Tag Archives: Jamie Davis

Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Wicked weather and wild wrecks: Highway Thru Hell returns to Discovery for Season 7, Sept. 4

From a media release:

Battling massive mudslides, whiteout snowstorms, torrential rain, or dangerous rockslides, the highway heroes of Discovery’s most-watched original Canadian series HIGHWAY THRU HELL are set to return for Season 7 with an unprecedented 17 action-packed episodes, more than ever before! Airing Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT, beginning Sept. 4 on Discovery, Season 7 kicks off with an exclusive behind-the-scenes episode featuring heavy rescuer Jamie Davis alongside friendly competitors Al Quiring, Ken Duperon, and Jason Davis reflecting on epic recoveries and discussing the various ups and downs they face in one of Canada’s toughest industries.

Following the premiere episode at 11 p.m. ET, viewers are invited to pose their questions to HIGHWAY THRU HELL star Jamie Davis in Discovery’s first-ever Facebook Live aftershow at Facebook.com/DiscoveryCanada.

Featuring stories of remarkable strength and fearless dedication, HIGHWAY THRU HELL chronicles the lives of these heroic rescue teams who often put their own lives at risk to help keep vital transport highways open and communities safe. Dropping everything to respond, it is their duty to remove the often-dangerous cargo, clean up the twisted metal, clear the road, and get traffic rolling again for thousands of drivers.

HIGHWAY THRU HELL Season 7 also sees Davis make a bold move, turning to vintage machinery to tackle modern-day wrecks. Davis’ team is not only tested by unforgiving weather conditions but also faced with the challenge of mastering old iron equipment to combat some of the most spectacular wrecks the crew has ever seen.

Discovery primes viewers for the new season with a full-day marathon of HIGHWAY THRU HELL Season 6 on Saturday, Aug. 25 beginning at 3 p.m. ET. Season 6 is also currently available for streaming on the Discovery GO app, Discovery.ca, and CraveTV.

HIGHWAY THRU HELL has consistently attracted impressive audiences, ranking as a Top 10 series on entertainment specialty television in Canada for total viewers and the A25-54 demographic. The series has made Discovery the most-watched entertainment specialty channel in its timeslot among total viewers as well as the A25-54 and A18-49 demographics.

Toyota returns as the show’s exclusive automotive sponsor, featuring the capable, rugged, full-size Tundra pickup in HIGHWAY THRU HELL’s seventh season.

About HIGHWAY THRU HELL Season 7:
Jamie Davis is shifting gears once again. After years of keeping the highways open with some of the most modern heavy wreckers – the legendary tow man is staking his future on old iron equipment.

At Davis’ yard in Hope, B.C., Classic Holmes tow trucks – some nearly half a century old – are slowly replacing newer, costlier wreckers. For Davis, the vintage trucks are more than just a passion – they represent survival. Under pressure to reduce costs and stay competitive, Davis is confident this winter he and his crew can tackle some of the toughest jobs – on and off the Coquihalla Highway – using an ageing, rebuilt fleet.

This winter season, Davis is counting on one truck more than any other – the “Mighty Mo”. After rolling out of his garage at the end of last winter, the beautifully restored Holmes 850, named after a World War II battleship, is ready for war. Known as the most powerful tow truck of its day, the hulking 40-ton wrecker will need to shoulder the biggest jobs as Davis prepares to sell his last modern truck.

After a challenging first winter working the mountain passes, former prairie operator Colin McLean is back in Hope for more adventures as Davis’ lead driver. But having run some of the best top-of-the-line hydraulic trucks, Davis’ “old iron” is going to take some getting used to.

Each one-hour episode follows the Jamie Davis Motor Truck team as well as their competitors – Quiring Towing, Mission Towing, Aggressive Towing, and Reliable Towing – as they brave the harsh conditions of the Coquihalla Highway. Ready to navigate extreme roads and weather, each team prepares to put themselves on the line in order to keep some of the most economically important and travelled trucking routes in North America open and accessible for all.

HIGHWAY THRU HELL is produced by Great Pacific Media in association with Discovery Canada. Executive Producer is Mark Miller. The series producer is Neil Thomas.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Highway Thru Hell returns for Season 5

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Just like the kids going back to school, September has become the month Highway Thru Hell returns for a new season on Discovery. Still one of the highest-rated series on the specialty channel, Jamie Davis and his crew—and some competitors—hit the icy roads for Season 5.

Returning on Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET, you know what you’re going to get with 13 episodes of Highway Thru Hell: cars and tractor trailers sliding around asphalt and colourful tow truck drivers pulling them out and cleaning up the mess. It takes all of two seconds after the opening credits for Highway Thru Hell to get down to business as truckers are stranded on the Smasher on The Coquihalla highway and request help.

It’s the first storm of the season, and as Al Quiring and Gord Boyd of Quiring Towing explain, it takes that initial dumping to remind everyone how treacherous the highway is in the winter. It doesn’t take long for Al and Gord to turn grumpy, the former over “snow socks” and the latter because of a rookie driver who can’t seem steer straight.

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Images courtesy of Bell Media.

For Jamie Davis, this season is all about changes. In a bid to downsize because of the changing economy, Davis sold the most prized truck in the fleet and aims to spend more time on the road rather than managing people. But will business suffer even more with him away from the office? His first call in Episode 1 is to a truck fire that’s still burning when he arrives and Jamie makes a bold decision to clean up the mess … with help from a familiar face.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Hope, B.C., Jordie Duperon of Mission Towing is called to the scene of a van half-submerged in a river. Along with his brother, Nik, the fourth-generation tow truck drivers want to prove they’ve got the stuff to make their grandfather proud.

Visually, Great Pacific TV’s Highway Thru Hell remains stunning, especially in HD. Davis’ trucks pop against the swirling, snowy backdrop and cameras mounted on drones offer a whole new dimension to filming as they swoop over collision scenes.

Also this season? Viewers get a sneak peek at the Highway Thru Hell spinoff, Heavy Rescue: 401, which focuses on the challenges faced by those tasked with keeping Ontario’s 400 series highways safe.

Highway Thru Hell airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Discovery.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Highway Thru Hell hauls into Season 4

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There’s something horrifying about watching a tractor trailer, weighed down with supplies, sliding slowly off an icy highway and into a ditch. It’s a bit of a mind-blower to witness the effect millimetres of frozen water has on such a big beast. But it’s something Jamie Davis and his staff see almost every day during winter travel on the Coquihalla Highway and he’s made a career out of it.

This Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on Discovery, Highway Thru Hell rolls on with 13 new episodes, documenting the successes, drama and disappointment that involves Davis, his staff and competitors. It takes a special type of person to go into the freezing cold and pull rigs off chunks of highway with nicknames like “The Smasher,” but it’s just another day for Big Al, who’s at the helm of Quiring Towing; within minutes of the Season 4 return he’s helping the occupants away from their smashed car, worried they’ll be injured by a sliding rig.

Meanwhile in Lac La Biche, Davis is busier than ever, and has expanded his fleet to cover not just the oil fields but Edmonton itself.

And while you can rest assured the Coq gets slippery in winter, there are changes afoot in Season 4. Davis’ right-hand man, Howie, left to work for a city-based towing company to be closer to his family, and Adam cut ties to work for a rival outfit in B.C., meaning Colin has to step into the role. Colin’s first job? To pull a tractor trailer upright using the rotator, a tougher machine to operate than a tow truck, and newbie John has two decades of towing on his resumé, but must prove he belongs on the B.C. team.

What I like about Highway Thru Hell is the lack of extra fluff. Sure, we learn the personal stories of the folks working these snowy strips of asphalt, but the focus is almost always on the men and women putting their lives on the line to help others out of a tight spot. (And kudos to the producers, who often include a quick science lesson as to how these trucks ended up in their precarious positions.) I may not have the skill-set to drive a tow truck and haul rigs around, but I can certainly appreciate and salute those who do.

And man, does it look stunning in HD.

Highway Thru Hell airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Discovery.

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Highway Thru Hell slides into Season 3

It takes a special kind of person to want to drive tractor trailer loads of supplies along the notoriously dangerous Coquihalla Highway during the winter around Hope, B.C. But it takes an even more special kind of person (some may say “nuts”) to pull crashed tractor trailers out of the ditches along the Coq. Meet Jamie Davis, whose company, Jamie Davis Heavy Rescue, has been doing it for over a decade.

Davis and his motley assortment of drivers, mechanics and staff are back behind the wheel for Season 3 of Highway Thru Hell–returning to Discovery with 13 new episodes tonight–and the stress and danger has been doubled for the grizzled road veteran. A drop in business in B.C. meant Davis needed to explore other options, leading to an opportunity for his company to patrol Alberta’s Highway 881 and 63, the former the only lifeline between Lac La Biche and Fort McMurray in the newly discovered oil fields.

“We had to take a gamble and move to Alberta,” Davis says. “It was do or die. We moved to Fort McMurray, as well as having locations closer to Lac La Biche and now we’re in Edmonton. Long-term employees have stuck through me through thick and thin and they have the gumption to just do it.” Doing it is a tough, long slog. Hours are spent pulling shattered rigs upright and coordinating with law enforcement and firefighters to re-open the mountain or tundra thoroughfares as quickly and safely as possible. Davis teases viewers will see how stressed even longtime staffers get during the course of Season 3.

The road to Fort McMurray presented a particular challenge for everyone because of its remoteness–a closed highway means no groceries or fuel make it there not to mention the heavy equipment needed at the oil fields–but the conditions are harsher with winter temperatures plunging to minus-46, wreaking havoc on both man and machines.

Davis is still amazed over the popularity he and his crew have gotten over the last two seasons of Highway Thru Hell. The whole TV thing started innocently: driver Adam Gazzola was helping a guy whose truck broke down and they compared jobs. Gazzola told the dude, who revealed he worked in the television industry, that he drove a heavy rescue truck for a living and that driving the Coq in the winter was a gong show. The TV guy’s boss? Mark Miller, the man whose Great Pacific TV production company is behind such shows as Air Dogs, Untold Stories of the ER and Daily Planet. A series was born.

And despite Highway Thru Hell‘s success–the 2012 debut is still the No. 1 series premiere in Discovery’s history–fame isn’t their goal.

“That isn’t our business,” he says. “Our business is towing.”

Highway Thru Hell airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Discovery.

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