10-4 Magazine

HELPING THE HELPLESS
Bob Hataway's AmCoach Helps Injured Truckers Get Home

Do you ever feel vulnerable out on the open road? What would you do if you were badly injured in a severe accident, far from home, and found yourself stranded in a hospital because your insurance company refused to cover the cost of your ride home? Would you be able to pay the thousands of dollars for the specialized transportation or would you find yourself "stuck" in a situation you had no control over? Unfortunately, many truck drivers have found themselves in this exact predicament but, fortunately, thanks to one caring man, there is help.

It might not seem like much of a problem, but given the dangers of operating a big rig truck on a daily basis, it happens more often than you might think. For this reason, Bob Hataway, founder of TransAlive USA, an organization dedicated to helping truck drivers throughout the nation, designed and built the AmCoach. This specially-modified bus was built specifically for the purpose of assisting injured truckers either home or to a rehabilitation center. Sponsored by TransAlive with help from transportation industry manufacturers and suppliers, the AmCoach provides an alternative to air charter for injured drivers who cannot travel in a sitting up position.

The AmCoach has a room with an adjustable bed and other special accommodations to help make drivers comfortable in transit. Neither commercial flights nor standard buses allow drivers to lay down during transit. There are also sleeping quarters and a shower facility for the staff and family members accompanying the driver. The motor coach also has a kitchen, living quarters, a lounge area and luggage bay. Family members can travel with the driver, providing not only love and support but medication and clean bandages when necessary.

Special air charter flights can charge up to $10 per air mile. Just imagine if you were 2,000 miles from home. The air charter could cost $20,000! There aren't many people that could afford that flight. The AmCoach does not charge for its services, as it is operated with contributions. TransAlive wants every truck driver to have access to the AmCoach to return home when needed. When not under dispatch, the AmCoach visits truck stops and truck shows, displaying their equipment and explaining the service. The $350,000 bus was purchased back in 1999 and took a year and a half to be customized and equipped to handle the injured truckers.

The AmCoach is just one of many programs that Bob Hataway's TransAlive USA provides to drivers and their families across America. TransAlive was formed back in 1984 as a network of more than 100,000 volunteers to minister to truckers in the hospital. Bob, a Baptist minister and former trucking executive, believes he is doing God's work by assisting drivers in need. Using the AmCoach as his pulpit, allowing him to perform his ministry, Bob envisions a fleet of coaches throughout the country to serve injured truckers and reunite them with their families.

One of Bob's recent trips involved Jim Toof, a trucker who got sick on the road and had to spend three weeks in a hospital far from home while recovering. Needing special transportation to get him home, the family turned to Bob who immediately made the coach available. Jim and his wife were dropped off at the front door of their home. In a testimonial and thank you letter written by Jim's daughter, Jacque Hettle wrote: "The Hataways are ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the lives of those they are allowed to help. I would like to encourage you to help them in any way that you can. I know that large (and small) companies have certain amounts of funds that can be disbursed for charitable efforts and as far as I am concerned, you will find no greater cause to help than the Hataways and their AmCoach. They need to be allowed to continue in their great work."

If you would like to learn more about TransAlive and the AmCoach, visit their website at www.transalive.com. You'll also find many interesting and informative items on the site such as safety tips, information about their Caring in Action=Safety Program, a (long) list of sponsors, details about their unique First Death Notifications service, and tons of history about the organization and its founder. If you are a trucker in need or would like to offer your help, call TransAlive at (800) USA-HURT. It's caring people like Bob and his army of volunteers that make this world not such a bad place after all. God bless you Bob!

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