Highway Angels are influencing
the public’s perceptions about trucking – One incident at a time
Even small acts of kindness can generate a giant positive impression
When the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) receives driver nominations for its Highway Angels program, the stories frequently involve heroic deeds, such as pulling people from flaming vehicles or keeping critically injured crash victims alive or minimizing their pain until paramedics can take over. But sometimes even a mundane act of kindness, such as fixing a flat tire, can leave the person who was helped with a permanent, positive impression about truck drivers.
Here’s an example. On February 4, 2009, two sisters driving along I-64 in Kentucky felt their tire blow out. It was snowing heavily, and their car slid off the road. With a sinking feeling, they realized that the spare tire in their trunk was equally flat.
Larry Goessens, a driver for Anderson Trucking Service of St. Cloud, Minnesota, stopped to help the sisters. First, he pulled the car out of the ditch; then, he drove to the next town, had the spare tire repaired, returned to the scene, and replaced the flat tire with the spare.
Rhonda Davis, one of the women Goessens helped, was extremely impressed by the random act of kindness. She even took the time to write a complimentary letter to Anderson Trucking Service, stating: “This may not be a big deal to some people, but you would not believe how many people just drove right by me, standing on the side of the road… it was snowing to beat the dickens, and I am an old lady! … It was as if God himself sent this man to help me.”
Davis went on to say: “It seems like today’s truck drivers get such a raw deal that I felt it was important for me to write this letter and let you know just how important the good ones really are. … [Goessens] froze his rear-end off changing that tire for us … and he wouldn’t let me pay him for his time and trouble. … Truckers are so under-appreciated that even I have a newfound respect for them and the vital services they provide for our great country.”
Deborah Sparks, a spokeswoman for Highway Angels, said that Davis’ letter only reinforces what TCA’s Communications & Image Policy Committee (which oversees the Highway Angels program) has believed since it first initiated the program: that truck drivers’ random acts of kindness on the highways—no matter how minor—provide the best possible publicity for the trucking industry. “Now that Ms. Davis’ life has been positively touched by a professional truck driver, she will probably tell her friends and family, who will in turn come away with a positive impression of drivers and trucking. They will tell someone, who will tell someone… It is exactly this type of grass-roots goodwill that Highway Angels hopes to foster, and we do our part to keep the momentum going by releasing positive driver stories to local hometown newspapers and other media outlets. Highway Angels stories are simply the best possible P.R. that our industry can have,” she said.
Now that Goessens has been accepted as a TCA Highway Angel, he will receive a Highway Angel lapel pin, certificate, and patch for his kindness in helping Davis and her sister. Anderson Trucking Service will also receive a certificate acknowledging that one of its drivers is a Highway Angel.
Since its inception in August 1997, the Highway Angels program has recognized hundreds of drivers for the unusual kindness, courtesy, and courage they have shown others while on the job. TCA has received letters and e-mails from people across North America nominating truck drivers for the program.
To view archival copies of past Highway Angel press releases, visit www.truckload.org/pressroom. To learn more about the program or to nominate a driver, go to www.truckload.org/highwayangels. For additional information, contact TCA at (703) 838-1950 or angel@truckload.org.
The Old Mail Bag
From: RS
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 10:54 AM
To: jobs@truckdriver.com
Subject: Re: Hulu, DAC and You
You know what really p***es me off? The trucking industry doesn’t have enough freight for the drivers it already has, but continues to advertise "drivers needed"! Why is that?
It is because they 1) get a huge kickback from driving schools, for saying that they need drivers, when in fact, they don’t. How can a school graduate get hired by a company that has a 6 month to 3 year experience rule? 2) they can get rid of experienced drivers, making big money per mile and replace them with drivers willing to work for 1/2, or even less, just to get the experience they think will help them land a good job. 3) They get huge tax breaks from the government for training (the companies that actually offer training) people to change professions. Stimulus money, I believe it’s called.
Now as an unemployed worker, I thought giving up my hard earned dollars and all of my spare time to get retrained to enter a field that I was told (by many trucking companies) that there was plenty of work for graduates. I went to school, nights, driving almost 500 miles a week to do this, and now, the only thing that has changed is, I have a lot less money in the bank and my truck is that much more wore out.
I don’t want any more correspondence (email) from any trucking sites, as it’s all a giant pile of bulls**t! I am going to petition our government to force people to use the rail system as the major way to ship freight and get 75% of the trucks off of our highway system! It’s wasting fuel, destroying our eco system, polluting the air we breathe and more.
The trucking industry caused its own problems, as far as I am concerned.
You don’t think I’m angry, do you?
- - - - -
From: KB
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 3:13 PM
To: jobs@truckdriver.com
Subject: Experience
Hi,
I see there is a shortage of truck drivers; so why is it so hard to find someone to break you in? This will have to happen sooner or later or the shortage will only get worse.
Thanks for your time.
Editor: Anyone care to respond to either of these fellows?
TruckDriver.com
Carrier of the Month
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Perhaps not as popular as it once was, it looks like going to the movies is still a viable form of entertainment for many of you.
So, hurry on out to the lobby while we share the results of the TruckDriver.com at the Movies Survey.
When was the last time you went to a movie theater?
Last week – 11%
Last month – 19%
Last year – 18%
Last century – 13%
Can’t remember – 39%
There is no doubt technology is changing the trucking industry – Take the TruckDriver.com Shortest/Quickest Route Survey and let us know how you get where you are going.
Until next time, keep on truckin' and please drive safely.
Your Comments Are Always Welcome
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