JULY 2025 – Part of working at a freight terminal is a certain agility – expecting the unexpected, solving problems quickly, thinking on your feet. And part of being a Watco team member extends to looking out for the communities we serve.

All of this came into play early one morning in May for Watco’s Garrett Ferree and David Jackson. The two laborers were just starting their shift at the Crafton Transload Terminal in Pennsylvania, having arrived around 6 a.m., when they encountered a teenage boy walking down the train tracks near the entrance to their facility.

Ferree was hauling a trailer from the terminal entrance when he came upon the boy and stopped. “I asked him if he knew where he was, and he said ‘no.’” His appearance was somewhat startling; he was shirtless and wore slippers with his sweatpants and a jacket. Meanwhile, Jackson saw the two talking and approached, allowing Ferree to leave in order to notify the terminal manager and call 911 to report “a lost kid.”

Jackson asked the youth if he was okay, but “he kept walking.” Jackson persisted and the boy, 17, revealed he was thinking of ending his life. As the two spoke, Jackson learned the teen had been bullied at school and felt that his parents and two sisters didn’t fully understand what he was going through. “He felt comfortable talking to Dave,” said Terminal Manager Nick Marshall. So comfortable that he admitted he was looking for somewhere to be alone and that he had pills with him. “He just came out with it. He was just spilling his guts to Dave, basically.”

Police arrived, and Jackson instructed the boy to give an officer the pills — about 25, in an unlabeled bottle. “The kid didn’t even know what he had,” said Marshall. “Who knows what he would have done.”

Because Ferree and Jackson intervened, things are looking up for the teen. Jackson had asked him for his phone number, and only an hour after the police drove the boy away, Jackson called him. “I told him he could text me or call me if he needs to talk.” The text exchanges have continued every two or three days, and the boy has said his situation is improving.

Marshall praised his team members’ actions.

“Garrett and David showed great character and the principles that we want from our team members. They truly made a difference and possibly saved a child’s life.”

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