Voting for Transition Trucking award open until Nov. 1

The public will help decide who is going to be the owner of a new Kenworth T680 Advantage with a 76-inch sleeper.

From now until Nov. 1, the public can vote for the military veteran they believe deserves to be honored as the top rookie truck driver for 2018.

The four finalists for the annual Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence Award are:

• Mordaunt “Platt” Brabner, a U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy veteran who drives for TMC Transportation.
• Summar Hanks, a U.S. Air Force veteran who drives for U.S. Xpress.
• Quinton Ward, a U.S. Army veteran who drives for Werner Enterprises.
• Christopher Young, a U.S. Army veteran who drives for Stevens Transport.

Each of the finalists have posted a video on the Transition Trucking website. Click on the thumbnail of each video to place your vote.

The award aims to encourage military veterans to make the transition into the trucking industry. To be nominated for the award, the driver must be a military veteran, a current CDL holder, an employee of a carrier that has pledged to hire veterans through TruckingTrack.org, and he or she must have been first employed as a truck driver between Jan. 1, 2017, and June 30, 2018.

After nominations were received, the list was narrowed to 10 finalists in July. At GATS, the list was narrowed again to four.

The winner, who will receive the truck valued at $155,000, will be announced Dec. 14 during a ceremony at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Hall of Flags in Washington, D.C. The runner-ups will receive $10,000 each.

Gregg Softy won in 2017, and Troy Davidson won the inaugural award.