Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/856429
52 | Overdrive | August 2017 T hree singing truckers will compete this month at The Great American Trucking Show in Dallas, where the drivers have been invited to par- ticipate in the Overdrive-Red Eye Radio Trucker Talent Search finals. They were selected by judges from 42 entries. The winner will receive $1,000 and, courtesy of trucking vendor AxleOutPro, a studio recording session. Trucker and recording artist Tony Justice, who drives for Tennessee-based Everhart Transportation, will emcee the live competition Aug. 25, the second day of GATS. The winner will be featured in more detail this fall in Overdrive. Overdrive-Red Eye Radio s Michael Lochmiller • Company driver, System Transport • Hauls coils, copper, steel, sheetrock, roofing and rebar • Driving for two years Michael Lochmiller, 48, says the 45 rpm record of C.W. McCall's "Convoy" was his first experience with recorded music, an appropriate begin- ning for this Trucker Talent Search finalist. He recalls how his dad resembled Glen Campbell, one of Lochmiller's favorite musicians and a top celebrity of that era. "I would be glued to the TV wanting to do what he did." At 12 years old, he began to emulate his musical hero by getting a guitar and "never looked back." Lochmiller also learned to play piano, bass, drums, mandolin and harmonica. "My dream to play the spoons and wash- board has so far eluded me," he says. Lochmiller cites other musical influences, includ- ing James Taylor, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Jackson Browne. He recently has gotten into the "guys in the Texas music scene," including Ray Wylie Hubbard, James McMurtry and Gurf Morlix. Lochmiller's previous career as a stage manager and tour organizer led to him catching the trucking bug about five years ago. "I traveled around with a rock band on tour and had many nights discussing com- mercial vehicles with bus driv- ers, which ultimately allowed me to see the country and get my CDL," he says. Since then, he's been trav- eling the nation as "a free and easy rambler with no spouse, children or pets — although I do have houseplants in my truck." Lochmiller says trucking as a vocation and a lifestyle pro- vides an "endless backstory for song ideas." "The rich history of the two brings a lot of depth to the process of songwriting. There is a romance — mixed with struggle — on the road that can't be denied as great fodder for song ideas." He pulls a flatbed over the road and handles a dedicated route during summer and fall in the West. Lochmiller, who lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, says he'd love to get back to Oklahoma, where he spent his formative years. But the real dream, he says, would be "to have a custom rig, go to truck shows and maybe haul one load a month." Talent finalists headed for Dallas BY KATHLEEN CRAFT