As part of the Veteran Ready Summit, Brandon Meredith was named the winner of the 2023 Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence Award.
The award is given annually to the top rookie military veteran driver in America. This year’s presentation took place on Friday, Dec. 15 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.
Meredith, a U.S. Army veteran from Spring Valley, Ill., was presented a signature edition 100th anniversary Kenworth T680 as part of the honor.
“I’m truly humbled to be up here right now,” Meredith said at the award presentation. “These veterans are all deserving, and I’ve met some lifelong friends here this weekend.”
Meredith said he’s not typically an emotional person, but when speaking of his family, it all came out.
“That’s why I get up every day,” he said. “I’m now a third-generation truck driver, and my father lost his life driving a truck. That was a hard time. I was pretty young. So (trucking is) something I’ve always wanted to do.”
🗣That’s our guy! Congratulations to FTCC grad Brandon Meredith on winning the 2023 Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence Award!🚛
The award recognizes exceptional military veterans-turned-drivers in their first year.https://t.co/33YqZtZqxt
— Fayetteville Tech (@FAYTECHCC) December 15, 2023
The other finalists for the 2023 award were:
- Todd Kraus – U.S. Army, Werner Enterprises
- Jessica White – U.S. Army, Stevens Transport
- Ondrae Meyers – U.S. Marine Corps, CRST
- LaTravis Wilcox – U.S. Marine Corps, Prime Inc.
The Transition Trucking program is a partnership of Fastport and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes program, with Kenworth providing the top award for the past eight years.
A year-long process to determine a winner includes a public voting period as well as a selection committee.
This year’s selection committee included:
- Martin Garsee, NAPFTDS
- Lindsey Trent, NextGen Trucking
- Marilyn Surber, Tenstreet
- Brad Klepper, Drivers Legal Plan
- Rich Clemente, FMCSA
- Elizabeth Barna, ESB Strategies
- Bruce Busada, Diesel Driving Academy
- Amy Bricken, Driver iQ
More information about previous winners and the Transition Trucking award is available at transitiontrucking.org. LL
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