To name a mascot

The organization Trucking Moves America Forward is seeking to name its mascot and your help is needed.

In May, TMAF announced the decision to use a mascot, a kid-friendly cartoonish representation of a big rig with an animated and outgoing personality. The idea is to associate a fun face with the trucking industry in order to begin building positive feelings about selecting trucking as a career. This goal falls perfectly in line with the overall mission of TMAF, which is to help insure that policymakers as well as the general public understand the importance of the trucking industry in the nation’s economy. They also look to build political and grassroots support for the industry as a whole.

TMAF is a major, albeit non-profit player in trucking, and it has the support of such groups as the American Trucking Associations, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Peterbilt and Volvo among others. In fact, TMAF even has an online store where it sells merchandise to anyone and everyone who would like to help advance the trucking movement.

The idea to implement a mascot is not a new one. In fact, mascots are a common ingredient in brand marketing, touching industries such a cereal (Froot Loops’ Toucan Sam), insurance (Progressive’s Flo) and cleaning products (Mr. Clean’s, well, Mr. Clean). It only makes sense that an organization trying to build approachability and positivity for trucking as a whole would turn to the well-proven idea.

Options for the mascot’s name have been narrowed down to Axle, Bob Tail, Safety Sammy, Seymour S. Miles, and Wheels. The final name will be announced later in 2017.