Military veteran gets a Kenworth T680

The Kenworth T680 Davidson won features a 76-in. sleeper and a Paccar MX-13 engine. Kurt Swihart, marketing director for Kenworth, noted this truck features "all the bells and whistles" and is designed to help fleets improve driver retention. "Turnover in an incredible cost in lost recruiting and training dollars plus missed loads," he told Fleet Owner. "Anything we can do to help them reduce those costs will be a win for fleets."

Troy Davidson, who won the Kenworth T680, started driving for Werner just over a year ago. "I wanted a different challenge and to see what our country has to offer," he told Fleet Owner. "This truck is a life altering event for me. I hope to have my own small fleet one day but still work for Werner. They've taken care of me."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce held the Transition Trucking: Driving For Excellence contest winner announcement event at its headquarters in downtown Washington D.C., on a day when the mercury dipped to a frigid 18 degrees Fahrenheit.

Russell Hardy, a tanker driver for Trimac Transportation and one of the three finalists for the Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence award, spent four years in the Navy and 16 years in the Army driving Heavy Equipment Transporter (HET) tractors hauling Patriot missile systems. “The reason I joined the trucking industry is that it offered a shorter transition period to a military career and I didn’t have to wear a helmet while driving,” he told Fleet Owner.

Troy Davidson joined the Navy out of high school and served for six years, becoming a jet engine mechanic – eventually working with the famed “Blue Angels” aerial acrobatics team for a time. “That gives you an idea of what kind of work ethic he possesses,” one of Davidson’s family members told Fleet Owner.

Finalist Kevin Scott, a driver for flatbed operator TMC Transportation, served in the U.S. Army as a 15 Tango Blackhawk helicopter mechanic and crew chief. “Everyone thinks the pilots are in charge of a Blackhawk; that bird belonged to me,” he explained to Fleet Owner. The reason Scott joined trucking after his military career is he couldn’t stand the “monotony” of a five-day a week stay-in-one-place job. “Though I am based out of Gulfport, MS, I really live in my truck; I’m driving all the lower 48 states.”

The Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence campaign, launched back in the spring, is part of an overall effort to inspire the hiring of more military veterans, National Guard members, and military reservists into the trucking industry. Trucking companies nominated a range of drivers throughout the year, with an independent selection committee comprised of representatives from motor carriers, driver training schools suppliers, and trade associations selecting 10 preliminary finalists; a group later winnowed down to three.

Kevin Burch (at left) president of Jet Express Inc. and current chairman of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), chats with Brad Bentley (at right) president of Fastport. “Trucking has a story to tell,” Burch said. “And who better to tell it than the military veterans in our industry?”

“We’re happy to see that the trucking industry continues to play a huge part in helping veterans find meaningful employment following their military service,” said. Eric Eversole, president of Hiring Our Heroes and also a vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Military veterans will take their core values and apply them to an industry that shapes America's future.”

“I am a truck person,” noted Shannon DiBari, chief operation officer for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, at the event. “So whomever wins it [the new Kenworth] may have to arm wrestle me for it.”

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Parker noted that America's veterans are “some of the most talented and driven people on Earth. They are problem solvers and innovators on the battlefield and in boardroom. It makes good business sense to hire them and we as a nation will be better for it.”

Kurt Swihart, marketing director for Kenworth, stressed to Fleet Owner that driver-related expenses are the number one cost for fleets. Yet the industry is also suffering from a shortage of not just drivers but truck technicians, too. “Anything we can do to help attract and retain both drivers and technicians will not only help fleets but our dealers, too,” he said.

Swihart awards Davidson the keys to the brand-new Kenworth T680 sitting parked on the street outside the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building.

Werner Enterprises sent a cavalcade of managerial support to the Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence event. Left to right: Rick Buchholz, assistant director of recruiting; Troy Davidson, the contest winner (holding his new Kenworth T680 keys); Lauren Woods, military program manager; and Jim Morbach, Werner's vice president of recruiting.

Davidson promptly showed off his new Kenworth T680 and provided television interviews as well. 

Davidson (at left) gets well wishes from ATA Chairman Kevin Burch.

Davidson and Kenworth's Swihart share a laugh during the hectic Hiring Our Heroes media event.

All prepped and ready to roll: Davidson began offering rides to some of the event participants in his new Kenworth T680.