One of the key tenets of The Maverick Way is to value our people. We're so grateful for all of the employees who choose to call Maverick home, and we're excited to celebrate this upcoming week! Hopefully you can grab a meal and join us at one of our locations or at a Dedicated customer.

Our hope is that you feel celebrated and important, because you are. Have a great week!

Maverick Employee Appreciation Week is here, and we're thrilled to be celebrating in-person this year! Check out the food schedule below - we're looking forward to celebrating all of our valued employees at our facilities throughout the U.S.!

Happy Driver Appreciation Week, everyone! Below you’ll find the food schedule for all of terminals across the US throughout the week.

Be sure to join us for food & fun if you can!

Thank you so much for all that you do - we wouldn't be the company we are today without our Maverick drivers!

You know it is Arkansas Trucking Championship season when the heat and humidity set in! Maverick had five drivers and two technicians compete in this years’ event. It was held July 11-13th at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers, AR. The drivers’ competition included a pre-trip inspection, written exam and driving test. Click here to view ATA’s truck driving championship photos. The truck and trailer technician competition consisted of both written and hands-on tests. Click here to view ATA’s tech photos.

Every individual worked so hard to prepare for this event and we are very proud of their dedication. Well done, Mavericks!

Drivers:

Kalyn Turner- 25th in 5-Axle

TJ Hargis- 8th in Flatbed

Paul Hillman- 11th in 3-Axle

Shawn Garrison- 19th in 4-Axle

Tom Garner- 21st in Sleeper Division

Technicians:

Tony Stover: 36th

Tyler Harmon- 47th

Check out some of highlights below!

Pictured from left: TJ Hargis, Tom Garner, Kalyn Turner, Paul Hillman, Shawn Garrison and Doug Cutler

Kalyn awaiting her time to compete!

The entire Maverick crew who was there to help cheer our drivers on!

TJ, Shawn, Kalyn, Paul and Tom ready for the banquet on Saturday evening.

While Maverick appreciates all of its employees every day of the year, it's always special when we can set aside time to focus on that gratitude. For this year's Employee Appreciation Week, we're excited to add more festivities to the roster, and across more locations!

Our hope is that you feel celebrated and important, because you are. As one of the tenets of The Maverick Way, know that you are valued!

Check out the recap of last year’s Driver of the Year event!

The annual Driver of the Year banquet and presentation is always a wonderful way to kick off the new year! We love celebrating our drivers, and especially honoring those who have worked hard to obtain the status of the "Black Hat" - a Driver of the Month or Dedicated Driver of the Quarter.

This year's banquet was held at the historic Union Station in Little Rock.

During the evening's festivities, we heard from Executive VP & COO Doug Richey, VP of Operations John Coppens, and Chairman & CEO Steve Williams.

There was also a surprise gift presented to VP of Operations John Coppens, on behalf of all current/former Drivers of the Year.

Here are a few pics of this year's attendees (more on our Facebook page):

Friday is always the day our Black Hats look forward to most! After a long day of meeting with the Driver Advisory Council and spending time in business unit breakout sessions, it was time for the presentation.

This year's Driver of the Year presentation was held in a new venue -- our Training Center. As all of our drivers become Mavericks through our training program, this was a special venue indeed.

Then the announcement of our 2018 Dedicated Driver of the Year, Randy Smith! Congratulations, Randy!

After the new DDY was announced, it was on to the OTR Driver of the Year!

Congratulations to our 2018 Driver of the Year, Scott Schwarzlose!

It takes hard work and dedication to become a Black Hat. It's an honor and a privilege to be able to celebrate all 20 of our Dedicated Drivers of the Quarter and Drivers of the Month. Congratulations to our new Drivers of the Year, we can't wait to see what 2019 holds for you and the Council!

Happy Driver Appreciation Week, everyone! Below you’ll find the food schedule for all of our locations across the US. We hope that most of our drivers can get through a terminal to partake in festivities.

Thank you so much for all that you do - we wouldn't be the company we are today without our drivers!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with our Driver of the Month program/each year’s Driver of the Year event, you can check out our recap of last year’s event.

Here at Maverick, we absolutely love our drivers. And we especially love celebrating them! Every year, we honor our 12 Drivers of the Month at our Driver of the Year Banquet in Little Rock, AR. This year we added a few new drivers to the mix - 3 of the finalists from our new Dedicated Driver of the Quarter program, as well as our Rookie of the Quarter Cleo Williams and Trainer of the Quarter Herb Withrow.

The night was filled with good music, good food, and great company. Among our speakers were VP of Operations John Coppens, Chairman and CEO Steve Williams and COO John Culp. It was a wonderful evening filled with honoring our drivers, praising their hard work and the steps it takes to become a Driver of the Month/Quarter.

The next day was full of meetings with drivers and office personnel - specifically, our quarterly Drivers' Advisory Committee meeting. Drivers also broke out into divisional meetings - it was a busy day!

But nothing brings excitement like the actual presentation event for our Driver of the Year/Dedicated Driver of the Year.

Finally, the moment we were all waiting for! Our 6 Dedicated and OTR Black Hat finalists were eager for the final announcement.

Our winners: Dedicated Driver of the Year Gary Lipscomb and OTR Driver of the Year Lou Webber!

Congratulations again to all of our drivers. You are the heartbeat of this company and we are thankful for each and every one of you!

Congratulations to Ron Kneeland III, who was presented with the 2017 Hero of the Highway Award!

The Trucking Industry Defense Association’s (TIDA) Hero of the Highway Award is awarded annually to a commercial driver who is recognized for his or her heroic behavior and extraordinary public service. In May of this year, Ron Kneeland witnessed a highway accident on I-94 WB in Parma, MI. The vehicle was on fire. Ron stopped and ran back using his fire extinguisher, and shortly after another witness stopped and helped Ron pull the injured driver from the burning vehicle.

We are so incredibly proud of Ron and his quick thinking and selflessness in such a critical situation. He is absolutely deserving of this award, and is an excellent example of altruism for the rest of his Maverick family.

Ron was invited to TIDA’s Annual Seminar and was presented with a plaque and monetary gift of $2500 in Las Vegas. He was nominated by Maverick Senior Claims Manager Carole Whitted-Ridgeway.

A link to Ron’s TIDA phone interview is located here.

Congratulations again, Ron!

It’s always a special time when Maverick family comes together to celebrate and honor our Drivers of the Month. This year was no different, as both Maverick office employees and Black Hats (along with spouses) gathered to fellowship in Little Rock at Next Level Events for our annual Driver of the Year Banquet.

Those in attendance heard speeches from VP of Operations John Coppens, Chairman & CEO Steve Williams, and President John Culp. It was a memorable time reflecting on Maverick’s humble beginnings and giving praise and special recognition to the twelve Drivers of the Month.

The next morning, while the Drivers Advisory Committee held their quarterly meeting, our Black Hats’ spouses went sightseeing in downtown Little Rock! Their stops included the Clinton Presidential Library (with its current exhibit: The Beatles!) and lunch at Forty Two.

2015 Driver of the Year Roger Wyble

Then it was time for the Driver of the Year pronouncement! 12 outstanding and honorable Drivers of the Month were nominated, but the driver with the most votes throughout the fleet and office employees would be…

Raurii Milbrandt!

Raurii “Pineapple” Milbrandt pronounced as 2016 Driver of the Year

Emotions were definitely high as Raurii gave a heartfelt speech to the Maverick crowd.

Raurii with Driver Instructor Kurt Ebersole

Raurii with Fleet Manager Tim Seivertson

Raurii with December 2016 Driver of the Month Tommy Walters

Raurii with 2011 Driver of the Year Allen Coley

Left to right: VP of Operations John Coppens, Chairman & CEO Steve Williams, Raurii, President John Culp

Raurii with former Drivers of the Year

2016 Drivers of the Month

Congratulations Raurii! You will represent our fleet well throughout 2017 as our Driver of the Year!