In November and December, one of the busiest periods of the year for the transportation sector, the Wreaths Across America mission brings drivers together in an effort of unparalleled unity. With a positive, “can-do” work ethic, these professionals make it possible for Americans to honor millions of veterans laid to rest at home and overseas. In 2024, with over 4,909 participating locations, in addition to Arlington National Cemetery, transportation logistics were immense.

Many of these drivers are military veterans and say the truckload of fresh balsam-fir wreaths is the most precious cargo they transport in their careers. Wreaths Across America shares their stories in the “Trucking Tributes” feature online and on Wreaths Across America Radio.

Jeff Moore is a professional driver with A-Mrazek Moving Systems, an affiliate of United Van Lines, out of Kirkwood, Missouri. 2024 was Jeff’s first year as a member of the Wreaths Across America Honor Fleet. “My grandpa was a truck driver, and my dad was a truck driver, and I’m just following along in their footsteps,” Jeff explained his family’s driving heritage. “You get to meet different people in different places, like when I did Wreaths Across America, everyone welcomed us with open arms up there, and they treated you like you were family.”

It was by word-of-mouth that Jeff learned about the mission. “Another driver, Sherell Byrd, did, and he and I got talking bout it. His dad was a Vietnam War vet and a preacher, and I got talking to his dad about it too, and I told Sherell, I’m gonna do it. It was a last-minute decision on my part, and I had to deadhead from upstate New York to Maine. A bunch of us met at a truck stop, and we all convoyed up there together. It was a brotherhood of movers, and we met in a Walmart parking lot in New Hampshire. The ringleader there got us together and woke us all up. We stopped at Dysart’s for something to eat, and then we convoyed again to Columbia Falls. We got loaded at the docks and they put a wreath on the front of the truck, shook your hand and said, We’re glad you’re here. We still had some daylight when we were loading. When we got done loading all the trucks, it was dark and cold that night. It was peaceful and quiet. There was a full moon, and you looked up and thought, man, I’m in God’s country. You could smell the pine trees everywhere. It was so crisp and clean.”

Jeff was also impressed by the hospitality shown to him and the other drivers. “The breakroom up there was so good, and they had hot food for you to eat.” All that amazing food at the driver’s check-in lounge in Columbia Falls, Maine is compliments of the Tyson Foods Cook Team who set up and prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner for all the professional drivers, volunteers, Gold Star families and veterans traveling on the annual Wreaths Escort to Arlington, National Cemetery.

“This is such an honor and privilege to do this,” Jeff shared. “A lot of people don’t understand that we volunteer to do this because it’s the right thing to do to honor our veterans. Sometimes people will give you money to help pay your fuel costs, or they’ll come up to you with a hot meal for you. My first stop was in Illinois at a Legion Post near Scott Air Base, where they had a big old garage they’d rented out for this, and we placed six skids of wreaths in there. I’m telling you, when you first open that trailer and smell all those wreaths it’s something else.”

Jeff was touched by the transportation division at Wreaths Across America when he told the Director of Transportation, Courtney George, that his dad and some uncles were laid to rest at Jefferson Barracks Cemetery, and she gave him a load to haul there. “That was so cool to pull in there and see all those volunteers coming to unload the wreaths. In fact, I met two young kids who had planned on skipping school that day, and their mother caught them and made them come to the cemetery to help. They weren’t happy, but their mother was and said they’re going to learn that if you’re going to try to cheat, you’re going to get caught. That was a great lesson for them to learn. My boss, Marjorie, her dad is buried there, and it did her heart good to see I found his headstone and placed a wreath on it for her. When I called her, I could tell she was crying, and she said Well, I never thought I’d see a day when something like that would happen. It’s so neat to see the actual ceremony. There had to have been two hundred people in that church, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. After the ceremony, everyone went out and placed wreaths. I had a jar full of pennies, and I told my kids to go out and put a penny on the headstones because that meant someone came and visited them. My daughter was out there for about an hour, and it was raining that morning.”

Jeff explained that this year he’ll be hauling veterans’ wreaths to Texas as a member of the Honor Fleet.

Thank you, Jeff, and A-Mrazek Moving Systems, for your commitment to our veterans through the mission to remember, honor and teach.

If you’d like to join the Wreaths Across America Honor Fleet, you can get started with a click right here!

You can hear more with Jeff on Trucking Tributes, which can be listened to every Truckin’ Tuesday at 11:00 AM and again at 4:00 PM EST on Wreaths Across America Radio and on Tuesdays at 9:00 AM ET / 8:00 AM CT as part of RadioNemo’s Road Gang Radio, streaming exclusively at RadioNemo.com — or stream on-demand anytime on your favorite podcast and streaming platforms. Just search “RadioNemo.”

Discover the Trucking Tributes archive playlist on Soundcloud.com