This National Truck Driver Appreciation Week may soon become federally recognized

September 16, 2026   ByWimberly Patton

This year’s National Truck Driver Appreciation Week may soon be recognized by the federal government thanks to a resolution introduced by Wyoming Congresswoman Harriet Hageman. 

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The resolution supports the designation of the week of September 13th – 19th in 2026 as officially “National Truck Driver Appreciation Week,” as introduced by Hageman. 

“Americans everywhere have truckers to thank for the ability to buy the same goods almost anywhere,” Hageman said. “They haul our cattle, stock our stores and serve the small towns that no other form of transportation can reach with year-round deliveries of the raw material of the 21st century. This resolution says thank you and builds on the work I am already doing in Congress to crack down on bad actors compromising opportunities for the American truck driver.”

“OOIDA is proud to represent nearly 150,000 small-business truckers across America who thanklessly serve as the backbone of this country’s supply chain every single day and night,” said Todd Spencer, OOIDA president. “Over 70% of freight in the United States moves exclusively by truck, the majority of which are mom-and-pop operations. We applaud the leadership of Representative Hageman for consistently demonstrating her appreciation for truckers by authoring bills to crack down on unsafe chameleon carriers and to safely bring new truckers into our industry. We believe every trucker in America deserves to have that kind of force behind them and we look forward to continuing to work with Representative Hageman and her like-minded colleagues who fight for truckers every day in Congress, not just this week.”

“National Truck Driver Appreciation Week provides all Americans with the opportunity to give truck drivers the recognition and gratitude they richly deserve,” said Greg Hodgen, ATA chairman and CEO of Groendyke Transport Inc. “ATA commends Reps. Hageman, Taylor, Figures and Gillen for leading Congress’ tribute to these hardworking [people]. Truck drivers’ extraordinary dedication, professionalism, attention to detail and skill are the keys to keeping our roads safe and our country moving.”

  Hot Dogs & Sausages

Ready to grill out?

Hot dog joints

Nathan’s Famous, Coney Island, New York. Opened 1916 by Nathan Handwerker with a three-hundred-dollar loan. Still at the original Surf and Stillwell corner. Hosts the famous July Fourth eating contest—Joey Chestnut’s record is seventy-six dogs in ten minutes.

Fort Wayne’s Famous Coney Island, Indiana. 1914. Widely called the oldest continuously running hot dog stand in the country. Grilled dogs with mustard, onions, and secret sauce.

Walter’s Hot Dog Stand, Mamaroneck, New York. 1919. Fourth-generation family. Beef-veal-pork dogs split and grilled in a secret sauce under a green pagoda.

Portillo’s, started in Villa Park, Illinois. 1963. Dick Portillo put eleven hundred dollars into a twelve-foot trailer with no running water. Now over a hundred locations. Chicago-style dogs plus Italian beef.

Wienerschnitzel. Founded 1961. More than three hundred locations across thirteen states. Sells over forty-two million hot dogs a year, including twenty million chili cheese dogs.

Sausage spots

Zum Gulden Stern, Nuremberg, Germany. First documented as a bratwurst kitchen in 1419. Claims the title of oldest bratwurst restaurant in the world.

Historic Sausage Kitchen of Regensburg, Germany. Building dates to the 1100s. Started serving grilled sausages around 1806. Still moves about six thousand sausages a day.

Schmidt’s Sausage Haus, Columbus, Ohio. Meatpacking roots from 1886. Famous for bratwurst and their own Bahama Mama smoked sausage.

Jacob’s World Famous Andouille, LaPlace, Louisiana. 1928. First commercial andouille maker. Louisiana declared the town the Andouille Capital of the World in 1972.

Sheboygan, Wisconsin. German settlers in the 1850s. Officially named Bratwurst Capital of the World by a judge in 1970 after a fry-off with Bucyrus, Ohio. Annual Brat Days since 1953.