The Red Arrow Convoy began in December 2023 when area local Ernest Brown reached out to fellow trucker Noah Melton among others to help launch what would be a Christmas-themed convoy down the famous Red Arrow Highway in Southwest Michigan. The group started promoting that first event just five days before the convoy would roll.
“It was just going to be four or five of us,” Melton said. But by the time of the second Saturday in December rollout, "we ended up with 45 trucks.”
That first year, the convoy didn’t have police escorts or any permits from the towns it rolled through, but it was a success -- both in terms of participation and community support. Now in its third year running, the convoy moves from West Michigan International in Kalamazoo and travels about 45 miles west down Red Arrow before concluding at the I-196 interchange.
Melton tells his story in this week's edition of Overdrive Radio, featuring my conversation with him following a banner showing for the third-annual event.
What started out three years ago with just a handful of truck drivers and an idea for a Christmas-themed convoy quickly grew to an event with nearly 100 trucks participating in its most recent iteration earlier this month.Photos courtesy of Noah Melton
Melton first heard his call to the business when he was 16 and working in an exotic jerky factory where he grew up. Colin Cowan, the late owner of Benton Harbor, Michigan-based Big P Express, would come into the shop with his truck and buy jerky for his customers. Melton wasn’t a stranger to trucking -- his dad was in the business but told his son he was “too smart to be a truck driver,” as Noah put it. Yet after getting to know Cowan, he got invited to check out his truck.
“I went out to [Cowan's] farm, and he was in the passenger seat and he said, ‘Get in, let’s go,’” Melton said. “He put me in the driver’s seat and we drove around. He taught me everything I knew about trucking pretty much from that point.”
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The day Melton turned 18, he got his CDL, drove locally for a couple years to get some experience until he turned 20 and was able to get insurance approval to join Cowan’s small fleet.
Cowan passed away in March 2024, but Melton remains with the company today as Road Supervisor. Before he passed, Cowan bought Melton a 1992 Freightliner cabover that’s part of the Big P fleet, which Melton said is one of his “babies.” The other is a 2019 Peterbilt 389 that he and Cowan’s son-in-law, Robby Saroni -- now Big P Express owner -- picked out when Cowan was first diagnosed with cancer.
The 389 was "kind of a retirement present ... easier to drive, not an old truck, something for him to have to kind of work when he wanted to,” Melton said.
As chemotherapy treatments took their toll and it became too difficult for Cowan to drive the rig, Melton took the wheel. He pulls with either one of the two rigs in the summer, the other the rest of the year.
Red Arrow Convoy's maiden voyage
Beyond work for Big P Express, Melton's heading up the fast-growing Christmas convoy down Red Arrow Highway.
“The first year we did that, and we'd advertised it a little bit on Facebook and that was right around the tail end of COVID,” Melton said. “The amount of people that came out in support in the local towns that had signs -- ‘We love you, truckers.’ ‘Thank you, truckers.’ It was a super-emotional event just because, you know, a lot of times truck drivers, we feel like we're just underappreciated. And so, to see that kind of support from your local community was amazing.”
West Michigan International opens up their body shop for convoy participants to hold a driver's meeting before the event kicks off.
One of the biggest bright spots from the first year’s convoy was that Cowan was able to see it. “Colin, he was pretty sick at this point, but him and his wife were able to come out and watch as we drove by, and you know, his truck was the first truck in the parade leading the way," Melton said. "So, it was very heartwarming for him to be able to see that and see that, no matter what, he’s going to leave a legacy.”
After that first year, Melton and his wife, Emily, collaborating on organizing the convoy, obtaining the necessary permits for each township, county and state highway that it goes through or crosses. “The amount of work that goes into it to get it going now is a lot, but it’s worth every minute of it,” he said.
Emily is “an angel” for handling all the permits and promotional work that goes into making the convoy happen each year, Noah said. “She does all that" on top of raising foster children, graduate work for a master's degree.
Howes sponsors Overdrive Radio, this week featuring Melton's story about the Red Arrow convoy. Howes is a longtime trusted provider of fuel treatments like its Howes Diesel Defender all-weather mileage booster and winter Diesel Treat anti-gel / Lifeline rescue treatments to get you through the coldest temps. Find more information about all of Howes' products at the company website.
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“A lot of the local businesses along the routes ended up doing watch parties,” he said. “And so it drummed up a lot of business” for those companies in addition to bringing more attention to the convoy. The scheduling also worked out this year, and hopefully for future years, that the convoy was on the same night that many of the villages along the route had their own local Christmas parties.
“All the people were already in the villages,” Melton added. “They would have their little shindig, and then here we would come through right at the end with 89 trucks all lit up with Christmas lights, horns blaring, Jake brakes popping. I mean, you would see grown men and grown women jumping up and down like a kid in a candy store. Just, I mean, I’m in tears the entire route. I’m an emotional guy to start with, but just to see the amount of people and the smiles that it brings, I mean, I was crying like a baby.”
Looking ahead to 2026, Melton’s goal is for more than 100 trucks to participate. There's no entry fee for truckers. Donations are accepted to help cover the cost of pizza and other snacks organizers provide. This year, sponsors gave away prizes to some participating drivers.
Participating trucks aren’t required to have Christmas lights or other decorations, though many do.
“I don’t want anybody to feel like they got to come here and have their truck sparkling to shine like the day it came off the showroom floor,” Melton said. “I mean, this year there were some trucks that didn’t even get a chance to get a wash because of how cold it was.”
Those interested in participating can request to join the private, drivers-only Facebook group for more information. A public group for spectators and the general public is also available here.
Hear Melton's story in his own voice in this week's edition of Overdrive Radio, embedded above and in the playlist below. And Merry Christmas!
