QuikTrip Supplies Dallas Police with New Blocker Trucks

This week, Dallas City Council formally approved receipt of a donation by QuikTrip for the purchase of four new blocker trucks to be used by the Dallas Police Department.

The donation will pay for four new Ford F550 trucks, which will be deployed to block traffic at crashes and other incidents on freeways and major thoroughfares where first responders are working in the roadway.

Each of the trucks will be equipped with an LED arrow board and a crash attenuator, which is a device attached to the rear of the truck designed to absorb the impact of a crash. This will help protect emergency personnel.

Blocker trucks are gaining popularity with departments nationwide as a way of protecting people and equipment at crashes, construction sites, and freeway closures.

The first Dallas Police Department blocker was deployed in 2023 after the death of Officer Mitchell Penton, who was killed while working a freeway crash two years earlier. Since then, the department has deployed blocker trucks to more than 1,200 incidents and counting.

Before that incident, police used squad cars or fire trucks to block traffic. Not only was that a drain on essential resources, but it also put expensive city machinery at risk of damage.

“When you see one of these blocker trucks at a crash site, please slow down and give our first responders the space they need to do their jobs safely,” said Dallas Police Chief Daniel C. Comeaux.

This isn't the first time QuikTrip chipped in to help the city. Last year, it provided funding to support construction of a container-based Reality Based Training Village at the Dallas Police Academy and donated $200,000 to the Assist the Officer nonprofit.