US: Red Kap asks the nation to “Fire Up The Skillets” by buying breakfast for thousands of pandemic truck drivers

Red Kap, a brand of affordable and innovative workwear, asks Americans to join them in thanking front-line truckers nationwide with the launch of The Trucker Tab.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, truck drivers have played a crucial role in keeping grocery stores and home pantries fully stocked, even as they struggle to find good meals on the road. Normally, truckers move more than 70% of all goods around the U.S. but this year has seen greater demand  — major retailers have seen same-store and online sales grow by 11% and 163% respectively. With the extra work comes longer hours with little to no options for food along their routes, an already serious problem exacerbated by the restaurant closings caused by the pandemic. 

In recognition of all that truckers do, previous hashtag campaigns such as #ThankATrucker have flooded social platforms like Twitter and Facebook. But this time, Red Kap is partnering with Southern-themed restaurant chain Cracker Barrel to offer truckers something they can actually see, feel, touch, and taste. By starting one of the biggest breakfast tabs ever, they hope to provide thousands of complimentary meals to the nation’s truckers.

“Social media posts thanking truck drivers are great, but we wanted to give our road warriors something infinitely more delicious,” says VF Imagewear Sr. Director of Marketing Cindy Chatman-Marshall. “If truckers stop, America stops. Red Kap has been making workwear for the trucking community for decades, so we know how hard they work to keep things running. We jumped at the opportunity to capture those feelings of gratitude and turn them into well-deserved, hearty meals like hash brown casserole and buttermilk pancakes.”

The Trucker Tab officially rolls out on October 5th and will remain active until October 25th. Red Kap has already opened a $50,000 tab, tallied at TruckerTab.com. There, individuals and corporate donors can add to the tab and build a meal for hungry truckers via an interactive, visual calculator — the bigger the donation, the higher the flapjack stack. To redeem free meals, truckers must enter their email address and Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) online. Red Kap will then email a $15 gift card link for a meal that will be honored by 660 Cracker Barrel locations across 45 states. Any leftover funds will be donated to the St. Christopher’s Trucker Relief Fund. In addition, the brand will have a special 20% discount on its premium Trucker Collection which features Airflow Shirts and Pro Pants with MIMIX Technology.

On the road, food remains a persistent challenge for hungry truckers who often have limited access to high quality meals. The pandemic has made things even worse. “This is really needed right now because food on the road is still hard to come by,” affirms S.H.E. Trucking Founder Sharae Moore. “Places aren’t open twenty-four hours anymore and a lot of the restaurants close early — so if you miss it, you miss it.” Working with Cracker Barrel, The Trucker Tab hopes to extend a helping hand. 

“If you’ve ever traveled on an interstate in Anywhere, USA, you’d be hard-pressed to find an exit that doesn’t have a Cracker Barrel restaurant. Combine that with their big rig-friendly parking lots and homegrown food, you’ve got yourself the perfect partner to feed thousands of hungry truckers. Not to mention, we also share home state pride considering Red Kap and Cracker Barrel are both headquartered in Tennessee,” Red Kap Sr. Brand Manager Leslie Guido explains.

To help get the word out and promote the initiative, Red Kap is partnering with radio personality Adam Carolla — host of The Adam Carolla Show, the number one daily downloaded podcast in the world— who will be wearing Red Kap’s Performance Plus  LightweightCoveralls with OilBlok Technology. Digital OOH billboards will also be hosted across major U.S. markets — specifically New York City, Seattle, Nashville, Atlanta, and Los Angeles — featuring live feeds of the donation tab amount as well as the total number of truckers served.

According to Red Kap President Chris Holcombe, “As a workwear brand that lives by the motto, ‘Done Right’, we feel it is our responsibility to do more than simply say thank you. We like to think of The Trucker Tab as ‘Thank You, Done Right’. It’s our way of taking action and we’re hopeful that others will do the same to honor those truckers who have played such a pivotal role in keeping our country moving.”

Red Kap, a division of VF Workwear, has been making workwear and uniforms for America’s skilled workforce since 1923. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, Red Kap’s mission is to make communities thrive by designing durable, innovative, and affordable clothing for men and women in numerous industries — including automotive, transportation, manufacturing, food services & culinary, construction, landscaping, waste management, food processing, housekeeping, healthcare, and specialty trades.