Iowa’s '10-4' Truck Driver Appreciation Day
The Iowa Motor Truck Association celebrated October 4 with a “10-4” Truck Driver Appreciation Day. The Association spent the day handing out 1,000 free lunches to truckers who came by and look forward to celebrating this new "holiday" next year.
Cracker Barrel and Red Kap feed hungry truckers
Red Kap, an automotive uniform manufacturer, is partnering with Cracker Barrel to feed hungry truck drivers. On the Trucker Tab website, people can make direct meal donations through one tab and hungry truck drivers can receive meals through the other. So far, almost $51,000 has been donated, equating to 2,208 truckers fed.
Ryder and Gulf Power donated nearly 900 cases of water to Florida communities
Ryder Systems joined forces with Gulf Power, an energy provider for Northern Florida, this week to donate nearly 900 cases of water to benefit communities in Florida that need it most through the Manna Food Pantries. According to Ryder, the company is “always looking for ways to help our neighbors become even better.”
In addition, Gulf Power donated $100,000 yesterday to help Northwest Florida homes recover from Hurricane Sally. A quarter of each donation was gifted to the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, United Way of West Florida as well as Manna Food Bank.
“Making landfall 16 years to the day that Hurricane Ivan devastated the area, Hurricane Sally has left many throughout our communities suffering, and the Gulf Power Foundation is honored to be able to help,” said Sandy Sims, executive director for the Gulf Power Foundation. “Our storm restoration team did an incredible job of getting the lights back on safely and quickly for our customers. But now begins the next phase of the recovery, getting life back to normal, and we are hopeful that our donations can help families that are continuing to feel the effects of Sally.”
In addition to the financial contribution, Gulf Power donated food and water from the area staging sites that housed visiting lineworkers from utilities and contract companies across the country. More than 6,000 workers from 24 states traveled to Northwest Florida to aid restoration efforts after Sally, a Category 2 hurricane, made landfall Sept. 16.
Pilot Company donating to St. Christopher’s Trucker Relief Fund with ribbons
Pilot Company announced its donation campaign with the St. Christopher Truckers Development and Relief Fund (SCF), a professional driver charity that helps over-the-road and regional semi-truck drivers and their families when an illness or injury causes them to be out of work.
While supplies last, all U.S. Pilot Flying J Travel Centers and participating One9 Fuel Network stores will be selling ribbons for $1 each in support of the organization. All proceeds will go toward SCF.
Each ribbon is comprised of the American flag colors of red, white and blue – each color representing a specific meaning within the industry:
- The RED = the fact that truckers are the lifeblood/heartbeat of America
- The WHITE = the faith and hope their families at home have that they will get the job done safely and return home
- The BLUE = stability and dependability of our highway heroes
TCA named Robbin Peters a Highway Angel for his heroic save
The Truckload Carriers Association has named Robbin Peters a Highway Angel for springing into action to extinguish flames and save a fellow truck driver from a burning rig.
On April 8, 2019, Peters had just parked his truck at a Petro in Hammond, La., and noticed a fellow driver exit a truck nearby. Peters headed inside the truck stop, and without thinking much about it, assuming this was the only driver in the cab. A few minutes later Peters noticed dark smoke billowing out from under the passenger side of the truck.
“I didn’t know at the time that there was still someone in the truck,” said Peters. “I was assuming it was just the one man that went inside. I began to start extinguishing the fire, and the Petro employee came running out and [started] knocking on the door. At this point I realized there was still someone inside,” he said.
Without hesitation, Peters grabbed his fire extinguisher and ran over to the truck. When he got closer, he saw there were 2-foot flames now rolling under the front portion of the cab on the passenger’s side. Peters explained how hot and intense the flames were and that hot molten was dropping on to the fuel tank.
Peters shared that by this point, there was a puddle that looked like lava and a soccer ball size hole in the fuel tank. “I didn’t know how much longer that tank would make it,” he said. “We had a row of trucks that were about to become the equivalent of a meteorite hitting earth. Because it was diesel, it didn’t explode. But if it would have been gas, I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you right now.”
Peters successfully extinguished the fire, and the Petro employee retrieved the other man, who had been sleeping inside the truck.
Peters was in the Marine Corps for 11 years on active duty as well as a police officer for almost another 11 years. During this time, he was a first responder for an active shooter at an apartment complex, as well as saved a little girl in a wheelchair from a massive flood in a housing community. He has been driving trucks since he was 16, but now drives full time and is based outside of Biloxi, Miss.
“I’ve always been very busy, active, and drawn to high stress occupations and situations which is what has kept me so healthy,” said Peters. “It keeps my awareness up; high-stress situations come naturally for me. Jimi Hendrix playing guitar is the way I handle stress. It’s like me breathing air! I’ve done it all my life that I don’t even recognize it as stress. I just go out and do what I have to do.”