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Goodyear Looking for Heroic Truckers

11 August 1998

Goodyear Looking for Heroic Truckers, Expands Search to Canada

    AKRON, Ohio, Aug. 11 -- Do you know of a knight in shining
armor who comes to the rescue and then rides off into the sunset atop 18
wheels instead of a white horse?  If so, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
wants to hear about this hero and what he or she has done to deserve one of
the trucking industry's most prestigious awards -- The Goodyear North America
Highway Hero Award.
    As it has for the past 16 years, Goodyear is enlisting the assistance of
the trucking industry, law enforcement agencies and the general public in its
search for heroic truck drivers who have risked their lives to save others.
For the first time in the program's history, nominations in this year's search
are being solicited from the Canadian trucking industry.  Previously the
program was limited to U.S. drivers.
    "Trucking and heroic truck drivers aren't unique to the United States,"
said Donn Kramer, marketing director for Goodyear's commercial tires.
"Goodyear founded the North America Highway Hero Award program to promote a
positive image of truck drivers by publicizing their countless good deeds.
Our goal is to help the trucking industry present an accurate picture of truck
drivers to the widest audience possible.  Expanding the program into Canada
will allow us to recognize additional drivers and strengthen the trucking
industry's positive image."
    Nominating truck drivers for their heroic actions is as easy as picking up
the phone.  Nominations can be made by dialing the Goodyear Highway Hero
Hotline at 800-627-2118 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (EST), Monday
through Friday.  Every driver nominated receives a Goodyear key chain.  An
independent company receives and reviews all nominations to ensure the
following necessary criteria are met:

    *  nominee must be a full-time truck driver
    *  nominee must reside in the U.S. or Canada
    *  the incident must have occurred in the U.S. or Canada
    *  nominee must be on the job or on the way to or from work, and in
       his/her rig at the time of the incident
    *  nominee's truck at the time of the incident must have 14 wheels or more
    *  incident must have occurred between Oct. 1, 1997 and Sept. 30, 1998 to
       qualify for this year's program
    *  nominations must be received by Oct. 15, 1998

    There are several phases in the program.  First, a state or province
highway hero is selected for each state or province from which nominations are
received.  Regional heroes are announced and four finalists chosen from among
the state and province heroes.
    In February, these four finalists, their companions and employers receive
an all-expenses paid trip to an awards presentation where the Goodyear North
America Highway Hero is unveiled.
    The finalists also appear on TNN's Prime Time Country television program
-- filmed in Nashville -- where their heroics are chronicled through an
interview with show host Gary Chapman.  Each of the three finalists receives a
$5,000 U.S. savings bond and the North America Highway Hero receives a $20,000
bond and diamond ring.
    Goodyear supplies commercial tires as original equipment to a number of
truck manufacturers, offers a wide range of replacement tires to meet the
needs of commercial carriers and independent drivers and is one of North
America's largest retreaders of medium radial commercial truck tires.