OTA Dispatch Issue 1, 2022

15 www.ortrucking.org Issue 1 | 2022 Denise Rugh Market Express, LLC Denise has spent the last decade in the transportation industry focusing on HOS and DOT compliance. She is currently the Director of Safety and Compliance at Market Express, LLC, a regional truck load carrier based in Portland, OR. She is a graduate of Washington State University. Amber Roberts TP Trucking Amber Roberts was born and raised in Southern Oregon. She has been in the trucking industry for almost 15 years and safety is her passion. Amber is currently the Safety Coordinator for TP Trucking, located in Central Point, OR. In her free time, she likes to take random road trips and enjoy spending time outdoors with her two dogs. Hedie Schulte Boshart Trucking Since 2016, Hedie has been the Human Resources and Safety Manager for Boshart Trucking, a family farming operation in Oregon’s Willamette Valley specializing in custom straw harvest. Hedie’s background in customer service in addition to finance, accounting, marketing, safety, and human resources give her the tools to approach tasks from multiple perspectives, making her the perfect person to care for the people and vehicles at the heart of Boshart Trucking. As HR & Safety Manager, Hedie is responsible for keeping employees, vehicles, and community safe. She handles research, training, compliance, insurance, hiring, and legal issues for the company. Roni Shaw Bowman Trucking, Inc. Roni was raised in Eastern Oregon. She has been with Bowman Trucking, Inc., based in LaGrande, OR, for nine years. Her roles include Safety, Compliance, and Heavy Haul. She is a 2018 graduate of OTA’s NW Fleet Safety Program and was the OTA’s 2018 Small Carrier Safety Director of the Year. In her free time Roni enjoys the outdoors, family, and spending time on the ranch with her husband Luke. She feels blessed to work for a company that treats their team like family, not just employees. Kirk Watkins, CDS Western Heavy Haul Kirk grew up in Redmond, OR. After graduating high school, he attended college at Universal Technical Institute in Phoenix, AZ, where he studied diesel mechanics. Kirk is a long-time member of the transportation industry, having been involved since graduating college in 1986. He spent the past 22 years with Walmart as part of their safety department. He is currently the trucking operations manager at Western Heavy Haul (and its many affiliated companies), based in Prineville, OR. Kirk was wise enough to marry his high school sweetheart and is celebrating 34 years of marriage. They have one daughter, Samantha, and three grandchildren, Dally, 7; Harper, 4; and Rhett, 1½. John Russell, AAI PayneWest Insurance This year marks 38 years in Insurance and Risk Management for John, with the majority of the time in Transportation. He went through John Sallak’s Safety Coordinator Training through the OTA back in 1996. John has been a member of OTA since 2004 and on the Safety Management Council Board since 2006. He received the Transportation Center of Excellence from Aon in 1998 and has concentrated on bringing the “best in class” to the Transportation industry for the majority of his career.

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