How An Ice Road Truckers Fan Had A Trucking Excursion Turn Fatal
During its 11 seasons on the air, History's "Ice Road Truckers" allowed us to gaze into the everyday lives of people many of us had never previously thought about. As Alex Debogorski confirmed about life on the road, hauling freight on the winter roads of the frozen north has both good days and bad days. It is also an extremely dangerous profession.
That said, "Ice Road Truckers" also showed how passionate and dedicated these drivers can be. In fact, it's no exaggeration to say that they have to be. According to Alayna Klco at Drive My Way, new drivers will frequently quit after their first run. While the job can be dangerous and discouraging, for those who enjoy the gig, it is an unbelievable experience.
Naturally, the success of the series has made the profession quite popular among a certain adventurous segment of job-seekers. And for some of them, it has ended tragically.
One soldier-turned-ice road trucker died in 2012
In 2012, "Ice Road Truckers" inspired Brett Colley, a former soldier in the British Army, to get a job with a North American trucking company. "Brett loved the outdoors and adventure and he was hooked on the 'Ice Road Truckers' TV show when it first came out in the U.K," Colley's sister, Alex Fidoe said (via Daily Telegraph).
According to Fidoe, Colley had first applied to be on the show itself, but after producers turned him down, he got a long-haul job with Canadian company H&R Transport, which serves routes along the Canadian winter roads. After about a year of driving through the United States desert regions, H&R transferred him to the Alaska Highway. Colley was a skilled driver, and H&R Transport specifically hired him because his CV included time spent driving large trucks for the 39th Regiment Royal Artillery.
Still, ice road trucking remains a uniquely dangerous job, even for the most skilled of drivers. In November 2012, while driving through the remote Pink Mountain region of Canada, Colley's rig lost control and ran off the road, down an embankment. Brett Colley, who was 45 years old, died. His co-driver miraculously survived. In 2014, a British coroner admitted to being baffled by his findings regarding Colley's death, and that from as best as he could tell, Colley's death was the result of a freak accident (via Kidderminster Shuttle).