V3 Transportation, an expedited transporter, will be making a donation to the St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund in honor of Robert Burton, an owner-operator in its fleet. Burton was recently named the Expediter of the Year during the Expedite Expo and donated his $500 award to the charity.
Owner operator Robert Burton received the Expeditor of the Year award.The St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund is dedicated to helping truck drivers whose medical problems have led to financial hardship.
“Our management team at V3 felt the best way to pay tribute to Robert’s accomplishment and his commitment to others on the road was to match his donation. V3 is proud to make a $500 donation to the St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund in the names of Robert and Christy Burton,” said V3 President John Sliter.
The nomination for the Expediter of the Year was submitted by Christy Burton, Robert’s wife and co-driver. In her submission to the committee, Christy cited the numerous instances since they have been driving together when Robert provided assistance to motorists and truck drivers during their travels.
“I knew I had to nominate Robert because of the human being that he actually is. I just had to do it,” said Christy Burton.
Christy Burton did not tell her husband about nominating him for the award until he was named as one of the finalists. The nomination and the subsequent award took Robert by surprise.
“I couldn’t believe it when she told me,” said Robert of the nomination before commenting on the experience of earning the Expediter of the Year honor. “When it first happened, everything in the room disappeared. It was something I never felt before. I’m still in awe and it’s mind-blowing. It’s such a great honor. It’s just an amazing feeling.”
The Burtons have been recipients of the fund, having been out of work following an accident in which their personal vehicle had been struck at a high speed by a motorist.
“We’ve been there,” recalled Robert Burton of the accident that initially kept he and Christy from returning to work. “The wheels weren’t turning on our truck and we weren’t making any money. We were living off a nest egg at the time, and that nest egg was being cooked. This is what St. Christopher’s does. They help people in these situations. In my mind, this was the best thing I could have done with this money – to help someone who was in the situation that we were once in.”
