ONE OF Charles “Shorty” Whittington's guiding tenets is, “If you give, you get.” That guiding principle recently played out in a special way when Grammer Industries Inc and Mississippi Tank Company teamed up on a couple of bright pink MC331 trailers.
Building these LP-gas transport trailers was the brainstorm of Scott McKeand, Grammer Industries fleet maintenance manager, and Joey Runnels, Mississippi Tank Company (MTC) sales representative. They thought it would be a great idea to build a pink LP-gas trailer to promote breast-cancer awareness.
Numerous breast-cancer-awareness propane bobtails have been created over the past several years, but McKeand and Runnels didn't think any full-size trailers were on the roads. So, they approached their companies with the idea and got an enthusiastic thumbs-up for the project.
“We wanted to step up to the plate and do something to give back,” Runnels says. “Scott was the guy who pushed it; he's thecustomer. This is the first pink trailer MTC has done, and I think it's the first pink trailer anyone has done.”
The final decision was to build two trailers, one of which Grammer Industries put into service, and the other that was sold to PAPCO Inc, Virginia Beach,Virginia, for use in its New Jersey market. Co-sponsors for the Grammer Industries trailer include Alcoa, Base Engineering, Betts, Blackmer, CMC Tank Truck, Continental, Fisher Valve, Haldex, Ridewell, and U-Tech.
Partnering with Grammer Industries and MTC on the pink trailers is the American Breast Cancer Foundation (ABCF) with a portion of the sales from the propane that is pumped through the trailer going to ABCF's “Fuel for Hope” campaign, which provides financial grants for a variety of diagnostic and support services, including screening and diagnostic mammograms, ultra-sounds and emergency biopsies, wigs, medications, travel assistance and mastectomy bras.
The trailers received a grand unveiling at the National Propane Gas Association's Southeast Convention and International Expo in Atlanta, Georgia, in April.
“Grammer Industries, with the blessing of Shorty Whittington, and Mississippi Tank, with the blessing of Danny Miller, were behind us 100%,” said McKeand. “There are also a lot of other people who have wanted to join us in this ‘Fuel for Hope’ program, and we're extremely grateful.” ♦
