The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has recognized professional truck drivers Jason Holmes, Donovan Collins and Matt Harris as TCA Highway Angels because of their acts of heroism while on the road.
In recognition of these drivers’ willingness to help fellow drivers and motorists, TCA has presented each Highway Angel with a certificate, a lapel pin, patches, and truck decals. Their employers have also received a certificate highlighting their driver as a recipient.
Since TCA’s Highway Angels program began in 1997, nearly 1,400 professional truck drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels because of the exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage they have displayed while on the job.
TCA extends special thanks to the program’s presenting sponsor, EpicVue, and supporting sponsors DriverFacts and Northland Insurance. To nominate a driver or read more about these and other Highway Angel award recipients, visit highwayangel.org.
JASON HOLMES
Prime Inc. — Springfield, Missouri
Jason Holmes of Phoenix, who drives for Prime Inc., is honored for stopping to help following a deadly accident.
At about 4:30 p.m. on January 12, 2025, Holmes was driving on Interstate 71 in Delaware County, Ohio, when he saw a crash.
State troopers say a black Hyundai Tucson was heading north on I-71. The driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle, veered across the median, overturned, struck the median cable barrier and then hit a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck traveling in the southbound lanes head on.
Holmes was traveling in the center lane. He says he saw the Hyundai come to rest in the middle of the southbound lanes, while the Chevrolet slid off the left side of the highway after the impact.
“It was horrible — extremely horrible,” Holmes said. “With the condition of the car that rolled, I knew it was gonna be bad.”
He quickly pulled over to the shoulder to assist. A girl, later determined to be age 12, had been ejected from the Hyundai. He first ran to her.
“She was fine. She just had scrapes and some bruising,” he said. He stayed with the girl until a nurse came upon the scene and stopped to help.
Holmes then went to the Hyundai. He says the driver was already dead, and his fiance — the mother of the girl who was ejected from the vehicle — had sustained extensive injuries.
“She was in bad shape,” he said.
At the crashed pickup truck, Holmes and a few U.S. Army personnel, who also happened upon the accident, worked together to pry open the driver’s side door. The driver had suffered major injuries to his arm and leg.
“He had two bones sticking out of his right leg,” Holmes said. “On his left arm, the wrist was just hanging.”
Holmes helped the military personnel get the driver out of the vehicle and laid him on the ground to wait for emergency personnel.
He then moved to the passenger side of the truck and pried that door open.
Though the young man in the passenger seat did not sustain substantial injuries, his legs were trapped under the dashboard. Holmes kept the young man calm and waited with him until emergency crews arrived.
DONOVAN COLLINS
Dedicated Transportation Solutions — Greenville, South Carolina
On February 11, 2025, Donovan Collins of Deport, Texas, was driving along Interstate 30 in the rain when he came upon an overturned vehicle in the middle of the lane. The vehicle was completely dark, with no lights on.
Collins managed to maneuver around the vehicle before stopping safely, activating his hazard lights and calling 911.
“I saw him about 30 yards out,” he said. “I barely scraped past him.”
Collins, who is a Navy veteran, quickly ran to the wrecked car.
“I ran over with a flashlight to see who was in the car,” he said. “A guy was just lying there, not moving.”
He pulled the driver to safety, removing him from harm’s way as he spoke to the 911 operator. He then performed CPR on the crash victim until emergency responders arrived.
“I stopped because I know what it’s like to be in an accident and have no one stop to help,” said Collins, who himself has been in accidents where no one stopped to render aid. “Everyone else was driving by like they didn’t have a care in the world.”
Collins drives for South Carolina-based Dedicated Transport Solutions.
MATT HARRIS
ABF Freight — Fort Smith, Arkansas
At about 8:30 p.m. on February 18, 2025, Matt Harris of Ione, California, was traveling southbound on Interstate 5 in Lakehead, California, when he came upon a tractor-trailer that had been in an accident and was in flames.
“I saw a glow on the horizon,” said Harris, a driver for ABF Freight who’s been driving the same route since 1994.
“It was the truck that was on fire,” he continued. “I came around the bend, and there was fire in the slow lane and diesel fuel all over the slow lane.”
He pulled over onto the left shoulder of the highway, grabbed his fire extinguisher and worked to contain the blaze until the fire department arrived on scene.
Evidently, the driver of the truck had crashed into the guard rail, but he had exited the crashed truck without injury.
“The driver of the truck was freaked out; he was in shock,” Holmes said.
“The tires were on fire, so I put that out, and then underneath the fuel tank,” he continued. “I put out the most critical parts of the fire, by the fuel tanks, before my fire extinguisher ran out.”
Harris has been driving a truck since 1988. He says he’s seen his share of accidents on the road. He stops because he hopes others would do the same for him if he were in trouble.
“Do unto others — the Golden Rule,” he said. “That’s it.”
This story originally appeared in the May/June 2025 print edition of Truckload Authority, the official publication of the Truckload Carriers Association.
Linda Garner-Bunch has been with The Trucker since 2020, picking up the reins as managing editor in 2022. Linda has nearly 40 years of experience in the publishing industry, covering topics from the trucking and automotive industry to employment, real estate, home decor, crafts, cooking, weddings, high school sports — you name it, she’s written about it. She is also an experienced photographer, designer and copy editor who has a heartfelt love for the trucking industry, from the driver’s seat to the C-suite.
