The employees of Volvo Trucks North America’s New River Valley Plant continued a nearly two-decade-old tradition over the Memorial Day weekend by participating in the annual Rolling Thunder® - Ride for Freedom rally. 2010 marks the 19th year Volvo employees from NRV have taken part in the massive motorcycle rally dedicated to America’s fallen or missing military heroes.
As in past years, NRV’s involvement included a specially decaled Volvo VN670. The illustrations detailed a variety of patriotic and military veteran themes, memorials and events from past conflicts. This year’s graphics highlighted the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.
Early on Saturday, May 29, hundreds of local residents, Volvo employees and participating motorcyclists gathered at UAW Local 2069’s Union Hall, adjacent to the NRV Plant, for speeches by local veterans, reflections and prayers, and “Amazing Grace” played on bagpipes. At the end of the ceremony, hundreds of motorcyclists, including several dozen Volvo employees, and the Volvo VN left for the drive to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., to join up with hundreds of thousands of other participants.
The truck’s graphics also reflected the local nature of the remembrance and the participation of the Southwest Virginia community in the national event. This year, special graphics memorialized two local veterans who had recently passed away: one was a former Vietnam War POW; the other was a veteran of D-Day and Korea.
Planning for NRV’s involvement in the rally typically begins in January with the Veteran’s Committee of UAW Local 2069. Advantage Truck Center of Charlotte donated the use of this truck from its inventory for the event.
The employees of Volvo Trucks North America’s New River Valley Plant participated in the annual Rolling Thunder® - Ride for Freedom rally over the Memorial Day weekend. 2010 marks the 19th year Volvo employees from NRV took part in the massive motorcycle rally dedicated to America’s fallen or missing military heroes. As in past years, NRV’s involvement included a specially decaled Volvo VN670. This year’s graphics highlighted the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.
Volvo Trucks North America’s operations and products are guided by the company’s three core values: Safety, Quality and Environmental Care. The Volvo VN and VHD trucks are assembled in the United States at the New River Valley Plant in Dublin, Virginia, while Volvo engines for North America are assembled in Hagerstown, Maryland. Both plants are certified to ISO14001 environmental and ISO9001 quality standards.
Volvo Trucks North America is part of the Volvo Group, one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components and services, and one of the world's leading producers of heavy-diesel engines (9-16 liter). The Group also provides complete solutions for financing and service. The Volvo Group, which employs about 96,000 people, has production facilities in 19 countries and sells their products in more than 180 markets. Volvo Group sales for 2009 amounted to approximately $29 billion. The Volvo Group is a publicly-held company headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX Nordic Exchange and are traded OTC in the U.S.
June 1, 2010
For further information, please contact Jim McNamara, Volvo Trucks North America, phone 336-393-2143, email james.mcnamara@volvo.com
www.volvotrucks.us.com