Trucker Buddy News

Driver Ray Nations Brings Nation to Students

For eight years Ray Nations has been bringing his Trucker Buddy class with him as he travels across the country. The students might not be in the cab of the truck, but as their teacher, Eleanor Dasenbrook, says, “Ray’s correspondence allows my students to travel this great country of ours vicariously.”

Ms. Dasenbrook is the teacher for Project Pathways, a special education class on the campus of Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Arlington, VA. She nominated Ray Nations for the “Driver of the Month” distinction because of his “friendly, informative and richly detailed letters,” and because he includes character-building values along with his “strong work ethic and interesting and often humorous trucking experience.”

Students Daisy and Esmeralda supported Nations’ nomination with their own letter. “He tells us how big the truck stops are, where he eats, and how he gets creative in moving families’ belongings because his truck can’t get close to their homes,” they wrote. These students have learned about more than the trucking industry; they have an insight into the household moving industry.

Nations lives in Lightfoot, VA and is an owner-operator leased to Mayflower Transit (Fenton, MO). He is one of nearly 4,000 professional drivers who share their time with elementary classes worldwide. The only criteria to be a Trucker Buddy is to be a truck driver willing to send a postcard each week to a class in grades two through eight. Drivers can learn more about the program by visiting www.truckerbuddy.org or calling 1-800-MY BUDDY.

Trucker Buddy Ray will receive a personalized jacket, along with a check for $300 to spend on the class and $200 in Trucker Buddy merchandise,
Over the Road and Pro Trucker magazines are proud sponsors of the Trucker Buddy program.