Lawrenceville Towing & Wrecker Services - Chris Towing Service (770) 572-9512

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Imagine you're a young person, stranded hundreds of miles from home, in a strange town with no transportation. You have very little money and your truck, loaded down with 9,000 used textbooks, is sitting broken down on the highway.

Justin Shepherd, a 24-year-old college student from the Atlanta area, found himself in that predicament Tuesday.

Thankfully, he says, if it had to happen to him, "Thank God it happened in Cullman."

Shepherd was dispatched to Cullman Tuesday to pick up a shipment of 9,000 worn out Social Studies textbooks from Cullman City Schools and haul them back to the company, which he declined to name, in Atlanta.

"I'm driving a 24-feet long Penske moving truck and it is loaded to the hilt with books. I'm traveling east on Highway 278 late Tuesday afternoon and the truck is really straining. That's when I first realized the truck was hauling nearly double its weight capacity," Shepherd said. "Once I realized I was way overweight, I called the operations manager and owner of the company I work for and I told them I was concerned about trying to drive the truck all the way back to Atlanta. And the operations manager is like 'What do you expect me to do about it?'"

Shepherd said his boss wanted him to try to make it as far as Centre, "but I knew there was no chance of that happening."

"I knew it was unsafe to try and drive the truck and I told them I wasn't willing to put my life in jeopardy, but they were insistent that it would be OK," Shepherd said. "About four miles east of the Quik Stop on 278 East, I started down a steep hill and attempted to brake. I don't know if it was the weight of the books or some sort of mechanical failure, but something broke. I managed to pull off to the side of the road as far as I could and there I was. I didn't know anybody. I had very little money and no way to get anywhere. On top of that my cell phone wasn't getting good reception. I just felt helpless."

As Shepherd started walking west along 278 toward the Quik Stop at Berlin, a car slowed down beside him. The woman driver, who Shepherd said must have been a nurse because she was wearing scrubs, asked him if he needed a lift to the store and he gladly accepted.

"As soon as she asked me if I needed help I thought to myself, this would never happen in Atlanta. Besides that, this was a woman driving alone and here I was walking along the side of the road and filthy because I had been loading books all day," Shepherd said.

Back at the Quik Stop, Shepherd again tried to get his employers to send help.

"They basically told me to try and find a motel to stay in for the night and then the next day, Wednesday, they'd help me make arrangements to get another truck. They really seemed to be more concerned about the textbooks than they were me," Shepherd said. "That's when I called my mom and she got on the computer and found the number for Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Cullman."

When Shepherd's mother, Kathy Shepherd, called Enterprise it was two minutes before six and the business was just about to close.

"Mom spoke to the branch manager, Christy Dawson, who told her they had no cars available, but they would send a driver to get me and take me anywhere I needed to go," Shepherd said. "One of their drivers, Mack Freeman, came all the way out to the Quik Stop to get me and take me back to the truck to get some of my personal belongings."

A little more support

Freeman said when they arrived back at the truck he quickly realized they couldn't leave the vehicle sitting like it was overnight.

"The truck was sitting on Duck River Hill. The back end was partially in the lane of traffic and because of the angle it was parked it appeared to be close to tipping over onto its side. It was really leaning bad," Freeman said. "I told him he needed to call a wrecker and get it towed. We called Sonny Mullins. Sonny came out and assessed the situation and decided it was going to take a larger wrecker. In fact, it took two wreckers, one to stabilize it and the other to pull it back onto the highway."

With the assistance of Alabama State Troopers, Highway 278 was shutdown for about three hours Tuesday evening as crews worked to move the truck. Eventually, Mullins was successful in towing the truck, books and all.

Afterward, Freeman dropped Shepherd off at his motel room at the Days Inn. It was around 10:15 p.m.

"What should have taken about 30 minutes turned into several hours and he was constantly apologizing the whole time for inconveniencing me. But like I tried to explain to him, it wasn't an inconvenience because I'd like to think if I ever got stranded in a strange town there would be folks there willing to help me," Freeman said.

The next day, Enterprise provided Shepherd with a vehicle he could use to get around town. Again, Shepherd was amazed by the company's generosity.

"Christy even allowed me to stay at their business during the day Wednesday while my mom made the drive over from Atlanta to get me," Shepherd said. "And I have to mention Camille, the cashier at the Quik Stop who offered to give me a ride anywhere I needed to go, and the clerk at the Days Inn, who discounted my room down to like $20 because I told him I was stranded and didn't have a lot of money."

Angels in Cullman

On Thursday, Shepherd was back safe and sound at his home just outside Atlanta, but so moved by the Southern hospitality he received in Cullman he felt compelled to call The Cullman Times to tell his story.

"The kindness and generosity these people showed to a complete stranger is truly amazing," Shepherd said. "Y'all really do have angels in Cullman. I'm convinced of that. I'm a Christian and never have I been to a community where I experienced more Christian charity and compassion than in Cullman. The lady who picked me up, the cashier at the Quik Stop, the clerk at the Days Inn, Sonny Mullins, and particularly Christy and Mack — they were all incredible."

While they only spent a few hours together, Freeman said he told the young man's mother he felt he has known her son all his life.

"I met his mother Wednesday and she is a fantastic lady. She was so appreciative of us taking care of her son. She kept asking us what she could do for us and I told her that wasn't necessary because I have a son Justin's age and I'd like to think if he ever was stranded there would be someone there willing to help him," Freeman said. "I jokingly told her that if I was ever in Atlanta and my car broke down, I'd call her. She told me I'd better."

Freeman said he also believes that whenever you show kindness to someone that kindness always comes back around to you.

"That's one of the reasons I like working for Enterprise. I've been with them for four years now and they've always been good to help folks like that," Freeman said. "Most of those stories don't get told, however. I appreciate the fact that this young man felt the need to share his story with others."

Even more than that, Shepherd said he believes his experience had another purpose as well.

"I think this happened to me to show me that I needed to find another job," Shepherd said. "I plan to do just that, but first I have to get ready to start back to school at Kennesaw State College on Monday."

Asked if he would ever consider visiting Cullman again, Shepherd said he definitely would.

"But this time I won't feel like a stranger," Shepherd said.