Angels Among Us
The TCA’s (Truckload Carrier Association’s) Highway Angel recognition is awarded for a driver’s “good deeds”, ranging from simple acts of kindness, such as fixing a flat tire, to heroic life-saving efforts, such as pulling someone from a burning vehicle and administering CPR. When you know of, witness, or experience an exceptional act of kindness or courtesy by a truck driver, please take the time to fill out and submit a Highway Angel nomination form through the TCA (see link below).
FTCT Driver, JW “Shorty” Carrington, Named as a Highway Angel
-July 8, 2022
JW ‘SHORTY’ CARRINGTON RECOGNIZED FOR INFORMING FELLOW TRUCK DRIVER OF FIERY TRUCK AND EXTINGUISHING FIRE
The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named JW “Shorty” Carrington from Columbia, Louisiana, a Highway Angel for informing a fellow truck driver that his rig was on fire, then extinguishing the flames before it got worse. Carrington drives for FTC Transportation based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
It’s an incredible story: On June 13, 2022, around 2:10 p.m. in Mountain Home, Idaho, Carrington was driving Westbound on Highway 84 near mile marker 90 when he noticed a trailer tire on fire on the rig in front of him.
“I noticed flames that were occasionally shooting off his rear axle,” Carrington shared with TCA. Without a moment to share, Carrington proceeded to pull up beside the driver, blow his horn, and even rolled down his window to alert the driver.
“You’re on fire! You’re on fire!” Carrington yelled, pantomiming to the driver, who finally understood and pulled over. “His eyes got real big!” Carrington said, when the other driver understood the situation.
Just a few moments later, Carrington pulled over, purposely trying to block traffic to keep the driver safe. Carrington immediately jumped out with his fire extinguisher and put out the fire before it got worse.
TCA has presented him with a certificate, patches, lapel pin, and truck decals. The company has also received a letter acknowledging him as a Highway Angel.
Since the program’s inception in August 1997, nearly 1,300 professional truck drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels for the exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage they have displayed while on the job.
Special thanks to the program’s Presenting Sponsor, EpicVue, and Supporting Sponsor, DriverFacts.
FTCT Driver, Tony Barton, Named as a Highway Angel
-June 6, 2022
FTC TRANSPORTATION PROFESSIONAL TRUCK DRIVER PROTECTS CRASH VICTIM DURING RUSH HOUR ACCIDENT
The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named truck driver Tony Barton, from Blountville, Tennessee, a Highway Angel for using his truck to block and protect a vehicle and driver that had crashed during a late-afternoon crash. Barton drives for FTC Transportation, Inc. based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
It’s an incredible story: On April 21, 2022 at 4:45 p.m., Barton was driving through Nashville, Tennessee on Interstate 440 when he noticed a black BMW SUV fishtailing.
Within moments, the driver lost control and ran head-on into a concrete barrier. Just then, Barton watched as the vehicle rolled over completely, landing back onto its wheels, coming to a rest right next to his truck.
Barton immediately stopped. “I didn’t want to T-bone this woman that just rolled her car,” he shared with TCA. “It was right in the middle of the road.” He quickly dialed 911 and rushed to check on the motorist.
Once Barton reached the crashed vehicle, he found the woman conscious and talking, but in great pain and seemed confused. He bravely kept his rig parked in the middle of the interstate to block and protect the vehicle from being hit by oncoming traffic, until emergency responders arrived.
“I wanted to block the lane so nobody else could hit her,” he recalled. “My first instinct in any kind of accident like that is to help do whatever I can for somebody that’s injured – it’s not the worst wreck I’ve seen, but it’s not the smallest either.”
Shortly thereafter, emergency personnel arrived on scene and tended to the shaken motorist, thanks to Barton’s efforts. He shared with TCA that he has been a volunteer firefighter for decades and knew how to respond in a situation like this.
TCA has presented him with a certificate, patches, lapel pin, and truck decals. The company has also received a letter acknowledging him as a Highway Angel.
Since the program’s inception in August 1997, nearly 1,300 professional truck drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels for the exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage they have displayed while on the job.
Special thanks to the program’s Presenting Sponsor, EpicVue, and Supporting Sponsor, DriverFacts.
FTCT Driver, Fredrick Robatcek, Named as a Highway Angel
-December 9, 2013
Special Delivery: Truckers help woman at Denny’s give birth to baby
By Greg Grisolano, Land Line staff writer
Truck drivers Peter Holland and Fred Robatcek are being hailed as “angels” after helping a woman deliver her baby boy at a Denny’s in Texarkana, Ark., over Thanksgiving weekend.
The mother of the boy, Kaycee Triana, was in Arkansas visiting her family, when she went into labor early in the morning on Nov. 30. Her older sister drove to a local Denny’s where their mom worked to pick her up on the way to the hospital, but the baby couldn’t wait that long.
“Basically, I just tried to get myself in there to the Denny’s,” she said. “Once I made it onto the carpet, I’m just screaming for help and for a moment everybody was standing there. What I had to do for somebody to realize this baby’s here is just to drop my pants. They said they saw the head and they came running over to lay me down and that’s about as much as I can remember before I started delivering.”
Holland, a Canadian driver for Challenger, and Robatcek of St. Cloud, Minn., and a driver for FTC Transportation, were the first two people in the crowded restaurant to come over and help, according to Kaycee’s mother, Suzanne Nettles.
“They’re angels in my book,” Nettles said. “I wanted them to know that they’re angels to me. My oldest daughter just started at Denny’s about a month ago so she’s still new to everything, and she said ‘Mama, I just gained a whole new respect for the truck drivers.’”
Nettles, who was just getting off work on the graveyard shift at the restaurant, had proceeded straight to the hospital after the girls called from the house to tell her about Kaycee’s labor pains. The miscommunication resulted in Nettles missing the actual birth, but she said she did get to watch the store’s surveillance video footage, which captured the event.
“Even though I wasn’t there, I did get to see the whole thing on camera. The two truck drivers, you can see … one of them is sitting at the counter, and I don’t know where the other one came from,” she said. “But the guy sitting at the counter jumped up and immediately jumped in like it was second nature. Like he’d done it a million times before.”
The baby boy, who checked in at 10 pounds, 4 ounces, is in good health other than some glucose issues common in children born that size. Both Nettles and her daughter said there was a scare initially when the umbilical cord became wrapped around the boy’s throat during the birth.
“One of the truck drivers said ‘You need to push now!’ and I guess that was because of the umbilical cord being wrapped around his neck,” Triana said. “I didn’t even know that until after we got into the ambulance.”
“He was blue and not breathing,” Nettles said. “So, of course that scared everybody. But their calmness was amazing. When you sit and watch the video, they were like pros. At the moment the baby came out … one of the truck drivers took his jacket off and wrapped the baby in it.”
Robatcek has reportedly stayed in touch with the family, but Kaycee said her thanks go out to both men.
“I was just grateful that they were there to help. Thanks for being there and for staying calm and for helping. Those were the only two people that ran over there to lay me down and to help. They’re my angels.”
(Aritcle from www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=26300#.UvKEQGJdWSo)
For the 2nd Time, Jon “AZ” Atzenhofer Named as a Highway Angel
-July 8, 2013
Professional truck driver responded immediately when he saw a car flip over
Alexandria, Virginia — Jon “AZ” Atzenhofer, a resident of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been named a Highway Angel by the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA). This is the second time this professional truck driver has earned his Angel wings. Atzenhofer, who drives for FTC Transportation, also of Oklahoma City, is being recognized for taking the time to stop and help an accident victim.
On June 4, 2013, at about 7:00 a.m., Atzenhofer was traveling westbound on I-40, about 10 miles west of Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Suddenly, a small passenger car that was driving eastbound flipped 2-3 times, coming to a stop upright on the median. All of the vehicles in front of Atzenhofer kept going, but he felt compelled to stop. Atzenhofer called 911, grabbed his gloves, and ran to the scene, where he found that all of the windows were blown out except – ironically – the one on the driver’s side.
The door would not open, so Atzenhofer pulled the window out. He discovered that the driver was breathing, but not conscious. Not knowing the extent of the injuries, he decided to leave the driver in place until emergency personnel arrived. As a proactive measure, Atzenhofer used a knife to cut the seat belt, just in case he should need to pull the victim out quickly. When another person stopped to help, they were able to pry the door open and stood ready to remove the still unconscious driver if need be. Atzenhofer stayed with the victim until the authorities took over.
Atzenhofer, who has been driving since 1988, has helped several motorists throughout his driving career. When asked about this incident, he said, “You just can’t bypass things like that, or at least I don’t!”
Last year, Atzenhofer was honored as a Highway Angel for performing CPR on a man who was having a heart attack at a truck stop.
For his willingness to stop and help, Atzenhofer has received a Highway Angel lapel pin, certificate, and patch. FTC Transportation also received a certificate acknowledging that one of its drivers is a Highway Angel.
(Article from http://www.truckload.org/)
FTCT Driver, Jon Atzenhofer, Named as a Highway Angel
At approx. 6:30 a.m., on February 20, 2012, Atzenhofer had just spent the night at a truck plaza on I-70 in Watkins, Colorado. He was hoping to eat a hot breakfast before getting back out on the road and stood outside the front door of a restaurant, waiting for it to open. A second truck driver waited with him.
Suddenly, a man approached them, breathing heavily. Atzenhofer told the other driver, “He doesn’t sound good.”
They asked the man if he was alright. “I’m ok,” he responded — before collapsing to the ground. Fortunately, Atzenhofer knows CPR because of his military background. The other truck driver was also familiar with CPR. Atzenhofer began chest compressions while the other driver performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the man. They continued, keeping him alive until paramedics arrived and took over.
Atzenhofer, who has been driving since 1988, has aided several other motorists in the past. “I usually try to [help out] if it’s safe for me to stop,” he said. “In this case, I was just in the right place at the right time.”
(Article from http://www.truckload.org/)
FTCT Driver, Terry Claybrook, Named as a Highway Angel
-July 16, 2012
It was Friday, July 24, 2009, and Claybrook had picked up a load that he could not deliver until Monday morning. He decided to spend the weekend in Brownstone, Ill., at the headquarters of the Association of Christian Truckers (ACT), an organization that offers truck drivers fellowship and worship opportunities. The weekend passed uneventfully until Sunday night, July 26, when an ACT worker ran out of the kitchen screaming “Fire!” Claybrook and some fellow truckers determined that the smoke was coming from inside the wall behind a gas stove. He and the other drivers moved the stove, found a shovel, broke into the wall, and discovered that the fire was coming from electrical wires that had been improperly installed. Together, they yanked the wires out and separated them, which put out the fire. Thinking everything was alright, the other drivers left.
However, ACT was still without power to its refrigerator, and Claybrook knew the group could not afford to lose the hundreds of dollars worth of food that was inside. He also saw that the wires were rubbing against very old, dry wood and suspected that another fire could easily erupt.
Drawing upon his previous experience as a maintenance engineer, Claybrook stayed long into the night fixing the wiring for ACT so power could be restored and there would be no chance of another electrical fire in the old — and uninsured — building.
“It wasn’t heroic. I just did what needed to get done,” said Claybrook when asked about his role in the incident. “If the fire had come back, that building would have burned to the ground. The reverend’s 80-year old mother was upstairs, asleep. We wouldn’t have been able to get her out. Nothing is by chance; there’s a reason for everything you do.”
For the kindness he showed that day, Claybrook has received a Highway Angel lapel pin, certificate, and patch. FTC Transportation, Inc., also received a certificate acknowledging that one of its drivers is a Highway Angel.
(Article from http://www.truckload.org/)