MARTEN TRANSPORT PROFESSIONAL TRUCK DRIVER RECOGNIZED FOR HEROIC DEEDS

10/08/2010
Alexandria, Virginia

Willie Travis, a professional truck driver for Marten Transport of Mondovi, Wisconsin, has been named the Truckload Carriers Association’s (TCA) latest Highway Angel.

In the early afternoon of September 15, 2010, Travis assisted Jane Hosemann, who was traveling between Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Lexington, Kentucky, and was nearing Athens, Tennessee, when she realized she had a flat tire. “Breaking down on the highway is one of my worst nightmares,” shared Hosemann.

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 professional truck driver 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?”

Since the program’s inception in August 1997, hundreds of drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels for the exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage they have displayed while on the job.