ridealong?

Dan I think you will find that the most of us out there are not the road rage you think we are. What you will find is drivers that will hang back and let the crazy 4 wheelers duke it out. Most of us never see the rage, only the aftermath.

 

If I suffered road rage and had a reporter with me I would be an angle that day. Good luck.

 

You may have better luck approaching a company, as company drivers don't have a whole lot of say when letting non-family ride in the truck... or talk with an owner-operator. Also, there will likely be an issue with having more than one passenger, as the average truck only has room to legally seat (belt) two in any sort of functional way. I suppose you or the photographer could work from the sleeper, but to do so while legally restrained would put a real damper on your ability to see/film what's going on.

You could probably take some tricks from shows like Ice Road Truckers, and use remote mini-cams in the cab, pre-positioned to catch a couple angles inside, as well as a few outside... to catch the road-action. It seems like it would be easy for a reporter to perform minor camera manipulations without detracting too much from the
rest of your task.

As for getting the right kind of CB chatter, that's hit-and-miss depending on time of day, phase of the moon, who's within range, etc. An idea might be to get hold of a base station, and record some of the chatter right there in Chicagoland, and dig out all the juicy bits for the show, if only to enhance what was picked up during the ride-along.

 

Just find a local Chicago company with day cabs an go from there. As for picking up cb chatter an that chicago is a bad spot to be listening to the cb. Everytime I went through there it was non stop complaining about some driver here or someone spouting there political views, or the Quack Quack guy that sits an quacks for hours on end. Im sure the quack quack guy is still doing it there as he must not have a life. Doubt you will find any OwnerOperator that will take ya along unless theres money involved they arent gonna want to waste there time, cause time is money especially in chicagoland.

 

Hey Dan,
No doubt a piece on road rage will sell better than a piece on say.....the fact that fatal accidents involving big rigs has dropped dramatically in the last few years. I don't know the numbers but I've read enough to know that accidents involving big rigs have been declining precipitously for quite a number of years. Much of the credit goes to those agencies within our goverment whose mission is to create an environment for safety and provide tools, education, and regulations for the trucking industry. Regulation, education, and the like are sometimes frought with the idealism and naivete of those well-intentioned individuals whose assignment is to provide such direction. Achieving the ends proposed by their work is predicated upon the receptivity of their target audience. So, in reality, much more of the credit should go to the men and women who drive those "beasts". A piece like that probably wouldn't help to sell newpapers or newspaper advertising but it's true just the same.

 

Dan I have to agree with Bullhaulerswife... I think an article teaching the public about big rigs and how to share the road with them would be a much better article.

Road rage and CB chatter... c'mon... cb chatter is just like water cooler gossip or office banter... I am sure even your own office has it's form of it... complaining about deadlines, or whose story made what page...

Dan, I mean you no disrespect, and I am not a journalist, but I am a reader, there are just alot more informative, interesting and worthwhile articles to be written or read...

Another good atricle idea for you to consider... all the displaced workers getting into trucking and after thousands of dollars finding itsn't for them... as a reporter, perhaps you could get and make aware of the true numbers and facts... Go to your local work force developmnt office, find out how many people they put through school, how much it cost (tax payer dollars), and how many actually made it or stayed... who actually benefitted from the program... my guess, the schools and cdl mills not the tax payers or all the displaced workers who only found themselves displaced again...

Or again, run with Bullhaulerswife and have your photogrpher take a picture of the room a truck needs to stop. Teach your readers how big trucks, like trains, are moving faster than they apper to be and how your readers need to realize that before turning in front of one, or merging.. and so on...

Dan, with either one of those two suggestions you would be writing a much more interesting and informative article than cb chatter... you would be doing your community and reader a service... saving lives, money and stress...

If yo don't like either of those how about an article on intelligent and responsible journalism... okay, sorry, that was snide... but seriously cb chatter.. I would treat that article like I do cb chatter... ignore it!

 

So you want to hitch a ride , along with a photographer ? 3 people in the cab ? Have you considered seat belt laws ? Do you know the hindrance if will be to a driver trying to properly observe his mirrors with 2 other heads bobbing around the cab ? Too many negatives with this proposal .

 

Dan, you really should ride with Rick......"road rage" will suddenly become a non-issue for you! You'll gain a whole new perspective on things that just piss people off!