MINNEAPOLIS - XRS Corporation (formerly Xata Corporation), a mobile fleet optimization software provider, celebrated National Truck Driver Appreciation Week with the Xtra Mile Award to recognize a driver who has gone above and beyond.

Rickie Youngquist was selected by members of the company’s Facebook community as the winner of the Xtra Mile Award. Youngquist was nominated for his involvement in Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT), which educates, equips, empowers, and mobilizes members of the trucking industry to fight human sex trafficking, and Free the Girls, an organization that provides job opportunities to women rescued from sex trafficking.

Kylla Leeburg of TAT nominated Youngquist, writing, “Rickie is a strong supporter of Truckers Against Trafficking and educates his fellow truckers about the signs of sex trafficking and what to do if they see it. But Rickie went a major step above and beyond when a group called Free the Girls contacted TAT about needing to transport thousands of bras Colorado to Chicago in order to load them on a cargo plane to Africa.”

Leeburg explained that sex trafficking survivors are given the bras to sell in their African villages, making three times the national average wage. Youngquist volunteered to drive the bras from Colorado to Chicago, only being reimbursed for gas expenses. “Rickie has volunteered to transport more loads for Free the Girls in the future in order to aid not only domestic but also global victims of trafficking,” Leeburg wrote in her nomination.

Youngquist will receive a Huawei MediaPad 7, a seven-inch Android tablet. In response to the news that he had won, Youngquist posted on Facebook: “Ever since I partnered with TAT being a truck driver has brought new meaning to my life, I have the chance to help others while driving a truck.”

Nominations for the award were accepted on XRS’ Facebook page through Sept. 12, and the community voted on the finalists from Sept. 14-20. In addition to Youngquist, award finalists included Allen Smith, James Moose Welborn, "James B" and Andy Morse. The finalists’ stories are on XRS’ Facebook page.

“XRS is honored to get to know these drivers and their stories of compassion,” said Christian Schenk, vice president of market development and product marketing at XRS. “We know that these large and small gestures happen every day in the trucking community, and the goal of this award is to show the world all that’s right about individuals in the trucking industry.”