Truckers Turn Out to be Everyday Heroes

TORONTO, ON – Fast action by two truck drivers working for the same fleet helped defuse two separate and dangerous situations with their carrier calling them “everyday heroes.”

Doug Strickland, a driver with Canada Cartage, received an award from Durham, Ontario police in late April for his quick thinking that resulted in the apprehension of a violent armed robbery suspect and helped save the life of a store attendant.

On Oct. 14, 2015 he pulled into a filling station in Clarington, Ontario. As soon as Strickland entered the store, he saw the clerk standing with his hands up in the air and a suspect dressed in a black hooded shirt.

Strickland quickly retreated from the store and called police who arrived while the robbery was still in progress and apprehended the suspect.

In a separate incident last month, a driver, also with Canada Cartage, helped rescue another trucker.

Michael Stack was travelling a very remote northern highway hauling a load to Whitehorse, Yukon when he came upon a tractor-trailer upside down in the ditch.

The former paramedic immediately stopped and assisted in the rescue of the commercial driver, who was still in the cab of the twisted tractor. He did cervical spine precautions, bandaged the driver’s wounds, and helped him into another operator’s vehicle to meet the ambulance that was dispatched from a few hours away.

After the driver was taken care of Stack realized the tanks on the wrecked truck were leaking diesel fuel and the driver was hauling fertilizer, an extremely volatile mixture that can cause explosions or fires.

Stack secured the scene by disconnecting the tractor-trailer’s batteries, possibly preventing the rig from exploding and hurting more people.

“We have everyday heroes on our team,” said Canada Cartage President and CEO, Jeff Lindsay. “We are very proud of both Doug and Michael for their heroic efforts and for demonstrating incredible humanity, one of Canada Cartage’s core values”.