Honoring Our Veterans

Jeff Edwards, a London, Ky.-based driver for Schneider National

Every year since 2002, Daimler Trucks North America employees at the Freightliner Trucks manufacturing plant in Cleveland, North Carolina, have paid tribute to U.S. veterans by transforming a Freightliner truck into a super-sized symbol of the company’s respect for veterans.

Plant employees volunteer their time to help coordinate the truck design. In 2011, the Ride of Pride artwork was designed to show support for active-duty personnel, retirees and families who have lost someone in service to the United States, as well as for prisoners of war and those still missing in action.

Jeff Edwards with Bob Penn (president of NC chapter 6 of Rolling Thunder)

Some employees join the truck on its 400-mile ride from the plant to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., for the Ride of Pride event. The one-of-a-kind Freightliner Ride of Pride truck is escorted by hundreds of motorcyclists as part of an annual Memorial Day ceremony honoring veterans, POWs and MIAs. Before its Memorial Day weekend trip, the truck tours North Carolina, making stops to pay tribute in several communities.

A former shift manager at the Cleveland Truck Manufacturing Plant—who is also a Vietnam vet—proposed the project in 2001 when he and other employees were looking for a way to honor veterans as Memorial Day approached. Initially the idea was to decorate a Freightliner truck and drive it to the local veterans’ hospital for a visit. From there—with the support of plant management, Daimler Trucks North America, vendor partners and the community— the idea took off. Though the founder retired from the company in 2009, he continues to serve as project lead, assisted by another Freightliner employee who is also a Vietnam veteran.

Every year, Freightliner Trucks customers customize one of their fleet trucks for this special event, then put it into service after the Ride of Pride.