Truckers Receive Thanks

Americans thanked truck drivers in ways big and small as part of National Truck Driver Appreciation Week.

Company executives, highway enforcement personnel and industry groups offered a range of gestures, from simple handshakes and free coffee and doughnuts to a steak and lobster dinner and increases in pay.

American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves paid tribute to the 3.4 million professional truck drivers in a video message distributed to media outlets.

“We know what a challenging job driving a truck can be, but we also know that trucks move America

forward, and without each of you, we just simply couldn’t get that job done,” Graves said in a statement.

ATA launched National Truck Driver Appreciation Week in 1988 to honor drivers and influence public opinion.

“I call on every American to join me — and the ATA — in honoring our drivers,” said ATA Chairman Duane Long, who is also chairman of Raleigh, North Carolina-based Longistics Inc. “America’s truck drivers perform an important duty in helping us maintain our economy and our quality of life, and too often, we take them for granted.”

Around the country, appreciation events included picnics, free meals at truck stops and weigh stations and an outpouring of praise in newspapers as well as posts on social media.

Trucking Moves America Forward, the image campaign funded by the trucking industry, placed ads in newspapers in an effort to show truck drivers as friends, family and neighbors.

“There’s a story to tell about how integral the trucking industry is to America’s economy, and without our drivers, Americans simply would not move forward,” said Kevin Burch, president of Jet Express, based in Dayton, Ohio, and co-chairman of the TMAF campaign.

At Baylor Trucking, each of the company’s 175 drivers and their spouses were treated to a steak and lobster dinner, plus a bag of gifts with shirts, gloves, flashlights, coffee mugs and key chains.

“Our drivers are family,” said Cari Baylor, vice president of Baylor Trucking in Milan, Indiana. “We know their names. We shake their hands. They do deliver America.”

Universal Lumpers Inc. served coffee and doughnuts and gave out car-charging devices to drivers at grocery distribution centers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

The Denver-based company, which provides labor for loading and unloading trailers, said it wanted to honor drivers “for their hard work and commitment in tackling one of our economy’s most demanding and important jobs.”

Volunteers from the California Highway Patrol, in cooperation with the California Trucking Association, distributed free lunches and soda or water to drivers at nine truck inspection stations on Sept. 15.

Fleetmaster Express Inc., a refrigerated truckload carrier based in Roanoke, Virginia, gave drivers a free bag, hat and a $50 Wal-Mart gift card.

Paper Transport Inc., based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, kicked off the week by announcing a pay increase for its over-the-road drivers and owner-operators. The move featured a 2-cent-per-mile increase and a new detention policy that pays drivers $16 an hour if they are delayed at loading docks for more than one hour. The old policy paid drivers after two hours.

“Drivers, like everyone else, do not want to be on the clock without being paid,” said Jeff Shefchik, president of Paper Transport. “This is a big step in that direction.”

At Celadon Trucking in Indianapolis, officials announced a program called WageLock, which guarantees drivers up to $1,000 a week, regardless of how many miles they drive. They also announced a mobile app that gives drivers the ability to access news and information, scan documents and manage workflow.

Truck stop operator Pilot Flying J Inc. offered free coffee and reduced meal costs during certain hours of the day, while at the Petro Stopping Center along Interstate 40 in North Little Rock, Arkansas, country singer Lindsay Lawler gave a free concert, along with a free meal, for drivers on Sept. 17.

Lawler is a spokeswoman for the Highway Angel program and the Truckload Carriers Association, which last week sponsored free driver-health checkups in several states.

TravelCenters of America created a video to express the “essentiality” of truck drivers and posted it on Facebook to reach people who may never encounter a professional truck driver as part of their daily routines.

“If you are among that group and happen to see a truck driver doing their essential work, please thank them for all they do,” said Tom Liutkus, vice president of marketing and public relations for TA in Westlake, Ohio.

Representatives of the National Tank Truck Carriers expressed “gratitude and respect” for drivers such as Robert Weller of Hahn Transportation in New Market, Maryland.

Weller recently received NTTC’s Professional Tank Truck Driver of the Year award and has driven 3.4 million accident-free miles during a 40-year career with Hahn, where he delivers petroleum and aviation fuel.

“Our industry has many important stakeholders, but none as mission-critical as our drivers,” according to a statement attributed to Harold Sumerford Jr., NTTC chairman and CEO of J&M Tank Lines, and Daniel Furth, NTTC president.

Shorepower Technologies gave truckers who registered for the company’s plug-in power service 10 free hours of parking at 62 sites across the country.

“It’s not an easy job, so if there is some benefit that drivers can get for a week, then that’s great,” said Alan Bates, vice president of marketing for Shorepower Technologies in Hillsboro, Oregon.

A. Duie Pyle Inc., a less-than-truckload carrier based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, posted photos and profiles of drivers on Facebook. In addition, company executives greeted drivers at each of the company’s nine freight terminals and warehouses where they served breakfast and cake.

Staff Reporter Eric Miller contributed to this article.