Highway Angels

Motorist grateful for driver's act of kindness

Willie Travis, a professional driver with Marten Transport of Mondovi, WI, has been named a Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) Highway Angel for helping a woman stranded on the highway with a flat tire.

In the afternoon of Sept. 15, Travis helped Jane Hosemann, who was traveling between Chattanooga, TN, and Lexington, KY, and was nearing Athens, TN, when she realized she had a flat tire. "Breaking down on the highway is one of my worst nightmares," Hosemann said.

As she pulled to the side of the busy highway and proceeded to unload her deeply packed car to find the spare tire, Hosemann prayed for safety and for someone to help her. Shortly afterward, a Marten truck pulled over, and Willie Travis calmly walked down the road to help her.

After Travis and Hosemann established a comfortable trust, Travis got down on the ground and began the process of changing the tire. Eventually, a state trooper stopped, but Travis already had everything under control.

Hosemann later called Marten Transport to thank Travis for his help and to praise him. She said she had offered Travis compensation for his time, but he would not accept her money.

Hosemann told a Marten employee that, "I felt like the luckiest woman on the road, having a nice trucker to help me, a state trooper stopping by to check on us and living in the great friendly state of Tennessee."

When the employee later told Travis about the phone call, he said, "That's what it's all about, isn't it, helping others?"
This type of basic human kindness extended by truck drivers is exactly what the Highway Angels program is designed to promote and recognize. For his efforts, Travis has received a Highway Angel lapel pin, certificate and patch. Marten Transport also received a certificate acknowledging that one of its drivers is a Highway Angel.