We are pleased to present Dwight Walker with his 2 Million Miles Milestone Award. Dwight has driven professionally for 16 years, 14 of them with CalArk. He is from Pine Bluff, AR and is on Michelle Finn’s board. Deronda Wofford, VP of Operations, says Dwight will do anything you ask him to do. Leslie Stout, Director of Safety, adds that

​Dwight does his best and works hard to be compliant and to do the right thing. Over the years, Dwight has received several Safety Awards, 100% On Time Delivery Awards, his 5 Year Service Award, and a 10 Year Service Award.

When Dwight is not driving, he is home doing yard work, watching the Dallas Cowboys, or catching a Garden State Warrior game. Dwight is just as happy to be a part of the CalArk family as we are to have him. He says CalArk is a good place to work, and a great place to build a future.

Congratulations on your milestone, Dwight, and here’s to many more!

Congratulations to David Miller for reaching 1.5 million miles with CalArk! He has been with us for 14 of his 27 years in the Transportation Industry. David is on Karen Dennis's board and lives in Satsuma, Florida. When David is not driving he likes to hunt, fish, and ride his motorcycle.

Other awards David has received during his tenure with CalArk include 100,000 through 900,000 safe driving miles, several 100% On Time Delivery Awards, a 5 Year Service Plaque, 1 Million Miles of Safe Driving, a 10 Year Service Award, 1.25 Million Mile Safe Driving Award, and Company Best Fuel Mileage in 2016.

David serves as a trainer for new drivers entering CalArk's fleet, and this year he will represent our company at the Arkansas Trucking Association's Truck Driving Championship in Rogers, Arkansas.

​David likes to help his fellow drivers over the road whenever possible, and said if he has one piece of advice to share it would be to always "watch your mirrors" so you can anticipate what other drivers will do and you will have time to react. Given David's great safety performance, it appears always watching his mirrors works!

When Curtiss Cline started driving for CalArk, George Strait had just started crooning about Ocean Front Property, and Reagan was halfway through his second term as president. Curtiss had already been driving a truck for 27 years on May 5th, 1987 when he began working with us. Because his dad owned a trucking business, he says he was born into it.

He's driven trucks that had enough trouble pulling 5500 pounds of styrofoam trays uphill that he laughs about the time he was passed by an older woman on a bicycle. He still thinks fondly of his special favorite, an orange and yellow 1996 T600. His knowledge of engines has often allowed him to get maximum performance from the trucks he's driven. He talks about the tricks of his trade with the easy knowledge and complex vocabulary of an artist.

Last year Curtiss brought his wife Debbie to a CalArk dinner celebrating 30 years of working for CalArk and an astonishing four million safe miles, the only one of our drivers to have achieved that milestone so far. Asked what's kept him loyal to CalArk for over three decades when turnover in our industry is so common, he said drivers have changed a lot over the years and that a strong camaradarie and work ethic kept his generation's road warriors working together.

Through his decades with CalArk, he estimates he's had fewer than ten dispatchers. He currently works with Michelle Finn but has a lot of fond memories of the twenty-two years he spent working with no-nonsense Ann, calling for check-ins via payphones instead of keeping updated with on-board computers.
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At CalArk we feel honored that Curtiss continues to share his skills, experience, and incredible work ethic with us, even after hitting his 31-year anniversary last Saturday. Thanks for keeping the wheels of American business turning, Curtiss!

Gabriel Deng has spent seven of his ten years driving with CalArk. A resident of Chelsea, Massachusetts, he's originally from South Sudan and what his manager, Michelle Finn, calls a "GO Getter." She says he's "probably one of the hardest runners I’ve ever worked with. He is the man to call when you need the impossible to happen."

Even though he runs hard, Gabriel makes time for exercising. When he stops for the day, he makes sure he gets some physical activity in before settling down for a break. He also stays fit by eating healthy and making a weekly Wal-Mart run to stock up on fruits and vegetables. Asked what advice he has for his fellow drivers on staying fit, he says to make healthier choices with food and find a way to exercise, even if it means just running around a parking lot.

​CalArk values drivers like Gabriel who work hard to make their miles and keep the wheels of American business turning. Thanks for making our business work!

Irish Fuggins, of Shreveport, Louisiana, has been with CalArk for 20 years this June. Michelle Finn jokes she and Irish have a love/hate relationship because he has been here for so many years, but she adds that she would not trade him for the world. She can always depend on him when it comes to making on-time pickups and deliveries, and he can be a great team player.

Irish enjoys relaxing with his wife Vickey of 7 years when he is not working. He likes to fish and hunt, too, but says he'll stay too busy running those safe driving miles to have time for much fishing and hunting until he retires.

Among other awards Irish has received are several years of 100% On-Time Delivery awards, 100,000-mile to 900,000-mile safe driving pins, a 5-Year Service Award, 10-Year Service Award, 1 Million Mile Award, 1.25 Million Mile Award, 1.5 Million Mile Award, 1.75 Million Mile Award, and 2 Million Mile Award.

Only a few special people stay loyal to one company long enough or put in enough miles to slowly, surely work their way up to 2.5 million. We're honored that Irish has chosen to share decades of his life, thousands of trips, and millions of miles with CalArk. Thank you for keeping the wheels of American business turning.