Trucking Moves America Forward building momentum

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Updated Aug 28, 2018
TMAF co-chair Kevin Burch says the group’s mascot, Safety Sammy, has helped engage children and make them feel more comfortable around trucks and truckers.TMAF co-chair Kevin Burch says the group’s mascot, Safety Sammy, has helped engage children and make them feel more comfortable around trucks and truckers.

Trucking industry image group Trucking Moves America Forward has been gaining momentum inside and outside the trucking industry, growing its online and social media presence and starting more conversations about how the industry is perceived, according to TMAF co-chair Kevin Burch at the Great American Trucking Show.

He says with the group now in the middle of its fourth year, people throughout the industry are no longer have asking what “TMAF” stands for and means.

“We can tell the momentum is there,” he says. “President Trump really helped us when he called us heroes when we were at the White House. When we pinned the President with the ‘I heart trucks’ button, it became a conversation piece.”

TMAF executive committee member and American Trucking Associations Chief Operating Officer Elisabeth Barna says the group’s social media presence has “skyrocketed” in recent months with more engagement from the industry and public.

Additionally, with National Truck Driver Appreciation Week approaching, Barna says TMAF will be doing radio spots on SiriusXM and terrestrial radio stations promoting and thanking truck drivers for their work. The group is also partnering with state trucking associations to have billboards in different parts of the country displaying drivers to show appreciation.

Burch adds that the group’s mascot, Safety Sammy, has helped TMAF engage with children and families not associated with the trucking industry and giving them a more positive perception of truckers and trucking as a whole.

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