Swing Transport, Racing for Recovery
September 29, 1999: Swing Transport, Inc. was honored to be a participant in the Hayride 500 III, Racing for Recovery efforts sponsored by NASCAR and “The John Boy and Billy Morning Show” and organized by Tom Cotter of the Cotter Group.
Fifty-one tractor-trailer units formed the largest single shipment of food and supplies for the flood victims of eastern North Carolina. Winston Cup and area trucking company rigs gathered at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, presentations were made by Rick E. Carlisle (Secretary of the N.C. Department of Commerce); Humpy Wheeler (President of Lowes Motor Speedway); Rust Wallace (Driver and former Winston Cup Champion); and Robert D. Raeford (Radio Personality). Also present were Colonel David Richards of the N.C. D.O.T. and NASCAR drivers Geoffrey Bodine, Todd Bodine, Jerry Nadeau, and Ken Schrader.
Robert D. Raeford gave the command “Gentlemen, Start Your Engines.” Fifty-one diesel engines roared to life, Norris Tolson waved the green flag and after a lap around Lowes Motor Speedway the convoy was underway.
The convoy was lead by North Carolina Highway Patrol, the Lowes Motor Speedway pace car, and the Humvee of Whistle 100 radio station with Robert D. at the wheel. Robert reported the location of the convoy and the overpasses were lined with “well-wishers” for much of the 215-mile trip from Charlotte to Rocky Mount, NC (less than twenty miles from the hardest hit areas of Tarboro and Princeville, NC). The tractors stormed by the scales, traffic was stopped at all signals to allow the 3-mile convoy quick passage.
As the units neared Rocky Mount both sides of the road were filled with victims of the floods caused by Hurricane Floyd. Men, women, and children all giving the “thumbs up” as a way of saying thanks. Some were holding signs that read, “We Love You.”
Volunteers unloaded all trailers in less than seven hours. As our trucks were unloaded, the most needed items were loaded onto National Guard vehicles for immediate delivery to Tarboro and Princeville, North Carolina.
Our “Quote of the Day” comes from Swing Transport’s employee, Keith Carter as he drove in the “Racing for Recovery” convoy:
“It’s a hard, unappreciated job, but today, I’m PROUD to be a truck driver.”