Trucker Buddy International’s Board of Directors has selected PeopleNet’s  Brian McLaughlin as its newest board member. 

By a unanimous vote, McLaughlin was selected to succeed the position held by Jill Buhl of Transport America, whose eight-year term expired in March. Buhl will continue to be involved in Trucker Buddy via the Advisory Council.

McLaughlin is currently the president of PeopleNet, a provider of mobile communications technology to the transportation industry, and he leads the company’s strategy, direction and execution.

Previously, McLaughlin gathered 25 years’ experience in delivering advanced technology solutions to various industries including transportation and financial services. Prior to PeopleNet, he served as the director of eCommerce at Deluxe Corp.

He is frequent speaker at transportation and wireless industry events and conferences. He also serves as vice chairman of the American Trucking Associations' Task Force for Onboard Recorders.

Trucker Buddy International, an independent, non-profit 501(c) 3 organization, has helped educate schoolchildren and introduce educators to the trucking industry. 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.