Overdrive

CUsToM riGs 46 | Overdrive | November 2018 W hen Neosho, Missouri- based Certifi ed Express Inc. President and CEO Scott Wade asked trucker Randy Rogers what he'd like in a new truck in CEI's fl eet update of around 150 units last year, Wade initially had been thinking about a U.S. Army-themed wrap. Rogers "had been in the Army about four years," but he'd spent much more time serving as a fi refi ghter for the majority of his working career before fi nally retiring from service to the Seneca Fire Protec- tion Area in 2008. "Nothing against the military wraps," says Rog- ers. What he'd never seen: a rolling "memorial to fi re- fi ghters." Over his 16 years in the fi re service, he'd experienced no shortage of line-of-duty deaths himself. Serving as a public infor- mation offi cer in his later years as a fi refi ghter, "part of my job was going around to area departments and at- tending funerals." It took Rogers all of "14 seconds," he says, to convince Wade that a fi refi ghters' tribute wrap was the way to go. Rogers used another element of his background – work with graphics – to design a variety of the vinyl accents that now cover the 2019 Kenworth T680, Memorial Run, which he says comes with a singular mission: "to honor and me- morialize all of our fallen fi refi ghters in this country." Three friends and fellow fi refi ghters are memorial- ized on the back of the sleeper's cab. The death of one, Tyler H. Casey of Seneca in 2008, precipitat- ed Rogers' retirement from the service, after which he took up trucking full time. Memorial Run also serves an educational purpose, as all graphics are accompa- nied by QR codes that take viewers to online resources related to fi refi ghting his- tory. The truck, Rogers says, "has brought tears to the biggest of men and their families." Memorial Run honors fallen fi refi ghters BY TODD DILLS Memorial Run, this Kenworth T680 for Certified Express Inc., is shown at the site of one of the deadliest wildland fire disasters in American history: Yarnell Hill in Arizona. The top center of the sleeper "is dedicated to the memory of my guys," Rogers says. With the exception of the bagpiper on the back of the sleeper, all graph- ics are skinned in 3M high-reflective vinyl. Former firefighter Randy Rogers says the truck is limited on accent lighting to prevent from distracting from its theme.

• Cover
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