Trucker Buddy News

Trucker Buddy Pat Goes the Extra Mile

“Mrs. Pat is the best because she always has a smile on her face,” says Hannah, a second-grade student at Potomac Grade School in Potomac, IL. “Mrs. Pat,” also known as Patricia Ramsey, is a driver for FedEx Ground in Charlotte, NC, and has been a Trucker Buddy since January 2003.

Patricia also teaches the students about driver safety. Another Potomac Grade School student, Courtney, said their Trucker Bud-dy “helps us learn stuff about semis, like to go slow around curves.”

In addition to the postcards Patricia sends, the students have been thrilled to receive items such as crayons, coloring books and greeting cards from their driver.

Teacher Angie Walsh appreciates the fact that Patricia shows her students that women can have a non-traditional job, and that women are “capable of such a demanding one as trucking.” She said the children receive the postcards and then find the state on a map. Along with learning letter writing skills, the students have benefited from having someone who cares about their education and “wants them to do well,” Walsh added.

Patricia and her husband, Bobby, live in Lawndale, NC. She is one of nearly 4,000 professional drivers who share their time with elementary classes throughout the world. The only criteria to be a Trucker Buddy is to be a truck driver who is willing to send a postcard each week to a class in grades two through eight. Drivers and teachers can find out more about the program by visiting www.truckerbuddy.org or calling 1-800-MY BUDDY.

Over the Road and Pro Trucker magazines are proud sponsors of the Trucker Buddy program.