Truck driver hailed ‘Highway Angel’ after helping flatbed driver following crash

CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WWBT/Gray News) - A truck driver from Chesterfield, Virginia, is being hailed as a “Highway Angel” again after helping a flatbed driver who crashed his vehicle along a Tennessee highway just days before Christmas.

On Dec. 22, Timothy Olden told WWBT he was getting ready to make a delivery before heading home.

“I was just getting my day started, getting through my coffee, and I was just cruising along,” said Olden, who drives for Decker Truck Line. “I had to go to Lyndhurst to make my delivery and then I was heading back to Chesterfield.”

While driving along Interstate 40 near Crossville, Tennessee, Olden saw a flatbed driver veer off and crash.

“He went off the offramp way too fast and inertia just picked his trailer up and just rolled him right over,” he said.

After seeing this crash unfold, Olden pulled over, called 911 and ran over to the driver.

“He had a deer in the headlights look, like, ‘Man, what the hell just happened? I asked him, ‘Are you alright?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah,’” said Olden. “I made him kick his windshield, I got him out, got him up on the side and had him sit down where he admitted to me he fell asleep.”

The driver made it out with minor cuts and bruises. Olden also stayed by his side until police arrived at the scene.

“It’s just part of my job,” he said. “Lucky to be there at the time I was.”

Olden’s actions are in the spotlight after being nominated as a “Highway Angel” through a program from the Truckload Carriers Association.

“I’m honored that they nominated me for it and they feel like I deserve it,” he said.

It’s a title Olden received for a second time.

Last year, Olden was nominated as a “Highway Angel” after helping people at the scene of a car crash in Colorado.

“The center console was caved over towards him cause he was in the passenger seat and we pulled it to where he could get out,” said Olden during an interview with WWBT last September.

Olden considers his heroic deeds a part of his job description and believes it’s up to everyone to lend a helping hand when they can.

“It’s actually part of a truck driver’s job. We see the accident, we have to secure it and all,” he said. “It’s really every human’s ordeal to stop and help people.”

Since the Highway Angels program started in 1997, around 1,400 professional truck drivers have been recognized as “Highway Angels” for their work on the job.

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