Every year when National Truck Driver Appreciation week rolls around, the team at Sweetie Boy Transportation takes a step back to think of all of the drivers that make our company move. Our team not only consists of CDL- A licensed truck drivers, but we also employ single-vehicle delivery drivers, AutoPilots and non-CDL two car haulers. With such a great team with a variety of skills, taking the time to celebrate their accomplishments is a high priority.
Sweetie Boy Transportation has five hubs across the eastern United States, located in Cleveland, Ohio; Rochester, New York; Newburgh, New York; Dundalk, Maryland; and Richmond, Virginia. Because of this, Sweetie Boy has a large staff ranging from Connecticut to North Carolina. Sweetie Boy Hub managers Zach Williams, Shawn Twargotski, Jennifer Finnegan, Malachy Hughes, and Mere Little discussed more about being a hub manager during National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. Excitement was high all around, but the main focus were the AutoPilot gift bags. Mere Little from Richmond mentioned, “I am most excited about giving out the t-shirts! Our drivers ask for t-shirts to support our brand all year long, and it’s exciting that they’re able to get them”. Shawn Twargotski also mentioned the gift bags saying, “I’m most excited to see how the APs feel about it and seeing their reactions to the gifts SB set up for them, not every company appreciates their employees like SB does so it is nice to see”. This year’s AutoPilot gift bags contained special driver appreciation t-shirts, a Sweetie Boy sticker, a WWTD ( What Would Tyler Do) bracelet, a thank you card, and other small gifts.
Driver appreciation doesn’t stop when the week is over, as our staff works year-round to help Sweetie Boy maintain their mission of delivering vehicles. Our drivers made amazing strides last year (2022) with our CDL haulers delivering 73,000 cars and driving over 3 million miles, and our AutoPilot team delivering 87,000 cars over 8.2 million miles. Jennifer Finnegan in Newburgh spoke about her passion for driver appreciation, “Every week I buy my own treats for the treat box just for my drivers just in case they get hungry out there and it’s my way of showing them I care”. Shawn goes the extra mile, and goes into detail about how he helps his haulers by saying, “ We pull cars in the mornings, if we have the time to check fuel we let them know if they need gas or not, and stage cars at night so they can leave early”. At Sweetie Boy, our office staff does their best to understand the struggles our drivers may go through, Mere Little explains, ”I try to thank them whenever I see them. It’s hard to be out there on the road all day by yourself. It’s important to reiterate they are part of a team, part of something bigger. I listen to their struggles with traffic, wait times, and crazy people out on the road to better understand what they go through on a daily basis. This reinstates my great appreciation for everything they do”. Zach Williams in Dundalk gets personal with his drivers by saying, “When i know they have a lot of stuff going on personally I try to cheer them up and give them a hug if they need it and buy them donuts and coffee in the morning or lunch in the afternoon…You never know what someone going through and sometimes they just need someone pull up a chair and listen”. While our CDL drivers have already exceeded last years’ miles driven, it’s hard not to always want to celebrate such a hard working team.
What does it take to be a great hub manager? Malachy in Webster mentioned feeling a competitive spirit, “We have multiple hubs and although I want them all to thrive I want to be the best one”. Shawn states that being a hub manager involves continuous learning, “Knowing when a truck driver or AP comes to my hub they know they’re going to be taken care of. I’m not one to sit around; I pull cars, park cars, move cars around on the lot to keep organized, while also learning new things everyday to make myself better, whether it be getting to know an AP or something within logistics”. Zac knows that it takes an effort to be the best you can be by saying, “I just try to do better than the day before. I give my company, office staff and drivers 150% of me every day. I’m hoping I can show someone else coming up that if I can turn my life around then so can you and I’m living proof of that”.
During this week it’s important to recognize how much our truck drivers do. There are over 3.9 million truck drivers in the United States, delivering goods from foods, to furniture to vehicles. Jennifer acknowledges this by stating, “Appreciating drivers is important because without them we wouldn’t have half the stuff we have”. Sweetie Boy’s truck drivers and AutoPilots are always at work helping Sweetie Boy fulfill their duties, and the office team could not be more grateful for the drivers that deliver vehicles every day. This appreciation resonates deeply with Zac, “I really just want to thank the CDL hauler and Autopilot for everything they do good bad or ugly we are in this as a team and i just hope they all know how much they mean to me, and without them there is no Sweetie boy Transportation nor a 9930-BWI hub. So thank you drivers for EVERYTHING!”
A great big thank you to our hub managers that took the time to speak with me about driver appreciation, and an even bigger thank you for all of the car haulers that are able to make what we do possible. This gratitude runs deep. Bea Safe.
