I don’t know anyone who takes more pride in their work than the professional truck drivers I grew up around. Not every freight relocator wears that title like a badge of honor, but the old-school guys—and yeah, quite a few gals—treat it seriously. It’s not unusual for them to surpass 1 million miles and keep driving to 2 million and possibly 3 million, but even that impressive feat can’t match the men we’re talking about today. Two longtime truckers with more than 10 million miles between them have embarked on a cross-country trip from Seattle to Washington D.C. with the Capitol’s Christmas tree in tow.
Nationally recognized driver John Schank and veteran transporter Fred Austin are the ones taking on the big job for Lynden Transport. This specific 74-foot Sitka Spruce was harvested from Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, and the harvest celebration just wrapped up in the town of Ketchikan. Lynden’s sister company Alaska Marine Lines then shipped it via barge to Seattle where the tree and trailer hitched up to the duo’s Kenworth T680. It’s now on the way to the U.S. Capitol Building’s West Lawn with a list of scheduled stops along the way.
Schank has twice been named Driver of the Year by the Alaska Trucking Association, once in 2014 and again in 2017. He also received letters of commendation from Alaska Governors Sean Parnell and Bill Walker for his 40 years of service on the super-sketchy Dalton Highway connecting Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay. At the time, Schank had racked up 5 million miles of accident-free driving; he’s since accumulated 1.1 million more.
Austin is a seasoned pro apparently nicknamed “Icon of the Alcan” for his experience on the Alaskan Highway, which connects the state to the contiguous U.S. by running through Canada. He started with Lynden in 1975 when construction began on the Alaska oil pipeline in Fairbanks, and now, he’s a driver trainer and mentor at the logistics firm’s training center. Austin took instructor training at the age of 79 back in 2015, making him the oldest to ever sit for the test in Alaska. That means he’s nearing 90 years old now with roughly 4 million miles under his belt and still trucking strong.
Schank and Austin will be on the road until Nov. 22, when the “People’s Tree” is scheduled for delivery in Washington D.C. It’s actually Schank’s second time doing it as he first performed the task nine years ago. He reminisced on that job in a Lynden-issued press release, saying “he met a lot of kids who thought I was Santa” during the tree tour.
Y’know, I’m glad Santa has his trusty sleigh, but wouldn’t it be cooler if he drove a Kenworth with a 455-horse MX-13 diesel like this? I sure think so.
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