A truck driver delivering plywood to a Home Depot in the path of Hurricane Irma was fired after giving the plywood away to residents in need of protecting themselves from the hurricane. Tim McCrory was on his way to a Home Depot in Zephyrhills, FL to deliver 960 pieces of plywood when one of his tires blew out on southbound I-95.
It took seven hours to fix the tire, delaying his arrival in Zephyrhills. By the time he arrived at the Home Depot, it had been boarded up in preparation for the storm. McCrory happened to speak to the store’s night manager who was just leaving, who told him to come back the following Tuesday, four days later.
McCrory called his dispatch office, who advised him to return his load to Atlanta. McCrory decided to catch a few hours of sleep in his cab, most likely trying to comply with federal regulations that limit the number of hours that a driver is allowed to remain on duty. He was awakened early Saturday morning by a police officer, who explained to him that traveling to Atlanta was not a good idea and that many residents in the town were still in need of plywood.
Twenty police officers assisted in unloading the truck, handing out plywood to city residents and protecting about 150 homes within about four hours. After informing his company of what he had done, McCrory was told that he would be let go.
Still, he has no regrets about doing what he did. The fact that Home Depot refused his order and the need for plywood by city residents would have made it difficult for an empathetic person to ship those much-needed supplies out of an area facing disaster, not to mention put him in danger of having his shipment commandeered by desperate citizens. Grateful residents of Zephyrhills have established a GoFundMe page to support McCrory in the aftermath of his firing from the trucking company.