Truck drivers from Casselberry, Fla.; Ashford, Ala.; Conover, Ohio; and North Troy, Vt. have been named Goodyear’s North America Highway Hero Award finalists.
Journalists from the trucking industry now are voting on the drivers, who will be introduced March 23 at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky. One driver will be named the 2005 Goodyear North America Highway Hero at the Truck Writers of North America annual banquet and receive a $10,000 U.S. Savings Bond and a specially designed ring.
The 2005 finalists are:
Michael Knott, of Casselberry, Fla., is a driver for FedEx Ground, which is based in Pittsburgh. Knott used his truck to partially block traffic and saved an injured woman and her baby daughter from oncoming traffic as they lay on the Florida Turnpike in Osceola County after getting in an accident on Oct. 13, 2005.
Douglas Crawford, of Ashford, Ala., a driver for Saia Motor Freight, based in Dothan, Ala., saved the life of another truck driver after seeing two trucks collide on Interstate 85 near Newnan, Ga., on Aug. 25, 2005.
Danny Wallen, of Conover, Ohio, a driver for ABF Freight Systems, based in Fort Smith, Ark., was traveling south on I-65 in Nashville, Tenn., on Sept. 9, 2005, when he saw a SUV hit a stalled car. He and two others saved a couple from Thompson’s Station, Tenn., from the fiery crash.
Robert Starr, of North Troy, Vt., a driver and owner of Starr’s Transportation, based in North Troy, saved a woman when a crevice opened up in Highway 40 near Trois Rivieres in Quebec, Canada, on Sept. 14, 2005.
Founded by Goodyear in 1983, the Highway Hero program recognizes professional truck drivers and the often unnoticed, life-saving rescues and roadside assistance they provide as their jobs take them across North America. For more on the program, go here.
