Home > Press Center > News, Events, & Media Specific Downloads

Whitewood Awards:

• Billings Chamber/CVB 2009 Employer of the Year Whitewood Transport

• Whitewood Transport Honored with Montana Philanthropy Award

• Whitewood Transport wins Motor Carriers of Montana Grand Trophy for Carrier of the Year third year running (2009)

• Larry Spiekermeier MCM Driver of the Year

• Mike Wilson – Chairman of the Board of MCM

• Whitewood Transport wins the Montana Motor Carrier Grand Trophy for Carrier of the Year second year running (2008)

• Whitewood Transport wins the Montana Motor Carrier Grand Trophy for Carrier of the Year (2007)

• Owner Operator Merle Clizbe of Whitewood Transport, named Montana Motor Carriers’ “Driver of the Year”(2007)

BILLINGS CHAMBER/CVB 2009 EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR
WHITEWOOD TRANSPORT

The people behind the Billings Chamber of Commerce/CVB had a vision to honor the wonderful residents, organizations and businesses that make Billings such a great place to live, work and play.  In order to give well-deserved recognition, the Roche Jaune Awards for Business Excellence event was created in 2007.  The Roche Jaune Awards offers an opportunity for the community to highlight the professional and personal excellence of residents of Billings: Montana‘s Trailhead.
Roche Jaune, pronounced Row-sh Shwan, originated with the Minnetaree Indians.  It means Yellow Rock River.  They used Roche Jaune as reference to the Yellowstone River.  When French Trappers and the members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition came into contact with this tribe in 1805, they too began calling the Yellowstone River by that name.  The first committee to organize the Billings Chamber/CVB business awards decided Roche Jaune would be the perfect official name.

Billings Chamber/CVB 2009 Employer of the Year
This category will be awarded to a Billings’ area business that has consistently provided a positive work environment for its employees, helping make Billings an even better place to do business.

WHITEWOOD TRANSPORT
In the fall of 2009, the Billings Chamber/CVB Roche Jaune Awards committee, comprised of ten business members and community leaders, announced that Whitewood Transport was the official recipient of the Billings Chamber/CVB Roche Jaune Awards for Business Excellence Employer of the Year.

The following was published by the Billings Gazette in partnership with the Billings Chamber/CVB, to full city circulation in November 2009, honoring Whitewood Transport partners Mike Wilson and John Hanson:

One of the most rewarding moments as a business owner might be when you learn you’ve been nominated for the community’s Employer of the Year award.  What could be better?  Finding out you won!  Partners Mike Wilson and John Hanson own and operate Whitewood Transport in Billings.  Their staff holds them each in high regard as both businessmen and superiors.  Both Mike and John work to offer their employees well-paying jobs, opportunities to expand their horizons and chances to give back to the community they call home.  Whitewood Transport staff play roles in numerous trucking and carriers associations, but they might tell you the most important organizations they rally around are the local, non-profit entities they support as a team like Eagle Mount and Special K Ranch.  It is with the leadership of Mike and John that this business, management and staff stand out in the Billings business community.

<< Back to top

WHITEWOOD TRANSPORT HONORED WITH MONTANA
PHILANTHROPY AWARD

Story courtesy of Billings Gazette

Towering cranes and heavy equipment — “anything big and ugly that’s hard to move” — are Whitewood Transport’s usual hauls, but the company’s owners have also volunteered their acumen to move such things as a new facility for disabled skiers from Washington to Red Lodge Mountain.    
Since the mid-’90s, that’s just one of many contributions Whitewood has made to Eagle Mount, an organization that offers recreation programs for children and adults with disabilities.

BIG SMILES   

“You got to find those things that touch your heart and when you see the kids on that mountain, they can’t walk or talk possibly, but they can smile,” said Mike Wilson, who owns the trucking company with his partner, John Hanson.  
On Thursday, the Montana Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals is honoring Whitewood Transport with a philanthropy award for its support of Eagle Mount and other community organizations.  The association presents annual awards to the top community fundraisers in Billings.       
“It’s people who are volunteering their time, their treasures and their talents in a particular area with the intention of helping their neighbors and friends, and adding to the value of their community,” said John Eastman, president of the association.

OTHER HONOREES

Along with Whitewood Transport, this year’s honorees include Jim Gainan of Gainan’s Flowers and Garden Center, Kim Kaiser of RiverStone Health Foundation, and Fred and Laurie Gunville.
 
For the awards, the Association of Fundraising Professionals solicits nominations from nonprofits and charitable organizations.  The nominees are then judged on the basis of the length, nature and impact of their
community service.   

Whitewood Transport was nominated for its award by both Eagle Mount and Special K Ranch, a working ranch that houses adults with developmental disabilities.

“They’re kind of low-key in the community, and I just thought they needed a little recognition for what they do,” said Jonathan Peart, executive director of
Eagle Mount.   

Back in 2005, Wilson was navigating an icy path at Red Lodge Mountain Resort to meet a wheelchair-bound skier coming off an Eagle Mount bus.  
That’s when he decided the organization needed its own facility at the base of the mountain, and soon he enlisted a team of businesses to make it happen.  Beall Trailers Inc. donated a small building that had been used as a temporary office at a job site in Washington.  ConocoPhillips donated money for materials to fix up the building.  Red Lodge Mountain Resort donated space for the building.  And Whitewood Transport did the hauling.        

“He’s one of those guys that when he commits himself to a project you can count on him and he gets the job done,” Peart said.  
Wilson served on Eagle Mount’s board of directors for many years, and recently Hanson joined the board.  Since 2001, the trucking company has donated more than $56,000 to Eagle Mount, and it also makes regular donations to numerous other Billings nonprofits.      

“We try to do things right, with our employees and our company, and you don’t do it to get recognition like this, but it feels pretty good when you do,” Hanson said.  
The recession has caused a drop in business over the last year for Whitewood, a national company that hauls about 10,000 loads of freight a year.  But Wilson said their commitment to philanthropy remains strong.

“It’s about who you are and what you stand for and what your mission is,” Wilson said.  “I think if you have all that as part of your foundation, that it works its way through everything that you do.”

<< Back to top

WHITEWOOD TRANSPORT WINS MOTOR CARRIERS OF MONTANA GRAND TROPHY FOR CARRIER OF THE YEAR THIRD YEAR RUNNING (2009)

.
MOTOR CARRIERS of Montana is pleased to announce that Whitewood Transport from Billings, Montana, has won the prestigious Grand Trophy award sponsored by Great West Casualty Company for the third year in a row.

The Grand Trophy Award winner is chosen by an independent panel of judges that selects the winner using various safety criteria, such as activity in the Safety Management, Maintenance and Technology Council; Truck Driving Championship; Driver Appreciation Week; previous Fleet Safety Awards; involvement in America’s Road Team, and the company that displays an overall exemplary safety program with no accidents in the current year.

Whitewood Transport travels over 1.2 million miles in Montana each year and in excess of 3.5 million miles nationwide.  They are an authorized for-hire carrier and are heavily involved with the MOTOR CARRIERS of Montana and the Safety Management, Maintenance and Technology Council.  Whitewood was chosen from over nineteen Montana carriers who applied for the award. 

Whitewood Transport also was privileged to have Owner Operator, Larry Spiekermeier, awarded the Driver of the Year.  Larry joined the Whitewood fleet in May, 1999.  He has served the trucking industry for 41 years, logging a total of over 4,500,000 miles.  He has traveled 1,011,875 accident-free miles with Whitewood, and he has received 8 safe driving awards. 

Whitewood Transport specializes in heavy hauls for customers throughout the continental United States (including Alaska) and Canada. They are known nationally as a heavy-haul specialist, expertly moving equipment and commodities of large or unusual weight or dimension.

MOTOR CARRIERS of Montana (MCM) represents Montana's motor carrier industry and currently has over 600 members.  Its goal is to promote the trucking industry through cooperation and education in Montana and across the country.  MCM members strive to improve transportation service by providing leadership and assistance to persons and firms engaged in the motor carrier industry.  MCM’s chief goal is to make Montana's highways a safer place for our families and the traveling public.

More information about the MOTOR CARRIERS of Montana or the Great West Fleet Safety Award can be obtained by contacting MCM at 406-442-6600 or mcm@mttrucking.org

<< Back to top

LARRY SPIEKERMEIER MCM Driver of the Year

Hauling specialized equipment with a payload of 100,000 to 130,000 pounds is second nature for Whitewood Owner Operator Larry Spiekermeier.  Larry leased to Whitewood in June, 1999.    His 9-axle setup consists of a 2000 “light autumn-wood metallic” Western Star and a 1999 Aspen trailer with a jeep and booster.  Larry’s career in trucking began in his early twenties.  In the early years of his career he hauled cement, produce, hot oil and logs.  In the 1970’s, Larry placed 6th in the National Truck Driving Championship.  He started trucking to pay for college, however, as he recalls, “I realized I could not make that kind of money in college so I quit.”  Larry is most commonly known as “Sneaky” and also “Grandma.”  The origin of “Sneaky” is mysterious, but the latter was given by dispatcher Ray Arlint and a few Owner Operators because of his tendency to drive slowly.  Ray also stated, “He is easy to get along with and he deals with problems professionally.”  Professional, courteous and safe are a few of the descriptive adjectives that one would use to describe Larry.   Larry is a valuable member of the Whitewood team of Owner Operators.  He has traveled over one million accident-free miles with Whitewood Transport.  We look forward to a million more.

Larry traveled to Montana from North Dakota in 1974 to partake in a family hunting trip.  That trip changed his life considerably.  He met Mary Anne, the woman destined to become his wife.  They were married in 1975 and have three grown children—Mandy 32, Ryan 30, and Cody 27.  The Spiekermeiers have a beautiful home overlooking the river in Plains, Montana.  They enjoy working in the yard and admiring the wild turkeys, deer, and black bear that frequently visit them.   Larry is an avid sportsman and enjoys hunting big game in
Northwestern Montana.

 
<< Back to top

MIKE WILSON – PAST PRESIDENT MOTOR CARRIERS OF MONTANA

Mike Wilson has completed his year of service as the Chairman of the Board of MCM.  He has moved to Past President of the board of directors. Wilson has served on the MCM board of directors since August 2001. He has sat on the Management Committee, Image Committee, Marketing/Technology Committee, and has served in each of the Executive Committee positions as well as the Montana State Association Vice President to the ATA. He is currently the President and co-owner of Whitewood Transport – the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Montana Carrier of the Year. Wilson is also the Past President of Eagle Mount Billings and was a finalist for the 2007 Roche Jaune Award, Billings Business Person of the Year sponsored by the Billings Area Chamber of Commerce.

Wilson began his career in trucking at the age of sixteen working for Waggoner’s Trucking in Livingston, Montana. He remained with Waggoner’s through high school and while attending college at Montana State University.  Later he joined their corporate office in Billings. In 1991, he went to work for Whitewood Transport in Billings and eventually became co-owner with longtime associate, John Hanson. Wilson and his wife, Nancy, have been married 24 years. They have three children, Brad (20), Laura (17) and Ryan (15). He enjoys the family cabin, fishing, golfing, snow skiing and continuing education.

 
<< Back to top

WHITEWOOD TRANSPORT WINS THE MONTANA MOTOR CARRIER GRAND TROPHY FOR CARRIER OF THE YEAR SECOND YEAR RUNNING (2008)

Montana Motor Carriers Association is pleased to announce that Whitewood Transport from Billings, Montana, has won the prestigious Grand Trophy Award sponsored by Great West Casualty Company for the second year in a row.

The Grand Trophy Award winner is chosen by an independent panel of judges that selects the winner using various safety criteria, such as activity in the Safety Management and Maintenance Council, Truck Driving Championships, Driver Appreciation Week, the Highway Watch Program, previous Fleet Safety Awards, involvement in America’s Road Team, and the company that displays an overall exemplary safety program with no accidents in the current year.

Whitewood Transport travels over 1.2 million miles in Montana each year and in excess of 3.5 million miles nationwide.  They are an authorized for-hire carrier and are heavily involved with the Montana Motor Carriers Association and the Safety Management and Maintenance Council.  Whitewood was chosen from over twenty Montana carriers who applied for the award. 

Whitewood Transport specializes in heavy hauls for customers throughout the continental United States (including Alaska) and Canada. They are known nationally as a heavy-haul specialist, expertly moving equipment and commodities of large or unusual weight or dimension.

The Montana Motor Carriers Association represents Montana's motor carrier industry and currently has over 600 members.  Its goal is to promote the trucking industry through cooperation and education in Montana and across the country.  MMCA members strive to improve transportation service by providing leadership and assistance to persons and firms engaged in the motor carrier industry.  MMCA’s chief goal is to make Montana's highways a safer place for our families and the traveling public.

<< Back to top