Captain Adam Heitzenrater thought about leaving the law enforcement profession early in his career as a city police officer.
“I was interested in truck driving, and I have a commercial driver’s license,” he said. “I thought maybe I would quit law enforcement and go into truck driving.”
Then he learned about the South Carolina State Transport Police, which is responsible for enforcing federal regulations and state laws pertaining to commercial motor vehicles.
“That really sparked my interest because I could still be in law enforcement and work with trucks,” he said. “It’s a small niche. Once you get in and get familiar, it’s very easy for time to roll by.”
Since then, 25 years in law enforcement have flown by, including 20 with STP. Now Heitzenrater is preparing for the next chapter after his retirement on June 30.
“I never had any intention of working in headquarters,” said Heitzenrater, who started as an officer in Region 2 and worked his way up to Lieutenant in STP’s Blythewood headquarters in 2020, and then Captain in 2022. “I actually didn’t want to go past the rank of Sergeant. I love the road and stopping trucks and interacting with people.”
Proactive enforcement has always been a pillar of STP’s mission, ensuring that commercial vehicles traveling throughout South Carolina are transporting their goods safely. But over the years the division added specialized units that focus on specific areas of CMV enforcement. After Heitzenrater came to headquarters, STP bolstered its Special Operations and created the DRIVE Team, which focuses on traffic enforcement, criminal drug interdiction, impaired driving detection, and identifying and stopping human trafficking through high visibility enforcement in identified “high-crash corridors” throughout the state.
For Heitzenrater, satisfaction comes in spotting violations and taking dangerous trucks off the road, not to levy a fine or to inconvenience a driver — but because he knows his family travels those same roads.
“Everybody’s family is out there every day,” he said. “You never really know what your impact is on highway safety when you’re doing your job.”
While the impact of CMV enforcement may not always be tangible, Heitzenrater’s work with STP has opened the door for him to something where the impact is clearly felt. He started helping a fellow STP officer raise funds for Special Olympics South Carolina. What started out in 2007 with selling buttons for $1 to truck drivers at the weigh stations, turned into three separate fundraisers that are part of a larger effort.
The World’s Largest Truck Convoy began with a modest 20 tractor trailers in the parking lot of DPS Headquarters some 12 years ago. Since then, it has moved to the South Carolina Farmers Market and now the State Fairgrounds to accommodate the more than 250 trucks that participated last year, with the upcoming event in August expected to surpass that. Then there’s the Lake Murray Polar Plunge, which began with roughly a dozen people running into the lake during the winter months, and now takes up much of the beach with those “freezin’ for a reason.” That has since spawned several other polar plunge events around the state.
Heitzenrater was also instrumental in starting a bass fishing tournament to benefit Special Olympics. Those three events help STP raise approximately $250,000 a year now, which has earned them recognition as the Top Fundraising Agency for seven consecutive years from Special Olympics South Carolina.
“It just kept growing,” he said of their three events. “The time I invested and the money we raised, I could see the impact. And it’s grown and become something like a regular job: You go and do it because you know what the benefit is. You get to know the athletes and hear their stories. They just want to be included, and Special Olympics is a way for them to be included.”
That won’t end just because he’s retiring from STP. The events will still go on, and Heitzenrater will continue to be a part of them, even if his involvement is scaled back.
“I can’t just drop it. It’s been in my blood too long,” he said.
The next leg of Heitzenrater’s career will still be in the trucking industry — sort of. He will put his skills and experiences to use with a nuclear transportation company, ensuring the safe transport of nuclear chemicals by truck, train, air, and ship.
“This job checked every box that I wanted, and still allows me to focus on keeping roadways safe — in South Carolina and beyond,” he said. “It wasn’t that I was looking to leave. But sometimes you have to turn the page and move to the next chapter.”
Heitzenrater’s next chapter will still have appearances by his friends and coworkers at STP and SLED, and many of the same companies and organizations.
“STP is a brotherhood,” he said. “I’ll miss the people I’ve worked with, and who have worked under me. It’ll be weird not putting on a uniform and a gun every day, and not getting in a patrol vehicle every day. You just don’t know until you’re gone.”
With a chuckle, he stroked his chin with his fingers and added: “Getting to grow facial hair is going to be weird, too.”
