Goodyear seeks Highway Hero Award nominations

AKRON — Goodyear is accepting nominations annual Highway Hero Award, which honors professional truck drivers who put themselves in harm's way to help others, through Dec. 31.

Nomination forms for the 38th annual Goodyear Highway Hero Award are available at goodyeartrucktires.com. The winner will be announced in March.

"As routes take truck drivers to every corner of North America, many go above and beyond their regular duties, even serving as first responders to incidents that occur on our roads and highways," Gary Medalis, director of product development and marketing at Goodyear, said. "The Goodyear Highway Hero Award program is designed to express our gratitude for these hardworking truck drivers and to celebrate their incredible acts of bravery."

Goodyear will determine a list of nominees from which a panel of judges will select the winner and two finalists. Goodyear will announce the award winner in early 2023, honoring the driver with a cash prize, a Goodyear prize package and travel and hotel expense for a trip to Orlando for a winner announcement at the Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) annual meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition in March.

Two runners up will also receive a cash prize and Goodyear prize packages.

Last year's Goodyear Highway Hero Award winner was Illinois truck driver Gerald "Andy" Wright, who saved the lives of four motorists trapped in a burning SUV. He received the award during a news conference the 2022 Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC).

Wright, of Jacksonville, Ill., was driving on Illinois Route 3 when he encountered a vehicle on fire following an accident. With just a fire extinguisher and load bar, Wright doused the fire as best he could until the extinguisher ran out. He then broke the vehicle's sunroof and helped pull the occupants out of the vehicle to safety.

By the time all riders had been removed, the car was engulfed in fire, according to Goodyear.

To be considered for the award, candidates must meet the following criteria:

• Be a full-time truck driver;
• Reside in the U.S. or Canada;
• Must have operated a truck with 12 wheels or more at the time of the incident;
• Must have been on the job — or on the way to or from work, in his or her truck — at the time of the incident; and
• Incident must have taken place between Jan. 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2022.