Trucker Life · Ohio · October 23, 2026

Ohio Milk Hauler Bill Wilker, Known on the CB as Milkman, Remembered After 3 Million-Plus Safe Miles

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Ohio has said goodbye to a milk hauler whose safety record most drivers can only dream about: more than 3 million accident-free miles.

His name was Bill Wilker. On the CB radio, the two-way radio truckers have long used to talk on the road, his handle was Milkman.

Wilker, 72, of North Star, Ohio, died Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, according to his obituary from Hogenkamp Funeral Homes. He was a truck driver for more than 40 years.

A career built on milk

Trucking columnist Long Haul Paul, who wrote a tribute to his friend for Overdrive, says Wilker's entire career was spent as a milk tank hauler, carrying milk in a tanker trailer.

An official at Moeller Trucking told Long Haul Paul that Wilker hauled around 6,000 tanker loads of milk. Long Haul Paul did some math of his own and estimated that works out to around 540 million half pints for school children. That figure is the columnist's estimate, not an official count. In his words, it was all done without a single chargeable accident, "or teaspoon of spilt milk, if you will."

That record earned Wilker a spot on the 2018 "America's Best Drivers" team. He was also given a plaque naming him the National Association of Small Trucking Companies 2018 Driver of the Year, in recognition of his service to Moeller Trucking. In a 2018 Overdrive profile, Long Haul Paul described him as a 3.3-million-mile safe hauler.

A long line of mourners

When Long Haul Paul arrived in St. Henry, Ohio, to pay his final respects, he was not surprised to find a jam-packed parking lot and a half-hour line of mourners. Wilker was remembered for his soft-spoken baritone voice and his witty way with words.

Standing beside the casket, a daughter-in-law summed up his work ethic: "He never said no. Weekends, holidays, whenever they called, he went."

Long Haul Paul traced that work ethic to Wilker's upbringing on a West Central Ohio dairy farm. In that 2018 profile, Wilker joked, "I said I would never stay on the farm. I still can't figure out how to leave."

Old-school standards

Wilker was the kind of driver, Long Haul Paul wrote, who made others stand up a little straighter when they saw him around the yard. He always wore a collared shirt.

He also had opinions about how a truck cab should look. "I'll tell you what's getting these guys pulled around the scales," Long Haul Paul remembers him saying. "It's their cluttered dashes. You should never go through a scale with a cluttered dash." Scales, or weigh stations, are the roadside checkpoints where trucks are weighed and sometimes pulled in for a closer inspection.

The two first met in 2011 at a fuel pump in Walton, Kentucky. Wilker walked up to the new guy, introduced himself, and invited him to dinner with Wilker and his son, Lee.

That son followed his father into trucking, and Wilker's handle became Milkman Senior.

Advice for the next generation

Asked in 2018 what advice he had for anyone starting out, Wilker began with this: "Don't be scared to ask questions." He added that most of the time, other drivers will be glad to help.

According to his obituary, Wilker married Marlene in 1977, and the two were married for more than 49 years. He is survived by his wife, two sons, and 11 grandchildren, among other family. A funeral Mass was held Oct. 20 at St. Louis Catholic Church in North Star. The family has suggested memorial contributions to the Cancer Association of Darke County or to EverHeart Hospice.

A question for readers

Who was the old hand that took you under his wing when you were the new driver?

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