(L-R): Mary Aufdemberg, Brian Gildea and Richard Saward at the 2015 NTEA Work Truck Show for the lauch of HWC program.

Exactly one year ago at the NTEA Work Truck Show, Freightliner announced a recognition program called Freightliner Trucks Hardest Working Cities to honor communities leading the way in innovation and municipal growth. A year later, the company will commemorate the program's one-year anniversary in Indianapolis, the city that was first honored. A special video featuring footage from the 2015 Hardest Working Cities events along with one of the robust, 23-lb. concrete Hardest Working Cities trophies was featured at the Work Truck Show.

“It's exciting to be back in Indianapolis a year after crowning it as a Freightliner Trucks Hardest Working City,” said Richard Saward, general manager, Daimler Trucks North America. “This program has made us more aware of what work trucks, and its owners, can achieve for communities and, as a leader in vocational trucks, we're proud to stand behind this program.”

Indianapolis was the first city to receive the “Hardest Working Cities” award with five additional cities receiving the title later that year: Dallas, Los Angeles, Nashville, Salt Lake City and Toronto.

In each city, Freightliner coordinated an award presentation to city representatives and identified major work sites in the area to surprise workers with a well-deserved break that included free food and Hardest Working Cities gear. To date, Freightliner has visited 12 work sites and thanked about 800 workers across six cities.

After a successful first year for the recognition program, the company announced four new cities will be recognized in 2016. The award winners for this year will be: New York City, Charlotte, Edmonton and Seattle-Tacoma.

“After an economic data review revealed a compelling relationship between cities buying work trucks and thriving economies, we created the Freightliner Hardest Working Cities program,” said Allan Haggai, marketing communications manager, Freightliner Trucks. “It's clear cities count on work trucks for essential jobs such as building highways, delivering construction materials, plowing snow and hauling refuse. Hard work matters and it should be celebrated.”

To find the Freightliner Trucks Hardest Working Cities, approximately 400 metropolitan census areas in the United States and Canada in 11 different data categories were reviewed. The data categories ranged from impact on overall gross domestic product to growth in employment to the number of jobs in key industry sectors including construction, manufacturing and logistics.

This story also appears on Truck and Trailer Guide.

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