Mack Truck Used to Deliver Christmas Tree to U.S. Capitol Lawn From Colorado Forest
This story appears in the Dec. 3 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
The Christmas tree that will sit on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol arrived in Washington last week, towed by a Mack truck.
The 73-foot Engelmann spruce was harvested from the White River National Forest in Colorado and driven to the nation’s capital by former U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.).
“It is a privilege to drive the tree for the U.S. Capitol from Colorado this year,” said Campbell. “It’s just as exciting, though, to get behind the wheel of a Mack truck again. I know I can count on a great ride and a uniquely American holiday experience.”
Campbell served in Congress from 1987 to 2005 and helped transport the Capitol Christmas tree in 2000.
The Capitol Christmas tree’s 2012 tour began in Meeker, Colo., and included stops throughout that state and Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia, where they were marked with community celebrations — one of the reasons it’s called “The People’s Tree.”
The tree traveled on a SmartWay-certified Pinnacle Axle Back Sleeper provided by Mack Trucks Inc., Greensboro, N.C.
SmartWay is a collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the transportation industry that helps freight shippers, carriers and logistics companies improve fuel efficiency.
“The Mack truck transporting the tree across the country is a showcase of clean diesel technology — one of the many pieces of modern diesel technology that is transporting the People’s Tree from Colorado to our nation’s capital,” said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum.
The side of the truck was painted with an image of the iconic Mack bulldog pulling a tree through the snow with the phrase, “From One National Treasure to Another.”
“What better way to deliver the Capitol Christmas tree, a national treasure, than with a Mack built, like all of our trucks, right here in the United States,” said John Walsh, spokesman for Mack, which is part of the Volvo Group.
The trailer was donated by Hale Trailer Brake and Wheel, Voorhees, N.J., and was fitted with a custom-built cradle to support the tree’s branches.
The U.S. Forest Service supervised delivery of the tree, which will be decorated with 10,000 LED lights and 5,000 ornaments made by Colorado schoolchildren. It will be lit Dec. 4, in a ceremony hosted by U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
The Capitol Christmas tree tradition began in 1964 when then- House Speaker John McCormack (D-Mass.) placed a live Christmas tree on the Capitol lawn.
Across town, the White House Christmas Tree, a 19-foot tree from North Carolina, was delivered on Nov. 26. It was presented to first lady Michelle Obama at the White House on a horse-drawn wagon from Peak Farms, according to the National Christmas Tree Association.
The tree was transported from North Carolina by truck. The Fraser fir, also known as the “Blue Room Tree,” will be the official White House Christmas Tree and will serve as the centerpiece of the White House decorations.
