Truck drivers perform a vital service to American communities by delivering more than 70 percent of all goods and materials. Although news reports too often focus on tractor-trailer accidents, these CDL professionals reflect the true values of truckers everywhere.
Real Women In Trucking founder Desiree Wood was recently appointed to a Transportation Research Board committee, a division of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Wood, a trucker with the Florida-based BratCat Express, plans to serve on the Freight Transportation Planning and Logistics Committee. The working group is tasked with determining best practices for fleet operations, as well as improvements to intermodal infrastructure.
“The last couple of years, I’ve been appointed to a couple of different freight advisory committees,” Wood reportedly said. “It’s great to have people that have a background in science and a passion for transportation and freight movement, but there are certain things you need somebody that actually is ‘boots on the ground.’”
The standing committee includes 38 total members, and Wood is the only person actively working as a truck driver. Committee member Michael Belzer formerly drove truck, but he now holds a position as a professor of economics at Wayne State University in Detroit.
“I find that these individuals are really trying to solve some important problems for us and need access to truck drivers’ wisdom and knowledge,” Wood reportedly said. “It’s an honor (to be appointed), but it’s an honor for the drivers to have a voice.”
Tennessee Trucking Association Names Driver of the Year
Jeff Stinson followed his grandfather’s career path after taking a job driving a hydroseed truck at 20 years old. Following that job, he took a long-haul position with Carretta Trucking in Forest City, North Carolina, until signing on with FedEx in 1992.
“My grandfather drove a truck for McKinney Bridge Co. a long time ago, and when I was little, he would take me out there, he’d set me in his lap, and he would let me steer the truck. And right then, I fell in love with trucks,” Stinson reportedly said. “I had a desire inside me. That’s just something I want to do.”
Now 55, Stinson was recently named Driver of the Year by the Tennessee Trucking Association, after being selected as a 2021 finalist by the American Trucking Associations. During more than three decades behind the wheel of heavy-duty commercial vehicles, Stinson possesses an accident-free driving record.
Virginia Trucking Association Names its Driver of the Year
After 42 years as a professional truck driver, Navy veteran Tommy Clapsaddle amassed more than 3 million accident-free miles, and the Virginia Trucking Association recently named him Driver of the Year. During his trucking career, he performed an act of heroism by rescuing a motorist from a vehicle that crashed off I-95 into a North Carolina swamp. He currently holds a truck driving position at Houff Transfer in Weyers Cave, Virginia.
Sources: thetruckers,com, timesnews.com
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