'World's Toughest Trucker' debuts tonight on Discovery (VIDEO)

The Discovery Channel seems to have found an answer to the History Channel’s immensely popular Ice Road Truckers series, specifically IRT Deadliest Roads, in the form of a $150,000 challenge, World’s Toughest Trucker.

Debuting tonight on the Discovery Channel, World’s Toughest Trucker is set in various dangerous, challenging roadways, “from transporting cattle through the desolate, sun-baked roads of the Australian Outback to carrying fragile loads through the icy, treacherous Indian Himalayas,” according to the show’s website. Eight truckers who believe they have the skills and the guts to take on challenge after challenge will try to conquer these various terrains to become the World’s Toughest Trucker.

Background info on the History Channel's Ice Road Truckers: 'Ice Road Truckers': Dave Redmon opens up about reality television

The all-male cast comes from various parts of the globe, the least experienced having been on the road for 13 years, the most experienced 31 years:

• Stuart Barnes, England, 16 years trucking: Described as a “free thinker,” Barnes enjoys traveling, and feels that it gives him an advantage, as he has seen various types of terrain, whereas many participants may have only driven in their own countries.
• William Carlos Weekly, USA, 25 years trucking: Weekly is a Southern boy from Alabama, and is known as the “Trucking Poet.” According to Discovery, Weekly will be the trucker to “bring some humor to the competition.”
• Jason Johnson, USA, 13 years trucking: Even as the most inexperienced trucker in the competition, Johnson has some solid years behind him. Imposing at 6’10”, Johnson is a man of military discipline who considers himself a combination of trucker and cowboy.
• Rodney Johnson, Australia, 31 years trucking: The competition’s second Johnson is the most experienced trucker in the run for the title. He was once stranded in the outback for three days, and it was through that life experience that Johnson says he developed his “serious mental toughness.”
• Derek Martin, Canada, 16 years trucking: A bit OCD, this newlywed trucker doesn’t just love trucking, he loves keeping the cab of his truck spotless—no doubt a challenge in itself in some of the places these truckers will face.
• Zola Rajapakse, Sri Lanka, 20 years trucking: Rajapakse lists classic rock, physical fitness and his Buddhist faith among the things that drive his life.
• Shane Smart, USA, 16 years trucking: Shane is a true blue American, and says he lives the American Trucking Dream.
• Mike Thomas-Clark, Scotland, 27 years trucking: Thomas-Clark has trucking in his blood, coming from a long line of truckers, and sees trucking as his destiny in life. Thomas-Clark credits the military with shaping his life.

These eight truckers will be on the road for the Discovery Channel beginning tonight at 10 p.m. Each trucking challenge will last three days, and will include atypical loads, deadly roads, gigantic rides and, perhaps most challenging, each other. Slow times and penalties will result in eliminations, and, in the end, one trucker will return home with $150,000 and the title of the World’s Toughest Trucker.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Video: Discovery Channel, World’s Toughest Trucker

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