80 acts of Saskatchewan kindness; or how to pay(load) it forward

REGINA—Random acts of trucking kindness are breaking out all across sunny Saskatchewan and you have the staff at the Saskatchewan Trucking Association (STA) to thank for it.

This year, the STA turned 80. In celebration—and in an effort to burnish the image of truckers in the public eye—STA staff decided to challenge themselves to perform 80 random acts of kindness towards people in the industry, one for every year.

The fun started in March 4 and will continue throughout 2017.

STA’s policy analyst Nicole Sinclair was one of the staffers who hatched the plan. She says as word of the acts spreads, the general public’s image of trucking will improve.

The first act of kindness came on March 4 in the form of a donation from STA staff to Telemiracle, a foundation that provides resources to residents with specialized needs for medical assistance and special equipment.

Another example? When STA staff was in Saskatchewan for a networking event, they dropped in to some members’ shops bearing goodies for the people working there. Some STA staffers have volunteered at the local food bank; others collected household items for newly arriving Syrian refugees.

Sinclair says there are some great surprises in store for trucking people over the next few months.

“We really hope people have fun with this and tell us about their kind acts so we can tell the world,” she says. All the acts will be covered in full detail on the STA website, she says.

Sinclair also says she hopes non-STA staff will join the fun and perform random acts of trucking kindness. Plus she’d like to hear about it if it happens.

“It is the industry, the people of Saskatchewan and every customer we have ever had that have ensured 80 years of success as the voice of truck transport,” STA Executive Director Susan Ewart says.

“To show the association’s appreciation for that ongoing support and to celebrate the giving and supportive nature of Saskatchewan as a province we have decided that we will pay it forward, 80 times to be exact. This is a great way to give back to the province that has given us the opportunity to create and maintain a thriving truck transport industry for so many years.”

As the STA states in its newsletter, “Find a driver, buy him lunch, all day long you’ll have good luck. It’s always worked for us.”

(The previous article “80 acts of Saskatchewan kindness; or how to pay(load) it forward” was archived in May 2017 via http://www.todaystrucking.com.)