The Husker Truck Has Arrived in New Jersey

Randy York N-Sider

Official Blog of the Huskers

Big Red fans can rest easy. The Husker Truck that carries everything Nebraska football players, coaches, cheerleaders, mascots and support staff need to compete against Rutgers Saturday in New Brunswick, N.J., has arrived on time that is so synchronized, it rivals the finest watches in the world.

Just know this because it's true. On Wednesday, Husker Truck Driver Monte Selden of Shelby, Neb., told me that he and two other drivers were leaving Memorial Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and expected to arrive in Elizabeth, N.J., about 22½ hours later.

When I walked up the stairs after Thursday's Nebraska football practice, I sat down at my desk and noticed it would be 7 p.m. Eastern Time, so I called Selden’s cell phone. He answered within seconds, informing me that the truck with three drivers, and all the precious cargo they were carrying, was just pulling into the hotel parking lot. It was 24 hours ahead of the team's scheduled arrival, exactly as planned. I couldn't help but think if the Huskers are half as precise as their equipment arrival, Nebraska should record its first back-to-back wins of the season.

Moving ‘Billboard’ Draws the Interest of Drivers Wanting a Closer View

Interestingly, the Husker Truck traveling to New Jersey received just as many waves, stares and honks as it always does when it crosses the United States to support Big Red Football.

Selden bought his own trucking business in 1983, drove the first time for Nebraska in 1996 and became so proficient, he’s celebrating his 10th straight year as the exclusive driver for all Nebraska football road games. The 15-ton truck he uses helps him haul football equipment, cheerleader flags, medical and radio equipment, headsets and even Lil’ Red.

Everywhere it goes, people want to know who the Huskers are, so Selden Trucking tells them by listing all 43 conference championships and all five national championships, replete with the crystal trophies, on its black-based trailer. “I get a new truck almost every year,” Selden said. “I run it through the program and then after the bowl game, if there is a bowl game, I’ll give it to a driver and put it on the road.”

The Husker decals on the trailer never come off. Counting the new truck that made its Husker road debut two weekends ago at Purdue, Selden Trucking now has five Big Red trucks on the highways and byways of metropolitan, suburban and rural America.

Trucks Featuring Henery, Suh, Crick and Burkhead Still Traveling America

Get this. One traveling truck features kicker Alex Henery. Other stickers that remain on the trailers showcase Jared Crick, Rex Burkhead and Ndamukong Suh (pictured above at a Husker basketball game last season). All four were All-Americans and all four played in the NFL. Ndamukong, Jared and Rex, in fact, are still playing in the NFL.

“I always tell our guys that this driving billboard is probably one of the better advertisements I have,” Selden said. “People point at them and talk about them all the time. My drivers tell me people come up and take pictures when we’re at a truck stop. They take pictures and wave at the older trucks that still have Husker stickers on their trailers. My drivers say people take a lot of pictures while they’re passing our trucks.

“You’d be surprised how often it happens,” Selden said. “It’s not as bad now as it was back when we were winning all those championships. There were a lot of camera flashes when we were going down the interstate. Times change. They don’t have a flash anymore, so people no longer wonder what all is going on. I could never figure it out until they’d get up alongside me and start shooting. Nowadays, they're more likely to come by and start taking videos on their iPhones.”

 

Husker Driver Waited an Extra Three Months for His New Truck’s Arrival

Selden, 60 (pictured above), has been a Husker fan since his childhood school days. He attended lots of games, loved fullbacks like Cory Schlesinger and is friends with a former Husker football walk-on, who’s also a Shelby, Neb., native. Curtis Tomasevicz went on to win an Olympic gold medal as a bobsledder and now works at the Nebraska Athletics Performance Laboratory.

“We’re good friends,” Selden said of Tomasevicz. “We started fundraisers in Shelby that helped Curt train and make the Olympics. I was fortunate enough to be in Calgary and watch Curt win the Olympic gold. He’s a good kid. You just don’t find them like that very often.”

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