Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/409537
VOICES 8 | Overdrive | November 2014 " The cat-and-mouse game is going to be won by the cat, again. The DOT inspectors ... can find something wrong with any truck they want if they choose to use every rule that they have in the book. " — Jack Simon via OverdriveOnline.com, on hearing of a solicitation for field testers of wireless roadside inspection technology that would enable automated rolling inspections on drivers equipped with e-logs and other software and sensors. No doubt many of you have heard his voice. In addition to his work producing DVD videos from truck shows across the nation, Chris Fiffi e has made even more of a name for himself conducting what he calls "Rolling CB Interviews." Among other operator interviews and truck-show episodes posted to his "Big Rig Videos" Youtube channel, you'll fi nd 18 in which the former trucker conducts the inter- views via CB while rolling down the road. Many are with operators he's met on the show-truck circuit. One reason Fiffi e launched the project: "Wouldn't it be great to show some of these trucks at work, functioning on the job, on the high- way – combine that with giving the drivers the ability to have a conver- sation and say something that would benefi t someone else?" Fiffi e's Big Rig Videos Youtube channel has more than 17,000 subscribers today, and his year-old Facebook page already has well above 130,000 followers. Fiffi e's early interest in cameras led to a small business producing television commercials and oth- er work, but it took years to get there. He worked for his father as a mechanic in his auto-repair shop in South Florida, then saw a newspa- per story comparing the incomes in various professions, noting that truck drivers ranked high. "My next-door neighbor was a truck driver," Fiffi e says. "I went for a ride with him once and then got my Class A, taking the money I made and buying video equipment with it." Over four or fi ve years, he "was able to transition to a business doing video production," though he never lost interest in trucking. In 2006, he moved to a small West Florida town with no video services. While developing his business, he says, "I thought I'd take a driving job," initially operating a 2006 tri-axle Pe- terbilt 379 with 500 horses. "I really got hooked." A few years later, his video busi- ness was hit hard by the economic crash. Then a friend mentioned the Chrome Shop Mafi a at 4 State Trucks was looking for "someone to come up to the Mid-America Trucking Show in 2012 to fi lm the show for a DVD." That's where the 4 State Trucks DVD series got its start, and with all of the extra footage, Fiffi e took to Youtube and Facebook, further developing ideas like the CB interviews. "He's got a unique perspective and seems to be covering the industry from an angle that own- er-operators are hungry for," says 4 State Trucks' Bryan Martin. "He's gotten everybody's attention and put a lot of smiles on people's fac- es." Find all of his show DVDs via the 4StateTrucks.com store. BEHIND THE CAMERA 'Rolling CB interviews' Franck Beaudoin, courtesy of Chris Fiffi e Chris Fiffie of Orlando, Fla., is a former professional driver. Scan the QR with your mobile device, or visit Youtube.com/overdrivemag, to catch a playlist of all of Fiffie's owner-operator interviews, includ- ing segments with custom truckers Troy Huddlestone, Kevin Pascavis and others. Find Fiffie on Youtube and Facebook by searching "Big Rig Videos."