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Nov 16, 2010

TRUCKERS' LIFE & SHOW * USA - Trucking reality shows

Give drivers a chance to show off their skills

(Photo - Trucker: Wayne Pelletier)
Millinocket,MN,USA -The Road King, by Katie Neal -28 Oct 2010:   -- “In my wildest dreams, I never thought I’d ever be on TV,” says Wayne Pelletier. From an early age, he knew he would drive for the family logging business, Gerard Pelletier, Inc., in Millinocket, Maine, just as his six older brothers had...  But nearly 20 years after he went to work with his family, a local TV producer approached the Pelletiers about filming them for a reality show. Soon, viewers were tuning in to the Discovery Channel’s "American Loggers" to watch Wayne and his brothers do a job that is regularly classified by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as among the most dangerous...   The stars of TV’s trucking shows were trained to do a very specialized job — not perform for the camera. So it wasn’t easy to adjust to having a crew filming their every move...   Pelletier has also relaxed as American Loggers prepares to enter its third season, though it can still be nerve-wracking to do a dangerous job with the cameras trained on him...

* Earning the public’s respect

Pelletier, Rowland, Locklear and their castmates present a markedly different image of truckers in pop culture than the last time the profession captured the public’s attention...  While the trucking TV shows of today certainly capture a spirit of adventure, it’s not exactly romantic to watch Rowland narrowly avoid spinning out or Pelletier handle a double trailer... The challenges of the job have surprised and impressed even friends and family of drivers on the show...  For an industry that has battled negative stereotypes for years, it’s refreshing to see the public perception start to change...  “People see a truck going up and down the road and think it looks easy, but there’s a lot of work behind it, a lot of testing your nerves and your skills,” Pelletier says. “They respect us more now. I’ve done this all my life and it’s finally being recognized.”

* Looking ahead


(Video from YouTube, by historychannel -7 Aug 2009: Miss Ice Road Truckers last week? Catch up on what happened)

The idea of seeing truckers at work has attracted so many viewers that the genre continues to grow...  But the success of the shows doesn’t mean you’ll find their stars ditching the driver’s seat anytime soon. “I think more than other industries, trucking isn’t just a job,” Locklear says. “It’s a passion and a way of life” ...  The Pelletiers are grateful for the small boost in business, but their on- and off-camera days are pretty similar...  “We’re not actors — I don’t have any lines,” he says, laughing. “I don’t change my ways at all. I just go and do my job” ...

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