JCB Embarks on Coast-to-Coast Fundraising Road Trip to Help Rebuild Haiti

JCB, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of construction equipment, has hit the road in style — and for a great cause. The company and its 3CX backhoe loader have embarked on a 26-day, coast-to-coast fundraising road trip to help rebuild Haiti. JCB hopes the “Backhoe Across America” cross-country campaign will both remind Americans that Haiti’s long road to recovery is only just beginning, and encourage them to show their continued support — either by visiting one of the 11 featured route stops or by visiting the JCB for Haiti Web site to make a donation. JCB aims to help raise $1 million for the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund.

No Ordinary Road Trip
The JCB 3CX backhoe loader began its coast-to-coast trek from the beach at Tybee Island, Ga., on March 26. Throughout the trip, the backhoe will travel more than 3,000 miles across the United States, making fundraising pit stops at JCB dealerships in nine cities along the way before reaching its final destination — the beach at California’s Santa Monica Pier — on April 20.

“Haiti’s road to recovery will be long and difficult,” said John Patterson, chairman and CEO of JCB Inc. “On behalf of everyone at JCB, we hope that the miles traveled and donations secured during Backhoe Across America will help ease the burden of the journey that lies ahead for this devastated nation.”

No Ordinary Backhoe
On a recent episode of the National Geographic and Discovery Channel show, “Greatest Ever,” the JCB backhoe was ranked No. 1 on a list of the “Greatest Ever Earthmovers.” With the Backhoe Across America campaign, JCB will put the World’s Greatest Earthmover to an even greater test to see just how far a bucketful of charity can go to help the Haitian people rebuild their lives. 

JCB invented the backhoe loader in 1953. Today, the company is the world’s leading manufacturer of this versatile and reliable jobsite solution, producing almost one out of every two backhoes sold worldwide. In keeping with the company’s long tradition of assisting disaster-relief efforts around the world, JCB already has donated two backhoe loaders in response to Haiti’s immediate recovery needs. And, most recently, JCB pledged to provide $100,000 worth of backhoe equipment for Chile’s earthquake victims.

No Ordinary Driver
JCB veteran employee Neil Smith is the man behind the wheel as the backhoe makes its way across America. When Smith was growing up in Rocester, England, he walked by JCB’s world headquarters on his way to school each and every day. Not surprisingly, Smith dreamed of operating JCB’s signature bright yellow machines — but he had no way of knowing that the family-owned manufacturer would play a major role in his life for many years to come.

Now in his 37th year with JCB, Smith is operating the 3CX machine and traveling at speeds up to 30 mph on secondary roads, which, by law, must be used throughout the trek due to the backhoe’s maximum speed limitations.