The season finale of the History Channel’s Ice Road Truckers spin-off show IRT Deadliest Roads airs Sunday, Dec. 5. The finale will reveal which of the three truckers who started the trek through ancient Himalayan highways in India finishes the journey.
Truckers News had the chance to talk with new IRT Deadliest Roads star Dave Redmon, a heavy-hauler from Riverside, Ala., about his experiences on the show and carrying freight through treacherous and narrow Himalayan pathways.
Redmon, along with IRT stars Lisa Kelley and Rick Yemm, hauled groceries, cement, gravel and other goods to Indian villages via tight, winding roads and cliffs full of traffic jams and road closures.
Here’s a sampling of our interview with Redmon.
What were your initial reactions when you arrived in India to start the show, and how did you prepare?
Redmon: When I first landed on the ground, I kind of got a real bad culture shock. Just the total different experience when you’re 9,000 miles away from home – the food, the people, driving on the wrong side of the road – it was a lot to take in.
We went to truck-driving school for about three days trying to get acclimated to, not so much the rules, but just the ways – they don’t have very many rules.
What was it like being the new guy on the show?
Redmon: When I first got there, I was real apprehensive about everything. I didn’t know how anything worked. I didn’t know how production worked, how the camera people worked.
I didn’t know what working with Lisa [Kelly] and Rick [Yemm] would be like. So when I first got there, everything really blindsided me a little bit. After a few days, they assigned a guy to me to watch over me. He was there any time I needed him, and he helped me out.
After three or four days working with Lisa and Rick, we were just like brothers and sisters for the rest of the time we were there.
IRT Deadliest Roads stars Lisa Kelly, Rick Yemm and Dave RedmonHow did you get on the show?
Redmon: They actually found me on YouTube. They had been watching me for about a year, from what I understand. I would post a lot of tutorial videos about trucking, life on the road videos. I had a little series about CSA 2010 and what to expect, trying to decipher the new laws and go through them a little at a time.
I was supposed to be on the Ice Road Truckers show before we went to India, but they couldn’t track me down. Then this show came out, and they hired a casting agent to hunt me down. They got a hold of me through my YouTube account and it started rolling from there.
What did you haul and where while you were in India?
Redmon: We had an Indian production company – Oasis Productions – in charge of all of the logistics – finding freight for us and all of that. We hauled anything from groceries to cement to gravel to Buddha statues – anything the Indian people would haul.
The premise of the show was kind of to drop us off there and to have us fend for ourselves. They wouldn’t even translate for me and my spotter.
He spoke about six or seven words that I could understand. We had language barrier issues every day. We got along all right. I just looked for a worried look on his face. If he was worried, I was worried.
Do you plan on doing the show again?
Redmon: When they flew us out to California for the premiere of the first show in October, they pitched a couple of different country ideas to us and even asked me if I would do the Ice Road Truckers show up in Alaska.
I’m interested, and they’re interested in using me for something else. We’ll see how it works out.
The promo for the season finale indicates that only one trucker completes their journey. Who was it?
Redmon: I can’t say who it was. The show will be on Sunday. You’ll just have to watch and find out.
