Dave McGowan has been a member of the WEL Family since May 1989. He is a husband and father of two children. Dave is also a U.S. Army veteran and served in Vietnam in 1971-1972, and he attended driving school soon after he was released from the military in 1974.

While he found it difficult to get his foot in the door with a trucking company initially, his persistence paid off. Dave has driven approximately six million miles so far in his career. He was an owner/operator for 22 years, and also worked as a driver trainer with WEL Companies. He continues to be a friend, mentor and positive role model for other drivers in the company.

Dave has received numerous safe driving awards and has also been recognized as a finalist in the TCA Driver of the year three times.

We are proud to call Dave a member of the WEL Companies family.

During his career with WEL, Phil has worked as a driver, dispatcher, terminal manager and customer service manager. He says he always was a driver first, though non-driving jobs taught him financial management that helps him as an owner-operator.

“Being a driver helped me in the office with having the driver’s perspective,” he says. “I was able to take my experience in customer service from the office out onto the road to help build relationships with customers.”

Phil was named the 2017 Owner-Operator of the Year. The award recognizes safety, efforts to enhance the industry’s image and contributions to the community. To be eligible for the contest, one of the criteria applicants had to have had is one million consecutive accident-free miles.

Phil, leased to WEL Companies, has driven more than 5 million accident-free miles.

“I’m proud to share the road with my fellow professional drivers,” he shares. “And I hope to inspire other drivers to be more like us.”