{"id":2943,"date":"2017-01-10T09:33:25","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T09:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2017\/01\/10\/highway-401-smash-hit-401-tow-drivers-focus-of-new-reality-series\/"},"modified":"2017-01-10T09:33:25","modified_gmt":"2017-01-10T09:33:25","slug":"highway-401-smash-hit-401-tow-drivers-focus-of-new-reality-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2017\/01\/10\/highway-401-smash-hit-401-tow-drivers-focus-of-new-reality-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Highway 401: Smash hit? 401 tow drivers focus of new reality series"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dan Brown \/ London Free Press<\/em><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to tell Southwestern Ontarians that driving the Highway\u00a0401 can be hair-raising.<\/p>\n

Dangerous pileups, including some of the worst in Canadian history.<\/p>\n

Speed demons and left-lane bandits.<\/p>\n

Winter storms and white-knuckle conditions.<\/p>\n

Deadly crashes, delays, lane closings and fly-away truck wheels.<\/p>\n

Now, Canadians nationwide are getting a taste of what London-area drivers know about the country\u2019s busiest superhighway, with a cable TV reality series following the exploits of 401 tow-truck operators.<\/p>\n

Discovery Channel\u2019s Heavy Rescue 401 hit the small screen this week, screaming its way in promos about the nearly half a million vehicles a day that travel the 401.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an inherently dramatic milieu, but did Sarnia\u2019s Gary Vandenheuvel \u2014 who owns Preferred Towing, along with his wife, Tammy \u2014 ever think there\u2019d be a show about him doing his job?<\/p>\n

\u201cI never really expected that one to come around,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preferred runs 14 trucks with a crew of 11.<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s creator, Mark Miller, is the producer behind another Discovery program, Highway Through Hell, which tells the story of a British Columbia operator who helps pull truckers out of ditches in that province\u2019s interior, keeping icy roads open.<\/p>\n

Aiming to a do a spinoff about the 401, Miller heard through the tow-truck grapevine about Preferred Towing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe phone rang and they said, \u2019Would it be OK for us to come down and talk to you and look at things?\u2019\u00a0\u201d Vandenheuvel said. \u201cThey were looking to put a new series together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just this week, the 401 was closed near Woodstock for hours after a major collision in which a tractor-trailer struck another vehicle, then six other vehicles hit the debris that rained down.<\/p>\n

Three people were taken to hospital.<\/p>\n

Longtime Southwestern Ontarians can remember especially deadly runs on the 401, like a generation ago when there were so many crashes \u2014 many of them median-crossover collisions \u2014 that the western stretch from London to Windsor became known as \u201cCarnage Alley.\u201d<\/p>\n

In September 1999, an 87-vehicle pileup on the 401 in dense fog near Lakeshore, in Essex County, killed eight people and injured dozens. Fires from that disaster so intense, they melted the highway\u2019s asphalt.<\/p>\n

Most of the filming for the new series was done last January, February and March. Typically, that\u2019s when the worst of winter pounds the highway, though not necessarily last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was probably one of the more docile winters,\u201d Vandenheuvel said. \u201cSome good things happened, in our industry anyway, and they were able to put it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fittingly, the episodes have titles like Shock and Awe and War Zone. The catchphrase for the series is \u201cClosure is not an option.\u201d But as anyone know who\u2019s sat fuming in stalled traffic on the 401 for hours, or who lived through 2010\u2019s Snowmaggedon, that\u2019s a bit of reality-show hype.<\/p>\n

On a typical call, a film crew of two or three would shadow Vandenheuvel. A bigger wreck would call for maybe six camera operators, plus sound crews and directors.<\/p>\n

Vandenheuvel quickly adjusted to being followed around.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were really good. At first, you were looking over your shoulder and you knew that they were there. You learned to work with them,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The seasoned tow-truck driver said one of the reasons he agreed to do the show was the opportunity to work on a positive portrayal of his profession.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was one of the big things. When they came to us, that was a big thing to us \u2014 that they want to portray our industry in a good light,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t always get shown in a good light,\u201d<\/p>\n

And even though every day on the 401 is inherently unpredictable, he said he\u2019s happy with how the show turned out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re able to kind of portray what we do out there and what happens out there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As for a second season, it\u2019s not like the 401 suddenly will become any less busy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does kind of make sense if you look at it,\u201d Vandenheuvel said of basing a reality show on the 401.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dan Brown \/ London Free Press You don\u2019t have to tell Southwestern Ontarians that driving the Highway\u00a0401 can be hair-raising. Dangerous pileups, including some of the worst in Canadian history. Speed demons and left-lane bandits. Winter storms and white-knuckle conditions. Deadly crashes, delays, lane closings and fly-away truck wheels. Now, Canadians nationwide are getting a … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHighway 401: Smash hit? 401 tow drivers focus of new reality series - Thunderbird Entertainment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2017\/01\/10\/highway-401-smash-hit-401-tow-drivers-focus-of-new-reality-series\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Highway 401: Smash hit? 401 tow drivers focus of new reality series - Thunderbird Entertainment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dan Brown \/ London Free Press You don\u2019t have to tell Southwestern Ontarians that driving the Highway\u00a0401 can be hair-raising. 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