Goodyear announces winners of 2023 Highway Hero Award

Two truckers are being hailed as “highway heroes” for their selfless acts of bravery over the past year.

On Monday, March 4, Goodyear named Timothy VanNostrand and Elijah Ramos as the winners of its 2023 Highway Hero Award.  The company said the annual award, which has been handed out since 1983, highlights the “important role truckers play in keeping our highways safe by going above and beyond to help those in need.”

VanNostrand, an OOIDA member from Northville, N.Y., received the award for his actions helping police apprehend a suspect after a traffic stop by a New York State Trooper turned into a shootout. In June 2023, the owner-operator used his logging truck to block the shooter’s car, forcing him to flee on foot.

“I could see the bullets flying out of the back window of the car that the trooper pulled over. I stopped as fast as I could and got slowed down enough to kind of turn into the car and put it against the guardrails, stopping it so the trooper could take control of the situation,” VanNostrand told Land Line. “It all happened so fast, it was a split-second decision.”

Ramos, a driver for Ryder System Inc., earned the honor for assisting a motorist who had crashed her SUV in a remote desert area. He said he saw the driver lose control of her vehicle, cross multiple lanes of traffic and crash into a field. He called for help, staying with the injured driver until emergency crews arrived, then went back to work to finish his route.

“Since it was such a remote area, it could have been a long time until help arrived,” Ramos said. “I was glad to be there when it happened and to call for help quickly.”

To celebrate the 40^th year of the award – along with the company’s 125th anniversary year – two truckers were selected to receive the honor. According to Goodyear, this year’s winners were chosen “from a wider pool of commercial drivers than ever before.”

Rich Cottrell, Goodyear’s senior director of commercial marketing, said this year’s pool of nominees underscore the important role truckers play when it comes to safety.

“The stories submitted this year reinforced the important job that commercial drivers play in our everyday lives and illustrate in heroic ways the powerful impact professional drivers can have on the roads, individual lives and communities when they help others,” Cottrell said.

The winning drivers join 42 others who have received the Highway Hero Award.

Two additional drivers, Joshua Day and Russel Peasley, were recognized as runners-up for this year’s award. The two also received prizes from Goodyear.

According to Goodyear, the Highway Hero Award was established as a way to “honor truck drivers who acted selflessly for the good of others on highways across North America.” The nomination period for the 2024 award will open in the fall. LL