UPDATE: EIA Honors Refuse Drivers

WORLD WASTES STAFF

ATLANTA - Pleasant customer rapport, courteous manners, perfect at-tendance and a safe driving record without an accident in more than 25 years are the outstanding qualities which led the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Industry Associations (EIA) to present William Fankhauser, a truck driver for R.C. Miller Refuse Service Inc., Canton, Ohio, with its 1997 "Driver of the Year Award."

EIA presents these awards in three customer categories: residential, commercial and industrial, and in two size categories - small companies with 100 vehicles or less and large companies with more than 100 vehicles.

Fankhauser was selected in the commercial-waste collection, small company category. His co-workers describe him as the first to help another driver, whether that means assisting in residential stop pick-ups or in lending a hand to wash the trucks.

"William Fankhauser represents the core of our industry - people committed to safety and customer service in the pursuit of environmentally-protective waste management," says Bruce Parker, EIA's CEO and acting president. "The entire industry can be proud of his accomplishment."

The nominees' names and company affiliations are kept secret from the judges, who make selections based on job performance and recommendations. Each winner receives a $1,000 savings bond and a plaque honoring his or her accomplishment.

Other winners include:

* Ernest Taraca III, Paines Inc., Simsbury, Conn. - Industrial Driver of the Year, small company category;

* Robert Flores, Waste Management of South Jersey, Woodbine, N.J. - Residential Driver of the Year, large company category;

* Alexander Little, Waste Management of Delaware Valley South, Pri-mus, Pa. - Commercial Driver of the Year, large company category; and

* Aubrey Manasseh, Southern Sanitation, Pompano Beach, Fla. - Industrial Driver of the Year, large company category.