ST. AGATHA — Military veterans driving for a St. John Valley trucking company now have another reason to take pride while cruising in their big rigs on the nation’s highways.
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| Staff photo/Don Eno
Andrew Bugbee, of Fort Fairfield, is one of several truck drivers with St. Agatha-based R.F. Chamberland Inc. who are getting spacial military decals placed on their trucks to honor their military service. Bugbee served 14 years in the U.S. Army. |
In late October, the first of several trucks rolled out of the garage at R.F. Chamberland Inc. in St. Agatha, sporting new military recognition graphics. Each company driver who is also a military veteran will have custom graphics on their assigned truck showing their branch of service and decoration ribbons they earned.
“Truck drivers only ever get negative PR,” said Chris Cyr, who is in charge of safety at the company, referring to when things like highway accidents make the news.
R.F. Chamberland is trying to find ways to value its drivers, Cyr said, in an effort to attract and retain qualified employees. “We want some positive recognition for our drivers,” he added.
Cyr said a conversation he had with a company driver who is a Vietnam veteran was the inspiration behind the decal idea. “I thought, ‘How can we recognize these guys?’ We want to tell them, ‘We are glad you’re on our team,’” Cyr shared. “They are among the best employees you can ask for. Combat veterans have a work (ethic) that is second to none.”
Cyr, who lives in St. Agatha, is also a veteran, having served four years in the U.S. Marines Corps. He has been at R.F. Chamberland for the past three years following his retirement from the Maine State Police.
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| Contributed photo
The, decal, for truck driver Harold Daigle of Cross Lake, is one of several R.F Chamberland Inc. is putting on its fleet of trucks, to recognize the military service of some of its drivers. This decal also features Daigle’s Vietnam Campaign ribbon and Bronze Star Medal ribbon. |
Although R.F. Chamberland is based in St. Agatha, Cyr said that its drivers live and work in communities between the St. John Valley and Bangor, with most living in Aroostook County.
Andrew Bugbee, 35, of Fort Fairfield served 14 years in the U.S Army and Maine National Guard. During that time he served in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. His unit was the first to arrive at Baghdad airport, he said.
Although he has only been with R.F. Chamberland for a couple of years, his experience training soldiers and managing people made him a good fit to take over driver training at the trucking company.
Of his time in the Army, Bugbee said, “I loved it,” but family commitments led to his leaving the Army. He said he otherwise would have stayed in and made a career of it. Both Bugbee’s father and grandfather served in the Army.
Bugbee earned his commercial driver’s license at Northern Maine Community College last year and was soon hauling water to fracking fields in North Dakota. Then he was able to find a job with R.F. Chamberland, which allows him to stay closer to his four children.
Bugbee said he looks forward to having the Army graphics placed on his training rig. “I like it. I have a lot of pride being a veteran.”
Cyr said there is “a massive truck driver shortage in the nation,” which is one of the reasons why company officials say the decal program will also help recruit qualified drivers, and military veterans in particular. He said Aroostook County has limited employment opportunities but that trucking is a large part of the local economy “and offers good paying jobs.”
Veterans comprise approximately 25 of the 60 drivers the company currently employees. Cyr said he finds that full-time drivers take the responsibility for caring for their trucks seriously; and having a military decal serves to increase that sense of pride and responsibility.
“We are very fortunate to have such caliber of people working for us.”
Robert and Viola Chamberland founded R.F. Chamberland in 1977. They originally bought, sold and shipped potatoes. Today, brothers Mark and Dale Chamberland own the company, operating a fleet of more than 50 trucks that travel throughout the U.S. and eastern Canada.
