Diversions
56 |
Overdrive
| August 2014
"Ice Road Truckers" hauler
Alex Debogorski is quick
to tell you that reality TV
actually is pretty close to
reality. "I've had people tell
me, 'Oh, that's all B.S.,' " he
says. "But when there's 100
feet of tractor-trailer going
down the road, and there's
nowhere to turn around, it's
pretty hard to script."
Debogorski has been with
the History Channel's "Ice
Road Truckers" series since
season one, with the show's
eighth season now under-
way. "I had some pretty
interesting things happen"
this season, Debogorski
says. "A lot of our drivers
went on some pretty big
adventures."
He says that the freezing
point is usually the most
dangerous temperature,
as it can lead to slippery
roads and uncertainty. "If
we're on ice and snow at 30
below, it's about the same as
pavement."
Something viewers may
not consider is the challenge
camera crews face. "If you
don't shoot it, it doesn't
happen," Debogorski says,
commenting on the pres-
sure that crews face to get
it right the first time. Also,
show production personnel
are "getting frostbitten all
the time," and extreme
cold temperatures wipe out
batteries quickly.
Since Debogorski doesn't
own a television, he doesn't
catch many episodes of his
show, and he finds it difficult
to know and remember
what is included. Fans fre-
quently will ask him about
something that happened
to him or another driver
during a particular season,
and he won't know what
they're talking about.
"I don't know what every-
one's doing," he says. "I just
drive the truck I'm driving.
We don't spend time in a
truck stop holding hands."
With trucking, "Ice Road
Truckers," 11 children and
13 grandchildren, Debogor-
ski says he has a "plateful."
"It's a circus," he adds,
referring to his show
and reality television in
general. But he emphasiz-
es the stories that emerge
from the circus make it all
worthwhile.
— Tara Bullock
Familiar faces in 'IRT' season eight
Alex Debogorski is an original cast member of the History Channel's "Ice
Road Truckers" series, which airs on Mondays at 10 Eastern/9 Central.
"Ice Road Truckers" fan favorite
Lisa Kelly also returned to the
show for its eighth season on
the History Channel this summer.
Search "Lisa Kelly back on the ice"
on OverdriveOnline.com to read
Overdrive's 2013 cover story about
the Alaska-based driver's return in
the seventh season.
An owner-operator video
profile of Ean Hannah, shot
and produced by trucker
Tex Crowley, made the
rounds of the Overdrive-
Online.com Editor's Pick
box last year with the
memorable quote "I'll truck
'til the day I die." It was
the first vid in Crowley's re-
markable "Life of a Truck-
er" series of videos profiling
drivers across the nation,
many active themselves in
video work on YouTube.
Crowley, with his
Texomatic Films YouTube
channel and website (tex-
omatic.com), is up to No. 5
in the series, with his most
recent looks at trucking
YouTubers Trainer James
(Hill) and Palerider. Search
their names on Overdri-
veOnline.com, or visit
Youtube.com/overdrivemag
and catch our playlist of the
full series.
'Life of a Trucker' video series
James Hill, appearing in Tex Crowley's video series.
