Trucker honored for aiding fellow driver in need of medical attention

A truck driver from North Carolina has been honored for her efforts to assist a fellow trucker in need.

The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) recently named truck driver Jeanine Reinhad, from Charlotte, North Carolina, a TCA Highway Angel for stopping to aid a truck driver who was unresponsive and blocking traffic at a weigh station. Reinhad drives for Halvor Lines Inc., out of Superior, Wisconsin.

TCA explains:

Jeanine ReinhadOn June 17, around noon in Kuttawa, Kentucky, Reinhad came across a man in a truck who was unresponsive. She was trying to leave a weigh station, but the man’s truck was stopped blocking the road, so she approached the vehicle.

“I said, ‘Are you okay?’,” Reinhad said. “He couldn’t talk; I said, ‘Do you need medical attention?’ It took me forever to call 911. Can you believe 911 never answered?”

Reinhad was able to contact state police in another county, who then transferred her to the help she needed. She waited for first responders with the challenged man, who she said was on oxygen in his truck. 

Incredibly, Reinhad had only been working at Halvor for two weeks. First responders were able to get the man out of his truck, and Kentucky state troopers moved the vehicle out of traffic.

“He was an older gentleman — hopefully he was okay,” Reinhad said.

Since the TCA Highway Angel program’s inception in August 1997, nearly 1,500 professional truck drivers have been recognized as TCA Highway Angels for exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage displayed while on the job. Thanks to the program’s presenting sponsor, EpicVue, and supporting sponsors, DriverFacts and Northland Insurance, TCA is able to showcase outstanding drivers like Reinhad.