Wes Guckert, CEO and founder of The Traffic Group, dies

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Wes Guckert, the founder, CEO and chairman of Baltimore County-based The Traffic Group, died at age 77 on Dec. 30 after a brief hospitalization.

“His flowers at the memorial [said], ‘Our dad, our mentor, our friend,’ ” his son and the president of The Traffic Group, Anthony Guckert, said tearfully during an interview with The Daily Record on Monday. “He was just that.”

Guckert is survived by his two brothers, his wife Antoinette “Toni” Guckert, daughter Renee Guckert Carter and son Anthony, who was tapped to serve as president of The Traffic Group in 2025. He had five grandchildren.

Guckert, a Baltimore native and expert in traffic engineering, founded The Traffic Group in 1985. 

Walt Petrie, a close friend of Guckert’s and the CEO of the development company Petrie Ventures, said he convinced Guckert to start The Traffic Group, lending him the startup money.

“He paid me back in like six months,” Petrie said. “He had enough clientele at that point where he was able to pay me back rapidly.”

“We always say we’re brothers with different mothers, and he is,” he continued. “He’s one-of-a-kind. You won’t find another Wes.”

During his tenure at The Traffic Group, Guckert played a significant role in more than 10,000 projects spanning the United States, Mexico, Canada, the Bahamas, Indonesia, Dubai, South Africa, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and China.

Of his father, Anthony Guckert said that they kept their business relationship “professional,” noting that “it drove him crazy” when he would call his father “Wes” in the office. 

After he was promoted to serve as the president of The Traffic Group in early 2025, Anthony Guckert said the company “hit all” of its benchmarks and sales goals for the year, “which I know made him proud,” he said.

“He said in the hospital before his passing … when we were unsure of his health going forward, he said, ‘Boy, did I take a good time to turn the reins over to you’,” Anthony Guckert recalled. 

“I always said he’s got the biggest shoes,” he continued. “I don’t know if I can fill them.”

Beyond his own organization, Guckert held a leadership position for a National Product Council for the Urban Land Institute, served on the Texas A&M University Transportation Technology Advisory Council, and assisted with that university’s Campus Transportation Technology Initiative deployment, as well as the RELLIS Campus development for transportation technology research and testing.

Guckert was born in Baltimore in 1948 to parents Thomas and Ruth Guckert. He was one of three children.

Guckert attended Baltimore Polytechnic Institute before attending the University of the State of New York, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree. He also received advanced training in traffic engineering coursework at the Northwestern University Traffic Institute, the University of Tennessee Transportation Center and the University of Maryland.

Asked what he wants his dad to be remembered for, Anthony Guckert responded, “his generosity” as his voice began to break.

“I can’t even name or remember all the charitable boards he’s been on, how many people he’s helped along the way,” he said. “Growing the business … was very important to him and success of the business was extremely important to him, but, at the end of the day, he did everything to give back to others.”

A disabled Vietnam veteran, Guckert received a Governor’s Citation at the 2024 Veteran-Owned Small Business Enterprise Appreciation Breakfast, and was awarded the Veterans in Business Patriot Warrior Award from the VETCON Alliance.

He was a supporter of numerous veterans associations, including the Gary Sinise Foundation, Homes for Our Troops, Folds of Honor, Catch A Lift Fund and the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Guckert was also a co-founder of the Queen Anne’s County Veteran and Military Support Alliance.

Beyond his veterans support efforts, Guckert was involved in Dr. Ben Carson‘s Carson Scholars Fund, where at one time he served as the chair of the board. And, in 2023, he founded the Guckert Family Foundation, naming his grandchildren as the trustees in an effort to continue his legacy of philanthropy.

“He believed in the ‘pay it forward’ program,” Petrie said. “It’s a huge loss for the world.”

Guckert was named a Daily Record Icon Honors recipient in 2025.

Visitations will be held at Lemmon Funeral Home in Timonium on Jan. 8 and 9 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. A funeral service will be held at Our Lady of Grace in Parkton at 10 a.m. on Jan. 10.