Rookie of the Quarter: Erwin Cabrera

on Tuesday, August 12, 2025 in Awards & Recognition

TMC is proud to recognize Erwin Cabrera as our Rookie of the Quarter for the second quarter of 2025.

The Rookie of the Quarter award honors a driver early in their career who has completed TMC’s Driver TQM courses within the previous quarter, taken the Train the Trainer course to prepare to be a driver trainer, and met several other criteria related to performance and safety. These drivers represent the future of our company and our commitment to Destination: Excellence.

Since he started as a driver in October 2024, Erwin has shown himself to be a dependable team player who knows the importance of safety and doing the job right. Read on to learn more about why he was selected as Rookie of the Quarter.

Starting Out Right

Erwin started out as a TMC driver with a great attitude. He says that he enjoys meeting new people as part of his job. “I like to talk to people—I guess you could call me a friendly person,” he says. “I like making connections, so the next time I see the person, we are buddy-buddy.”

Erwin has been eager to take on every challenge he has faced, says Operations Manager Craig Divine. “Erwin is a total team player. Every time I talk to him, his attitude is always about what he can do to help the team,” Craig says. “He has a very positive attitude and always takes the good with the bad and turns it into a positive for himself. This attitude is what has made him so successful in such a short amount of time.”

Learning From the Best

From this starting point, Erwin also took advantage of opportunities to refine his driving skills.

He completed TMC’s Driver TQM training, which applies the principles of Total Quality Management to life behind the wheel. It empowers drivers to make smart, proactive choices on the road, helping them stay safe and drive efficiently.

Erwin says that TQM helped him better manage his time on the road, which has made him more successful. “I learned how to do my timing better, managing my out of route, managing my clock.”

Driver Development Specialist David Smith, who was Erwin’s instructor for TQM, says he could tell that Erwin really made the most of the classes. “Erwin is a terrific asset to TMC. He asked the right questions early on to capitalize on what he learned in TQM,” David says. “He’s a driver that keeps the door shut and does the right things. He thinks of it as just doing his job.”

In addition to Driver TQM, Erwin chose to take Advanced TQM, which to take Advanced TQM, which includes a focus on educating drivers about how TMC operates. Erwin says that Advanced TQM gave him a better understanding of his fleet manager, Rebekkah Green, and the demands of her job. “I learned how the fleet managers do their job. It was hard for me to understand at first, but then I took the class, and I thought, ‘Ok, now I understand.’”

This understanding has led to a great relationship between Erwin and Rebekkah. “We communicate well,” he says. “She keeps me busy.”

Erwin also took TMC’s Train the Trainer class, which prepared him to be a driver trainer. He says he wants to help new drivers learn the skills they need for the job, just as his trainer did for him. “I want to teach the new guys how to be a good driver and share my experience, how to do things out there,” he says.

Motivation for Success

Erwin is motivated to succeed as a driver, and he says his goal is one million safe miles.

In addition to working towards this milestone, he stays focused on making the right choices in the short term. “When I head out on Sunday, I look at myself, and I say, ‘Ok, no injuries, no scratches on me. This is how I want it to be when I go home on Fridays because I have a family to go home to,’” he says.

Family is a big part of Erwin’s motivation to be a safe and successful driver. “I have a family to support. I gotta provide, so I gotta do this,” he says. “That’s what keeps me driving.”

Driving for TMC means that Erwin is home most weekends, so he can spend time with his wife and their five-year-old son. “Whenever I get home on Friday, if it’s still light, we go out to the park as soon as possible,” he laughs. “The next day, we go to the zoo. That’s my son’s favorite place.”

With this combination of a great attitude and willingness to learn, Erwin has made a strong start to his career as a flatbed driver. Congratulations to Erwin Cabrera for being named Rookie of the Quarter for Q2!