Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85445
endanger his truck, even his life. With his window down, he listens to M idway through an episode in the History Channel's sixth season of "Ice Road Truckers," Alex Debogorski has just finished crossing a frozen lake, where one mistake can the language of the cracking ice before deciding it is safe to continue. "When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a superhero and save people from bad things," he says. "Throughout my life, I've had the opportunity to be a real hero and I've had the opportunity to be a real ass, and I've taken that one, too!" Then he fills the cab with a booming laugh. Debogorski's also taken with rel- ish the opportunity to become a real celebrity. As an original cast member of the hugely popular real- ity series, he's garnered fame and a truckload of opportunities that come with it. A natural storyteller, Debogorski, Tales from a Legendary Ice Road Trucker." The stories are of a big, burly, brawling man who says his hair-raising, death-defying antics made him the man he is today, according to the book's intro. "Nighttime is when truckers get 59, recounts his life's journey in his book, "King of the Road: True talkative," he writes. "It's lonely out here. Guys get on the radio and start telling each other stories. They're like little kids in a bunkhouse after the adults have put out the lights. Everybody is keeping each other company. I'm one of the most devoted storytellers on the ice road, and I'll keep the other truckers enter- tained for hours." Debogorski's autobiography was published in 2010. LADIES MISSING FOR SEASON 6 The sixth season of "Ice Road Truckers" finds Alex Debogorski hauling over Canada's Dempster Highway between the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. He crosses frozen rivers, lakes and even the Arctic Ocean. Hugh Rowland and Rick Yemm travel the Manitoba ice roads, and Jack Jessee and three new drivers, Austin Wheeler, Darrell Ward and Ronald "Porkchop" Mangum, haul to and from Prudhoe Bay. Two previous drivers conspicuous by their absence are Lisa Kelly and Maya Sieber. Fans had mixed opinions about the trucking ability of the women, but many were disappointed that Lisa didn't return. "Lisa's really great. She's a good driver with a mind of her own," Debogorski says. "She's going to be driving no matter what happens. And we don't really know what happened. Was it the producer's decision or was it Lisa's? That's unknown. I think the show ben- (Continued on Page 80) efited from having women drivers. Those women are a great role model for the women truckers out there. Plus, it's got to get old seeing a bunch of ugly guys all the time." While Debogorski didn't work with Maya, he thought she was a good trucker. "Maya got a bad rap from the hot tub scene," he says. "But that's the way these things go. You never know what portion of the filming they will use." He remains puzzled by critics of the women "who said they couldn't drive or shouldn't drive or whatever it is that people get themselves worked up over. Most of those people have never driven on an ice road." Debogorski enjoyed season six, but says he doesn't know how the show turned out. It's not showing in Canada yet, so he relies on U.S. fans to keep him up-to-date. "People ask me about various plot points, but I have no clue what they are talking about until I watch it," he says. Maya Sieber (left) and Lisa Kelly (right). He's often asked is if he is afraid on the ice roads. "Sure I am," he says. "You see trucks jackknifed in the snow and accidents that were probably unprevent- able. There are plenty of better drivers out there than me, but I know enough to respect the weather and listen to the ice." In season one's "Rookie Challenge" epi- sode, he sums up his philosophy: "I gotta die somewhere, someplace. I guess today is as good as any other day." September 2012 | Overdrive |27