American Truck Historical Society launches hall of fame

As they celebrate 50 years of preserving the history of the trucking industry, the American Truck Historical Society has announced the creation of the American Trucking and Industry Leader Hall of Fame.

Located in the ATHS home office in Kansas City, Mo., the ATIL Hall of Fame will be home to existing industry achievement awards and a become a destination for industry members and their families as well as the general public.

“There are various awards programs out there,” ATHS Chairman Tom Mullen said. “We want those awards programs, their winners, and industry leaders to be known forever, easily found, and honored all in one trucking industry center.”

The ATIL Hall of Fame will honor all industry awards and safety recognition programs including ATHS awards, while growing through the inclusion of the entire trucking industry. Alongside the ATHS visitor center and Zoe James Memorial Library, the ATIL Hall of Fame can now invite all company and industry awards programs as part of the overall trucking industry experience.

“For too long trucking professionals have been receiving prestigious awards, only to then be forgotten,” said Laurence Gration, ATIL Hall of Fame executive director. “The ATIL Hall of Fame will allow proper recognition to continue and expand the awareness of the excellent work trucking professionals do as they contribute daily to our society.”

ATHS is the world’s largest nonprofit society dedicated to preserving the history of trucks and is international in scope, with almost 20,000 members and 100 chapters, spanning 23 countries. The Zoe James Memorial Library hosts a collection of more than 50,000 digitized and original photographs, 35,000 pieces of sales literature, and 45,000 books and periodicals, while the ATHS visitor center showcases an extensive collection of scale model trucks, engines, and trucking artifacts. LL