Vendors and partners across our industry got in on the act during Driver Appreciation Week, donating nearly $20,000 in gifts and services to help U.S. Xpress celebrate the professionals who keep goods moving better.
From rewarding work anniversaries and safe miles to serving free weekly lunches at our service centers, celebrating the great work of professional drivers is an everyday focus of team members across U.S. Xpress. That gratitude shifts into high gear during Driver Appreciation Week, when our vendors and partners get in on the act, donating everything from gift cards and iPads to offering up their grilling skills to serve something delicious for drivers.
“We always pull out all the stops for Driver Appreciation Week, but the generous support of our vendors puts it over the top,” said Lynn Quintero, vice president of driver services for U.S. Xpress. “They show up in so many ways – through donations of every kind, but also by literally showing up and working to show professional drivers how much we appreciate all they do every day.”
U.S. Xpress vendors including Webb Wheel Products, Premier Truck Group, Delta Dental, ATDMS, DClimate, and Allstate gave drivers gift cards to Target, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Amazon, as well as useful everyday items for drivers such as cordless hand vacuums, flashlights, and tire pressure gauges.
At the Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, service center, local Kenworth reps brought out the Kenworth grill and cooked up an amazing lunch for drivers. In Tunnel Hill, Georgia, Five Star Foods donated and served up a cookout feast. And at service centers and dedicated sites across the country, our partners rolled up hauling goodies to give away, including a wagonload of big-screen TVs and cooler full of tools.
“It takes a lot of people working together to keep a trucking company moving,” Quintero said. “Our partners are a big part of our success in creating great driver experiences, and they share our passion for showing drivers how much they matter.”
Throughout Driver Appreciation Week from Sept. 11-17, U.S. Xpress gave gifts to every professional driver in our fleet, hosted celebrations at our service centers and dedicated facilities across the country, and gave away prizes that ran the gamut from iPads and gift cards to cash. Every company driver received a premium duffel bag and toiletry bag, and five drivers won a $1,500 cash prize.
Celebrating drivers is also part of the U.S. Xpress culture all year long, including our popular Wednesday lunches, when office employees serve drivers at our terminals, our annual Million Miler celebrations for our safest drivers, and even recognition for drivers of the month across our businesses and brands. Driver birthdays and service anniversaries are cause for celebration, too, and every driver is awarded points they can use to buy gifts or gift cards for those milestones.
“Drivers are the backbone of our industry,” Quintero said. “Showing them that we see and value their hard work is one of the best investments we can make in serving our customers.”
