The Maryland Motor Truck Association (MMTA) has named Howard County resident Annette Womack, a truck driver for Giant Food, MMTA’s 2015 Driver of the Year. Womack is the first woman to be recognized with this honor since the organization’s founding in 1935.
With 1.7 million miles and more than 30 years of accident-free driving under her belt, Annette Womack is not your average truck driver. While working at Giant, Womack created a driver route book to help new drivers get safely in and out of Giant’s 169 stores and to make routes more efficient. She also started the “Transportation News,” a safety newsletter that alerts transportation managers of safety issues at stores and distribution centers.
Among some of Womack’s stories are when she stopped a pick-up truck from catching fire on Christmas Eve, during rush hour, by coming to the rescue and dousing the smoldering engine; and when she worked during Maryland’s recent blizzard to help dig out and move Giant trailers at the home office, so that goods could get to stores.
In addition to being named Driver of the Year, Womack has received many other awards for her skills. She won the tanker division of Giant’s Safety Driver Championship in 2010 and 2015, the Giant Food Grand Champion for driving in 2010 and is a four-time winner of the Giant Food Presidential Award.