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.
