TORONTO- Ian Fleury’s bosses think he’s a full-time truck driver moonlighting as a superhero.

Here’s why:

1. Helped strapped truck driver: Canada Cartage truck driver Fleury was driving through Pennsylvania’s Poconos Mountains when he saw a rolled-over truck. The 25-year trucking veteran came to the aid of his fellow truck driver, who was strapped in his truck.

Neither driver appeared severely injured. Inside the crumpled cab, however, the other truck driver was responsive, but visibly shaken.   

“The passenger door was jammed shut so I ran back to my truck and grabbed a cell phone and load bar. I returned to the (crashed) truck and told the guy to watch out. Then I smashed the window,” Fleury says.

Fleury helped the driver climb out, called 911 and driver’s dispatch to explain what happened. Satisfied the fellow he saved was now safe, Fleury got back on the road as emergency crews arrived. “I had a load to deliver,” he says. 

2. Saved car driver from fire: Then, that same winter, just a week after having come to the aid of his fellow truck driver in the U.S., Fleury helped a passenger car driver whose car had caught on fire on highway 401 in Mississauga.

He bravely used his truck and trailer to block two lanes to create a barrier and force traffic to the left lane farthest from the fire. He then got out of his truck and opened the door of the burning car. The driver, unaware flames were sprawling from underneath his vehicle, climbed out at Fleury’s request.  

As Fleury walked the driver back to his truck, the car became completely engulfed by flames and the tires blew out. By the time fire crews arrived on scene, the car was totaled, but everyone on the highway was unharmed.

“Honestly, I didn’t think what I did was that special,” Fleury says. “I think I just did what anybody who would come across something like that would do – at least you would hope they would.”  

3. Honored for bravery: Fleury won the prestigious Bridgestone Canada-Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) Truck Hero Award at the OTA’s annual convention at the Ritz Carleton in downtown Toronto. The award recognizes professional truck drivers who demonstrate courage, quick thinking and integrity in the face of an emergency, all of which Fleury exercised when he came to the aid of several people this past winter.

Canada Cartage president Jeff Lindsay commented: “He’s a gentle giant who always puts others first. We’d clone him if we could. He wears a baseball cap instead of a cape, but other than that, he’s Superman around here.”

View the Bridgestone-OTA video of Fleury’s heroic acts here.