Highland driver saves one of his own

MIRAMICHI, N.B. (Jan. 21, 2004) — Stranded, tired, and freezing cold, Highland Transport driver Dwain Seaman wished just one vehicle would stop and help him out. Lucky for him, one of his own came rolling by.

The rescuer who stopped to assist Seaman on the remote section of the Trans-Canada Highway between Riviere-du-Loup and Quebec City last week wasn’t just a fellow truck driver, or simply a company colleague, but a New Brunswick neighbour too.

Over two hours after Seaman’s truck broke down and lost all power, along came fellow Highland driver Elroy Sullivan, who was driving the opposite way when he recognized Seaman’s truck. The two drivers live less than a kilometre apart in Miramichi, N.B.

The Moncton Times and Transcript, which originally reported the story, noted Seaman’s truck broke down in sub-zero temperatures when a fan belt blew, draining battery power, and eventually leaving Seaman without heat or a functioning CB. He then used his cell phone to call roadside assistance, but because of the remote location and bad weather, immediate help was unavailable.

Seaman told the newspaper he sat in his cab and watched as dozens of trucks ignored the distress pylons he set out and zipped past without stopping. By the time Sullivan found him, the cab looked like a freezer box as it began frosting over. Sullivan, who is also a mechanic, identified the problem and called a nearby company to bring the necessary parts over while the two drivers waited in the warmer truck.

Highland’s Tracy Croft, office manager at the Moncton facility the two drivers work from, told Today’s Trucking Seaman was fortunate his co-worker and neighbour showed up when he did, but it perhaps wasn’t as coincidental as it appears. “This is a route that a lot of Highland drivers travel frequently,” she said. “(Seaman) is lucky Elroy drove by, but if it wasn’t Elroy it would have eventually been someone else that would have stopped to help. They would all do that.”

Lucky for Seaman, he didn’t have to wait any longer to find out.

— With files from the Moncton Times and Transcript