���ϳԹ���

Ashton (left) and James Coviak spent 36 hours in Atkinson County, Ga., ensuring that donations were distributed to the most needy hurricane victims. (Ruan Transportation)

[Stay on top of transportation news: .]

Family is important to truck drivers, especially in times of trouble.

When Hurricane Helene brought devastation to the southeastern United States in September 2024, a trucking family stepped in to help.

Helene made landfall on Sept. 26, 2024, in the Big Bend region of northern Florida, a section where the state’s panhandle meets the Florida Peninsula. Helene arrived as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 140 mph, and would become the deadliest storm to strike the U.S. mainland since Katrina ravaged New Orleans in 2005.

States of emergency were issued in Florida and in bordering Georgia, with rural communities in Georgia hit particularly hard by record-breaking rainfall.

North Carolina also felt Helene’s wrath, as major freight routes and railroads that served cities and mountain communities suffered damage that threatened to cut off access for months.

Image

(Weather.gov)

Seven hours northwest of Atkinson County, Ga., a trucking family was looking for a way to help someone close to them and wound up helping an entire community. Two members of the family are being recognized as 2025 recipients.

James and William Coviak — better known as Ashton — drive for truckload carrier Ruan Transportation.

From their home in Trinity, Ala., they were in contact with Aja Escobar — the closest relative to James’ wife, Rachel, a familial cousin who for Rachel is more like a sister. Aja and Rachel talk daily, and Aja had relayed stories of the devastation in Atkinson County.

Donations Kept Coming

The initial idea was for Rachel to rally donations from patrons of her custom shirt business, Sweet Honey Designs. James thought at first they’d fill a pickup truck with donations and head to Atkinson County. But he soon realized they’d need more than a pickup.

“It got so big, so fast,” James said.

A key reason word spread so fast was James’ decision to contact James Spann, a veteran Alabama meteorologist with a large social media following. Once Spann put out the word about what the Coviaks were doing, the donations poured in.

Fortunately, the Coviaks are truckers.

Image

The Atkinson County, Ga., Sheriff’s office had to escort the tractor-trailer part of the way, but the Coviaks safely delivered the 30,000-pound load. (Ruan Transportation)

James contacted Ruan Dedicated Transportation Manager Mike Steely about what the family was doing, and Steely gave James the green light to use a Ruan tractor and trailer to haul any and all donations. Getting the stacks of donations from the Coviak home onto the trailer presented another hitch in the plan; they live on a no-truck route. The local police chief arranged for a roadblock that afforded time to begin loading the truck.

James and Ashton spent two days loading the truck, with time off provided by Ruan to get the job done.

Treacherous Roads

When James and Ashton set out for Atkinson County with 30,000 pounds supplies, it soon became clear they were in for a difficult run. James is a veteran driver; Aston is part of Ruan’s Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program.

“After Atlanta, you started seeing damage,” Ashton said. “You would see trees laid down the length of a football field. The lights were out. Once we got there, there were trees thrown through houses; the sort of thing you’d see in a movie. I’d never seen anything like that before. Some houses were clearly picked up and thrown into the air.”

“It looked like a bomb went off,” added James.

Image

Volunteers handle donations that were destined for the victims of Hurricane Helene who were most in need. (Ruan Transportation)

The Atkinson County Sheriff’s office had to escort the tractor-trailer part of the way, but the Coviaks safely delivered the 30,000-pound load comprised largely of non-perishable foods, water, grills, griddles and tarpaulins. Also included were backup generator connections for air conditioners that were keeping residents of an elderly care community cool.

James and Ashton spent 36 hours in Atkinson County making sure the goods found their way into the right hands. All because a cousin who is more like a sister needed help.

“My wife has a heart of gold, but there’s a special connection with family,” James told TT. “When momma tells us to go, we start working. She came up with the idea. We made it happen.”

James and Rachel have visited Aja since the storm, and while some houses have been repaired other construction work remains on hiatus. “It’s going to be a long run to get back to as beautiful as it was before,” James said.

Health Scare

In the past few months, James has had a long run of his own; in June, he had emergency double heart bypass surgery to repair what is colloquially known as the “widow-maker artery.” He spent 16 days in the hospital, which included an extra visit to the operating room due to complications. He missed 4½ months off work, a shorter stint than the year away that was initially expected for recovery.

“He’s doing really well from just a couple of months out from surgery,” said Steely. “He’s not someone that can sit around. He’s got to be doing something.”

Steely added, “I was extremely impressed by the turnaround. I know he’s done everything he could. He’s an example for a lot of folks out there.”

And he’s as conscientious and skilled as ever on the road; one day before TT spoke to Steely, James on Oct. 20 was presented with a safety award for avoiding a crash after a passenger vehicle cut off his truck during a twilight run.

Two days later Ashton turned 22, delighted with the career choice he’s made as he completes the final year of his apprenticeship.

“If I could have done this as soon as I got out of high school I would have,” he said.

Congratulations to James and Ashton Coviak on being named 2025 Transport Topics Trucking’s Frontline Heroes.

Want more news? Listen to today's daily briefing below��or go here for more info: