Five good things that happened in trucking this week—Oct. 22

Last year, the term "everyday heroes" was used constantly in mainstream media when talking about truck drivers. Now, you rarely hear it; all that's on the news is the latest in supply chain chaos. However, at FleetOwner, truck drivers—and others in the transportation community—never stopped being heroes. Here are five good things that happened in trucking this week.

Truckload Carriers Association names four Highway Angels 

The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named Donnell Harris Jr., Melissa Bencivengo, Adam “Troy” Miller and Ashish Patel as Highway Angels for their heroic deeds on the road. 

Harris, of Artur Express, from Killeen, Texas, was honored for stopping to help extinguish a car fire off Interstate 30 in the grassy median. Read his full story here.

Bencivengo, of Carbon Express Inc., from Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, was named a Highway Angel for stopping at the scene of a three-vehicle accident after she witnessed a driver lose control. Read her full story here. 

TCA posthumously recognized Miller, 53, of Hagerstown, Maryland, and Ashish Patel, 46, of Ontario, Canada, for stopping to help at the scene of a serious accident. Both men were struck and killed while assisting at the crash scene. Read their story here. 

Ford honors XPO Logistics

XPO Logistics has been recognized by Ford Motor Co. as a top supplier in the category of “Treat Customers Like Family,” based on 2020 performance, during the Ford World Excellence Awards. XPO is Ford’s primary manager of time-critical shipments to manufacturing plants in North America.

At the onset of the pandemic, XPO designed a special Ford expedite program in four days to manage the automaker’s high-volume shipments of personal protective equipment to hospitals and communities. XPO also coordinated multiple carrier services and developed a visual mapping tool that ensured the safe delivery of Ford-produced PPE to thousands of destinations.

“We thank Ford for this honor, particularly as 2020 put the agility of our team and technology to the test,” said Drew Wilkerson, president of transportation in North America at XPO. “We’re proud of our ability to deliver critical continuity of service, and we’ll continue to provide Ford with responsive supply chain support, as we have for more than 20 years.”

Acuity Insurance announces Trucking Appreciation Essay Contest winner

Sarah Rodriguez, wife to a towing and diesel mechanic, wrote about her husband and his 24-hour, seven-days-a-week dedication to the truck drivers on the road helping keep our country moving. 

“My husband may not be a truck driver, but he has affected the lives of many truck drivers. Especially this past year,” Rodriguez wrote in her winning essay. “As a towing and diesel mechanic, he was on call 24/7 for any trucker in need. He has many other clients, but when a trucker called, he would drop everything and be there.” 

Listen to Rodriguez’s winning essay in the video below.

FedEx donates $3.5M to Orbis’ ‘Flying Eye Hospital’

FedEx has renewed its commitment to Orbis International’s sight-saving mission with a $3.5 million donation to help provide financial, logistics, and operational support to the organization and its Flying Eye Hospital over the next five years.

The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital is a mobile teaching hospital that travels the world providing vision-saving eye surgeries and training to local eye care teams. Orbis’s cadre of more than 400 volunteer medical experts—including doctors, nurses, and others—carry out the training and procedures free of charge. FedEx donated the MD-10 aircraft and provides aircraft parts, maintenance, and pilot training at no cost to Orbis. The aircraft is flown by FedEx Express pilots who volunteer during their time off to navigate the plane around the world on Orbis missions.

“For more than 30 years, FedEx has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to our mission, and we are deeply proud of and grateful for this partnership,” said Derek Hodkey, Orbis president and CEO. “The renewed commitment by FedEx will help us to train even more eye care professionals around the world so that they in turn can help more people to see.”

Last year, Orbis’ virtual Flying Eye Hospital projects had over 850 enrollments by participants from nine countries. Orbis expects to reach 20 countries through its virtual Flying Eye Hospital projects this year.

UPS driver honored with big brown truck parade

A UPS driver who has served with the company almost three decades was honored with a parade of fellow UPS trucks this morning as they circled by his home, in downtown Sparta. 

Tim Brock was recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and will soon begin treatments, according to The Expositor. Tim and his wife, Gena McCoy Brock, wish to thank everyone in the community for their prayers. 

As Brock's wife said, with tears in her eyes, “We are going to fight this with God’s amazing power.”

Watch the parade in the video below.