Pilot Flying J Founder Donates $1.25 Million To Advance Trucking’s Image Campaign
This story appears in the June 23 print edition of Transport Topics.
WASHINGTON — The trucking industry hauled in 25% of what it needs to fund its five-year image campaign — Trucking Moves America Forward — with a single contribution of $1.25 million from Pilot Flying J travel plazas founder James Haslam II.
Haslam came to a museum here to make the donation June 19 that was received by officials from American Trucking Associations, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Truckload Carriers Association. The funds will be paid out over five years.
Pilot Flying J is the nation’s largest truck stop chain, and its influence on the economy of its hometown of Knoxville and surrounding parts of Tennessee is so significant that three Republican members of Congress appeared to offer their sentiments on trucking in general and Haslam and his company, specifically.
“I wouldn’t be in the Senate today without him. He’s a big reason I chose a life of public service,” said Sen. Bob Corker, who was a college roommate of Haslam’s son Jimmy, the current CEO of Pilot Flying J.
Reps. John Duncan Jr. and Marsha Blackburn also were there.
ATA President Bill Graves said the donation would help trucking educate the public on the essential work done by the industry in supplying homes, hospitals, schools, stores and restaurants.
“Our industry serves 80% of America’s communities and handles 70% of its freight,” Graves said.
Trucking Moves America Forward was launched in March during the Mid-America Trucking Show. Industry executives have said they want to raise $1 million a year for five years to lobby government officials and educate Americans at large on the industry’s contributions.
In addition to ATA, OOIDA and TCA, the campaign is supported by the National Tank Truck Carriers group, truck and truck parts manufacturers known as ACT 1 and others.
Including the Haslam portion for the current year, worth $250,000, TMAF has so far raised $670,000 of the $1 million its managers are seeking, said Elisabeth Barna, an ATA vice president.
“We expect to raise more money than we’ve budgeted for this year,” said Barna, adding that TMAF has also received in-kind contributions of advertising and product placement.
Barna said she prefers to call TMAF a “movement” rather than a campaign, and that she and her public relations colleagues will initiate messages and react to events. TMAF officials played a two-minute video they produced, which discusses the nature of trucking.
Barna also said TMAF was involved in recent negotiations with Maxim magazine after it ran an advertisement referring to trucks and truck drivers as “serial killers.” Maxim later issued an apology and said it will run complementary TMAF ads.
Haslam said he was motivated to make the donation because of his relationships with driver customers, whom he called heroes. He said he still enjoys visiting some of the 650 stores in his chain and talking to drivers.
“It’s a privilege for us [Pilot Flying J] to do this today,” he said.
Allen Boyd, a driver for the transportation division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. who has been active in TMAF since its beginning, called the Haslam donation the “most monumental event” for the movement since its rollout.
He also thanked the truck stop industry for providing drivers with “a safe place to rest, a good meal, a clean place to shower and a bit of fuel doesn’t hurt, either.”
Duncan, whose House district includes Pilot’s headquarters, said Haslam is one of his heroes for providing employment opportunities in east Tennessee. Duncan, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said Pilot’s growth since its founding in 1958 is an example of “the American Dream coming true.”
