TLA42_AllPages

More documents

Recommendations

Info

TCA Launches Highway Angel Microsite On April 1, the Truckload Carriers Association and its Communications & Image Policy Committee launched a new Highway Angel microsite to spread the word to a larger audience about TCA’s Highway Angel program which has recognized more than 1,250 professional truck drivers for their courtesy and courage since 1997. This dynamic, robust website showcases the program’s recent and historic recipients, as well as its annual Highway Angel of the Year recipients. The public can now read recipients’ stories, view dashcam footage, listen to sound bites from driver interviews, and more. In addition to the interactive driver stories, TCA has streamlined the nomination form so it is easier to nominate a professional truck driver in recognition of his or her good deed. TCA officers and staff encourage members to share highwayangel.org with colleagues, family, and friends to help us highlight our industry’s heroes during this unprecedented time. Let’s shine a light on those that not only keep goods and services moving forward each day, but who are also the “Knights of the Highway,” lending a hand to those in need. highwayangel.org A special thanks to our sponsor, EpicVue, for its continued support of the Highway Angel program. 40 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2020
A QUICK LOOK AT IMPORTANT TCA NEWS SMALL A QUICK LOOK AT IMPORTANT TCA NEWS TALK Highway Angels Professional truck drivers Kyle Fitzgerald, Paul Hopson, William Lyons, and Steve Marcy have been named Highway Angels by the Truckload Carriers Association for performing heroic actions while on the job. Fitzgerald and Lyons, professional truck drivers with Smokey Point Distributing, were honored for their orchestrated efforts to divert traffic away from a disabled vehicle in the middle of a busy interstate. It was just after noon on Sept. 19, 2019, and Fitzgerald and Lyons were traveling through Michigan on Interstate 75 with a set of airplane wings destined for Toronto. Lyons was carrying one wing and Fitzgerald followed with the second. They were accompanied by four pilot vehicles. The first pilot was traveling a quarter mile ahead of the team. As the pilot came over a slight hill, he radioed the team that there was a two-vehicle accident ahead. A small car was stopped in the middle lane and a box truck was pulled over to the right shoulder. The pilot driver instructed the team to move to the left lane and shoulder. As the pilot driver slowed and went around the accident. he noticed the driver was still in the vehicle and no one was stopping to help. Lyons and Fitzgerald decided they should stop. The team would later learn that the accident had happened less than a minute before they arrived. The small car had rear-ended the box truck. “Traffic had not even begun to slow down around the wreck,” shared Fitzgerald. “We pulled to the left shoulder, short of the accident scene.” “People were flying by,” recalled Lyons. “There was debris all over the road and because of the location, it was a bigger accident just waiting to happen. Kyle’s two pilot drivers turned on their overhead directional lights to move traffic around the accident and then helped direct traffic,” said Lyons. “My two pilot drivers and I went to check on the drivers as Kyle called 911.” Within minutes, the ambulance and fire department were on scene. When the state patrol officers arrived, they shut down the highway long enough for the team to safely leave the scene. “According to my logbook, our total time on the scene was 12 minutes,” said Fitzgerald, adding that at no time were the loads in the flow of traffic or in harm’s way. Both men credit their pilot teams for the way they handled the situation: Veronica Nutt and Steve Sanders with T&H Pilot Car Services of Verden, Oklahoma; Larry Morris with S.J. Pilot Car Service of West Memphis, Arkansas; and Mike Froncisz with Veteran Pilot Services Ltd. of Ontario, Canada. “The Lord used us that day to make sure nobody else got hurt,” shared Lyons. Hopson, a professional truck driver with Stone Trucking Co., was honored for stopping to help a seriously injured motorist found sitting outside his vehicle on the side of the roadway. Hopson was just outside Waco, Texas, on Highway 6, a major highway. It was about 5 p.m. on Sept. 20, 2019, and traffic was backed up for over half a mile. KYLE FITZGERALD WILLIAM LYONS “There was a lot of CB chatter about a guy sitting outside his pickup on the side of the road, bleeding,” shared Hopson. “I get up there and there must have been hundreds of cars and trucks (that time of day) and everyone just passed him up.” Without hesitation, Hopson pulled over. “A lady pulled over behind me. Turned out she was a former EMT,” he said. “The guy looked like he must have been sitting there quite a while, in the heat, and people just passed by.” The man was still conscious and bleeding heavily from what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the face. Hopson called 911 and then gave the phone to the woman to explain the situation to the dispatcher. “She looked in the cab and said, ‘gun’ and we both stepped back. There was a gun sitting on the floorboard.” Within a matter of minutes, two or three police cars arrived along with two ambulances and a fire truck. “They loaded him into the ambulance right away.” Hopson called the Waco Police Department a couple days later and learned the driver had passed away. “I kept thinking about him,” shared Hopson. “I had just wanted him to know he wasn’t alone. It’s bad enough when a person passes away, but when they’re in a situation like that and they’re alone, that’s a hard way to go. Nobody would stop, they only talked about it (on the CB).” Hopson has driven professionally for more than 30 years. He’s come across many accidents and has stopped to help when he can. Marcy, a professional truck driver with ABF Freight System, Inc., was honored for stopping to help at the scene of a collision between a tractor-trailer and passenger van. It was a cold and blustery November day and Marcy was southbound from Indiana on his way to Nashville, Tennessee. The blowing snow was limiting visibility and the roadway was becoming icy with the temperature below zero. Already driving well under the posted speed limit, the poor visibility forced Marcy to slow to a stop. That’s when he saw a tractor-trailer up ahead of him, sitting across both southbound lanes. The driver had lost control and a fullsize passenger van had hit the side of the trailer. Acting swiftly, Marcy set his brakes, turned on his flashers, and rushed to the scene. The driver of the van was disoriented, and his wife was in the passenger seat, unconscious. The driver of the truck came over to check on the TCA 2020 www.Truckload.org www.TruCkloAd.org | TRUCKLOAD Truckload auThoriTy AUTHORITY 41
Page 1: DRIVERS OF THE YEAR | CONVENTION IN
Page 4 and 5: THE ROAD AHEAD IS PAVED WITH POSSIB
Page 6 and 7: MAY/JUNE | TCA 2020 Legislative Upd
Page 8 and 9: CAPITOL RECAP A review of important
Page 10 and 11: CAPITOL RECAP FMCSA’s Drug and Al
Page 12 and 13: MAY/JUNE | TCA 2020 Tracking The Tr
Page 14 and 15: ASLEEP at the wheel FMCSA can lead
Page 16 and 17: W i t h J o e B o n s a l l Singer
Page 18 and 19: ought to you by The trucker MEDIA F
Page 20 and 21: MAY/JUNE | TCA 2020 A Chat With The
Page 22 and 23: Sponsored by Mcleod software McLeod
Page 28 and 29: MAY/JUNE | TCA 2020 Talking TCA C o
Page 30 and 31: Those Who Deliver with Knight Trans
Page 32 and 33: SHOWING UP Cal Ripken Jr. shares th
Page 34 and 35: ‘An amazing moment in time’ Tea
Page 36 and 37: Truckload 2020: Orlando More than 1
Page 38 and 39: What a ride! Josh Kaburick chronicl
Page 42 and 43: TALK A QUICK LOOK AT IMPORTANT TCA
Page 44 and 45: TALK A QUICK LOOK AT IMPORTANT TCA
Page 46: VIRTUAL LEARNING The Truckload Carr

TLA42_AllPages

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?