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THETRUCKER.COM OCTOBER 2023 • 25
good.’ Then he went back, and it looked like he was pulling
on something. I thought he was trying to pull something like
luggage or his belongings. No, it was a girl.”
The girl was surrounded by flames.
“I got out of the truck and I started dodging the cars,” he
continued. “I ran across the entire four-lane highway. By the
time I got there, the heat was intense. I can still remember
it. I had the fire extinguisher to put the flames out that
were engulfing her. It was an emotional day for me after it
happened. I still remember to this day how everything was
very super-hot. And when I put her out all the flames went
away. The guys went in there and they were able to pull her
out and they had a medivac doctor fly in and take her away.”
Yet for all the honors he’s received and that heroic rescue,
Jim says the biggest thrill of his career was the chance to drive
with his daughter, Raquel, who joined UPS in 2019.
“I always knew UPS as a good company for what it did for
our family,” she said. “So, I was like, let’s just go ahead and
check this out for myself.”
Raquel first got behind the wheel as a member of the Army
National Guard, and she started with UPS as an unloader.
When COVID-19 hit, the company had an increased need
for drivers, so she started driving one of the delivery trucks
before deciding to move over to the big rigs.
When she joined forces with her dad, they were the first
UPS father-daughter sleeper team on the West Coast. More
than that, the milestone has been a rewarding personal and
professional experience for both Jim and Raquel.
“I think it actually just made our connection stronger,”
she said. “He gives me all this information and tries to get
me started on a successful career. He says I’m like a sponge,
learning all of this knowledge. We do not have the kind of
father-daughter relationship where we bicker at each other
or anything. We have a really strong relationship. I feel lucky
to have him there.”
As he nears the home stretch of his time behind the wheel,
Father-daughter team Lawrence “Jim” Sanchez and Raquel Sanchez enjoy a lighthearted moment before hitting the road together.
Jim says that having the chance to drive the last few years
into retirement with his daughter has been the highlight of
his career.
“I’ve got a lot of years of safety behind the wheel,” he
said. “It doesn’t do me any good to not transfer some of this
information to my daughter, who I love most, other than my
wife. I want to make sure I hand the baton over to her and
Courtesy: UPS
she’s very confident and knowing that she’ll be doing this job
correctly because OF the experiences she had with her dad
were very good.
“I was very proud when she decided to go [into truck
driving] in her career and I’m very proud to have her as my
partner,” he said. 8
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