Meet ‘Uncle Fill:’ Middle school student names new Savannah pothole repair truck

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - The city of Savannah unveiled the name of its new pothole repair truck: “Uncle Fill.”

The city teamed up with the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System to host a Pothole Patcher renaming contest. Sixth grader Naima Williams of Hubert Middle School won the contest with her take on the famous “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” character “Uncle Phil.”

The naming contest was part of the city’s new “Pothole Patrol” initiative, which aims to improve repair capacity and response times citywide.

“Our pothole patcher will enable us to fill potholes throughout the city. It’s a process, with this one-man operation we can fill a pothole in less than 5 minutes,” said Stephen Henry, senior director of transportation for the City of Savannah.

Many students submitted entries hoping to pick the new name of the truck, city employees voted and Williams’ name won.