Ascend’s First-Ever Driver Advisory Board
Post Date - Mar 22, 2023
One of Ascend’s core missions is to maintain a People First culture across our entire organization. That starts with listening to our drivers, the experts on the road. With this in mind, we decided to create Ascend’s first-ever Driver Advisory Board.
We are proud to announce that our Driver Advisory Board has been officially established and will begin operations this year!
We spent January carefully reviewing nearly 180 nominations to determine a group of 12 drivers who will serve on the Driver Advisory Board. After an initial review, there was a rigorous vetting process that included safety performance evaluations and feedback from individual driver managers. The selected drivers come from a variety of tenures and route types, providing us with the most expansive understanding of all our drivers’ needs, goals, and ideas. We’re confident that these 12 drivers will collectively act as the Voice of the Driver and help us make the changes our drivers truly want to see!
We are so excited to see what this board will accomplish and how it will further a culture where Ascend drivers feel heard and appreciated. The board will use driver feedback to create the agenda and goals for each monthly virtual meeting and yearly in-person meeting. From these meetings, we’ll gather the information we need to bring any challenges directly to the specific department that can provide the best support, allowing us to quickly address any widespread driver concerns. These meetings will also provide a space for open dialogue on safety, company culture, and any new projects; departments will also have the chance to provide the board with any relevant updates, streamlining communication throughout our entire organization.
Each board member will serve a two-year term before new nominations are evaluated. To further our mission of inclusion and representation, new drivers from a range of backgrounds will be added to the board each February. Once a driver is officially added to the board, they’ll receive a Members Only Package to congratulate and thank them for their invaluable participation, insight, and leadership.
We can only move forward as an organization when we put People First! Thank you for your support as we get started with Ascend’s inaugural Driver Advisory Board and watch for great things to come!
Our Driver Advisory Board includes:
- Laura Carter, Brenda Davis
- Logan Dodd
- Michele Ferguson
- Roland Fowler
- Chris Haase
- Thaddeus Heard
- Kraig Hinrichs
- Greg Lambert
- Rudi Lenssen
- Gregory Madison
- Orinthius Patrick