FreightWaves, in partnership with major participants in the trucking industry, announces the trucking Haul of Fame. The Haul of Fame will be located in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee and include 10,000 sq. ft of historical archives from the history of the trucking industry starting in the early 1900s, through deregulation and into the modern era. The location will be connected to FreightWaves’ new corporate headquarters at 412 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN.
The museum will include an event space known as Freight Alley, a hallway of thousands of diecast trucks that feature historical and current trucking companies, a truck-driving simulator donated by U.S. Xpress (NYSE:USX), videos, photographs and other collections from the industry.
“When I was a young boy with a family in the trucking industry, my father Max, grandfather Clyde and their hundreds of trucking friends would point out trucks on the highway and tell stories about the companies, founders and the history behind them. These ‘war-stories’ helped to shape my understanding of the trucking industry and laid the foundation for an appreciation of the colorful shaping of our industry. With the Haul of Fame we hope to bring this history to life and preserve it for generations to come,” said Craig Fuller, CEO of FreightWaves and founder of the Haul of Fame.
Until now, much of this history has been lost within time and the companies and their founders have become memories in the minds of just a few. By developing an archive, the museum hopes to preserve the history of the trucking industry as it experiences rapid technological evolution.
The Haul of Fame will highlight well-known companies from the Golden Age of Trucking. It will also feature companies located in our own region, which the industry calls Freight Alley. The goal is to create a living history of the transportation industry, showing how incredibly diverse and interesting the trucking landscape is, that will grow and evolve as the industry does.
Unlike the few other museums that feature trucks around the country, no museum is completely dedicated to the companies and titans of industry. The long-term goal of the museum is to create a living archive of the history of the industry and the players that have built the fabric of the national economy.
“This trucking industry has evolved over time, and the people and companies involved have shaped and continue to shape our personal, regional and national history. For people that have been around the freight industry, the nostalgia of seeing logos from the past and the excitement of seeing news ones emerge is truly thrilling,” Fuller also stated. “They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, and so is a trucking logo. These are our stories, our families’ stories, and we, at FreightWaves, believes these stories are worth telling and honoring.”
Morgan Gray, FreightWaves curator and resident historian, has requested the help of the trucking community at large with the endeavor.
“We would like your help in telling these stories. We are asking those in the industry to send us spare diecast 1:64 trucks that might be lying around your offices, warehouses or homes from companies past, present and future. This is also a great way to showcase your own company or companies you have worked with to the thousands of people who will be experiencing the Haul of Haul of Fame,” Gray said. “To make it worth your while, we are going to donate $50 for each unique truck we receive to the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) to help fund their efforts in supporting disaster relief logistics during catastrophic events like Hurricane Florence, fires in California, and the Alaska 7.0 earthquake that struck last Friday. Our goal is to raise $50,000 for the organization, so we are looking for 1,000 new pieces to add to our collection.”
FreightWaves seeks to show the diversity of the industry, so there is a limit of one truck per logo. However, we will take different logos from the same company, so long as they are from different generations, divisions or acquisitions.
In addition to having a physical location where visitors can enjoy the experience, the Haul of Fame plans to offer a mobile and web app that can be used to provide a virtual experience for visitors that can’t make the trek to Chattanooga. The Haul of Fame is set to open mid-April 2019.
If you are interested in being part of the living history of the transportation industry and helping aid disaster relief at the same time, please contact Morgan Gray at mgray@freightwaves.com.