Love’s Travel Stops and Chester’s Chicken have teamed up to create a holiday season celebration to say thanks to truck drivers: Truckersgiving. On Nov. 18, a week before Thanksgiving, Chester’s and Love’s are celebrating these essential road warriors by inviting them in for a pit stop to receive a specially designed trucker hat and free side of Chester’s new mac and cheese.
For more than 50 years, Chester’s Chicken has crafted a rich legacy with fans, including truckers and road trippers. With more than 1,200 locations and successful store-in-store concepts spanning truck stops and convenience stores, a collaboration to honor some of its biggest customers, truckers, was a natural fit.
“Truck drivers are more essential than ever due to the challenges brought on by the global pandemic. We rely on them to deliver critical goods — fuel, food, medicine, vaccines, etc. — that we’ve become so accustomed to in our daily lives,” said William Culpepper, vice president of marketing of Chester’s Chicken. “When the supply chain was disrupted, truckers and the important work they perform were rightfully applauded. We established what we hope to become an annual holiday, Truckersgiving, to praise and thank truck drivers for all they do, including the acknowledgement that many are away from their families during the holiday season.”
Within the more than 560 Love’s locations in 41 states, there are over 140 Chester’s restaurants — and more opening every week. According to Love’s, the week prior to Thanksgiving is busier with truck traffic than Thanksgiving week, making it the ideal time to treat these drivers.
“Love’s enjoys any reason to celebrate professional truck drivers, and Truckersgiving is a fun and festive way to do that,” said Joe Cotton, vice president of restaurant services at Love’s. “We know drivers enjoy Chester’s Chicken, so this is a great way to say thank you to truck drivers during the holidays.”
To participate, truckers can simply stop by any Chester’s within a Love’s location during operating hours on Nov. 18 and show their commercial driver’s license (CDL) to receive one of over 2,000 trucker hats and a free side of Chester’s new mac and cheese.
The mac and cheese, along with two additional new homestyle sides, mashed potatoes with roasted chicken gravy and green beans, are part of Chester’s continued brand refresh. Available now on Chester’s menus everywhere, the sides make their debut alongside the brand’s dipping sauces and famous fried chicken.
Love’s Travel Stops has more than 560 locations in 41 states. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company remains family-owned and operated and employs more than 33,000 people.