Stephen Michaels isn’t what Silicon Valley would claim as part of their “target audience” for mobile apps and live streaming video. He’s a trucker, born in Florida and raised in San Antonio and living on the road. What you don’t know is that Steve has two Android phones, a tablet, a fixed-cam on his truck and GPS tracking. What started as a passion for photography grew into an expertise in mobile video and live streaming. He streams from the dash of his truck all day and most of the night. He’s a gadget-guy in an unexpected career and sharing the “Romance of the Road” in a job that he loves but one that has been struggling to bring in new recruits.
High Tech Dashboard
But Stephen (aka @BigRigTravels on Twitter) sees it another way – trucking is a social and technical career for him. He lives full-time on the road and shares his every day with viewers all over the world on his website Big Rig Travels. He strives hard to make it a family-friendly environment so kids can share in the adventures and to really include his “Road Crew” – the folks that tune in during the day and follow his travels and his blog.
The Man Behind the Wheel
When we started to see BigRigSteve on Veetle, I was fascinated! I recognized the area he was driving through and had a good time chatting with others on where he was and where he was going. I wanted to hear more about why this trucker turned Road Star does what he does. We chatted on the phone and I had him answer a few questions for us in his own words:
Veetle:
Most people don’t think “high tech” goes with truck driving but you’ve taken it to a whole new level – how did you get started on this high tech journey?
BigRigSteve:
I have always tinkered with tech stuff. Never really being happy with what things do “out of the box”, I like to try and make the gadgets do what I want them to do. The website started as a way for me to have a place to share my photos as I took them along my trucking adventures. Then as a place to store road videos. Then I found a way to actually turn my truck into a “mobile broadcasting studio” and show folks what was going on RIGHT THEN out on the road. I had no idea that so many other folks were interested in my travels and adventures! As time went on and I started getting feedback from my viewers and learning all the different ways my online travel info was being used, I branched out more.
Veetle:
For you, what is the biggest advantage of having live video for your audience?
BigRigSteve:
Well, I hope that the public can change their mind about what they think trucking is all about. My viewers can see firsthand, LIVE as it happens, all the thousands of times I get cutoff by a car, or the dangerous conditions a trucker must drive in to do his job. They get to see me driving through all hours of the day and night, on holidays, and through the mountains in the snowstorms. They see me start in one city and end my day 12 to 16 hours later in a different state. It takes alot of dedication and hard work to get freight from a factory or plant to THEIR neighborhood.
Veetle:
You’ve shared a few stories with me about how your live video feed has reached people all over the country (and all over the world)! I think the one that touched me the most was the woman in Louisiana. Will you share that with us again?
BigRigSteve:
Sure. A few years ago, I rolled into a truckstop for the night in Shreveport, Louisiana. I went inside and paid for my coffee and other items with my credit card. Since the cashier had a big smile on her face, I thought I would jokingly give her a bad time for not asking me for my ID for using my credit card. When asked how she know it is really me, her reply was “I know exactly who you are BigRigSteve” – she was a viewer of my website!
She pulled me aside after the transaction was complete and told me that she spent several months in the hospital and that her son set up a laptop so she could watch me drive down the road, look at my videos and photos, and read my blog, She told me it meant the world to her and that I was “her connection to the outside world”! I have since received numerous emails from all over the world telling me how my website has helped people. That’s my entire goal. I have been blessed with a job that I love – one that takes me all through America allowing me to capture her beauty through various types of media. From those abroad that their only hope of visiting America is through BigRigTravels, or those that can’t get out to take a ride across America, to everybody in between, I will gladly “take them there” and allow anyone who wants to “hitch a free ride in my truck” to climb aboard.
Veetle:
What is the most important thing you think people should know about you and what you do?
BigRigSteve:
Well, there is one thought that I would like everyone to seriously ponder: “If you got it, a truck brought it”. Yup, that means everything in your house and all your food. Your vehicle. Everything in every building you pass by. While 99% of people out on the highway only think of a trucker as an “object (big truck)” slowing them down, blocking the way – remember something: most truckers live life out on the road 7 days to several months before they go home to their families. Next time you are are angry because you have to share the road with a big truck, try to have a little patience and realize that they are giving up time with their family to serve their country and deliver all types of freight to KEEP AMERICA MOVING. There is not a single man-made item that did not spend time on a truck. Nothing.
Trucks at Night
We couldn’t have said it better – thank you Steve!
Check out his live streams on Veetle and be sure to visit his blog. You can donate to keep all the gadgets up and running here – and his still photography gallery is nothing short of spectacular – be sure to visit it!
And… keep on truckin’!
