Weekly Contest
RoadKing.com Cap's Off to Larry "Scott" Travis
RoadKing.com salutes Larry "Scott" Travis who was named the 2001 Goodyear North American Highway Hero. Travis, from Albuquerque, N.M., saved a woman's life by pulling her from a burning vehicle just before it exploded.
We also salute all those nominated as Highway Heroes, and further, those many truckers who every day serve others beyond the call of duty, whether by aiding victims of accidents or changing a tire.
Larry "Scott" Travis, a professional truck driver from Albuquerque, N.M., earned the title of North American Highway Hero, 2001, for saving a womanıs life by pulling her from a burning vehicle just before it exploded.
Travis is a 10-year veteran and a master trainer for Covenant Transportation in Chattanooga, Tenn. He accepted the 2001 Goodyear North American Highway Hero award, along with a $10,000 savings bond and diamond ring, during a press conference at the Mid America Truck Show in Louisville, Ky.
In the early morning hours of August 7, 2001, Travis was traveling just outside Sheridan, Ark., when he saw flames shooting into the air from an SUV that had run off the road into a deep ditch. Bystanders could not tell him if the vehicle was occupied, but Travis thought he saw some slight movement at the driverıs side door. Fire extinguisher in hand, he rushed into the deep ditch.
As he approached the vehicle, Travis realized there was a woman behind the wheel, apparently unconscious. Passing his fire extinguisher to another bystander, Travis reached through an opening in the flames to pull the woman from the SUV, suffering burns on his own body in the process. He struggled to pull her through the high overgrowth, and was repeatedly showered with flame and ash. Just seconds after pulling the woman from the vehicle, it exploded.
"Mr. Travis put himself in extreme danger to rescue a total stranger, and demonstrated a courage under pressure that is truly awe-inspiring," said Ted Fick, vice president of Goodyear Commercial Tire Systems. "He embodies the spirit of the Goodyear Highway Hero program."
Founded by Goodyear in 1983, the North America Highway Hero program recognizes professional truck drivers and the oftentimes unnoticed, life-saving rescues and roadside assistance they provide as their jobs take them across the country.
Travis was nominated for the award during the annual nationwide search for heroic truck drivers for the 2001 North America Highway Hero Program. Five finalists won an all-expenses-paid trip to the Mid-America Trucking Show for themselves and a guest. Each of the other four drivers received a $5,000 savings bond and a commemorative plaque.
Additional finalists were:
William Clark, York, Penn. – Traveling on 1-95 near Washington, D.C. in the early morning hours of Nov. 8, 2000, Clark watched another truck burst into flames, swerve severely, and overturn after it collided into a disabled vehicle. Both the car and the truck were engulfed in fire. Clark rushed from his truck to the car, but the female driver had been killed instantly. Turning his attention to the truck, Clark kicked in the rigıs cracked windshield, dislodged the driver, and pulled him away from the flames to safety. Clark is a driver for Frito Lay.
Bill Johnson and Bryan Effle of Norfolk, Neb. – Shortly after the two Ruan Transportation drivers left the terminal for their respective routes on April 13, 2001, they came upon an overturned car in a ditch along the side of the road. When the pair stopped to investigate, they found that a teenage boy had been ejected from the car and into a nearby ditch filled with water. Johnson and Effle gently lifted the unconscious and badly injured teenager so that his face was out of the water. Johnson continued to hold him while Effle called for help and searched the area for other possible victims. When help arrived, the two drivers helped the paramedics lift the victim out of the ditch and into the ambulance.
Oscar Gonzalez, Laredo, Texas – The driver of a pickup truck was using his vehicle to push a disabled car along I-35 on June 30, 2001, when construction forced him from the shoulder into the right lane of traffic. As they tried to merge, the pickup truck and automobile were struck from the rear by a tractor trailer. Gonzalez, a driver for Averitt Express, saw the tractor trailer run off the road, and immediately stopped to help. A man and a 6-year-old girl were trapped in the pickup truck, and Gonzalez attempted to douse the flames and free them. The man was trapped, but Gonzalez removed the girl - who suffered third-degree burns - from danger. He then assisted the four victims from the other car, moving them away from danger. Gonzalez provided aid and comfort to the victims, especially the young girl, and remained with her until EMS arrived on the scene.
Read the release on www.Goodyear.com:
www.goodyear.com/truck/whatsnew/heroes.html
Nominate a professional truck driver for the 2002 Goodyear Highway Hero Award:
www.goodyear.com/truck/whatsnew/hero_overview.html
Back to Top
Getting Trained, Getting Hired
We often get questions from non-truckers asking how they can get into the industry. Many want to know if it's a good idea to get on with a fleet that provides training, while others ask for recommendations for fleets.
Editor Tom Berg put together this short set of tips for those looking for a first job at the wheel:
If you're looking for driver training, CRST, Werner Enterprises and Schneider National are among the fleets that offer paid training. Check the Help Wanted classified ads in your local newspaper, or in a large-city newspaper (find one at a library if they aren't sold at retail stores). You may also find ads from such companies in Road King and other trucking publications.
There may be fewer of these programs now available because of the slowdown in trucking from the recession, and they may be more picky about whom they'll now accept. You need a good driving record and should be free of criminal convictions.
Take a week or two to find as many outfits as you can and call them, and compare what they offer. Also, go out to a few truck stops and talk with drivers for those companies to get an idea of how the companies treat them. Some of what you'll hear is griping and moaning from folks with lousy attitudes; separate them from those with good attitudes before making up your mind.
After training, you go out with a driver-trainer for several weeks to learn the ropes. Then you're on your own. One catch is, you must work for the company for a set time -- usually a year -- after you complete the training. If you quit during that time, you must pay the company back for your training.
But it's a job, and in that time you'll get a good idea whether trucking's for you. If you like that company, you're set for a career if you want it. Or you can move on to greener pastures, but again, do a lot of brain-picking of other drivers before you jump ship.
Back to Top
Next time some cubicle-dwelling neighbor makes a crack about trucking being a dirty job, serve him this little tidbit:
The Knight Ridder news service recently reported a study - funded by The Clorox Co. - that claims the average office desk holds up to 400 times more germs than the average toilet seat. Bacteria levels on phones were astronomical, which makes sense, and other places people touch with their hands - handles, keyboards, doorknobs - were also rich in germs.
The theory is that toilet seats get cleaned pretty often (HIGHLY debatable, as we all know from the places we go), while office workers rarely give their workspaces a good cleaning. So food crumbs, spilled beverages, etc. can provide happy hunting grounds for bacteria.
Clorox, of course, makes disinfectant products such as wipes that you could use to clean up your work area - ah, nothing like the smell of bleach in the morning. Blowing on that piece of donut that fell on the desk ought to help, too.
Back to Top
Has anyone seen the TV commercial for soda that shows a teenage kid diving into a residential street to scoop up a cute dog and roll to safety as a big rig comes barrelling past? I saw it once a couple weeks ago, but haven't seen it since. And unfortunately, I'm not 100 percent sure which brand of soda it is.
When the ad starts, the kid looks like he's tripped over his own feet while looking at some girls. The idea is that he turns this pratfall into a way of being "cool." Sorry, but showing a semi speeding down the middle of a side street didn't make me feel cool, nor thirsty.
If I see the spot again (I think it was on one of the youth-oriented cable channels) I'll let you know the brand and how you can express your feelings to the manufacturer.
Back to Top
RoadKing.com Weekly Contest
This week we're giving away two audio books: "Losing Julia" by Jonathan Hull and "Good in Bed" by Jennifer Weiner.
Congrats to last week's winner Sharon Howell of Affton, Mo.!
Until next time, be safe, make money and get home often.
Bill Hudgins, Editor-in-Chief, Road King Magazine
