Twas the night before Christmas, just before dark,
and driver Cris Kringle needed a place to park.
His big bore Cummins cranking max horsepowers,
the jolly old elf was out of on-duty hours.
If you replaced Santa's eight mighty reindeer with a long-nose conventional, Twas The Night Before Christmas, sounds a lot different.
Yet rather than sample one of the world's most widely known poems, Albertville, Minnesota-based Long Haul Trucking (CCJ Top 250, No. 215) put a unique OTR spin on solving a Christmas problem that in movies has been tackled by the likes of Earnest P. Worrell and Tim Allen: coming to Santa's rescue.
Written by LHT's Vice President of Sales and Marketing Anthony Book, How Chris and His Trucks Saved Christmas tells the story of a young boy and his five toy trucks (Pete, Pac, Yoko, Bib and Ken) and how they come to Santa's aid in his time of need.
Book said the story is meant to promote the industry's image and is dedicated to the drivers who spend holidays out on the road.
"It's a story about teamwork," said Book, adding the opportunity to write the 22-page tale allowed him to combine two passions: trucking and writing. The book was illustrated by Paul Johnson, uncle of LHT CEO Jason Michels, and an art instructor in northern Minnesota. "I thought it might be a cool way to get the spirit of adventure, the spirit of excitement and the essentiality this industry has in front of kids in their formative years, [and] make trucking more appealing to a mass audience."
