Silfies Wins Big at Carlisle All Truck Nationals

 

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Nazareth, PA – F.T. Silfies Inc., a regional mid Atlantic dry bulk carrier showed up at the 16^th Annual Carlisle All Truck Nationals in Carlisle, PA on August 4-6 with 10 tractor/trailer combinations.  “Our goal was to dedicate a weekend to our drivers who take great pride in their tractors and trailers and invite them and their families to a wonderful weekend away from the office and away from the road,” stated Randy Sheeler, Silfies President and Chief Executive Officer. 

 

This event is special to us because it’s local and draws over 2000 trucks of all kinds to central Pennsylvania and gives our drivers the opportunity to show their daily working company tractors against trucks that seldom hit the pavement.  We’re in a very dirty business hauling dry cement and lime and few people could appreciate the effort these drivers put into cleaning this equipment for this show.  Each driver ran a load on Thursday morning and that afternoon, we spend the entire day washing, waxing, buffing and shining to get ready for our ride Friday morning to Carlisle,” added Sheeler.

 

“We didn’t care if we placed at all, our goal was to generate recognition for our company and show the crowd that our team cares about its drivers.  These tractors were company tractors and we started early last year by painting a few to develop themes and it took off from there,” stated Jim Niness, the company’s COO.  “These drivers are very proud of their equipment and have spent hundreds of their own money in chrome accessories.”

 

“It was a great honor to receive the Bill Miller’s Choice Award as a company rather than an individual truck,” added Sheeler.  “Mr. Miller, the creator of the All Truck Nationals, usually gives this covenant award to his favorite tractor in the competition and he decided to give the award to Silfies as a company this year for making such a strong presence.  It was a natural choice to put our American Flag truck on the stage to accept this award.”

 

“Mike van Blargan placed first in the tanker division with his 2006 Mack Rawhide.  “This Rawhide is Mack’s first rawhide edition to hit the east coast and while it comes from the factory with an abundance of chrome and stainless, Mike has taken it to a whole new level,” added Sheeler.  Mike placed second last year with a 1997 Freightliner and a 10 year old trailer and I knew he would be tough to beat this year.  His tractor and trailer combination looked like a model and I knew his grandfather, Forrest T. Silfies, would have been very proud of his accomplishments.”

 

Mike Stein, an 8 year driver with Silfies took 3^rd place in the tanker division with a 2007 Freightliner with a new Mercedes Benz engine and a 2006 Polar trailer.  “Mike worked his tail off cleaning his trailer for this competition and it definitely paid off.  Because some of our tractors are new, people insinuate that they’re clean and don’t run hard.  Some of our 2006 models already have over 100,000 miles on them,” added Sheeler.

 

We were also very surprised with our placing in the flatbed division.  Dave Nonnemaker, one of our President’s Road Team drivers, placed 2^nd in the flatbed division with his infamous “Eagle Truck” that has a beautiful mural of an Eagle clutching an American Flag on the hood.  Dave took one of our Manac spread axle tractors and the combination looked incredible.  Shawn Kale took 3^rd place in the flatbed division with a 2006 Silfies Blue tractor and a new 2006 Transcraft trailer.

 

“I was truly honored to be leading this company after this weekend’s performance.  Our tractors caught the attention of thousands of people and it came back to appreciating the hard work our drivers do every single day for this company,” according to Sheeler.  The amazing part is that every one of these units will be back on the road and dusty construction sites and cement mills early Monday morning.

 

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