{"id":21710,"date":"2026-01-06T17:36:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T22:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/?p=21710"},"modified":"2026-03-16T18:03:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T22:03:50","slug":"army-veteran-shifts-gears-wins-2025-transition-trucking-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/stories\/army-veteran-shifts-gears-wins-2025-transition-trucking-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Army Veteran Shifts Gears, Wins 2025 Transition Trucking Award"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1820\" height=\"1365\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Charles-Jones-Jr-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21712\" style=\"width:339px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Charles-Jones-Jr-1.jpg 1820w, https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Charles-Jones-Jr-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Charles-Jones-Jr-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Charles-Jones-Jr-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Charles-Jones-Jr-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1820px) 100vw, 1820px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The&nbsp;holidays came early for Army Veteran Charles Jones Jr., whose reliability, dedication, and leadership earned him the&nbsp;2025&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/transitiontrucking.org\">Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence&nbsp;Award<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On December 12, Jones was honored&nbsp;during a ceremony at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce&nbsp;in Washington, D.C. as part of the Veteran&nbsp;Ready Summit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-mission-behind-transition-trucking-nbsp\">The Mission Behind Transition Trucking&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now in&nbsp;its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=S9NRQtVlsog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tenth year<\/a>, the Transition Trucking Award&nbsp;recognizes military veterans who have made outstanding transitions into the commercial trucking industry. This collaborative initiative,&nbsp;led by&nbsp;Fastport, Kenworth, and Hiring Our Heroes (HOH),&nbsp;underscores&nbsp;the&nbsp;integral&nbsp;role&nbsp;veterans&nbsp;play&nbsp;in&nbsp;an industry where they make up&nbsp;about&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/nextgentrucking.org\/blog\/2025\/nominations-now-open-for-the-2025-transition-trucking-driving-for-excellence-award\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10% of the workforce<\/a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"padding-bottom: 35px;\" width=\"728\" height=\"410\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S9NRQtVlsog?si=eAB4P4bndHlJiN0E?modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese finalists show how military experience translates into excellence in the trucking industry, and we\u2019re proud to honor their service and celebrate the vital role veterans play in keeping America moving,\u201d&nbsp;said&nbsp;Eric Eversole, president of HOH.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the 10th&nbsp;recipient of this prestigious award, Jones&nbsp;drove away in&nbsp;a&nbsp;brand-new Kenworth T680 truck.&nbsp;Runners-up&nbsp;Macy&nbsp;Mattice&nbsp;and Mark Scriven&nbsp;each&nbsp;received&nbsp;a $10,000 cash prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-from-nbsp-marching-orders-to-mile-markers\">From&nbsp;Marching Orders to Mile Markers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jones&nbsp;served more than two decades in&nbsp;the&nbsp;Army, completing&nbsp;three deployments in Iraq, two rotations in South Korea, and&nbsp;holding roles such as&nbsp;unmanned&nbsp;aircraft&nbsp;system operator, instructor operator, and platoon sergeant.&nbsp;After retiring, he&nbsp;graduated from Georgia Driving Academy in December 2024&nbsp;and&nbsp;began his professional driving career with Roehl Transport in early 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cReceiving this Kenworth truck is truly life-changing,\u201d Jones said. \u201cThe military taught me discipline, resilience, and pride in every mission, and those same values have carried me into my career. This award allows me to build a future I once only hoped was possible. I am deeply grateful to Roehl, to my instructors, and to every veteran who has supported me along the way.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The military taught me discipline, resilience, and pride in every mission, and those same values have carried me into my career.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>Charles Jones Jr.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-driving-nbsp-camaraderie-on-the-road\">Driving&nbsp;Camaraderie on the Road<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Jones, trucking offers something he&nbsp;missed&nbsp;most&nbsp;after&nbsp;leaving the military: camaraderie.&nbsp;\u201cWhen I left the military, the biggest thing I missed was being around the&nbsp;other soldiers.&nbsp;Now, when I see these other veterans doing the same thing&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;doing,&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;very reminiscent of being back in the military,\u201d he&nbsp;shared.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Truck-Beauty-Shot-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Image of brand new Kensworth truck with American flag and building\" class=\"wp-image-21713\" style=\"width:490px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Truck-Beauty-Shot-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Truck-Beauty-Shot-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Truck-Beauty-Shot-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.hiringourheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Truck-Beauty-Shot-1.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ability to foster connection did&nbsp;not just ease&nbsp;Jones\u2019&nbsp;transition;&nbsp;it helped set him apart. Selected&nbsp;through a combination of&nbsp;public voting and input from&nbsp;a&nbsp;selection committee, he exemplifies&nbsp;the&nbsp;leadership, discipline,&nbsp;and&nbsp;perseverance&nbsp;the award&nbsp;seeks&nbsp;to honor.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fastport&nbsp;praised&nbsp;all the finalists for their&nbsp;exceptional success&nbsp;in the trucking industry. \u201cWe are honored to recognize Charles for an outstanding transition from military service to trucking and for the example he sets through his professionalism and dedication,&#8221; a Fastport social media post read.&nbsp;&#8220;We also want to congratulate our incredible runners-up, Macy&nbsp;Mattice&nbsp;and Mark Scriven.&nbsp;We\u2019re&nbsp;grateful to have both of you in the trucking industry and know you will continue to set the standard for transitioning military members for years to come.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-transition-trucking-driving-for-excellence-award-is-part-of-nbsp-a-broader-nbsp-effort-to-inspire-the-hiring-of-more-service-members-into-the-trucking-industry-and-to-recognize-their-contributions-to-the-workforce-learn-more-and-read-about-previous-winners-at-transitiontrucking-org\">The Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence Award is part of&nbsp;a broader&nbsp;effort to inspire the hiring of more service members into the trucking industry and to recognize their contributions to the workforce. Learn more and read about previous winners at <a href=\"https:\/\/transitiontrucking.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TransitionTrucking.org<\/a>.<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2025 Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence Award was awarded to Army veteran Charles Jones Jr. for his inspiring journey from military service to a successful trucking career. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":21720,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,53],"tags":[67,56,58,66,55],"service_role":[251,16,17],"class_list":["post-21710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-stories-of-success","tag-awards","tag-employment-partners","tag-events","tag-military-transition","tag-veterans","service_role-military-connected","service_role-service-member","service_role-veteran"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.1 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Army Veteran Shifts Gears, Wins 2025 Transition Trucking Award - Hiring Our Heroes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The 2025 Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence Award goes to 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