Scott Miller of America’s Service Line and Wade Dickinson of Nu-Way Transportation were both recognized by the Truckload Carriers Association as Highway Angels for their assistance in separate crash incidents in Wisconsin and Illinois.
Nu-Way’s Dickinson was recognized for his heroic actions following a serious truck crash on April 3 near Clinton, Ill.
Around 3 a.m., Dickinson was traveling along Indiana 10 when he witnessed a truck suddenly appear through a tree line and begin to overturn. He only had seconds to react, as the the out-of-control vehicle came toward him.
“I’ve got two options—I can’t go left, and I don’t want to put my truck into the ditch,” Dickinson said. “So I’ve got to go straight… thankfully, he did not hit me.”
Once clear of danger, Dickinson pulled over and rushed toward the crash scene. “I threw the truck on the shoulder, pulled the brake… I just jumped and took off running,” he recalled. “I had to run about a football field.”
He called 911 and assessed the situation. He found the severely injured driver thrown into the sleeper berth, bleeding heavily. “I didn’t know if the truck was going to catch on fire,” Dickinson said. “I just knew I had to get him out.” So he climbed into the wreckage with no hesitation and pulled the driver to safety.
He then noticed the driver suffered a severe wrist injury and was losing significant blood. “It was squirting blood all over the place,” Dickinson said. “I knew I had to cut the circulation off.”
Using items on hand, he improvised a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, remaining on scene as the sole responder for several minutes before police, paramedics and fire crews arrived.
Despite being relatively new to the industry, he said helping was instinctive.
“With everything going on in the world, we all bleed the same color,” Dickinson said. “Why not help when I can?”
Miller honored for heroic response in a bus crash
In a separate incident on March 22, Miller, who drives for America’s Service Line, assisted bus crash victims near Green Bay, Wis.
At approximately 2:45 p.m., he was traveling near Interstate 43 when he saw a tour bus carrying more than 50 passengers lose control while exiting the highway. The bus sped across multiple lanes, struck a curb, went airborne, and ultimately traveled more than 100 yards before plunging over a five-foot embankment and coming to rest between two buildings.
The crash left at least 41 people injured, including two in critical condition, and required a large-scale emergency response with assistance from multiple jurisdictions. Miller, who said he narrowly avoided being struck himself, sprang into action.
“If I’d been five seconds further down the road, it would have probably killed me,” he said.
After calling 911, Miller relied on his 32 years of professional driving to assess the situation before approaching the bus. At the scene, he found multiple injured passengers, including Audrey Pierce, who was trapped in the stairwell near the door.
“He stayed on the scene until the police and paramedics arrived,” said Pierce. “He held my hand and talked to me while I was trapped. He kept me awake and talking.”
Miller spent about 90 minutes assisting passengers, directing emergency vehicles and supporting first responders. He recalled that many of the passengers on the bus were elderly. “They’re basically like your grandma and grandpa,” he said. “It really pulls your heartstrings.”
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