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 4,600 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.

Our military is on the move throughout our country supporting disaster relief efforts and on deployments overseas in areas of conflict. There are trucking companies dedicated to moving military personnel and equipment. One such company is DDS Express/Kaplan and professional driver Ashley Hensley was back home in Kentucky over the weekend after driving in parts of North Carolina recently devastated by Hurricane Helene. “The pictures and videos you’ve seen on TV really don’t do it justice at all,” Ashley described. “People aren’t even talking about it, but parts of southern Virginia and Tennessee got hit hard too. Really the whole line down through there to the coast.” Ashley said his normal trip from Kentucky to the area of North Carolina where he needed to be would have taken six hours and it took him twelve and a half hours because of all the road closures and washed-out bridges on alternate routes. “When I say they got hit bad, I mean the floods had peeled the asphalt up and it was setting on peoples’ porches, houses were carried downstream, I mean it was bad and people don’t realize the amount of damage there actually is. Some people were just stranded and cut off from the rest of the world.”

Ashley has been a professional driver for over twenty-five years having grown up in the industry. “My mom and stepdad ran team together for a long time and I rode in the truck as a kid. It kind of got into my blood early.” The career has appealed to him ever since. “You don’t punch a time clock every day and you’re not sitting behind a screen,” Ashley shared. Yes, you have to be on time for your deliveries and pickups, but you can set your own schedule a lot of the time, and being able to see the different parts of the country has been great.”

Ashley never served in the U.S. military but has veterans in his family. “My uncle retired out in 2002, and he was part of the motor pool here at Fort Knox. I used to go on the base a lot with him when I was a kid. He’s now passed away and buried at Fort Knox. In fact, I tried to get that run but the same person’s been doing it for a couple of years. I’ll get my name on that waiting list.” ’That run’ refers to the truckload of veterans’ wreaths destined for the headstones of our fallen. You might have thought that Ashley heard of Wreaths Across America through his years of transporting military personnel, but it was meeting professional truck driver and country music performer Tony Justice at a truck show in Kentucky that prompted him to get involved as a member of the Honor Fleet. “I knew he was big into Wreaths Across America too, so I finally made the right connections and found out how to get involved. Last year was my first year and this year will be my second. My first experience was amazing. You don’t expect the welcome and the greeting that you get when you get there in Maine. You feel right at home there. I got to make my own wreath and of course you put a wreath on the front of the truck. Hats off to the companies like Walmart and Tyson Foods who donate to make it all possible is incredible. The whole experience up in Maine is incredible but when you start delivering the loads that’s something too. The people are great and they’re happy to see you. Rolling Thunder got involved and they have police escorts involved.”

Ashley is passionate about his involvement with Wreaths Across America and has already talked with friends in the business to get them involved, and that’s how the mission grows.

Thank you, Ashley and DDS Express/Kaplan, for 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 Ashley 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.

Discover the Trucking Tributes archive playlist on Soundcloud.com