Each week, trucknews.com lists notable events, promotions and awards in the trucking industry.
This week, Kodiak Robotics added Mohamed Elshenawy to its board of directors and Truckload Carriers Association has appointed Erica Gouse Bledsoe as its new membership engagement manager. Meanwhile, Caneda Transport has been recognized as the 2025 National Winner of the Northbridge Insurance Transportation Safety Award.
Former Cruise executive joins Kodiak board of directors
Kodiak Robotics has appointed Mohamed “Mo” Elshenawy, former president and chief technology officer (CTO) of Cruise, to its board of directors as the company prepares to go public later this year.
Elshenawy led the development and rollout of Cruise’s commercial autonomous rideshare service in San Francisco, Cali., and other U.S. cities, Kodiak said in a news release. He is currently the CTO at Hims & Hers Health. Earlier in his career, Elshenawy held technology leadership roles at Amazon, where he led global engineering for the company’s ReCommerce business and spearheaded a retail big data analytics platform.
“Mo guided Cruise through critical phases of technology and operational development, and helped manage Cruise’s integration into a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors,” said Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak, in the release. “His expertise in technology platform transformation, expanding world-class engineering organizations, and deploying AI into real-world operations will be invaluable as we scale our product deployment.”
The appointment follows Kodiak’s announcement of a planned merger with Ares Acquisition Corporation II, with the combined company to be named Kodiak AI and expected to list under the ticker symbols KDK and KDK WS.
Elshenawy also serves on the software advisory board at Mercedes-Benz and as an independent board director at African B2B e-commerce company Wasoko-MaxAB. He holds more than 10 patents in AI, robotics, and autonomous vehicle technology.
TCA names Bledsoe membership engagement manager
The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has hired Erica Gouse Bledsoe as its new membership engagement manager. Bledsoe will strengthen member relationships and increase engagement across TCA’s membership base, according to a news release.
Bledsoe brings more than a decade of experience in the mortgage industry, where she built a reputation for client engagement and relationship management. She is also the immediate past president of the Junior League of Northern Virginia — a non-profit dedicated to women’s leadership and community service — and has been recognized with several awards, including Northern Virginia’s 40 Under 40 (2025) and the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce 40 Under 40 (2024).
“I am thrilled to welcome Erica to the TCA team,” said Zander Gambill, TCA’s vice-president of membership outreach. “Erica brings a wealth of experience and an impressive track record in client engagement, sales, and leadership. Her passion for member connection and community growth aligns perfectly with our mission, and I am confident she will play a key role in driving our membership forward.”
Caneda Transport named 2025 Northbridge Transportation Safety Award winner
Caneda Transport has been recognized as the 2025 National Winner of the Northbridge Insurance Transportation Safety Award. Company representatives, Mullen Group executives, and Westland Insurance partners attended a celebration at the fleet’s Calgary facility.
Accepting the award, vice-president and general manager Heather Mathiesen credited the carrier’s executive and safety teams, and emphasized that safety is embedded in Caneda’s workplace culture. “This recognition is a testament to the values we hold dear and the unwavering commitment of every individual to ensure everyone goes home to their family every night,” she said. “We are responsible for 105 families.
“Safety should not just be a checklist item that we dutifully tick off. It needs to be an integral part of our culture, something we genuinely celebrate and uphold every day.”
Caneda Transport is part of the Mullen Group, whose CEO, Murray Mullen, attended the event and praised the company’s continued growth as one of the group’s top transporters. Mathiesen also acknowledged director of safety Randy Merceras as a key safety resource.
The award, launched in 2021, recognizes Canadian fleets with strong safety performance and operational best practices. Carriers are evaluated based on their results in Northbridge’s Transportation Best Practices Profile, which measures compliance, driver management, and risk management. Their on-road performance is also measured, including metrics such as crash trends, collisions per million miles, high-cost type collisions, visibility-related collisions, and carrier profile performance.
To qualify, carriers must have been Northbridge policyholders for at least two consecutive years and demonstrate a company-wide safety commitment and continued operational improvement.
