A 50-year-old company driver from Ohio is the winner of this year’s Trucker Talent Search.
Guy Archer, who drives for Airgas USA, won the musical contest, which is staged by our sister publication Overdrive and Red Eye Radio. The grand finale was held online Thursday, Sept. 16.
He performed a song he wrote about the challenges truck drivers face, “Heavy Load.” Archer wins a full day of recording sessions complete with the backing of professional studio musicians, mixers, and producers at Jay’s Place Recording studio in Nashville.
Archer lives in Dayton, Ohio, and has been trucking for 28 years. He drives mostly within a 300-mile radius of his hometown, hauling liquid nitrogen, liquid oxygen, and liquid argon.
The other two finalists were:
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Rich Scripps, 61, lives in Spring Lake, Michigan. Hauling for Michigan-based Grassmid Transport, Scripps hauls mostly Boar’s Head products.
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Mike Sheffield, of Evarts, Kentucky, drives for VV Logistics. He’s 52 years old and has been trucking 29 years. He hauls mostly refrigerated freight.
Emceed this year by Red Eye Radio‘s Eric Harley, the finale featured one song each from Archer, Scripps and Sheffield.
A panel of judges reviewed all entries into the contest, and Overdrive featured 10 semi-finalists before selecting the three finalists.
The judges were professional musicians Jayne Denham and Bill “Watermelon Slim” Homans; Tim Walker, an executive vice president with Red Eye Radio owner Westwood One; and Max Heine, recently retired Overdrive editorial director.