Nominations sought for Transition Trucking award

The search for America’s top military rookie truck driver for 2019 is on.

For the fourth consecutive year, the Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence award will go to a new truck driver with a military background. The nomination process for the 2019 award began March 19 and ends on June 25.

The winner will receive a 2019 Kenworth T680 with a 76-inch sleeper, which is valued at $155,000.

To be eligible for the award, the truck driver must:

• Be a legal resident of the continental United States.
• Be a military veteran or a current or former member of the National Guard or Reserves.
• Have graduated from a PTDI-certified or NAPFTDS or CVTA member driver-training school and be a current CDL holder.
• Have been employed by any for-hire carrier or private fleet that has pledged to hire veterans.
• Have been first employed as a CDL driver between Jan. 1, 2018, and June 20, 2019.
• Agree to all of the award rules, including attending the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas.

A nomination form can be found here.

The top 10 will be announced on July 23, and that group will be narrowed to three during GATS on Aug. 22-23 in Dallas. Then a public vote will begin on Oct. 1, and the winner will be announced in December as part of a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

The selection committee will determine the top 10 based off the nominee’s:

• Availability for loads.
• On-time delivery.
• Highway safety performance.
• Customer relations.
• Work record.
• Military service record.
• Nonjob related activities/community service.

The award was created by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Heroes program, Fastport, and Kenworth.

Previous winners were Quinton Ward in 2018, Gregg Softy in 2017 and OOIDA member Troy Davidson in 2016.