Five good things that happened in trucking this week—Dec. 22

In just a few days, families all over the country will come together, sit down at dinner tables, and open gifts from under the tree. In preparation, the trucking industry continues to work hard to make sure families have what they need to celebrate. This special holiday edition of five good things looks at what happened in trucking this week.

Transervice employees donate to the Salvation Army

Employees of Transervice Logistics wrapped up truckloads of toys to be delivered to their 124 locations across the country to children and grandchildren, newborns to 13-year-olds, of company employees. In addition, the company purchased more than 150 gifts for donation to their local divisions of the Salvation Army.

“For over 50 years, Transervice has been delivering early holiday presents to our employees’ children and grandchildren at our facilities across North America,” said Sean Schnipper, marketing and social media manager at Transervice. “The elves in our corporate headquarters also packed over 30 boxes full of wrapped gifts for our local Salvation Army to brighten the holidays for children in the community.”

From left: Alex Lafaras, CFO and EVP; Jeanne Spellman, executive assistant; Jay Scherr, TMT parts administrator; Sean Schnipper, marketing and social media manager; Regina Snyder, claims and risk management administrator.

XPO Logistics, Elves & More spread joy with 1,000 new bicycles

XPO Logistics spread holiday joy this week with Elves & More of Northeast Ohio. This will be the 15th year that XPO has supported Elves & More in surprising entire neighborhoods with children’s bicycles at Christmastime.

Tim House, co-founder of Elves & More, shared that they assembled and delivered 1,000 bicycles to three underprivileged neighborhoods in the greater Akron area.

“Our employees like nothing better than to give back to the communities where they live and work," said LaQuenta Jacobs, chief diversity officer for XPO Logistics. "Elves & More is a way for us to make a heartwarming impact close to home.”

House noted that the organization will be without long-standing board member Chris Bott, who died earlier this year. Bott was VP of operations with XPO and “brought more value than I can quantify to the table,” House said.

FleetPride presents $30,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

FleetPride recently presented a $30,000 donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital after successfully launching the company’s first ever GivingTuesday campaign. The funds donated will support the lifesaving mission of St. Jude: Finding cures. Saving children.

“I am incredibly proud to be a part of this great organization and delighted with how quickly our employees and customers rallied around our first GivingTuesday effort,” said Victoria Roberts, senior director of marketing at FleetPride, who presented St. Jude with the check.

FleetPride kicked off its 2021 GivingTuesday efforts on Nov. 30 by encouraging customers and employees to make a purchase through the new FleetPride.com, with a percentage of online sales from that day benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Because of generous donors, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food, so they can focus on helping their child live.

“Working together to raise funds for this cause is something the entire team was honored to be a part of,” said Mike Duffy, CEO of FleetPride. “This time of year, we have so much to be thankful for. To give back as a team, with the support of our customers, is incredibly rewarding for us.”

OOIDA delivers gifts to Kansas children’s hospital

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), Target, and Elite Comics partnered to deliver a truckload of toys to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.

Marty Ellis, who drives OOIDA’s tour trailer, the Spirit of the American Trucker, arrived at the Target in Mission, Kansas, to volunteer his services and deliver sacks of toys and other goodies by the dozen.

Marty Ellis was the superhero transporting donated toys to Children’s Mercy Hospital in OOIDA’s tour trailer, the Spirit of the American Trucker.

According to LandLine, William Binderup, owner of Elite Comics, collects money throughout the year. Raffles, exclusive books/covers and celebrity appearances in the store are among the ways Binderup collects funds. This year, Binderup raised $28,000 during his 28th year in business. Next year, he plans to raise $29,000, then $30,000, and so on. When asked why he does it, Binderup said he thinks about kindness.

“That’s what life is all about,” Binderup told LandLine. “If you can just be kind to other people. That’s the only thing that matters.”

Ellis, along with Lewie Pugh, EVP of OOIDA, delivered the toys to Children’s Mercy Hospital in a superhero-Santa’s sleigh-Western Star truck hybrid.

“I think every driver out there would benefit from just getting involved, whether it’s your local church or local fundraiser of some sort, because it really does make you more part of the community,” Ellis said. “That’s why I enjoy getting involved in things like this. I just kind of feel honored that we were able to be just a small part of it.”

Old Dominion Freight Line donates $100K to Toys for Tots

Old Dominion Freight Line reported to Trucking Moves America Forward that the company, based in Thomasville, North Carolina, made a $100,000 donation to Toys for Tots this past year. The company hosts more than 80 Toys for Tots toy drives annually at the corporate office and across the company’s vast network of service centers.

On Dec. 20, Old Dominion Freight Line made a donation to Toys for Tots consisting of 8,800 toys and 41 bikes. According to a tweet from the company, 75 of its service centers participated in the annual toy drive.