The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has recognized professional truck drivers Rodney Clay, Andrew Hastie, Stephen Miller, Andre Reynolds and Devin Rhinehardt as TCA Highway Angels because of their acts of heroism while on the road. In recognition of these drivers’ willingness to help fellow drivers and motorists, TCA has presented each Highway Angel with a certificate, a lapel pin, patches, and truck decals. Their employers have also received a certificate highlighting their driver as a recipient.
Since the program began in 1997, nearly 1,300 professional truck drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels because of the exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage they have displayed while on the job. TCA extends special thanks to the program’s presenting sponsor, EpicVue, and supporting sponsors DriverFacts and Northland Insurance. To nominate a driver or read more about these and other Highway Angel award recipients, visit highwayangel.org.
RODNEY CLAY: Norton Transport, Ringgold, Georgia
On March 4, around 1:30 p.m., Rodney Clay who lives in Riverview, Florida, and drives for Georgia-based Norton Transport, was driving on Interstate 435 in Lawrence, Kansas, when a car about a quarter mile ahead of him crashed.
“I saw a car practically in the air, flipping. Nobody was stopping,” said Clay, who is a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. “So, I pulled over about 100 yards in front of the car, off the interstate. I ran towards the car and saw it smoking and had fluid leaking.”
The car, which had flipped, hit the ground, slid to the fast lane wall and crashed into the median wall, was severely damaged.
When Clay reached the car, he saw that all the air bags had deployed. He couldn’t immediately tell whether anyone was in the front passenger seat. He says he lifted the passenger-side airbag, afraid of what he might see. Beneath the airbag was a young girl, who was screaming and shaking. The driver, a woman, was bleeding from her mouth.
Knowing he needed more help, Clay stood in the way of traffic and stopped another truck, whose driver got out to assist.
“I told the women, ‘You have to get out of this car now. It’s smoking really bad,’” Clay said. “I was afraid it was going to blow up.”
The girl told her rescuers that she couldn’t feel her hips. Together, Clay and the other driver pulled her out of the vehicle and then rescued the driver, moving both far away from the smoking vehicle. The girl borrowed Clay’s phone and tried to call her father, but there was no answer. Soon, paramedics arrived, and Clay left the scene.
Afterward, he says, he texted the girl’s father to tell him what happened; later that day, the father called Clay to thank him for helping his family.
Clay explained why he stopped to help: As the father of six, he thinks about paying it forward.
“If it happened to any of my kids, I’d want somebody to stop,” he said.
ANDREW HASTIE: Decker Truck Line, Ft. Dodge, Montana
Andrew Hastie, who lives in Bryan, Texas, and drives for Montana-based Decker Truck Line, was driving south on Interstate 75 in Kennesaw, Georgia, around 2:30 p.m. on April 29, when he came upon the scene of an accident. A car was ablaze about 25 yards off the highway, in the woods.
Others had already stopped to help and were attempting to put out the fire, but Hastie saw one of the rescuers pointing to a fire extinguisher, indicating that another one was needed.
“My thought process at that point was, ‘I’ve gotta stop; I just can’t keep going,’” Hastie said, noting that he had a fire extinguisher with him.
He pulled over, grabbed the extinguisher and ran to the burning car, where he tried unsuccessfully to open the driver’s door and get the driver out.
“It was one of the worst (accidents) I’ve seen,” Hastie said. The bystanders were able to pull an injured female passenger out of the vehicle. She was eventually life-flighted to receive medical attention. Her condition is unknown. Hastie says he suspects the driver did not survive the wreck.
Paramedics, fire crews and other responders arrived five or 10 minutes after Hastie stopped to help. A former volunteer police/firefighter, Hastie helped lay the fire hoses out to extinguish the flames. Looking back, he’s glad he stopped.
“They needed a fire extinguisher; I had a fire extinguisher,” he said. “If I had just kept going, I would have felt like crap.”
STEPHEN MILLER: Hogan Transports, Inc., Maryland Heights, Missouri
Stephen Miller of Tifton, Georgia, who drives for Missouri-based Hogan Transports, Inc., earned his Highway Angel wings after helping put out a car fire.
Shortly after midnight on February 21, Miller was traveling south on Interstate 75 in Punta Gorda, Florida, when a car passed him at a high rate of speed. As they passed over a bridge near exit 164, the vehicle in front of Miller hit a dip in the road.
“The guy hit the dip, and I thought he wiped out because there was a huge plume of smoke,” Miller said. “As I was coming through the smoke, I was looking for a wrecked-out vehicle.”
When he spotted the vehicle, which hadn’t yet stopped, smoke was billowing out from underneath, quickly followed by flames. The driver pulled off the road. Miller pulled his truck over, grabbed his fire extinguisher and sprang into action as other vehicles passed the scene.
“I jumped out, ran back there and shot the fire extinguisher underneath the car to see if I could get the fire out from there, because that’s where it was coming from,” Miller said.
The fire continued to grow, however, so Miller asked the other driver to pop the hood — whereupon Miller deployed the rest of the fire extinguisher. The fire was still not out, so Miller returned to his truck and grabbed a 40-pack of bottled water.
“I got the fire out with the bottles of water,” said Miller, who has been driving a truck for 10 years. He stayed by the vehicle with the driver until first responders arrived. There were no injuries to the male driver and passenger from the vehicle.
“I was raised, if you see something, you help out if you can. We gotta look out for each other,” Miller said.
ANDRE REYNOLDS: Hogan Transports, Inc., Maryland Heights, Missouri
On April 15, at about 1 p.m., Andre Reynolds of Phoenix, who also drives for Hogan Transports, was traveling near Utica, Mississippi, along MS27, a two-lane highway, when he noticed a Ford Mustang turning into his lane. The car was moving erratically and came almost to a stop in the lane, nearly causing a collision, before suddenly veering off the road and landing head-first in a ditch.
“I was so close to hitting this dude,” Reynolds said. “I wasn’t expecting that at all!”
Reynolds pulled over to check on the other driver and discovered that the man behind the wheel of the Mustang was having a seizure.
“He was pretty much incoherent,” Reynolds said.
Another driver stopped to help, so Reynolds asked him to call 9-1-1. Together, they waited with the driver until the seizure stopped. The man was still disoriented, but he tried to make a phone call to his father. Reynolds took the phone and explained to the man’s father what had happened.
“Slowly but surely, he started to come back,” Reynolds said.
Once the accident victim was alert and walking on his own, Reynolds left and continued on his way.
“I wouldn’t leave somebody in a bad spot,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt to help somebody.”
DEVIN RHINEHARDT: Maverick Transportation, North Little Rock, Arkansas
Devin Rhinehardt of Twinsburg, Ohio, who drives for Arkansas-based Maverick Transportation, is honored for helping another driver, who was injured and in need of medical treatment.
On April 2, Rhinehardt was picking up a load from a customer in Silver Grove, Kentucky, when another driver walked into the office and asked for an ambulance.
“I turn around and I saw blood just gushing out of his arm,” Rhinehardt said, who immediately called 911. “There was blood all over his arm, all over his chest — he was very badly injured.”
The other driver had slipped, fallen and suffered a severe cut on one wrist. Once Rhinehardt made sure help was on the way, he ran to the guard shack to let security know emergency responders were en route. When the ambulance arrived, he led first responders to the injured man.
Looking back, Rhinehardt was glad he stepped up to help.
“I immediately realized that he was bleeding really bad. I wasn’t just gonna sit there and watch the man die,” Rhinehardt said.
Feedback from the hospital revealed that Rhinehardt’s quick actions likely saved the other driver from bleeding out on the way to the hospital.
The Truckload Authority News Staff, comprised of award winning journalists and graphic artists, produces content for Truckload Authority, working in cooperation with the Truckload Carriers Association staff. Truckload Authority aims to keep TCA members abreast on the latest trends in the trucking industry as well as articles that feature TCA member executives and drivers. The Truckload Authority staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
