Three long-time board members ended their terms and moved to the Trucker Buddy Advisory Council at the Mid America Trucking Show in March. Mark Taylor with Walmart, Mike Ryan with Ryan Motor Sports and Peter Charboneau with Over The Road Canada completed two, four year terms and retired from the board of directors.  Their board duties have been assumed by David Giroux, Mark Zickos, Gary Darnell, Ed Novoa and Dennis Day. All were elected with unanimous votes.

“Mark, Mike and Peter have done a tremendous job as board members and have been tremendous assets to us for the past eight years.  With the depth of equity they have within the program I’m thrilled that they accepted the challenge to help us on our Advisory Council.  We will need their help and advice in moving Trucker Buddy forward.  Mark served as President and Peter as Vice President during some very hard times for Trucker Buddy and our current success is due to their hard work and dedication    I’m also excited that David, Mark, Gary, Ed and Dennis have accepted the challenge of helping us to continue to grow and improve Trucker Buddy”, says Randy Schwartzenburg, Executive Director.

New officers were elected at the annual board meeting held at Mid America in March.  The new officers are:

Don Darden with Bridgestone Americas – President
Elizabeth Barna with American Trucking Association – Vice President
K. C. Brau with Crete Carriers – Secretary
Steve Sichterman with ACS A Xerox Company – Treasurer

New Board Members Information:

David Giroux is the Director, Marketing Communications & Global Branding for Meritor, in Troy, Michigan.  David has over 12 years of experience in the trucking industry which includes four years as the Director, Marketing and Communications at Peterbilt Motors.  He is a graduate of Michigan State University with a B.A. degree in Psychology and Humanities.

Mark Zickos is the National Transportation Asset Manager for Frito-Lay and has worked in supply chain logistics for more than 31 years.  He graduated with a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Alabama.  Mark is also very involved in his community serving on the school board and assisting the local YMCA.

Gary Darnell worked for Walmart Stores since 2005 and is currently the Communications Manager; Logistics HR/Compliance Project Manager handling communications for transportation division.  Gary has been working in the area of communications for over 20 years which includes extensive television news experience.  He earned a B.S. degree in Communications with honors from Missouri State University.

Ed Novoa is the General Manager of Over The Road Canada Media and Infiniti Solution’s Canadian venture.  He is has been very involved with associations having formed the first Truck Stop Media Association in Canada as well serving on the steering committee that formed  the first, official, government recognized, 'voluntary apprenticeship' program for the truck driver position in Ontario, Canada.  It is now called now the ‘Tractor Trailer Commercial Driver Apprenticeship Program’ and is the first of its kind in Canada. 

Dennis Day has been a professional truck driver for 31 years and is currently serving as an Americas’ Road Team member.  Dennis has accumulated more than 2.9 million accident-free miles. Dennis is a long-haul driver for Con-Way Freight and has been an active member of Trucker Buddy for over 4 years.

Trucker Buddy International, an independent, non-profit 501(c) (3) organization, often called the number one trucking image campaign in North America, has helped educate schoolchildren and introduce educators to the trucking industry.  This gives them the world through the eyes of a professional truck driver.  The Trucker Buddy program helps to educate and mentor schoolchildren via a pen pal relationship between professional truck drivers and children in grades K-8 as supervised by their teachers.

After an extensive screening process, the professional truck drivers are matched with a class and as directed by the teacher, drivers share news about their travels with their class. Students write letters and send pictures to their drivers. Students' skills in reading, writing, geography, mathematics, social studies, and history are enhanced and learning is made fun.

Since 1992, Trucker Buddy International has helped educate over a million schoolchildren and introduced them to caring, compassionate men and women, professional truck drivers.  The on-going success of the program is due to driver volunteers, participating teachers and the contributions of sponsors.  There is no cost to the drivers or teachers to participate in the program. The Trucker Buddy program is funded entirely by sponsorships and donations. Trucker Buddy press releases are provided by ACS A Xerox Company.