Little kids love trucks. They play with toy vehicles and garbage trucks that roll by their homes fascinate them. And suddenly, the interest wanes.

Sophia Sniegowski Begidzhanov aims to keep them engaged and attracted to the industry with Just In Time! Trucks for Kids – a free book that can be downloaded and printed at home.

“I wanted to create something tangible about my work for my daughter,” says the corporate communications officer for Musket Transport. “She is turning two in September, and I like to pick books for her. I realized that there were not a lot of books about the trucking industry available.”

Begidzhanov says, “I thought it would be a neat idea to put together a children’s book and also drive the point home for parents that trucking is a career option.”

Close friend Alana de Haan illustrated the book and cousin Sarah Adlewski, who lives in Madrid, Spain, translated it to French.

De Haan, a project manager at a construction company, loves to draw as a hobby. “I thought this would be a fun opportunity, and due to the pandemic, had a bit of extra time on my hands,” she says.

Begidzhanov created this book for Musket Transportation employees. “There are many parents that work at our company. I wanted something that was easily accessible and printable for them. Now we have the coloring book option, and the translation in French, to educate their kids on what they are doing every day at work,” she says.

“Our quality of life is based off trucks, how they deliver items. Even though you are buying everything online, people don’t necessarily connect that to the trucking industry and how valuable we are in the supply chain.”

Begidzhanov and de Haan took about a month to complete the project.

“I used my own illustrative style to make it more kid friendly and oversimplified the drawings for them. It’s great to get kids to understand the trucking industry and how their goods come to their door,” de Haan says.

“We created the coloring book option because not everyone has a color printer at home, so parents can print it out and the kids can add color to the story. It engages the child a little bit more,” Begidzhanov says.

She says the concept of free shipping when you are making that purchase online, is a discredit to the trucking industry because people think it is free when it is not.

“We already have a lot of stigma and stereotypes that we have to combat, that I felt this would be a fun way to shed a light on our industry and show that we are important to your quality of life and also support a child’s curiosity,” Begidzhanov says.

The book can be downloaded here.