FACING THE REAL PROBLEMS
I recently read your editorial titled “The Real Highway Hazard,” [September 2003] regarding the lack of regulatory attention on high-risk four-wheelers. It was concise and well written. I just wish more of our politicians would listen to what you said.
Continue to help us get the word out. Those of us in the industry really do care about the safety of our highways. Apparently the general public does not care or they would focus their efforts where the real problems lie.
Bill Williford
Safety Director, Tri-State Delivery Inc.
APPRECIATE OUR HEROES
I cried as I read “Heroes among us” in the Nov. 2003 issue. After I composed myself, I called my husband and read the story to him. My heart aches for Dorothy Fisher and her family following the loss of her husband. David Fisher, rather than risk many lives in a head-on collision, willingly steered his truck down a steep embankment after a drunken four-wheeler hit his loaded flatbed. I pray that Dorothy’s memories of the many phone conversations and precious time spent together bring peace.
As Linda Longton stated in her Viewpoint column, there are many heroes out there among us. My husband is one of them. Each day he does his job, but he is also helping others: He changes flat tires for people, will work on a broken down car and is always ready to help his fellow truckers with anything, anytime. He even helped deliver a baby a few years ago. All of these things my husband does; most goes unseen and unheard.
Sixteen months ago my husband was in Abilene, Texas. He got a phone call saying there was a problem at home. Our then-10-year-old daughter and I had been robbed, and I had been sexually assaulted in our home. The next seven hours it took for my husband to get home were some of the longest hours of our lives. The assailant was caught a week later, and he is now serving a 45-year sentence in the Texas State Prison.
That first time my husband drove out of the driveway after this happened, I was so scared, and I knew he was, too. Mike’s calls home are so important. Some are about the bills due, whether a check came in the mail today, or if he’s going to have to wait to get unloaded. Whatever it might be, it’s always good to hear his voice. Dorothy Fisher said she “missed the calls the most.” Without the calls each day, we would not make it.
To my hero, Mike, I give you a 21 air-horn salute! Keep up the good work, “Fifty-Six.” I love you, and I’ll be waiting for your call.
Kim (Hazel) Anglin
Via the Internet
FOND MEMORIES
I am 80 years old but I still like Overdrive and trucks.
I drove for Florida Refrigerated pulling juices to the West Coast back in the 1960s and 1970s. In July 1967 I was awarded Driver of the Month by Florida Trucking Association. Maybe I drove a million miles in those two decades. I’d make a round trip from Dade City to the West Coast each eight days, and I truly enjoyed it.
Now I am a retired, disabled WWII veteran living the life of leisure here near Fayetteville, N.C. I want to thank you for your magazine and let you know how truly I enjoy it each month.
Robert A. Johnson
Raeford, N.C.
