A graduate of Fayetteville Technical Community College's Commercial Driver's License program is a finalist in a national competition among Veterans, guard members and reservists who have made the successful transition in the trucking industry following military service.

Brandon Meredith is one of five finalists vying for the Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence award. The winner will receive a fully loaded Kenworth T-680 Next Generation truck valued at approximately $155,000.

The winner will be determined by a selection committee based in part on the results of online public voting between Nov. 1 and Nov. 11 (Veterans Day). The winner will be announced Dec. 15.

The public may visit transitiontrucking.org to see online interviews with each finalist and vote for their choice for winner. According to the contest website, this voting will be an important factor for the committee selecting the next Transition Trucking award winner.

The award, in its 8th year, is sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Hiring Our Heroes Program, Kenworth and FASTPORT, a recruiting and retention company, and is aimed at curbing the national commercial truck driver shortage and creating immediate jobs for transitioning military personnel.

Meredith enrolled in the CDL course at FTCC as he was winding down a 20-year career in the U.S. Army. "The Army paid for it and gave me time off for it, so I didn't have to work," he said in a press release. "I just went to CDL school."

Meredith had a job as a driver for Slay Transportation in Fayetteville the day after he retired from the military and in his first three months with the company garnered two Driver of the Month awards. He hopes one day to become an owner-operator and mentor with the company.

To vote in the contest, visit 

transitiontrucking.org

 between Nov. 1 and Nov. 11.