Truck Pull 2

Carter Express long has made a habit of giving back to the local community. It routinely gives to charity through Wreaths Across America, food drives, fundraising dinners and the United Way.

On Aug. 27, Carter Express will be pitching in for the United Way again.

That’s when the Anderson, Ind.-based trucking company participate in the 3rd Annual United Way Human Truck Pull.

As the event’s chief sponsor, about 55 Carter employees typically partake in the truck pull every year, from truck drivers to in-house staff, says Jessica Warnke, director of marketing and communications for Carter.

Guns and buns“We’ve always been big supporters of the United Way, so when the United Way came to us a few years ago and asked us to support the event, we thought it sounded like a good way to get the community involved,” she says.

As a company, Carter Express donated $5,000 annually to the cause.

That’s in addition to the contributions its staff and drivers donated individually for participating in the pull.

“It’s just a fun event,” says Warnke, who organizes volunteers and helps plan the event. “Personally, I like the idea of bringing the community together to support an organization like the United Way. I always have a blast at the event, and it’s been personally gratifying.”

Pitching In for a Cause

Teams of 10 men or 12 men and women compete in the truck pull. Two teams at a time go head to head against each other, trying to pull the 30,000-pound truck-and-trailer combination 125 feet for a chance to win prizes. To participate, each team must donate at least $500 to the United Way.

Susan and Lowell Mitchell

Susan and Lowell Mitchell

Carter Express team drivers Lowell and Susan Mitchell, a married couple who have driven together for 10 years, have participated in the United Way truck pull every year, steering the trucks that competitors pull.

“I’m always happy to do something for a good cause,” Susan Mitchell says. “I hope the truck pull brings awareness about what United Way does for people. People at the event give great testimonies about what United Way has done for them. You don’t always think about that. They are definitely a help to people.”

When steering the truck for the truck pull, the Mitchells must be aware of people’s safety, just as they would be on the road. But the event is entertaining and full of levity, Lowell Mitchell adds.

“It’s a fun day,” he says. “We enjoy doing it. As truck drivers, we try to be givers more than receivers.”

Truck pull 1

Kim Williams, vice president, resource development for the United Way of Madison County, says the organization has set a fundraising goal of $40,000 for this year’s truck pull. Last year’s event brought in $13,000 for Madison County, but for the first time this year, the truck pull also will benefit nearby Delaware County. “We would love for each chapter to walk away with $20,000,” Williams says.

The fundraiser features food trucks, vendors and a kids cab pull.

People who benefited from the United Way share their stories, too. In that regard, “the truck pull helps put a face to what we do,” Williams says. While the United Way always focuses on income, education or health, the organization’s aims differ from community to community, depending on residents’ needs. In Madison County, the United Way alleviates poverty. In Delaware County, it focuses on youth education.

“One of the goals of this event is to connect with folks that we normally don’t connect with during the year,” Williams says. “This helps us better connect with the community and invite them to join with us. We bring people and organizations together to inspire change.”

The 3rd Annual United Way Truck Pull takes place at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, at the Anderson Airport in Anderson, Ind. All proceeds benefit the United Way of Madison and Delaware Counties. For more information, visit http://www.unitedwaymadisonco.org/truckpull2016.

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All photos courtesy of United Way except the one courtesy of Susan and Lowell Mitchell.

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newsminer.comJack Binder has braved Alaska’s famed Dalton Highway since it opened in 1974.

Now 68, Binder, a 50-year truck driver, recently retired from his CDL driver job. As he looks back on his driving achievements, he relishes the opportunity he’s had to master Alaska’s harsh conditions.

Newsminer.com captured the highlights of Binder’s career in a nice feature story.

“It’s a career that’s paid me well and given me a lot of independence,” Binder told the publication.

Originally from Bemidji, Minnesota, he first came to Fairbanks at age 18 to drive a cement mixing truck during the summer construction season.

“I came up here in ’68 and Alaska got in my blood,” Binder said. “It’s sort of hard to explain. It was a frontier atmosphere and it was an adventure coming up here.”

During the Vietnam War, Binder worked as a translator.

He missed Alaska, so in 1972 he returned there to drive a cement mixer in the summer months. It was the start of a long career in Alaska.

Binder’s father was a truck driver, too, and when the Alyeska Pipeline and the Dalton Highway opened in 1974, the father-son duo moved to Fairbanks to drive for the now-defunct Weaver Brothers truck company and deliver supplies to the camps in the North Slope oil fields.

“I fell in love with trucks at an early age. He and I were really close. I suppose I was following in his footsteps,” Binder said of his father. “I grew up with this idea that truck drivers were kings of the road and they’d stop and help everyone.”

The Dalton Highway was different then.

It was only open to commercial vehicles, the road wasn’t as straight and there was no bridge spanning the Yukon.

It was in hauling bridge beam pipes for the construction of the E.L. Patton Yukon Bridge that he fell in love with trucking.

“It just got in the blood,” he said. “Trucking is something that is easy to get into and difficult to get away from.”

However, Binder, now retired from his trucking job, has gotten away from it. But he hasn’t gone far. He decided to become a mentor and trainer at Alaska West Express, where he’s worked the last 13 years.

“It’s been a rewarding career and I guess I’m ready to be off the road,” Binder said. “It’s nice to be home every night.”

Read the rest of the story here.

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Marty steaks

Part of Drive My Way’s ‘Big Rigs and Barbecue’ Series

Marty Wickliff can grill anything. The company driver for TMC out of Des Moines, Iowa, learned to cook from his mom when he was a boy. He only improved from there.

Wickliff’s cooking skills were refined all the more at 16, when he got a job as a short-order cook at a navy base in Florida.

Marty Wickliff

Marty Wickliff

By the time Wickliff was 18, he was managing a Waffle House in Alabama. That’s where he honed his culinary chops most.

“The waitress would call out the order, and you had to remember it,” Wickliff recalls. “That job taught me how to time food preparation and get food out hot all at once.”

With the high volume at Waffle House, Wickliff learned to work quickly and memorize orders. It unleashed in him a passion for cooking on the fly. All these years later, that passion is still with him.

Wickliff’s culinary experience is diverse. In the years after Waffle House, he cooked at a five-star resort and attended culinary school for a time. While his dreams of becoming a chef weren’t to last, “I retained a lot of what I learned,” he says.

Wickliff took up truck driving nearly 6 years ago, after getting laid off from a factory job he had. His grandfather and former stepfather were both drivers, and Wickliff grew up observing them. “I always wanted to drive a truck, so I finally decided to do it,” he says.

Marty

Wickliff’s grilled London broil with bacon-wrapped cabbage

While he sharpened his cooking skills as a mere teen, today, at 49, Wickliff is a true grillmaster. He’s read up a lot on the technique and learned even more from doing it himself. Wickliff drives with a little gas grill he bought at Wal-Mart. It allows him to eat healthy while on the road.

Wickliff grills steaks, ribs, hamburgers, vegetables, fish, you name it. “My go-to is steak, but if it goes on the grill without falling through the grates, it’s pretty much fair game,” he says.

Wickliff likes his steaks rare. He seasons them, then marinates them for 24 hours in Worcestershire sauce. When it’s time to cook his steak, he grills it for about three minutes, then flips it and cooks it for five minutes more. As an accompaniment, he often grills up vegetables on the side.

Wickliff

Wickliff’s barbecued pork ribs with grilled vegetables

But Wickliff doesn’t stop at steaks. He also loves making boneless pork country-style ribs. Marinating them in 6 Pepper seasoning from Sam’s Club for 24 hours “gives the ribs a sweet and spicy bite,” Wickliff says. He also adds garlic powder and lemon pepper to the mix.

Wickliff sears his ribs on high heat, then turns the heat down to about 225 degrees and lets the ribs grill for a half hour. He tops them off with Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce and lets them cook with the sauce for 15 minutes more. To him, it’s all perfection.

“Mainly, I go back to what I learned in the restaurant business,” Wickliff says of his technique. “I’m pretty good at picking out meats. I drive solo, so I have to do all my prep work myself. To me, grilling is relaxing. Just to sit out here in my lawn chair and grill out and unwind, it’s a great way to end the day.”

All food images by Marty Wickliff; image of Marty Wickliff by Rachel Torres

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Truck driver takes amazing photosIt’s not every day that people think of truck drivers as great photographers. But perhaps it’s time for that to change. From what we’ve seen at Drive My Way, many people with CDL driver jobs have quite an eye for the angles, scenes and life streaming through their windshields every day. It’s inspired us to launch this new monthly series, “Sharpshooters,” where we’ll highlight truck drivers who happen to be great photographers.

To get “Sharpshooters” started, we interviewed one of the best truck drivin’ photographers we know, Tempie Davie. Davie, who teams with her soul mate and best friend, Frank Tucker, is leased to Gulick Trucking out of Vancouver, Wash. In this exclusive Drive My Way interview, she discusses why she shoots, her inspiration, and how others with CDL trucking jobs can take quality shots.

Truck driver takes amazing picturesWhy do you shoot?

Because I love it. Time passes so quickly, I want to remember it all. The sun may never hit that barn the same way again. You may never see a rainbow that big and bright again.

It allows me to hold onto the things that will never happen again. It also allows my friends and family to travel with me, to hopefully feel the excitement of the moment.

What inspires you?

Everything! I love finding beauty in the ordinary. For example, some people see an old barn. However, I see the lines, the light, the stories of generations long gone.

Others see an old pair of doll shoes. However, I see a little girl trying to remember where she left them and crying because her baby’s feet are cold. Furthermore, some people see just a flower. However, I see the elderly widow, wishing for just one more bouquet. Overall, it’s the story, real or imagined, that inspires me.

Truck driver takes amazing pictures

Springtime in the Gorge

What is your favorite subject to shoot?

Oh, how would I ever choose? There is beauty wherever I look. If I have to pick just one, I’d have to say the Columbia River Gorge.

It’s my home, and the beauty is ever changing. Just a shift in the light or a change in season and everything looks different. You have to experience it for yourself.

Truck driver takes amazing picturesHow did you get into photography?

My parents bought me my first camera, a Kodak Instamatic, when I was 8 years old. I was hooked! At 10, I got a Polaroid.

How fun was that to see the pictures instantly! My next camera was a Ricoh 35 millimeter, I was in heaven. I took pictures of everything. Then life happened, two kids, an alcoholic husband, work and a drug addiction. Photography took a back seat. I got my life together, raised my children and started thinking about pictures again. Before, I lost my camera to the disease of addiction, so I started taking pictures with my phone. Instantly, I was hooked again. I got my first DSLR camera for Christmas. I’m enjoying learning how to use it!

What worthy tips can you give other drivers who like shooting from the road?

If you are shooting on the fly, a fast shutter speed is your best bet. If you use a cell phone, find the manual settings for the camera on it and play with them. Learn what they do. Learn to read the light and adjust the exposure accordingly. Most importantly, just have fun. Shoot what moves you.

Truck driver takes amazing picturesWhat should a picture do?

A picture should transport the viewers to another place and time. It should convey a feeling, tell a story, record a memory. I want people to feel what I felt, wonder what I wondered and imagine the stories of the people who lived in that old house. I want my pictures to make you smile, cry, think and most of all, experience life through my eyes.

All photos by Tempie Davie. See her photos on Facebook here.

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How to Protect Yourself from the Sun When You Have a Trucking Job

It’s summer. That means a lot more fun in the sun. But frolicking in the summer sun is full of hidden dangers. If you’re someone with a CDL trucking job, you have to be even more mindful of them, too. The sun may feel nice beaming on your face, but when it blazes through the windshield, it brings added risks. Real Women in Trucking Inc. and Drive My Way share some truck driver sun protection tips for reducing sunburn and protecting yourself from harmful UV rays.

Candace Marley, a friend to Real Women in Trucking, knows the risks of sun exposure well. Her husband, Michael Marley, got the deadliest form of skin cancer, melanoma, on his face. He had it removed in 2003 and went on with his life, serving in the Army then living out his boyhood dream of becoming a truck driver.

But it wasn’t meant to last. Six years later, Michael’s cancer returned. Only this time, the melanoma had spread to his chest cavity. Within seven months of the cancer’s return, he died at age 37.

“Mike got skin cancer from long-term sun exposure,” says Candace, who got a CDL trucking job herself when Mike became too ill to work. “He was a mechanic in the Army and a truck driver, so every single day he was being exposed to the sun’s rays. And let me tell you, melanoma is a very fast killer.”

Sandi Talbott, vice president of Real Women in Trucking, is a skin cancer survivor. She and her RWIT colleague Idella Hansen urge drivers to take these 5 simple truck driver sun protection tips. It’s great advice that may just save your life.

1. Wear high-quality sunscreen

All sunscreens are not created equal. Chemical UV filters such as octinoxate and oxybenzone reportedly cause hormonal changes in animals, and one significant animal study found that the inactive ingredient retinyl palmitate may become cancer-causing when exposed to light. Beware of these ingredients on labels when shopping for sunscreen.

Warnings aside, finding the right sunscreen will set you on a strong path of sun protection this summer. In 2016, the Environmental Working Group, which monitors all sunscreens for safety and effectiveness, recommends Burt’s Bees Baby Bee Sunscreen Stick, SPF 30; All Good Sunscreen Butter, SPF 50+; and True Natural Ultra Protect 50 Antioxidant Sunscreen, Natural Coconut, SPF 50.

2. Apply enough sunscreen

Consumer Reports magazine recommends applying sunscreen 15 to 30 minutes before going outside. For liquid sunscreens, it recommends using 1 teaspoon of sunscreen for each part of your body.

Another Tip

Reapply sunscreen every two hours and after sweating or swimming. Spray sunscreens are less recommended than liquid sunscreens because of their risks for inhalation, flammability and uneven application.

3. Wear clothes that will protect you from the sun.

While others have the option of staying in the shade, people with CDL trucking jobs do not. What’s more, sun is magnified when it shines through the window, notes Real Women in Trucking’s Hansen, 66, who’s held a trucking job for 47 years.

“The left side of my body looks like it belongs to an 80-year-old woman, the right side of my body looks like it belongs to a 66-year-old woman,” she says. “It’s skin damage, very definitely.” Drivers should protect themselves by wearing long sleeves and long pants made from tightly woven fabric. Outdoors, add a hat to the mix.

4. Use a UV shield on the driver’s side window.

Fortunately, UVA-filtering window film can prevent skin damage, filtering out more than 99 percent of UVA and UVB rays while maintaining visibility.

Another Tip

Tinted window film is illegal in some states, so opt for a shield that is not tinted.

5. Wear a sun-protective sleeve over your driving arm.

Sandi Talbott of Real Women in Trucking picked up a sleeve at the Mid-America Trucking Show one year. It helps protect her driving arm against sun damage.

“Keep in mind, the sun shines year-round, even on cloudy days,” Talbott says. “If there’s snow on the ground, that reflection is magnified, too. As truck drivers, we are exposed to UV rays all day long.” This sleeve from UV Skinz (pictured) is made of stretch knit and costs $19.95 per pair.

Drive My Way is proud to partner with the membership organization REAL Women in Trucking, Inc. to help drivers match with prospective employers. Registration on Drive My Way is free for all drivers, but if you heard about us from REAL Women in Trucking, Inc., please take the time to note it in your registration.

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Smoking, Meats

Part of Drive My Way’s ‘Big Rigs and Barbecue’ Series

If Karl Pickard were a recipe, he’d make for an interesting mix: one part truck driver, one part foodie.

The company driver for ATS out of St. Cloud, Minn., started cooking in his mama’s kitchen at age 8.

He’s pushed his culinary boundaries ever since, whether he’s cooking at home or on his truck.

“Us out here on the road, we don’t have much. The one thing I do insist on is good food,” says Pickard in a smooth drawl. Pickard puts few limits on what he’ll cook, even if it means having to improvise while on the road for his CDL trucking job.

Karl and Jeanette“Everything we cook really does not have a recipe,” he says of himself and his wife, Jeanette. “We’ll look at the recipe online and get the general idea, then we take it in any direction we want to take it.”

Having a CDL trucking job doesn’t hinder Pickard’s ability to cook what he wants. He’s been at it long enough to make anything work. On the road, Pickard loves to grill truckside. On any given evening, he could be firing up brats, sausages or the stuffed hamburger Jeanette makes.

But when he’s home, it’s all about the smoker. Pickard learned to smoke meats when he was a teenager. He learned from watching his uncle and stepdad, who were “big into it.”

By now, Pickard, 57, is big into it, too. He’s smoked it all, from brisket and pork shoulder to fish and sausages. When asked what he prefers to smoke, he replies, “Everything. I’m an eater. I’m a foodie. I just like eatin.”

The Prep

Pickard loves pork short ribs most of all. He recommends first pulling off the membrane on the inside of the ribs. If the membrane is on, the dry rub won’t soak in. And for Pickard, it’s all about the dry rub.

“The rub gives the meat its flavor,” he says. “So you start with a good dry rub, like McCormick’s applewood dry rub. I add to that chipotle, cayenne powder, brown sugar and black pepper. You rub it on your ribs really thick—really thick—and put them in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours.”

When Pickard’s ribs have marinated long enough, he fires up the grill to 225 degrees. He soaks wood chips in water, getting them nice and wet so smoke develops. Then he puts his ribs on the grill and closes it up, letting them smoke for 8 to 10 hours at low temperature.

Cooking on the Truck

Pickard cooks ribs on the truck, too, but when he does, it’s quite a different process. When the ribs have Karlmarinated in the refrigerator for 24 hours, he cuts the slab into three equal pieces and places them in his Aroma cooker, one slab on top of the other. He sets them to “slow cook” for three to four hours, “until they’re nice and tender,” he says.

Then he fires up his 18-inch gas grill and cooks the ribs for about 10 more minutes per side, until they’re crispy.

“If you want sauce, I’ll bring sauce to the table,” Pickard says. “I do not sauce my ribs. I take pride in what I make. It’s the best feeling to see the looks on people’s faces while they’re eating what I cooked.”

Missed our first “Big Rigs and Barbecue” story? Check it out here.

Featured image courtesy RealAKP / Pixabay, other images courtesy of Karl Pickard.

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Be proud of your CDL trucking job!Live Trucking writer Carla Grace recently published an article that had an inspiring message for a CDL truck driver.

Grace writes:

Not many can endure the life of a trucker, but truck drivers do it together, as a community. They do it because they are the force that drives this great nation.

Grace cites a video by Texomatic Pictures and filmmaker Tex Crowley. She quotes the video saying:

Truckers are the suppliers of human necessity, be it the food we eat, materials to build our homes, or the clothing we wear.

At Drive My Way, we know how important CDL truck drivers are. Check out this video highlighting the American truck driver and share it with your friends.

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When It Comes to Grilling, This Truck Driver is Right on

Part of Drive My Way’s ‘Big Rigs and Barbecue’ Series

When Charlie Clark says she grew up on a truck, she’s not exaggerating. The long-haul truck driver, an owner operator leased to Larry Gary, really has been in trucking “for the long haul”—ever since she was 2 weeks old.

An Alabama native, Clark is a child of the highway. She was raised by her father, a truck driver. And while Clark inherited her father’s love of the road, she likewise inherited his passion for barbecue.

Charlie with her fiance, Matt Horne

Clark with her fiance, Matt Holmes

“My daddy always had a grill with us on the truck growing up,” Clark says. “I was all up in his face when he was grilling, so he could either teach me or I was going to become annoying.”

Clark’s father, a southerner from Oklahoma, had wanted a son. So he named his girl Charlie. But it didn’t take Clark long to prove that when it comes to barbecue, she can hang with the big boys.

“The first thing I did on my own was I smoked a brisket when I was 11 years old,” recalls Clark, who was home schooled on the truck yet graduated from high school a year early. “We used to make deer jerky all the time. I’ve been making jerky since I was 7 or 8. That’s like second nature to me.”

Clark recalls catching grasshoppers at age 6 and using them as fish bait; constructing makeshift grills at campsites; and barbecuing with her dad at the lake.

“I did a lot of rabbit as a kid,” Clark says. “I’d kill ‘em and skin ‘em and grill ‘em. Grilling is in my blood.”

Truck Driver Is Right on Today, Clark teams with her fiancé, Matt Holmes. When they’re off the clock from their CDL trucking jobs, Clark prefers making steaks and barbecued ribs. She coats her ribs with a homemade dry rub, marinates them in whiskey or beer and lets them sit in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Clark cooks her ribs on an 18-inch grill, cutting the slab in half so they’ll fit.

“My concoctions differ,” says Clark of her dry rubs. “Some of them will be spicy, some won’t.” Cayenne, garlic, some secret seasoning she picks up in Florida, it all depends on which meat Clark is cooking.

Clark uses her 18-inch grill for cooking nearly anything.

Clark uses her 18-inch grill for cooking nearly anything, such as these chicken-fried steaks.

So what’s Clark’s secret to making great barbecue? “Time and patience,” she says. “Anybody can cook a hot dog, but it takes patience to cook a steak or a brisket just right.”

The last time Clark cooked brisket, it was on her 18-inch grill. “Nobody’s sleeping,” she says of the experience. Clark wrapped her brisket in aluminum foil and let it cook on low heat for 29 hours. It turned out great, she says.

“Barbecuing is our time to relax and kick back,” Clark says. “It gets us outside the truck. It’s the equivalent of going home for the weekend.”

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If you know any rookie drivers who also happen to be veterans, there’s no better time to tell them about a special contest than now.

That’s because to curb the driver shortage and create jobs for military veterans, three entities are banding together to award a fully loaded Kenworth T680 truck to one worthy veteran who is new to the trucking industry. Fleet Owner Magazine recently wrote about the giveaway.

The search for America’s top military rookie driver is designed to educate veterans about the job done by the nation’s 3.5 million professional truck drivers—and provide a head start to one deserving veteran’s entrepreneurial career, program officials explained at the Mid-America Trucking Show.

“Try to find another industry that’s giving away a golden ticket for that young veteran and family,” said Eric Eversole, president of the U.S Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes Program.  “I come from a long line of truckers, and we’ve worked very hard to sell the great story of economic opportunity of this industry. We’re changing the away that Americans, service members and their families look at trucking.”

The Hiring Our Heroes Program came together with Kenworth and FASTPORT to award the new truck to a deserving veteran.

Nominations will be accepted from May 2 through June 30. Finalists will be recognized at the Great American Trucking Show (GATS) in August.

Find the best CDL trucking job for you with Drive My Way. Register today! It’s free!

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CDL Truck Drivers Are Making Wishes Come True Event

While families are sitting down to celebrate Mom on Mother’s Day, May 8th, truck drivers in Lancaster, Pa., will be lining up by the hundreds for another important cause: the 27th Annual Make-A-Wish Mother’s Day Convoy.

What began in 1990 with 40 trucks and a little boy who yearned to talk to his sister over a CB radio has blossomed into something much larger.

Today, drivers from 35 states and Canada participate in the Make-A-Wish Mother’s Day Convoy.

This year, organizers are going bigger than ever, looking to break the Guinness World Record for the longest truck convoy.

“We’re shooting for 500 trucks to smash the world record of 416,” says Ben Lee, regional director for Make-A-Wish in Susquehanna Valley.

The convoy is part of a day-long festival that draws 5,000 local residents annually. Last year’s convoy raised $300,000 for Make-A-Wish, and organizers are striving for $350,000 this year. Much of the money is raised by participating CDL permit holders, who open their hearts and wallets for the cause. Each driver donates $100 to participate in the convoy, and many raise additional contributions.

CDL Truckers Love to Help Wish Kids Dreams Come True EventRob Finch, an owner operator leased to Landstar, is one of those drivers.

He’s been lining up for the Make-A-Wish convoy for 13 years, almost as long as he’s held a CDL trucking job.

“It’s something all the trucks in this area participate in,” he says. “My first year, I just wanted to show off the truck and meet other drivers. But then you start meeting the kids and you see how much these wishes change their lives. It makes you want to get involved more and more.”

For years, Finch contently gave a $100 donation.

But four years ago, he ramped up his involvement, emailing his contacts for contributions. His emails alone reaped $3,000 this year. Finch also hosts a $20-per-plate dinner to raise funds for the event. Since 2012, he has raised $15,000 for Make-A-Wish. Donations matter, he says.

“Because a family is burdened by hospital bills or a parent had to give up a career to care for their kid, so many of these kids don’t get to take a vacation,” Finch says. “So these donations really mean a lot to everybody.”

The more donations, the more wishes that can be granted, Lee says. “The funds that the convoy has raised over 27 years has eclipsed $5 million,” he adds. “That translates to an almost incalculable number of people who have been impacted by this convoy.”

CDL Truck Drivers Are Making Wishes Come True Event

Mackenzie Kirchner and her parents, Chris and Dawn Kirchner, with Rob Finch’s truck

Every year, Lee is touched by the former “Wish Kids” who return to ride with truck drivers as the convoy motors 26 miles past scenic Amish farms. Between 75 and 100 Wish Kids return for the event annually. Finch will be riding with a Wish Kid for the first time this year—his friend’s 16-year-old daughter, Mackenzie Kirchner.

For Lee, seeing the Wish Kids get such warm support from so many is the highlight of the event.

“Many of them have struggled with feeling like a burden, or feeling unattractive, or they have all sorts of questions about faith,” he says. “You take all of that wrapped up and then for them to come out and be hugged and cheered and told they’re the heroes, I love seeing the smiles on their faces.”

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