Wreaths Across America's Trucking Tributes Presents Jenny Lovering with Walmart Transportation


Professional drivers and trucking companies give so much to the nation. With them, the Wreaths Across America mission to remember, honor, and teach is possible. 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 2022, to be specific, 609 truckloads of wreaths were delivered, representing 439 different carriers.

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 2023, with over 3,700 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 of what motivates them to serve and succeed in the “Trucking Tributes” featured online and on Wreaths Across America Radio.

Jenny Lovering is the General Manager of Transportation at the Lewiston, Maine Transportation Center for Walmart. The Lewiston hub services groceries in New England and some locations in New York, with 180 drivers who, in Jenny’s words, as soon as Wreaths Across America comes up, “all want the chance to haul a load.”

Jenny’s serve and succeed story begins at Walmart as an Associate and involves hard work and determination. “I started in 2005 as an hourly associate picking orders in the warehouse. Then I went on to become a supervisor and area manager in dry shipping for about three years. In 2008, I had the opportunity to come over to the transportation operations manager position, and I knew nothing about transportation at the time. I was excited to jump in and learn, and there was much to learn. I know it’s all supply chain, but it was different going from the warehouse to the transportation department.”

2008 was also the first year Walmart got involved with Wreaths Across America. “For the last fifteen years, I’ve been lucky enough to be in this office and help with that mission. For the first eleven years or so, as the operations manager, I was in the background, building and tracking the loads, and my General Manager was leading the corporate-wide mission. The past few years, I’ve been able to take on that effort myself, and it’s been extremely rewarding, extremely busy and a lot of fun.” Jenny manages the corporate gift to Wreaths Across America from the Walmart Foundation and sixteen truckloads of veterans' wreaths destined for Arlington National Cemetery in December and other participating locations throughout the nation. “It takes a good team to manage it all,” Jenny explained. “That’s our peak season, September through the end of December, my job is split between my regular job and managing Walmart’s Corporate-wide mission for Wreaths Across America.”

Walmart’s Involvement with Wreaths Across America impacts hundreds of company employees. “We stop at about forty different distribution centers, and over one hundred drivers touch those loads to make sure they make it to their final destination, and like I said, there isn’t a driver that doesn’t want to be involved. It’s the pinnacle of their career to be chosen to participate, and that’s just the relay points.”

Second, only to the United States government, Walmart is the largest employer of military veterans, according to Lovering. “About thirty percent of my drivers here in Lewiston alone are veterans. We’ll take three loads down to Arlington, and it’s those loads that a very sought after. Here in Lewiston, one of those loads is always hauled by our Driver of the Year, who has gone above and beyond in every way and is selected from among his or her peers. It’s not always a veteran, but that’s okay because they’re supporting the mission and serving veterans. We also have one of our regional offices select a driver, and we always pick someone from the East Coast. Last year we had a driver from Alabama come up to Lewiston to do the whole convoy. It’s really special to us and something we talk about year-round.”

Jenny is passionate about the mission to remember, honor, and teach. Like thousands of other Wreaths Across America volunteers, it’s a personal journey. “My Dad passed a few years ago and was a Vietnam veteran. I would try to talk to him about it, but like so many, he didn’t talk about it, and I never heard some of his stories. He wasn’t treated the best when he came home, and you hear a lot about that with our Vietnam veterans, and it’s just heartbreaking to me. He was serving our country, and it affected him deeply. I would never want another veteran to go through anything like that. To me, it’s just as important to honor those who have passed as it is to say thank you to those serving who are still here.”

The mission to Jenny is an opportunity to build community relationships as well as personal ones. “I was able to bring my thirteen-year-old son with me last year on the convoy, “Jenny shared. “That teach part of the mission is extremely important. We need to teach our children the value of freedom. There aren’t a lot of thirteen-year-olds who are jumping up and down to go on a trucking convoy. We’re up at the crack of dawn. It’s long days and a lot of stops at schools, a lot of speeches, and talking to a lot of people, but he’s always wanted to go along. To see him and the way that it touched him, I mean, he actually got emotional a few times that week. As a mom, that was absolutely the best thing that I could have possibly experienced with my child.”

It was recently announced Jenny and Graig Morin of Brown Dog Trucking in Biddeford have joined the Wreaths Across America Board of Directors.

Thank you, Jenny, the Walmart Foundation, and all our Walmart drivers for helping us move the mission forward every year. You can hear more with Jenny in Trucking Tributes listened to every Truckin’ Tuesday at 11:00 AM and repeated at 4:00 PM (Eastern) exclusively on Wreaths Across America Radio.