The Safe Driver

Behind the scenes with Highway Thru Hell

For more than 30 years, road safety has been one of my interests, which has turned into my passion. Anything that involves vehicles and driving always seemed to get my interest, even as a kid. Anything on TV that involved vehicles and driving also caught my attention, so it was also a logical choice to begin watching Highway Thru Hell on Discovery. Season 1 was first aired back in 2012 with season 7 beginning September 2018. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with the lead driver/star of the series Jamie Davis. He owns Jamie Davis Motor Trucking, the mainstay of Highway Thru Hell.

When I spoke with Jamie, I began asking him about season 7 of Highway Thru Hell. As a fan of the show, I wanted the inside scoop. The shooting schedule begins mid-September to early October and continues until April 1st. That’s a long time to hang out with a production company. I asked Jamie if that stops or slows down his day-to-day operation of the business, but he quickly said no. The crew do a good job of staying out of the way while Jamie and his crew do their job. There’s mutual respect between the production team and the drivers.

I asked Jamie what’s the biggest struggle about the towing and recovery industry. Jamie told me that since it’s a 24 hour a day job, they’re always on call. Most of their work is done at night, and for the regular viewer of Highway Thru Hell, you would agree. He also said it’s sometimes tough to get workers who want to work. Let’s face it, heavy rescue is a tough job. Working in extreme conditions many times and any time of the day or night can be a tough life. Would you want to do this job?

Season 7 will bring a few changes to the fleet of vehicles. Jamie ended up selling off his fleet of modern vehicles, moving to the vintage trucks. When I asked him why, he said it was mainly about cost and keeping his business afloat. The cost of a rotator is over $400,000 so you could imagine what the monthly payments were before Jamie sold it. Now, with those vintage trucks on the road, will Jamie be able to stay in business? He believes he can. He just needs to get the drivers to do their job and keep doing it.

One of the biggest challenges that many viewers most likely haven’t thought about is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – PTSD. You may not have thought about heavy rescue and tow operators having this, the same as police, fire or paramedic, but Jamie says it’s big within the industry. The drivers often have a tough time dealing with the risks of being at the side of the road with vehicles speeding past them. They have a tough time seeing the severe injuries associated to these rescues. And the toughest of all is when a fatality happens. These drivers take it upon themselves to go for counseling. It’s just too difficult for them not to. Some drivers, with the help of counseling, continue to do the job. Others decide they need to do something else.

As you watch this season of Highway Thru Hell, think about the risks these drivers go through to help each motorist. Think if there was anything the motorist could have done to make the jobs of Jamie and his crew that much easier, because at some point it may be you they’re helping one day.

To end my chat with Jamie, I asked him what message he would want to share with all drivers. His reply was “be aware you’re not invincible.” He said to trust your instincts and avoid driving in bad weather. He also said to ask yourself, “is it all that important to make that trip?” because if you attempt it, you could be sitting there for many hours until the rescue team arrives.

**Have a quick listen to this short episode of the “Speed Bumps” podcast as I talk about my personal interest with tow trucks…with a mention of Highway Thru Hell!