Trucker Buddy News

‘Buddies’ bring truckers to life

Do you remember the third grade? Trucker Buddy Drivers of the Month Carroll and Dora Bean remember, and they share their third-grade experiences with their class in Rock Springs, WY. For the past seven years, Linda Merrill’s students at Overland Elementary School have benefited from the Beans’ correspondence.

“Interstate 80 can be seen through our classroom window, and my students see lots of trucks on a daily basis,” Linda says. “Carroll and Dora made the drivers inside those trucks come alive. They find many interesting places to visit, from the ostrich farm in Arizona to the cotton fields of Texas. They wrote about and sent photos showing how maple syrup is made in Vermont, from tapping the trees and boiling the sap to making candy and bottling syrup. We poured the syrup they sent over ice cream just like Carroll and Dora did when they were in third grade.”

“They make sure we do the best we can,” writes a student named Holly.

The Beans live in Alburg, VT and are owner-operators leased to FedEx Custom Critical in Green, OH. They both competed in the 2005 Vermont Truck Driving Championships. Carroll placed first and Dora placed second.

Carroll and Dora and nearly 4,000 other professional drivers are pen pals 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 (800) MY BUDDY.

Each Trucker Buddy Driver of the Month receives a personalized jacket, along with a check for $300 to spend on the class and $200 in Trucker Buddy merchandise, compliments of ACS-Multi-Media. Over the Road and Pro Trucker magazines are proud sponsors of the Trucker Buddy program.