BANGOR – In many ways, Richard Allen of Robbinston is a creature of habit.

He has worked at Lane Construction for 22 years and drives a 1992 GMC pickup truck.

Make that “drove.”

Last week, Allen got a call to tell him he could upgrade his ride. He had entered a companywide raffle for a brand-new Ford F150 pickup truck as part of the company’s One Million Hours program.

If employees complete 1 million man-hours without a lost-time injury, the company purchases a pickup truck and raffles it off to one of the eligible employees.

The company has given away 14 pickup trucks to employees nationwide over the last four years, and three of those have gone to workers in Maine.

More than 3,000 employees entered the Oct. 29 truck raffle, and Allen never thought he’d be the one to win it.

“When I got the call, I was shocked,” he said last week. “I just couldn’t believe it. I never win anything. Everybody told us I should’ve bought a Megabucks.”

As Allen gazed at his shiny red truck, which was still parked in the Darling’s Ford showroom, he liked what he saw.

“It’s beautiful,” he said. “It’s the first new one I’ve ever owned.”

The 2008 Ford with a trailer tow package and bug shield was worth $27,100, said Bob Losurdo, a commercial accounts manager at Darling’s.

Rodney Lane, the Lane Construction district manager, was on hand to mark the occasion.

The construction company employs about 450 people in Maine and wins nearly half of the Maine Department of Transportation’s contracts, according to the district manager.

The company also is working on an $11 million project at the Maine Air National Guard base in Bangor.

“This is absolutely wonderful. We’ve always said that our greatest asset is our people, and our people work extremely hard,” Lane said of the truck raffle. “We’re highly committed to safety.”

acurtis@bangordailynews.net

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