They’re not alone in their good deeds on our collective behalf, but I’m going to single out Shaw Tracking and Maxim Truck & Trailer here.They deserve our thanks for their commitment to improving trucking’s sorry image. Lord knows we need it.

As you can read in our news story posted last week, Shaw has produced a 30-second commercial that’s been airing nationally since late March on Global and other Shaw Communications channels. Its theme is one we all know awfully well — ‘If you got it, a truck brought it’ — but it’s done in a pleasant, soft-sell sort of way. It looks good, sounds good, and I hope it’ll make a difference.

Mike Ham, Shaw Tracking’s vice president, says there will be another Shaw commercial airing later this spring, targeting industry recruitment efforts. As the company’s press release says, “The objective of the ad is to highlight the dynamic career opportunities available to Canadians.” That’s a harder sell these days, so I’ll be interested to see the ad’s approach.

This is real leadership, done in concert the Canadian Trucking Alliance.

Out in Manitoba, Maxim Truck & Trailer recently presented Winnipeg Harvest — the province’s largest food bank — with a cheque that meant being able to supply local families in need with 30,000 lb of food. Additional donations were made to food banks in Toronto; Regina and Carnduff, Saskatchewan; Edmonton; and Killarney, Manitoba.

The donations are the result of the company’s inaugural Maxim 500 Pound Challenge that wrapped up in late March with teams from across Canada completing their final weigh-in. The challenge was created as a fun weight-loss challenge for Maxim employees, customers, suppliers, partners, and friends. It ran from January 7 to February 27, 2012 with teams from across western Canada weighing in weekly. For every pound lost during the challenge, Maxim is donating to a food bank in the team’s community.

Good stuff, creative stuff.

By all accounts the challenge is a success. Doug Melnychuk, the challenge team captain from Ken Palson Transport in Winnipeg, said, “We were glad to help out. We all shed a few pounds to put a few pounds of food on the tables of people who need it more than we do.”

Maxim is, among other things, an International Trucks dealer.

“We ended with more than 1200 pounds lost by nearly 200 participants,” says Harry Dornn, the company’s marketing director. “We want to say a very special thank you to all our employees, customers, and suppliers who helped create healthier workplaces and give back to their communities.”

I say thanks to both Shaw and Maxim, for their leadership and their creativity. Please, will others stand up?