2019 has gotten off to a rough start. A nasty winter storm delivered record cold and blizzard conditions that bedeviled truckers from the upper Midwest to New England. The government was shut down and the prospect of a shutdown by trucker looms in April.
Trooper and Adam were adopted together last weekend.But, not all is bleak. Every now and then some good news somehow seeps into the headlines and we share it in hopes that it brightens your driving day.
Shortly before Christmas, we reported on a bit of highway heroism by an anonymous trucker from Syracuse, NY. The man was southbound on Interstate 81 between Syracuse and Binghamton when he saw a shocking sight: someone slowing down an SUV and tossing two dogs out of a window and onto the highway.
The driver stopped his truck and dashed down the highway to help the dogs, one of which was injured severely. New York State Troopers arrived, provided first aid, and got the dogs to a humane facility.
Retired trucker Jerry Bowgren delivered hot soup to stranded truckers.Since then, the two beagles recuperated and over the weekend went home with a couple who wanted to adopt them both, now named Trooper and Adam. There had been more than 100 requests to adopt the dogs from the Broome County Humane Society.
NYS Troopers continue to investigate the incident and a large reward has been offered.
There was another act of trucker kindness recently as the polar vortex descended on most of the northern part of the country.
As temperatures dropped and the winds howled late last week, a retired truck driver headed out onto Interstate 90 with a pot of chicken noodle soup to help warm those stranded by the storm.
Jerry Bowgren of Rockton, Illinois wound up serving hot soup to eight people, mostly truckers. Bowgren, his fathers and his brothers were all truck drivers. He said he knows what its like to be stranded by a storm.
