At about 9am the calls started coming in, stranded drivers. For some unknown reason July 12^th was a busy day and found drivers realizing they were stuck with no way to get home. Mark Fuller and Michael Pagel were the first two. These two found themselves stranded after being rejected from orientation from K&B Transport. They called OOIDA and Carl Boley referred them to Trucker Charity Inc. Carl was even gracious enough to fill out the applications for assistance for them. After hours on the phone collaborating stories to make sure they were legit we got them on buses heading to their respective home towns.

The next driver found herself being stranded by an O/O who had his lease pulled from him for not keeping up with his permits. This O/O’s leasing company was Freymiller. Freymiller was great to the driver. They cut her a check for the equipment that she had to purchase. This consisted of loadlocks, padlocks and other equipment. I’m surprised that this driver had to purchase such equipment being a driver for an O/O, you’d think that would have been the O/O’s responsibility. Well, since he didn’t keep up with his permits, Freymiller pulled his trucks from him since he was leasing from them. This driver has a companion, a pet; unfortunately Trucker Charity is not able to help in this situation so we referred her to Operation Roger. This driver didn’t make the call. She just couldn’t stand being separated from her pet. She appreciated all we tried to do for her but decided it was best for her and her companion to try and find another way home. We’re waiting to hear from her tomorrow July 13^th to see if all went well, she had high hopes of the O/O’s sister coming to pick her up. This O/O’s sister was pretty upset at her brother.

While cashing the Comcheck that Freymiller had issued her for the refund of equipment she came across another stranded transportation worker. His name was Brian. Brian was lumping for an O/O’s leased to Allied Van Lines. They had just loaded up 22,000 lbs of household goods. This O/O received a phone call which brought bad news, a family emergency in Boise Id. He had to leave and couldn’t get Brian back home so he took him to the TA in Oklahoma City at the 142mm, said that was the best he could do under the circumstances, to get him somewhere safe.

Brian had been stranded at the TA in OKcity for 2.5 days before he found out about Trucker Charity. The TA was extremely hospitable to Brian. Brian offered to wash dishes or what ever for some food, the TA said not to worry about it and fed him so the next time you stop into the TA at the 142mm, give them a big Thank You for being so hospitable to a transportation worker. I spoke with Angela (I think that was her name) at the fuel desk. They’re great folks.

We had been having trouble logging into Western Union all day; we couldn’t get Brian any cash for a taxi to town to the bus station. The TA called the OK city police and asked them if they could provide transportation for Brian, they obliged. Finally at 2am in the morning we got Brian on a bus and headed home. There were two others but I failed to get permission from them to tell their stories or at least part of it.

This was a very productive day for a group of Truckers helping Truckers. This organization can squeeze a dollar out of a penny at times, someone’s watching over us.

This is what we do; we band together and help a brother in his time of need. If you think at anytime you may be in this position yourself wouldn’t you want an organization there ready to help you? We can’t go on alone, we need all drivers together. All donations go to helping drivers, there are no paid board members and we use sponsors for the majority of our materials needed to get the job done and the word out about our organization. If you care to and can spare a dollar won’t you consider donating to an organization who is dedicated to you, the Truck Driver’s of America. http://www.truckercharity.org/donations.php . We’re also honored this year to be part of Wreaths Across America.http://www.truckercharity.org/waa.php Enter wreath at checkout in the text field or if you want to go to http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org put in the codes Indiana/ INTCI01.