Transfix Offers a Full Cabin Makeover for National Truck Driver Appreciation Week

Some of our favorite projects at Carve are campaigns that give back. Now, combine that with a timely calendar moment when the media is more likely to care and you have a potential PR goldmine.

Recently, our client Transfix, a leading, next-generation digital freight platform, wanted to do something special for the trucking community for National Truck Driver Appreciation Week 2021. They asked our team to think of big, creative ways to give back, and we came up with "TransFIX My Rig," inspired by the early 00's show "Pimp My Ride." 

Here's how it all went down.

The Situation:

National Truck Driver Appreciation Week took place on September 12-18, 2021. This was a particularly meaningful year for the occasion because of the significant role drivers took on amid the COVID-19 pandemic. When our country was in need, truck drivers stepped up to keep our economy and lives moving forward. Here are some stats to put it into perspective:

• More than 3.6 million men and women nationwide move our freight, logging over 400 billion miles every year. 

• 70% of America's freight tonnage is delivered by truck annually, amounting to 10 billion tons.

• Roughly 80% of U.S. communities depend solely on the trucking industry as the only means to deliver their goods.

All of this means drivers spend a lot of time on the road, and their trucks become their home-away-from-homes.

The Idea:

Launch a sweepstakes for truck drivers with a grand prize of a full cabin makeover by celebrity rehabber Jason Cameron, actor and host of CBS' "Secret Celebrity Renovation." 

The Execution:

Carve secured Cameron for the initiative -- it was his first time doing a makeover inside a vehicle! We collaborated closely with the internal Transfix team to ensure we met all rules and regulations and could execute upon this idea in a month. We were lucky to uncover the perfect winner -- Debbie Desiderato, a 22-year female truck-driving veteran. We connected Jason and Debbie immediately, and Jason picked up on the most important things to her. Debbie mentioned she always drives with her guitar, but it usually sits on her bed, given the tight living quarters. Jason custom-made a nook just for her guitar to hang.

The PR Results:

On the media side, our team secured an ABC World News segment featuring Reporter Will Ganns and our winner's story in a piece about "The Secret Life of a Trucker." Transfix was featured prominently in the piece. Freight Waves, Commercial Carrier Journal, and the AP among others overed the story. TransFIX My Rig reached an audience of more than 100.3M. It also drove traffic to Transfix's social media feeds through Jason Cameron's social amplification of the campaign on Instagram. 

The Even Better Results:

The initiative was successful on several fronts, most importantly, supporting drivers as the country experiences a huge truck driver shortage. We positioned Transfix as the digital freight platform that cares about drivers’ mental and physical health and working conditions. 

Said our client, Amanda Vogel, Director of Marketing Communications at Transfix: “Carve has been an incredible partner in thinking beyond traditional B2B communications to tell our story to new audiences.TransFIX My Rig -- from unique concept to flawless execution -- is a perfect example. The team truly understood our goal for National Truck Driver Appreciation Week -- to honor a driver in our network with a personalized ‘home away from home’ -- and seamlessly delivered a campaign that went above and beyond our expectations.”