DOT 14-06
Contact: Brian Turmail
Tel.: 202-366-4570
Friday, January 27, 2006

U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta Says Truckers Who Drove Into Devastation to Help Victims of Gulf Coast Disasters are “Hurricane Heroes”

Hundreds of truck drivers who braved last fall’s Gulf Coast hurricanes to deliver life saving supplies to evacuees are “hurricane heroes” according to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta, who visited some of them Friday.

Mineta met with truckers gathered for the annual “Trucker Appreciation Days” event hosted by Jacksonville, FL- based Landstar System, Inc. The company has a contract with the federal government to provide emergency transportation services.

“When Katrina’s flood waters rose, causing thousands to flee their homes you fired up your engines, fastened your safety belts and headed directly to the devastation,” Mineta said. “Thousands of lives were saved because you, our hurricane heroes, were willing to help your fellow citizens,” he said.

With the help of drivers working for Landstar, the Department was able to deliver more than 15,000 truckloads of food, water, ice, cots and other emergency supplies to the region, Mineta said.

“I can only imagine the feeling of hope that the sight of your rigs brought to a region that was overwhelmed with sadness and destruction. Your trucks filled with life-saving supplies such as medicine, food, water and other necessities were a sign that help had arrived,” he added.

He praised the drivers for working “long days and even longer nights” to get the job done. And he recounted stories of drivers doing more than sitting behind the wheel of their rigs, telling of truckers who used their own money to buy diapers, carried cases of water for elderly evacuees, and turned their trucks into shelters for stranded families.

Mineta promised to make sure that Americans never forget “the acts of kindness and compassion” performed by truckers during the crisis.

The Secretary is touring the Gulf Coast region this week to recognize people who responded to the hurricanes. On Wednesday, Mineta visited Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX, where he spent time with troops who helped transport and care for hurricane evacuees during the largest domestic airlift in U.S. history. Yesterday, he paid a visit to employees of the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority who are directing bus service for evacuees while living in their temporary headquarters facility in Baton Rouge, LA.

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