Professional drivers and trucking companies give so much to the nation. Without them, the Wreaths Across America mission to remember, honor, and teach would be nearly impossible. Veterans’ wreaths move by planes, trains, ships, and livestock trailers, but trucks and their professional drivers transport the lion’s share of America's respect. In 2023, to be specific, 717 truckloads of wreaths were delivered, representing 332 different carriers and partners.
In November and December, one of the busiest periods of the year for the transportation sector, the Wreaths Across America mission brings drivers together in an effort of unparalleled unity. With a positive, “can-do” work ethic, these professionals make it possible for Americans to honor millions of veterans laid to rest at home and overseas. In 2024, with over 4,200 participating locations, in addition to Arlington National Cemetery, transportation logistics are immense.
Many of these drivers are military veterans and say the truckload of fresh balsam-fir wreaths is the most precious cargo they transport in their careers. Wreaths Across America shares their stories in the “Trucking Tributes” feature online and on Wreaths Across America Radio and Sirius XM, Channel 146, Road Dog Trucking.
Jim Dockery got diesel in his blood, as the saying goes, at the young age of twelve. “I’m a second-generation truck driver,” Jim explained. “I could have done something else, but my dad took me on the road and that was it. I was going to enlist in the Army, but I blew out my shoulder playing football in high school. It totally destroyed my world because I’ve had family serve in every war our great country has ever had all the way back to the Revolutionary War.”
Based out of Kodak, Tennessee Jim has been driving for a family business for eight years that’s leased to Travis Trucking. “I call him bossman, but Charlie [Hickman] treats me really good, and he’s a great boss. He’s not afraid to come out here with us and hit the gears. He’s not scared of work. We’re a smaller outfit so I have a name, not a number like some of those mega-carriers out there. I like that.” Jim says it was incredibly rewarding last year when they came to Maine to participate in Wreaths Across America as a member of the honor fleet hauling veterans’ wreaths for National Wreaths Across America Day. “It made my day to see Charlie’s smile and we were treated like one big family.”
The Wreaths Across America transportation team does their utmost best to be sure new drivers get the first driver experience to better understand the mission and the process of wreath making. That includes a tour of the balsam fir tipland where dog tags are placed as part of the Remembrance Tree program and the National Wreaths Across America Museum located in Columbia Falls, Maine. “I’m a forty-five-year-old trucker driver, a forty-five-year old man. My father-in-law is a retired Vietnam vet and when I saw that Vietnam room in the museum I broke down. That museum there is incredible.”
Jim and Charlie supported volunteer efforts on the ground in Tennessee at the Mountain Home National Cemetery. “It makes me feel good supporting our fallen veterans and I’ll never forget them until the day I pass away,” Jim expressed. “The military runs strong in both my wife’s and my family. When it comes to our veterans, I thank them every day for putting their life on the line to protect me and this country and I will respect them.”
Not to rush time away, but Jim and Charlie and hundreds of other professional drivers are already looking forward to hauling America’s respect in 2024.
Thank you, Jim, Charlie, and Travis Trucking for joining the Honor Fleet helping support the mission to remember, honor, and teach.
If you’d like to join the Wreaths Across America Honor Fleet, you can get started with a click right here!
You can hear more with Jim on Trucking Tributes, which can be listened to every Truckin’ Tuesday at 11:00 AM and again at 4:00 PM EST on Wreaths Across America Radio and Wednesday at 8:30 AM EST on Sirius XM Channel 146, Road Dog Trucking Radio.
Sponsor a wreath at the RadioNemo Wreaths Across America Page.
Discover the Trucking Tributes archive playlist on Soundcloud.com.