Road Crew

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A micro-community with a truck driver’s website at its center


Since San Antonio-based trucker/photographer Stephen Michaels launched his 24/7 live webcam in May 2008, broadcasting the view from his dash via BigRigTravels.com, he’s garnered the attention of MSN.com, trucking media outlets and local TV news stations around the world – as well as the love of hundreds of devoted individual followers. “I love trucking,” says the 44-year-old Central Refrigerated driver. “I love photography, and the website ties everything together perfectly.”

The webcam portion of the site was named one of the top 25 most interesting cams on the net by EarthCam last year, and Michaels says lately he’s getting about “50 e-mails a day” from folks who follow his travels. “There are a lot of personal stories out there,” he adds. “It just started out where I could share my life with people, then it became where they could communicate back to me. I call them the ‘Road Crew.'” They meet and greet in the “Road Crew Lounge” section of the main site (click “Blog,” then the lounge banner). How better to understand Michaels’ story than to hear from the crew themselves?

In February 2009 I underwent surgery to fuse six vertebrae together and was informed I would no longer be able to drive trucks. I was devastated. Anytime in my life I needed an escape I climbed in a truck. And now more than ever I needed that escape. I found Steve’s website out of pure boredom. This is my chance to sit at home and heal but still be a part of the trucking industry that I love so dearly. Steve lets me ride along shotgun nearly every day via his dash-mounted webcam. I get to see all the familiar places that made me so happy so many times in the past. I can sit at home and see him parked in a truckstop and just imagine the C.B. kung-fu fights

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