The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) Scholarship Fund is pleased to announce that it will be providing financial assistance to the most recipients in its 48-year history. For the 2021-22 academic school year, 57 undergraduate college students with ties to the trucking industry have been awarded scholarships. Each student will receive a scholarship ranging from $2,725 to $6,250 from a total pool of $163,775.
Additionally, the Fund is excited to announce a new, fully-endowed Past Chairmen’s Fund scholarship — the Robert D. Penner Scholarship. Penner served as TCA’s Chairman from 2017 to 2018.
In order for a TCA Past Chairman to have a fully-endowed scholarship in their name, their Past Chairmen’s Fund is required to receive $50,000 in donations. The Robert D. Penner Scholarship will be the fourth scholarship named after a past TCA Chairmen.
The inaugural recipient of the Robert D. Penner Scholarship, in the amount of $3,250, is Abbigale Brown, whose mother works at Long Haul Trucking based in Albertville, Minnesota. Brown will be a junior at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls and is majoring in elementary education.
Since 1973, the Fund has been providing scholarships to students associated with the trucking industry. Each scholarship recipient must be a student in good standing attending a four-year college or university and must be associated with a TCA member company as an employee, independent contractor, or the child, grandchild, or spouse of an employee or independent contractor of a TCA member company.
The Fund awards its scholarships without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, or genetic information.
“Coming off one of the most challenging years for many families, it feels particularly special to award this year’s recipients with the TCA Scholarship Fund awards,” said TCA Scholarship Fund Chairman and Wilson Logistics Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Darrel Wilson. “The TCA and I are proud to support these young adults as they continue their education, and we look forward to seeing their successes as they progress through their collegiate careers and beyond.”
New this year, the application process was managed by the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges (OFIC).
A selection committee, handpicked by OFIC, scored the applicants, taking into considering the applicant’s GPA, major, extracurricular activities, hours worked, and more.
The largest scholarships are named in honor of dedicated members, affiliates, and past TCA chairmen.
Congratulations to this year’s scholarship recipients:
Thomas Goble
Central Marketing Transport
NAIT Scholarship – $6,250
Rae Ballinger
H.O Wolding, Inc.
John Kaburick Scholarship – $4,500
Landry Kirsling
H.O. Wolding, Inc.
Kai Norris Scholarship – $3,250
Mason Jenkins
Doug Andrus Distributing, LLC
Darrel Clark Wilson III Scholarship – $3,250
Tristan Schelvan
H.O. Wolding, Inc.
Thomas Welby Scholarship – $3,250
Austin Wagner
McLeod Software Corporation, Inc.
Stoney Reese Stubbs Scholarship – $3,250
Kaitlyn Mcphee
Prime Inc.
Robert Low Scholarship – $3,250
Abbigale Brown
Long Haul Trucking
Robert D. Penner Scholarship – $3,250
The following have been awarded $2,725 for the 2021-22 school year:
Adam Mejia — USA Truck Inc.
Alexandra Wayne — Brown Trucking Co.
Amy Pitzel — Bison Transport
Andrea Vidaurre — EFS, a WEX Inc. Company
Andrew Goble — Central Marketing Transport, Inc.
Anja Ziegler — Hill Brothers Transportation, Inc.
Anna Rzepkowski — Bennett Family of Companies
Anthony Ciraulo — Werner Enterprises, Inc.
Aubree Boyd — Daseke – Boyd Bros. Transportation, Inc.
Brittany Woods — Christenson Transportation, Inc.
Brittlee Broom — KLLM Transport Services
Brooke Robinson — Bay & Bay
Casey Russell — JLE Industries
Courtney Street — Wilson Logistics
Elizabeth Wilhelm — Hirschbach Motor Lines
Emily Dudaitis — E and V Services, Inc.
Emily Gomez — John Christner Trucking, Inc.
Erik Zaporozhets — Bison Transport
Ethan Neil — Werner Enterprises, Inc.
Freddy Brown — Wilson Logistics
Gavin Jeffries — Wabash National Corporation
Grace Hensley — Daseke – Lone Star Transportation, LLC
Hadley Baerns — Skyline Transportation, Inc.
Isabella McDaniel — Buchanan Hauling & Rigging, Inc.
Jack Thompson — Cheema Freightlines, LLC
Jared Anderson — deBoer Transportation, Inc.
Jeb Lucas — Werner Enterprises, Inc.
Jocelyn Calderon — Whiteline Express, Ltd.
Joseph Aiello — Abenaqui Carriers
Joshua Short — Cargo Transporters, Inc.
Kaylee Peiffer — Dickey Transport
Kelsey McGaughey — PGT Trucking, Inc.
Kenna Holtzen — Fremont Contract Carriers, Inc.
Keylan Newton — Covenant Transport Services
Lucas Leiter — Styer Transportation Company
Mallory Beamer — Dutch Maid Logistics
Martina Tolhurst — Bison Transport
Mason Ringger — Nussbaum Transportation Services, Inc.
Megan Rogers — Don Hummer Trucking Corp.
Morgan Tracy — Acrisure LLC, HNI Risk Services
Nathan Gariepy — Load One, LLC
Olivia Thompson — Cheema Freightlines, LLC
Rajpreet Gill — Bison Transport
Robert Tolhurst — Bison Transport
Ryan Nicelley — Keller Logistics, LLC
Timothy Gilleo — Boyle Transportation
Varun Sivakumar — Werner Enterprises
Venkatesh Mahadevan — Bison Transport
Victoria Freeman — U.S. Xpress Inc.
TCA congratulates this year’s recipients. To learn more about the TCA Scholarship Fund, or for information on how you can donate to the Past Chairmen’s Fund, visit www.truckload.org/scholarships.