I’ve been on Out Back Truckers a few times ( season 5 onwards ) and know the staff and camera crew pretty well, what would you like to know about it?..
First thing to take into consideration about it is that it is billed as a light entertainment program so it has to appeal to large portion of the general public so it can generate enough viewing figures to attract advertisers to the networks… Currently it goes out in over 129 countries round the world ( primarily on Discovery ) then it’s passed on to the main terrestrial networks, then the regurgitators. Each episode has to gain over 15,000,000 viewers ( world wide ) over it’s first 2 cycles for most networks to even consider it viable for scheduling.
So It Has To Be Appealing…
…if you were sat in a truck cab with a driver recording everything over a normal day then in most cases you would cover a load of k’s and that would be about it… nothing much going on… pretty boring… there’s not many people going to watch that. They either have to go after larger than life characters… or cover jobs that are beyond the realms of the every day persons normal understanding ( comfort zone ) they have to have WOW facture. You have to make the viewer want to stay tuned after the add brake, and watch it next week and next season.
With out a doubt Steve Graham is at the top of the show, he comes across as a down to earth guy that just gets on with things no matter what is going on. Next in line is Glen Yoggie. again he comes across as a top bloke… Turbo is polliser you either love or hate the guy. Most people that know anything about trucking are in the second camp, most of the non trucking general public are in the first , but the main thing is he’s good for ratings… most of us other guys even though we’re doing interesting things, are just fill ins ( and we know it ) but without us it wouldn’t be much of a show.
What usually happens is someone will get recommended., or will bump into the film crew in a remote location. If the production crew think there might be a story, then they’ll pursue it a bit farther. ( IE driving a Tasmanian reg road train on a regular run on Broom, Mt Isa Cairns, Melbourne, while constantly bumping in Steve ) will probably get their attention…
Leagle get in touch with the boss of the company and sort things out… You do a bit to camera, usually on your phone, or turn the dash cam round to see how you are going to come across on camera, then if they like it they sort out some kind of game plan for a certain trip and it’s all on…
It’s as unobtrusive as they can make it, most ot the trips I have done with them don’t usually take much more than half an hour more than usual. I usually have a head camera guy in the truck with me, and I’ll give him a heads up when we’re going to encounter something interesting… There are usually 4 or 6 GO Pros attached to the truck which are on all the time, and either 1 or 2 chase cars which will go out about 10 to 15 mins in front of the truck, they get the long panning shots… Again I’ll usually give them a heads up of good locations to shoot. Both of them have also have camera drones…
After all the filming is done the head camera guy who is also the on line editor usually has an angle that he wants to pitch the story at… All the footage is then sent back to the studio where head of production will sort out the final edit, bearing in mind it has to be entertaining and engaging for the general public.
Most episodes I do will have about 250 hours film between all the cameras, but they tend to shoot a lot more film in Tasmania because it’s so scenic. All that has to be cut into your slot which is usually about 17 to 22 mins for each episode. From filming to airing it can be up to 9 months depending on when your episode is scheduled. By the time it gets aired on the terestrols it can be anything up to 3 years old.
Yes some of it has to a bit over dramatised, but it is aimed firmly at the general public. Currently it’s out gunning all the other truck related programs running on TV…
Everything shown on the episode has happened on the trip… but then there’s the guy in the editing suit… by his own admission he doesn’t know much about trucks, or how the road unfolds, but he does know how to make an interesting TV show that millions of people round the world want to watch…and the premise of the show is … IT has to be entertaining and engaging…
I knew what I was getting into before I signed up and I’m glad I did… picture the scene 20 or 30 years from now when my grand kids ask me what it was like to drive big trucks… most folk might have a few photos scattered about here and there… and in a vague memory might be able to cobble together some kind of story to tell… I’ve got DVD’s shot and edited by pro’s… nothing can’t take that away…Yeh it might have been a bit edited for added entertainment value, but for the most part that’s what went on.
I hope this clears up some of you questions GOM
It’s got nothing to do with any of the other truck shows, Ice Road Truckers or Jamie Davis.etc …there all done by different production companies even though they’re aired mainly on Discovery.
Personally I don’t take any offense to any of the comments, it’s not for everyone, but I’m amazed by the cross section of people that come up to me and say “hi, I saw you on the show.” From hardened truckers to airline pilots, doctors, and little old ladies in the supermarket…
Jeff …
Then there was a husband and wife team, engine fault on their motor, they spent 4 hours looking down the road waiting for a mate and never bothered with their engine problem, then 2 hours after they got going again the aforementioned engine let them down… 
.Overall the show is for entertainment and quite enjoyable
B loody hell, I wouldn’t fancy taking that round the M25.