Two Canadian drivers – Daljit Sohi driving for Triple Eight Transport, Abbotsford, B.C., and Joseph Carroll driving for Elgin Motor Freight, London, Ont. – are among the five finalists for the Truckload Carrier Association’s (TCA) Highway Angels of the Year award.

The public will vote for the top three among the five drivers who will be honored at TCA’s 2025 annual convention next March in Phoenix, Ariz.

Triple Eight Transport’s Sohi was honored for noticing a woman dropped her purse at a rest stop, then driving for three hours to return it to her, according to a news release.

On Nov. 29, while traveling from Banff, Alta., to Salmon Arm B.C., Shailly James, from High River, Alta., stopped near Golden, B.C. to assist her four-year-old child. Unbeknownst to James, her purse fell during the stop. It contained $1,100, a gold chain, credit cards and her identification cards.

“I was not aware,” James said. Sohi witnessed the event and followed James in his truck to return the purse.

“I followed the lady for three hours,” Sohi said.

While driving, James noticed a truck following her, which caused some concern. When stopped to refuel at a gas station in Sicamous, B.C., Sohi approached James and informed her that he had found her lost purse. To her relief, everything in the handbag was accounted for and nothing was missing. “I was so happy that, thank God, he found it,” James said. “Then I tried to give him $500 as a reward, but he didn’t take it.”

She plans to send a thank you gift to Sohi at his company office.

TCA named Carroll a Highway Angel for rescuing a trucker in March after his vehicle crashed and he had been trapped beneath debris.