NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Truck News has partnered with Alexis Broadcasting Company to produce and promote a new syndicated radio show called Trucker Radio.

While the show was first heard in its current form on Jan. 7, it actually has a history dating back to 2006, when radio veteran Stan Campbell partnered with radio program syndicator Steve Graham to produce the Canadian Trucking Radio show.

“Steve had formed a tentative partnership with a fledgling trucking magazine based in Oshawa,” Campbell recalls. “Together, they decided to fill a void for the Canadian trucking industry. Several trucking radio shows existed in the US, but there were none in Canada.”

Graham decided to market the program to country music stations and soon had 15 stations on-board, marking the launch of the one-hour program. Shortly thereafter, the show was extended to two hours. But eight months later, the magazine went out of business, leaving the program in a state of flux.

In 2008, Campbell and Graham changed the focus of the show to include all drivers and renamed it Driver Radio. Hindsight being 20/20, Campbell now regrets the change.

“Trucking news was watered down in an attempt to go after a wider audience,” he admits. “As a result, the show lost much of the trucker audience.”

In October 2010, Campbell’s company, Alexis Broadcasting Company, purchased the show for an undisclosed amount and began to target truckers in the second hour of the two-hour program.

Still, Campbell felt the show lacked direction and a clearly defined target. That’s when he approached Truck News “with an eye towards a strategic partnership between Truck News and the radio show.”

Truck News executive editor James Menzies began providing weekly trucking news updates and the magazine began contributing guests. As the calendar turned to 2012, Campbell had reached an agreement with Truck News publisher Rob Wilkins to launch Trucker Radio, a full two-hour show featuring an entertaining mix of country music and trucking industry banter. Campbell hosts the show along with co-host Tim Denis, another longtime radio professional.

Menzies continues to provide weekly news updates and other Truck News personalities including columnists Mark Lee and Harry Rudolfs frequently call in as guests to discuss the hot topics facing professional truck drivers. Other well-known trucking personalities including Alfy Meyer (a health-conscious professional driver), Ellen Voie (Women in Trucking) and Ray Haight (Transrep) will round out the lineup.

The show can now be heard on more than 30 stations across Canada as well as in the northern US. Campbell admits neither he nor Denis are truckers, but says the combination of radio pros and trucking pros is what makes the show work. Two of Campbell’s sons are truck drivers and he is dialed in to trucking issues.

For more information on Trucker Radio, to listen online or to check out a complete list of stations carrying the show, visit its Web site at www.truckerradio.com.