Two Covenant Transport drivers who have merged marriage and the demands of cross-country, around-the-clock trucking were recently featured on a CBS special with Harry Connick Jr. highlighting essential workers.
"It's one of those once-in-a-lifetime things," said Mike Frazier, 39, who shares the weekly Ohio-to-California road trip with his wife, Kim. "For us to be picked is an honor."
The two live in Ohio, but were summoned to Chattanooga to spend the day at Covenant with Connick and his crew, and to be serenaded by country crooner Tim McGraw via a remote connection.
The Fraziers had no idea why they were called to Chattanooga, learning only that they had a visitor coming to see them. Usually, a trip to Covenant headquarters means your truck needs work or you're in trouble, Kim Frazier said with a laugh.
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The CBS television special, titled “United We Sing: A Grammy Tribute to the Unsung Heroes,” aired Sunday, June 21. It was produced and hosted by Harry Connick Jr., and is available on YouTube.
"But they just said, 'It's a surprise, just come on in,'" she said. "The next thing we know, here come the tour buses and here comes Harry Connick Jr. and his daughter Georgia."
For the broadcast, Connick drove from New Orleans to New York visiting essential workers and enlisting celebrity friends including McGraw, Oprah, and Brad Pitt to offer their thanks to the people keeping the country running during the pandemic.
The experience was special, the Fraziers said, but it was also just the latest in a long line of stories about their adventures. Kim, a former police officer, and Mike, a military veteran, met online 10 years ago while he was deployed to Iraq. When he returned home, they took a cruise for their first date and married in Las Vegas two weeks later.
"Our story is so crazy," Kim Frazier said.
Truck drivers have played a key role in keeping supplies moving during the pandemic, particularly in the early days when panic-buying left store shelves bare of essential supplies, the Fraziers said.
"We're out there, we've got to do our jobs," Kim Frazier said. "They couldn't shut us down."
Contact Mary Fortune at mfortune@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow her on Twitter at @maryfortune.
Photo by Doug Smith / Covenant Transport drivers Mike and Kim Frazier work at Covenant headquarters in Chattanooga with the camera crew for "United We Sing: A Grammy Tribute to the Unsung Heroes."