The Truckload Carriers Association's Highway Angel program will honor a special Highway Angel Dec. 30 during Roady's Humanitarian Bowl football game at Boise State University's Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho.


Roady's Humanitarian Bowl is a post-season, NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game that has been played annually since 1997. The event, to be played before a 30,000-seat crowd and expected to be broadcast on ESPN, will expose Highway Angels to millions of viewers who might not otherwise be aware that truck drivers routinely stop to help motorists in need all across North America.

The Highway Angel who will be honored at Roady's Humanitarian Bowl has not yet been selected. TCA will examine all Angel nominations that were awarded in 2009 and narrow it down to four Angels, who will be judged by the TCA Communications & Image Policy Committee. Each act of kindness will be judged based on a scorecard of criteria, including how many other motorists stopped to help, the degree of difficulty for the good deed performed, information provided by highway officials and incident bystanders, etc.

Last year, TCA chose to honor Highway Angel Leonard T. "Lenny" Roach, a professional truck driver for Unisource of Addison, Ill., who plunged into icy water up to his neck to extract a motorist who had lost control on the ice and landed upside down in a water-filled ditch. TCA will announce who will be honored this year on Nov. 15.

"I have no doubt it will be difficult to select the winner," said Virginia Parker, co-chair of the TCA Communications & Image Policy Committee and director of marketing for Flying J, Inc. "Angel incidents for 2009 have already included some really dramatic stories, including someone who damaged his own truck to push another vehicle (and driver) away from flames, a driver who recognized and led authorities to a missing teenager based on an Amber Alert he had heard, and a man who positioned his truck to block traffic from hitting a suicidal woman."

More info: www.truckload.org/highwayangels