Looks like History Channel's Ice Road Truckers "Deadliest Roads" offshoot has inspired another channel to feature truckers in a "reality show," which looks like part "Deadliest Roads" and part "The Amazing Race."


"World's Toughest Trucker" debuted recently on Discovery Channel. Eight truck drivers from six countries -- the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, Australia and Sri Lanka -- are competing for a $150,000 prize.

The drivers will compete in three-day challenges in some of the harshest environments on earth, including the Australian Outback and icy roads in the Himalayas. Drivers must face "unusual cargo, massive rigs, lethal roads and each other" as a driver is eliminated in each episode for "slow times and penalties."

The show begins Down Under as the truckers encounter river crossings, dust holes and dry creek beds in the parched region of northeastern Australia.

I haven't seen it yet, but it doesn't sound as if they're exactly promoting safe driving. According to Huffington Post, one driver recently decided to check on his load while the truck was still moving across the Australian desert at top speed.

"He simply swung the door open and hung out, checking both high and low at their load from his vantage point. The guys behind their truck could scarcely believe what they were seeing."

Now I have to admit, "Ice Road Truckers" is a guilty pleasure in our household, despite the over-dramatacized nature of it. (One Canadian editor tells me ice road truckers he talks to say it's one of the most boring jobs in the business, which is why it pays so well.) And the "Deadliest Roads" offshoot has been even better, with the narrow, mountainous roads of the Himalayas and Andes.

So, has anyone watched "Toughest Truckers"? What are your thoughts on these extreme trucking "reality" shows?