The Truckload Carriers Association has named Stafford Albertson, a professional truck driver with Network Transport, a Highway Angel, for helping at the scene of a serious accident involving a van and two trucks.
Albertson was about 70 miles outside Shreveport, Louisiana one morning in October, when he heard a report over the CB radio that there was a bad wreck ahead of him involving a van and two trucks. It was just after 8 a.m. and there was some traffic congestion.
As he approached the scene, Albertson could see a woman standing off to the side in the grass. One of the trucks, a box truck with a sleeper, was on its side. “The cab was mangled,” shares Albertson. “The door had been torn off and the driver had been ejected. Someone was already helping him. Then someone said there was another man in the cab, in the sleeper. I could hear him in there moaning.” Albertson crawled inside the wreck. “All I could see were his legs.” The man was buried under debris including the panels of the truck. A small microwave and mattress had landed on him. “He must have been asleep at the time of the accident,” says Albertson. He assured the man that help was on the way as he worked to dig him out. He was finally able to free him and help him get out of the truck. “He was covered in scrapes and cuts but was able to stand,” he says.
By now the sheriff had arrived and Albertson heard they were bringing in a Life Air Rescue helicopter. However, there was a problem: The box truck had been carrying paint cans which were now strewn all about. “I knew those paint cans would become like shrapnel when the helicopter came in, so we needed him to land where no one would be too close.” Albertson told the sheriff he had been a combat life saver in the military and had experience helping land helicopters. He helped ensure the pilot made a safe landing. One of the truck drivers was then airlifted. Albertson is hopeful everything turned out okay.
For his willingness to assist his fellow drivers, TCA has presented Albertson with a certificate, patch, lapel pin, and truck decals. His employer has also received a certificate acknowledging their driver as a Highway Angel. 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. EpicVue sponsors TCA’s Highway Angel program.