Trucking Moves America Forward Unveils Mascot, Launches Name Contest

Photo courtesy of Trucking Moves America Forward

As part of its efforts to improve the trucking industry's image, Trucking Moves America Forward unveiled a mascot, a big-eyed cartoon truck wearing a trucker hat, and asked the industry to name it.

Broadcasting live on Facebook from the Pilot Flying J travel center in Knoxville, Tennessee, TMAF co-chair and American Trucking Associations Chairman Kevin Burch pointed out that the movement has come a long way in the past few years.

“Our mission was to create a long-term, industry-wide movement that creates a positive image of our industry,” he said, whether that be union or non-union drivers, owner-operators or fleets, suppliers, and customers.

“If we could all come together with a simple message: We are safe and we have the data to prove it. We are essential … we care about environmental issues … and it's a great career option.”

Last summer, Burch said, at the National Truck Driving Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, he was impressed by their duck mascot.

“It was big and it was impressive. I watched the crowds, the kids, the parents, the significant others that were at that convention center take awe of this mascot. It was an attention grabber. As I wear this ‘I love trucks' button I've worn for years, it's an attention grabber. I thought, ‘TMAF needs a mascot. We need to get an attention grabber.'”

But the mascot needs a name. So TMAF is asking for name ideas to be sent to [email protected]. For the next month, they will collect the names, then come up with a list of finalists, and put it to a vote. Keep an eye on the Facebook page: Facebook.com/TruckingFWD for more.

Related: Trucking Moves America Forward Celebrates Third Year

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Uber Launches Uber Freight for Owner-Operators, Small Fleets

Owner-operators and small fleets can find loads via their mobile devices. Photo: Aether Films, courtesy Uber Freight

With the official launch of Uber Freight, Uber is looking to transform the world of freight transport much as it has changed the world of taxis with its ride-sharing app.

After years of other companies trying to offer what are often nicknamed “Uber for trucking” freight-matching services, Uber itself is launching a load-matching app it says will make “logistics and transportation as magical as pressing a button and getting a taxi,” according to Eric Berdinis, product lead for Uber Freight.

Berdinis emphasized in an interview with HDT that Uber Freight will address many of the pain points faced by owner-operators and small fleets (up to about 10 trucks) as they strive to keep up a flow of well-paying loads and keep their trucks moving profitably.

Rumors have swirled about the new service since Uber set up a minimal website for it late last year and hired a number of people from existing brokerage companies. One thing that Uber Freight is not — at least not yet — is shippers using an app to call a self-driving truck to pick up their load. Nor is it running its own fleet of trucks. A widely circulated photo of a rig with an Uber Freight logo on the trailer, recently tweeted by Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, was nothing but a marketing prop, a backdrop for Uber Freight's recent owner-operator recruiting and driver appreciation events.

"It is pretty transferable to the freight world, where there are infinite variables and infinite things that go wrong.”

“Uber has expanded from moving people to moving food with the Uber Eats product to moving things with the Uber Rush product, and Uber Freight is the next foray into the world of transportation and logistics,” Berdinis said.

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