he moved up to refrigerated tractor/trailer equipment delivering beef for Winkler Meats. In 1988, he transitioned to dry vans and delivered general commodities for Rayls Bros Transfer then Thoms Proestler. Finally, in 1994, Mike began his career with Tree of Life/KeHE Distributors.

Mike participates in KeHE’s driver training programs such as distracted driving, safety outside the cab and driver engagement. In addition, he is an active Driver Trainer, working with new hires and drivers that need additional post-accident training as well as coaching warehouse employees interested in earning their CDLs.

Outside the truck, Mike has served as a Little League Baseball umpire and he now enjoys cooking.

Agustin Tamayo – Shaw Transport, Inc.

Augie has been a professional truck driver for 43 years the last 36 of those years have been with Shaw. In his career he has accumulated 5.2 million miles of safe driving, 4.3 million for Shaw without a chargeable accident or moving violation. He works an average of 11 hours per day, driving about 150 miles per day delivering flooring out of the company’s Fontana, CA facility to customers in the San Bernardino, CA area.

Augie started driving in 1978 delivering sportswear for Roel Sportwear. Two years later, when the company went out of business, Augie went to work for Tuftex Carpet Mills hauling carpets. He left in 1985 to drive for Shaw.

When Shaw moved to electronic logs in 2004, Augie had no problem embracing the technology. Shaw has a SAFE program (Shaw Accident Free Environment) to help promote worker safety and provide regulatory knowledge that Augie participates in. He completes all required training, including monthly safety meetings and online training. He follows the required and recommended safe practices to avoid on-the-job injuries and stay in compliance with Shaw and FMCSA regulations.

Luther (Junior) Weaver – Mohawk Carpet Transportation of Georgia, LLC

Junior started his driving career in 1968 and has driven 7.4 million miles without an accident or a moving violation of any kind. Of the more than 52 years he has spent behind the wheel, 29 have been with Mohawk, where he has racked up almost half of his accident-free mileage delivering residential and commercial flooring products. Junior began his driving career at the age of 18 at Rogers Dye in the warehouse and then as a yard jockey. After earning his chauffeur license, he began driving full-time locally making deliveries.

The following year, he moved on to Advance Finishers in 1969, in a similar role. Two years later, he began driving for Wellco Carpet in Calhoun, GA where he spent 21 years in an over-the-road environment travelling the country delivering carpet and flooring products. He signed on with Aladdin Mills in 1992 which merged with Mohawk Industries. In his 28.5 years with Mohawk, Junior has touched most of the continental US and delivered on time, undamaged freight to thousands of satisfied customers. Currently, Junior runs from the company’s manufacturing facility in Calhoun, GA to San Antonio, TX each week.

About NPTC
Founded in 1939, the National Private Truck Council is the only national trade association exclusively representing the interests of the private truck industry and corporate/business private truck fleet management. With an actively engaged leadership team of Board representatives, member volunteers and staff, NPTC in the past decade has grown significantly to serve a rising professional class of private fleet practitioners meeting the challenges of modern corporate transportation. NPTC is the leading learning resource center, government affairs advocate, and business networking culture for America’s top private fleet and supplier member companies.  The Council produces benchmarking, best practices, and economic data reports on the private fleet market; administers the highly regarded Certified Transportation Professional (CTP) training program, and conducts some of the most successful events in the trucking industry including the Annual Education Management Conference and Exhibition, the Private Fleet Management Institute, and the National Safety Conference. For more information about the Council’s activities and programs, visit our website at www.nptc.org.

About Omnitracs
Omnitracs, a Solera Company, offers the only complete fleet intelligence software platform. Serving the largest for-hire and private fleets in the transportation and distribution industries, Omnitracs’ best-in-class solutions accelerate business success, improve efficiency, and enhance the driver experience for nearly 15,000 customers who collectively travel 700 million miles per week. Omnitracs pioneered digital transformation in trucking more than 30 years ago, and today offers a one-stop shop for enterprise-grade, data-driven solutions across compliance, telematics, workflow, routing, and video safety. Headquartered in Dallas, Omnitracs serves customers in over 50 countries and employs more than 2,000 people worldwide. www.omnitracs.com

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