Truckload Carriers Association Awards Scholarships

Alexandria, Virginia:

The Truckload Carriers Association Scholarship Fund continued its long tradition of providing financial aid to truck drivers, their spouses, children or grandchildren by awarding eighteen college scholarships, amounting to $38,500, for the 2005-2006 academic year. The scholarships were awarded on the basis of need, academic excellence, major field of study and quality of an assigned essay. Special consideration is given to those students studying in the field of transportation.

“The Scholarship Trustees are proud to have been able to award scholarships to so many deserving students,” stated Don Orr, Chairman of the Scholarship Fund. “Thanks to a successful fundraising effort and the generosity of the trucking community we were once again able to award eighteen college scholarships.”

Recipients Receiving Memorial Scholarships in honor of Thomas Welby and Kai Norris in the amount of $3,000 are:

• Joleen Kotnik, is receiving a TCA scholarship for the second year. She works in the Human Resources department of Anderson Trucking Services and hopes to continue working for Anderson after graduation as a fleet manager. Being employed by a trucking company has been one of her most rewarding experiences.
• Suzanne Hansen, a student at the University of Kansas, wrote that her father, who is a truck driver, is both a hero on the highway and a hero in her heart. Her first hand experience with trucking has taught her that truckers provide the crucial link in getting goods to customers.

Recipient of our Truck Writers of North America Scholarship of $2,500 is:

• Natasha Vaughn has seen the trucking industry positively impact many of her family members. Her uncle, step father, two aunts, husband and father-in-law all work in trucking. Vaughn wrote, “When some think of the trucking industry they think of big trucks as a mode of transportation. I think of so much more!”

Recipients Receiving $2,000 Scholarships are:

• Amanda Berry is the daughter of two owner-operators whose father taught her that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. She is currently a business major and hopes to do environmental work that will make a difference in the business world after graduation.
• Amanda Chambers, an applied meteorology student as James Madison University credits her summer employment with Lawrence Transportation Systems with sparking her interest in earning a minor in business. She said the experience taught her the importance of effective oral communications and writing.
• James Davis, a student in business and sports management at Bowling Green State University, literally grew up in trucking industry attending safety meetings with his father, the VP of Safety for Jet Express. Now James has his own connection with trucking working part-time as a package handler for UPS, he hopes to use the logistics principles he’s learned in the professional sports industry after graduation.
• Janna Davis watched her father’s evolution in trucking as he moved from driver to dispatcher, and finally, to his current position of operations manager and learned alot about the industry. As she learned more about truck transportation she became interested in the insurance side of the business and hopes to work in large truck insurance when she graduates from Troy University.
• Kara Dean is the daughter of a driver who has accumulated 2 million safe miles. Her father’s experience made her realize that “America moves on the wheels of semi-trucks.” She currently works in the accounting department of the company her father works for and she hopes to continue to contribute to the industry as an accountant when she receives her degree.
• April Godbee thanks the trucking industry for allowing her to pay for her college tuition after she transferred to be at home with her father, a trucking industry employee of 35 years who was suffering from cancer. She paid her tuition with a job at her father’s company where she gained invaluable knowledge about the business world.
• Alexis Hair began working as an operations assistant at Shaffer Trucking to finance her college education, but quickly learned the benefits of the job went far beyond the paycheck. Her real world experience at Shaffer allowed her to solve problems, work in a real world business environment and observe outstanding management skills in her fellow employees. She found that the job truly complimented her classroom experience.
• Sherry Hanson is a single mother with two small children who has benefited from the trucking industry personally and academically. Her position as a sales representative in the trucking industry has allowed her to achieve things she never thought possible and enstilled in her an enthusiasm for trucking which she is passing on to her children.
• Renee House, the daughter of an owner-operator, gained insight into her business classes at Arcadia University through the trucking industry. She found her knowledge of trucking helped her to better understand economics and the importance of good business acumen in being an owner-operator like her dad.
• Travis Levie says that the trucking industry has made him a stronger, more responsible person. His father’s work as a truck driver has increased Travis’s responsibilities during the time when his dad is on the road, which has helped make him a more reliable person and a better college student. He thanks his father for instilling in him the belief that he can accomplish anything.
• John McDonald has been working in transportation since he graduated from high school starting at UPS and now at U.S. Xpress and he hopes to continue building a career in the field once he earns his degree. Though he has been presented with opportunities outside the transportation field he finds that the challenges he faces everyday keep him fascinated and eager to continue exploring transportation.
• Melissa Miser has grown up in the trucking industry, both parents work in trucking and she hopes to start a career as a trucking advocate after graduation from Ashland University. Melissa hopes to make a difference in the industry through government involvement; her ultimate goal is to become a United States Senator and work through her position to further trucking.
• Shawna Porter, a business student at Arkansas State University, says she’s learned a lot about the business and operations side of trucking from her father who is an owner-operator. She knows that working in the trucking industry can be demanding, but she also understands that it is what her father loves doing.
• Desiree Taylor a political science/business administration major at the university of Akron is thankful to the trucking industry for the consistent employment of both her parents. Their work in the industry has reminded Desiree of the importance of trucking, a fact she noted while ordering books for her classes, realizing that without trucks she would not have these important materials.
• Kimberly Upchu, a student at the University of Mississippi, noted that her father has actually had more time for his family since he became a truck driver with Swift Transport. His trucking career has allowed him to earn more money and chose some of his hours so he can be more available for his family, a fact that Kimberly enjoys.