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 4,909 participating locations, in addition to Arlington National Cemetery, transportation logistics were 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.

As the time flies toward National Wreaths Across America Day, Saturday, December 13, 2025, we also get closer to knowing who the winner will be of a brand-new Kenworth T680 truck donated as part of the Transition Trucking Driving for Excellence through Fastport and the U.S Chamber of Commerce Hiring Our Heroes program.

A communications and marketing specialist, Brad Bentley, was introduced to Fastport through his involvement with the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) over ten years ago. He explained the evolution of the relationship between Fastport and Wreaths Across America. “Fastport is a technology company with deep expertise in the military and transportation industries. We build digital tools for veteran service organizations, and we’re probably best known for our resume engine for Hiring Our Heroes, which will convert a military job into civilian language, but we’re also proud that our technology has been used to create an e-commerce platform for Wreaths Across America, giving them better outreach.”

The Department of Defense at the time was challenging corporate America to step up because the unemployment numbers for military veterans were so high. Supporting job creation opportunities for military veterans was a personal call to action for Brad and the other professionals at Fastport. “My dad was one of seventeen children growing up during the depression, and he served in World War II. The boys either served in World War II or the Korean War. It fit nicely, too, with our CEO, Bill McLennan, who was a Marine. The work we’ve done over the last decade has been very rewarding. Wreaths Across America is part of a big ecosystem out there of people who want to do something to help support our military families. It’s a big family.”

Through supporting military veterans in their transition to the civilian workforce, Fastport discovered many of these individuals possessed a robust entrepreneurial spirit. “A fairly large percentage of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines would talk to us about different job opportunities in the trucking industry and said they’d like to own their own business. We went back to the drawing board on that, and we said What can we come up with, where not only can we get people to come into the industry, but provide them a path forward?” Brad shared. “We thought what would be a total game-changer that would set someone up to be their own business owner, and we said What if we had a Class A truck donated?”

Enter PACCar, Incorporated, the owner of the Kenworth and Peterbilt truck brands. “This was back in 2016, and Kenworth graciously got us started with the donation of the T680 truck, and they’ve been with us ever since. The contest is called Transition Trucking Driving for Excellence.”

That beautiful truck will be rolling up to the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, September 18, as Fastport and its partners and supporters, including Wreaths Across America with the Mobile Education Exhibit, hold a two-day special event where the twelve semi-finalists will be narrowed down to the top four finalists. “That evening we’ll tell the stories behind those twelve men and women, what they did in the military, how they made it to the trucking industry, and as always there are some really tremendous stories that come out of that. The next day we’ll visit the manufacturing plant in Ohio, where the Kenworth T680 truck is made.”

The winner of the Transition Trucking Driving for Excellence contest will be revealed in Washington, D.C., on the Friday evening before National Wreaths Across America Day. “That’s intentional, by the way,” Brad expressed. “When we did this ten years ago, and brought people to Washington, D.C., we wanted to encourage them to stick around and experience the magic of Arlington National Cemetery, and we’ll always do that. It doesn’t matter to us if it’s the second Saturday or the third Saturday of the month; we’ll always be giving that truck away the night before we lay wreaths at Arlington.”

This is the list of the previous winners of the Transition Trucking Driving for Excellence contest. Wreaths Across America wishes all the semi-finalists the very best of luck!

Thank you, Brad, Fastport, Kenworth and all of your supporters for your commitment to our veterans through the Transition Trucking program, and 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 Brad on Trucking Tributes, which can be listened to every Truckin’ Tuesday at 10:00 AM and again at 4:00 PM EST on Wreaths Across America Radio and on Tuesdays at 9:00 AM ET / 8:00 AM CT as part of RadioNemo’s Road Gang Radio, streaming at RadioNemo.com , iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Facebook. You can also catch all of RadioNemo's content on-demand on your favorite podcasting platform.

Discover the Trucking Tributes archive playlist on Soundcloud.com