Local Con-way Freight Drivers Achieve 25 Years of Safe Driving

DES PLAINES, Ill., May 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Urban Chicago city driving with its heavy, stop and go traffic, construction zones, distracted drivers, pedestrians, brutal congestion and other obstacles is a challenge that taxes even the most attentive motorist. Accidents happen. In fact, the Illinois Department of Transportation reports there are 300,000 car accidents each year in the Greater Chicagoland region.

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Yet for the past 25 years, two professional truck drivers from Con-way Freight in Des Plaines have accomplished what many would consider a near-impossible feat: getting into the cab of their truck every day, five-days-a-week, and with a trailer or two in tow, safely navigating Chicago's business districts, commercial and industrial zones and highways and byways without so much as a minor fender-bender or workplace injury.

That remarkable safe-driving and safe-working milestone was accomplished by Tom Syme and Joe Lombardi, two professional truck drivers for Con-way Freight. They are being recognized today in a special ceremony at the company's Des Plaines service center, where they will be presented with Con-way Freight's Distinguished Driver Award, a prestigious honor conferred upon the company's most accomplished professionals for exemplary safety achievement.

"Safety is our number one core value at Con-way Freight," says David Burk, the company's director of operations for the Chicago region. "Tom Syme and Joe Lombardi epitomize that commitment.  Their accomplishment of 25 years without an accident or injury is a testament to their professionalism, their skill and the focus on safety they bring to work every day. They set the safety bar high every day, and we're thrilled to be able to honor them today and welcome them into the ranks of our Distinguished Drivers."

Syme and Lombardi join an exclusive group of Con-way Freight professional driver salesmen with record-setting safety performances over the company's 30-year history. In addition to over 60 drivers who have garnered 25-year safe working honors, the company also has honored 1,639 Con-way Freight drivers across the U.S. who have achieved one million safe driving miles, and 204 drivers who have surpassed two million accident-free driving miles. In February this year, the company celebrated its first three-million-mile Distinguished Driver. The first-ever milestone was accomplished by James "Jackpot" Sutfin, a driver salesman out of the company's Las Vegas service center.

Local media are invited to attend the recognition ceremony at 4 p.m. today at the Des Plaines service center, 401 West Touhy Ave.

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About Con-way Freight
Con-way Freight is the industry's leading less-than-truckload (LTL) freight transportation company, providing guaranteed, day-definite regional and transcontinental service with exception-free delivery, on-time service performance and faster transit times through a single, unified network of 425 operating locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Con-way Freight offers LTL freight transportation across North America and through Global LTL™ delivery in the United States from around the world. Global solutions include international less-than-container load (LCL) ocean shipments from Asia through its OceanGuaranteed® service; direct service to more than 30 Bahamian and Caribbean ports through TropicalDirect^SM; and domestic offshore transportation to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., Con-way Freight is a certified FAST highway carrier and is C-TPAT/PIP-, ACE- and CSA-certified.

Con-way Freight is a subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW), a $5.6 billion diversified freight transportation and logistics services company. For more information, visit www.con-way.com/en/freight.

SOURCE Con-way Freight