If ever there was a sleeper, this Goodyear Theater segment is marvelous. It's a completely offbeat story, full of subtle twists and for me, completely unpredictable. Watching it 64 years after broadcast with no fanfare at all was a real treat!
William Campbell stars but doesn't enter the show until the halfway mark. The set-up is carefully executed, with frequent time updates as we watch a pair of truckers making a long-distance run.
The driver of the two, familiar B-movie face Frank Gerstle, is grabbed the police after an accident caused by a mystery driver of a car with one headlight out. That car caused another car and the truck to swerve off the road, the car crashing and its driver, a woman seriously injured. The relief driver was in back and didn't see what happened and the cops don't believe Gerstle's story.
What follows is the relief driver trying his best, phoning other truckers to be on the lookout for the missing car that caused the problem, and replacement driver Campbell unsympathetic to the situation, just wanting to complete the run. Without spectacular action or gimmicks, the resolution of the story is utterly satisfying.
Kudos to Canadian writer Fred Edge, who has written about truckers but has very few credits on his resume.