Brandon Meredith, a graduate of Fayetteville Technical Community College's Commercial Driver's License program, has been named the winner of the 2023 Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence Award.

The national award, presented by Fastport Transport, recognized the trucking industry's best veterans-turned-drivers who are in the first year of their careers.

Meredith was announced as this year's winner on Friday, Dec. 15 at the Veteran Ready Summit in Washington, DC. He received the competition's top prize - a fully loaded Kenworth T680 Next Generation truck valued at $155,000. Meredith was also awarded a full scholarship for a business degree.

Earlier this year, when Meredith learned he was one of five finalists for the award, he said winning the truck would help him achieve his eventual goal of becoming a self-employed driver.

"This contest could help me become an independent contractor," said Meredith in a press release. "That's where I see myself going - becoming an owner-operator, and then, reluctantly maybe, eventually settling into a desk job."

The prestigious award is a cap on a successful year for the rookie driver. Meredith officially separated from the U.S. Army on March 31 but had a job the very next day as he spent the final month of his active-duty service training for his CDL through FTCC's Transition Tech program.

It was a major shift in careers for Meredith, who spent the bulk of his 20-year military service with Special Operations Forces, working as a Civil Affairs Soldier, a combat medic and a candidate assessor. He spent the year driving a tanker truck - a rarity for drivers so early in their career - and he garnered Driver of the Month awards in his second and third months with Slay Transportation in Fayetteville.