F.T. Silfies Inc., a regional mid-Atlantic dry bulk carrier, entered 10 tractor-trailer combinations in the 16th Annual Carlisle All Truck Nationals in Carlisle, Pa., held Aug. 4-6, 2006. The fleet was honored with the Bill Miller’s Choice Award –

an honor usually reserved for a single truck.
“Mr. Miller, the creator of the All Truck Nationals, usually gives this covenant award to his favorite tractor in the competition, but he decided to give the award to Silfies as a company this year for making such a strong presence,” said Randy Sheeler, Silfies president and chief executive officer.
“Our goal was to dedicate a weekend to our drivers who take great pride in their tractors and trailers and invite them and their families to a wonderful weekend away from the office and away from the road.”
He noted that the event was special to his company because it is local and draws more than 2,000 trucks of all kinds to central Pennsylvania.
“It gives our drivers the opportunity to show their daily working company tractors. We’re in a very dirty business hauling dry cement and lime and few people could appreciate the effort these drivers put into cleaning this equipment for this show,” Sheeler said.
“These tractors were company tractors and we started early last year by painting a few to develop themes and it took off from there,” said Jim Niness, the company’s COO. “These drivers are very proud of their equipment and have spent their own money in chrome accessories.”
The company’s uniquely muraled Mack Vision tractors pulled a variety of trailers. “It all comes back to appreciating the hard work our drivers do every single day for this company,” Sheeler said. “The amazing part is that every one of these units will be back on the road and at dusty construction sites and cement mills early Monday morning.”