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Old Dominion Freight Line adds Daimler’s 2021 Freightliner Ride of Pride Tractor, Honoring U.S. Military, to its Fleet

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Old Dominion Freight Line adds Daimler’s 2021 Freightliner Ride of Pride Tractor, Honoring U.S. Military, to its Fleet

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (Nasdaq: ODFL) took delivery of a specially-wrapped 2022 Freightliner Cascadia tractor as part of manufacturer Daimler Trucks’ 2021 Ride of Pride program. The tractor’s patriotic design honors America’s veterans, some of whom will have the chance to drive the tractor as it crosses the country over the next several years.

The Ride of Pride program launched several months after the 9/11 tragedy, as designers at Daimler’s Cleveland, N.C. plant considered ways to honor past, present and future military veterans, with an emphasis on POW/MIA service members. The first tractor, “Eagle One,” took to the road in 2002, and the unveiling of each year’s Ride of Pride trucks has been a Memorial Day tradition ever since. Daimler has now produced more than 30 Ride of Pride tractors for carriers across the U.S. Old Dominion took delivery of its first Ride of Pride Truck in a presentation at its corporate office in Thomasville.

“Each of these tractors is built with P.R.I.D.E. – passion, respect, integrity, discipline and excellence. Those are the tenets our veterans follow when they’re serving our country, and we want the tractor to represent each one of them,” said Darrell Plonk, logistics manager at Daimler’s Cleveland, N.C. Freightliner plant.

Old Dominion’s Ride of Pride tractor begins its journey this month at the carrier’s Greensboro, N.C. service center, where it will haul freight for the next six months. After that, it will rotate to a different Old Dominion service center biannually and will be driven by veterans at each facility.

“Veterans are a core part of the OD Family, and we’re proud we have the chance to honor our service members in such a unique way,” said Jim Raynor, vice president of maintenance and equipment at Old Dominion Freight Line. “Whether the tractor is at one of our service centers, on the road to its destination, or at a customer’s dock, we hope it will serve as a reminder to those who see it of the debt we owe those who have served our country.”

To learn more about Daimler’s Ride of Pride tractors, visit the program’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RideofPride. To learn more about Old Dominion Freight Line, visit www.odfl.com.

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About Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc.

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. is one of the largest North American less-than-truckload (“LTL”) motor carriers and provides regional, inter-regional and national LTL services through a single integrated, union-free organization. Our service offerings, which include expedited transportation, are provided through an expansive network of service centers located throughout the continental United States. The Company also maintains strategic alliances with other carriers to provide LTL services throughout North America. In addition to its core LTL services, the Company offers a range of value-added services including container drayage, truckload brokerage and supply chain consulting.

wreaths across america

Wreaths Across America 2020: “Be an American Worth Fighting For”

On December 19th, the annual Wreaths Across America wreath-laying ceremony events took place honoring our nation’s veterans, active-duty military, and their families. This year, a total of 1.7 million veterans’ wreaths adorned the headstones of those that served.

Wreaths Across America is originally known for taking place at the Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) but has expanded to thousands of other cemeteries across the country each year. Every year, live balsam wreaths come from a direct, private donation from a citizen or organization to honor, appreciate, and respect those that served and protected our country, making the ultimate sacrifice. Wreaths Across America continues to use fresh evergreens as a symbol of honor that has been used throughout history.

In each of the 50 states, volunteers including Location Coordinators and professional truckers support efforts in the 2,557 participating locations honoring our nation’s heroes. Each year, the nonprofit organization utilizes this tradition,  representing “a living memorial” through the act of laying the wreaths while repeating each of the names out loud. Wreaths Across America confirmed these acts are to affirm that they live on in our memory.

“The 2020 theme for Wreaths Across America has been ‘Be an American worth fighting for,’ and this year I have been blessed to see my fair share,” said Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America. “The determination of the American people and their commitment to the mission to Remember, Honor, Teach, made it possible for us to move forward this year, safely. We are humbled, and forever grateful for the outpouring of support from all across the country.” 

Last year, UPS contributed to the annual event by providing an Honor Trailer to assist in transporting the wreaths to the destination. In 2019, more than 50,000 wreaths were placed at the Arlington National Cemetery alone along with a 2.5+ mile-long parade.

All images provided by Wreaths Across America

military

Looking to Hire a Top-Notch Executive? Think Retired Military.

Anyone responsible for guiding a large corporation should be actively recruiting retired military officers. And here’s why.

Commanders are proven leaders. They’ve typically mastered the interlocking skills of how to resource, equip, and train an increasingly large number of troops for combat. Lieutenants start out guiding a platoon of 40 soldiers. Next comes leadership of a company, equaling four or more platoons. The units keep combining, and the number of troops keeps growing.

At the top, the numbers are staggering. For instance, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1993-97), Gen. John Shalikashvili sat atop all branches of the U.S. military, then totaling 1.7 million active-duty personnel. As SACEUR, the military head of NATO (1992-1993), he directed a mind-boggling 2 million troops, 2,300 tanks and 5,200 warplanes from 16 countries.

What enables leadership at that level? Using Shalikashvili’s career as an example reveals a wide range of skills in high demand at any Fortune 500 company.

For one, military leaders dedicate their careers to learning how to master complexity. For artillery officers like Shalikashvili, this includes keeping track of an eyebrow-raising number of variables—like powder temperature and projectile weight; compensation for tube wear, the effects of nonstandard weather conditions, and even the earth’s rotation; the resupply of ammunition, fuel, and rations; as well as working together in support of other combat units.

Yet leadership requires the ability to simplify complex tasks, which the military often does by setting standards and communicating them clearly to others. These skills are especially prevalent in the Army. As the largest service branch, its core strength lies in putting boots on the ground. It’s also the most diverse—in terms of education level, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. And on average it has the youngest, and thus least experienced, members.

The gravity of the warfighting trade also engenders the skill of precision. For example, fielding nuclear weapons, Shalikashvili’s focus particularly during his early career, requires constant vigilance, setting rigorous standards, and enforcing strict discipline. One crisis, one accident, or even one failed inspection has typically resulted in commanders all along the chain of command being relieved from duty. “In the field of tactical nuclear weapons,” explained Lieutenant General “Dutch” Shoffner, once the Army’s assistant deputy chief of staff for operations, “when you ask an important question you expect a specific answer. And people trained this way take that attitude into other areas of their professional life.”

The military also often affords officers the opportunity for creative leadership. As the two-star commander of the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis in 1987, Shalikashvili oversaw a “high technology test bed” tasked to integrate three brigades—one heavy armor, one light infantry, and one “experimental mechanized”—into a new type of fighting force. This meant designing a division over 10,000 soldiers, building the actual organization, designing and procuring equipment, and both creating a corresponding doctrine and training soldiers how to fight under it.

And finally, while the Patton leadership style is popularized in movies, it is far from the norm. “You can’t be a designer of confrontation within the U.S. military,” noted Jack Walker, once the youngest general officer in the U.S. Army, “It just won’t work.”

The best officers use their power sparingly. “The strongest people don’t need confrontation or anger—but [instead they] know their stuff, their position, and when necessary will not budge,” notes former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, who worked closely with Shalikashvili in the 90s. “Confrontation leaves scars—which over a long-term relationship can leave scar tissue that gets in the way. Shalikashvili did things in a way that people don’t have to lose. He created goodwill.” Walker agreed: “Shali wouldn’t get too strong … until it was really necessary.”

Putting all these diverse skills together can result in astonishing leadership ability. Take Shalikashvili’s command of Operation Provide Comfort. In the aftermath of Gulf War I, some half a million Kurds became trapped along the deadly mountain border between Iraq and Turkey, with 1,000 refugees dying per day. It was an unprecedented crisis, and it created an unprecedented response: Without any pre-existing agreements to provide institutional structure, over 35,000 soldiers from 13 countries and volunteers from over 50 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) came together—many of whom had never worked together and even had outright distrust of each other.

Under Shalikashvili’s leadership, in a mere 90 days, the task force was able to first stop the dying and then managed to move the Kurds peacefully back into Iraq. No wonder Chief of Staff of the Army General Gordon Sullivan would later liken Shalikashvili to the great jazz improvisational artist Dave Brubeck: highly trained in the classical approach but able to operate successfully, almost magically, in new conceptual territory.

In sum, retired military officers offer a wide array of leadership skills—including, but not limited to, understanding complexity, setting and communicating standards, precision, and creativity. Recruiting among their ranks is a low-risk, high-reward approach to injecting experienced leadership into the upper ranks of any large organization.

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Andrew Marble is author of  Boy on the Bridge: The Story of John Shalikashvili’s American Success (University Press of Kentucky), the first-ever biography of Gen. John Shalikashvili. Marble has a PhD in political science from Brown University, an MA in law and diplomacy from Tufts University’s Fletcher School and a BA in East Asian studies from Middlebury College. Heis outreach editor for the Taiwan Journal of Democracy and a reviewer for the Washington Independent Review of Books. For more information, visit andrewmarble.com.

veterans

UPS Celebrates Veterans this Holiday Season

UPS confirmed in an announcement this week that the company will be participating in this year’s Wreaths Across America at Arlington National Cemetery, aiding in providing support for the nonprofit’s annual wreath-laying and 2.5 + mile-long parade honoring our nation’s veterans. More than 50,000 wreaths are expected to be delivered and placed at the Arlington National Cemetery. This year’s Honor Trailer will transport the wreaths via vehicle and driver provided by UPS.

“Veterans bring an incredible wealth of experience and commitment to working together to achieve objectives,” said Lloyd Knight, Senior Director at UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Chairman of the UPS Veterans Steering Council, President of VETLANTA and Air Force veteran.

UPS is no stranger when it comes to supporting our nation’s heroes as seen with the original UPS Veterans Business Resource Group chapter close to a decade prior. To this day, 23 chapters exist for its employees in addition to the 299,000 volunteer hours invested by UPS employees and $7.1 million has gone towards veteran initiatives over the last few decades.

“These qualities are critically important to our company, and to our communities. Honoring those who have served, and helping to provide a pathway for their continued journey, are among the ways we can express our gratitude for their service,” Knight concluded.

This year’s Wreaths Across America takes place on December 14th and includes additional veterans-focused locations (including schools) in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Washington D.C. To learn more about the event and UPS participation, visit the UPS press room.

BYD Spotlights Veterans in Worker Population

Build Your Dreams (BYD) continues setting the bar higher for competing battery-electric vehicle manufacturers, as the company now boasts being the only one representing both a union workforce and agreement dedicated to simplifying and creating opportunities for veterans seeking to enter into the manufacturing sector. The agreement is known as the Community Benefits Agreement and is a joint effort between BYD, SMART Local 65, and Jobs to Move America. The BYD veteran workforce is supported directly from nonprofit Helmets to Hard Hats focusing on assisting military personnel during the civilian transition.

“Our coalition recognizes how difficult it is for many veterans to find good jobs after their service,” said Hector Huezo, JMA’s senior workforce equity coordinator. “That’s why we were excited to team up with BYD and other partners to create a pipeline for veterans
that benefits all of our communities. Together, we’ve been able to help veterans and other disadvantaged workers get good-paying, high-quality jobs that have allowed them to support their families.”

BYD is proud to report that veterans represent support for the company in a variety of departments including factory floor jobs as welding, warehousing, and assembly work to the offices as well as sales, material planning and control, and human resources.

“BYD knows what veterans bring to the table,” said Patrick Duan, Vice President, Operations and SkyRail. “They have leadership skills. They are mission-driven and they work well under pressure. They have the ability to adapt existing skills and learn new ones. We are proud to have veterans as part of our workforce.”

“It’s nice to see hope in everyone’s faces when they see how much opportunity this company has given to not just our workers but our community and vets,” said Army veteran Daniel Moran.