- Get outta my way.
Good luck, other people.
(instrumental music)
My name is Scott Free and I am a trucker.
I got my driver's license when I was 16
and I started driving trucks about that same time.
So, it's about 40 years now.
I try to live a pretty diverse life.
I've lived in San Francisco and Palm Springs
Trucking and drag queens.
You know, the two go together.
I started doing drag for fun.
My friend in San Francisco used to own a bar
and I started performing there
as the character, Pippi Lovestocking.
Today we'll be playing American Truck Simulator
so I'm excited to get started, let's go.
(metal clashing)
(whooshing sounds)
First things first, let's get a name for my profile.
How about Pippi, my drag name.
Pippi transport.
Sorry, I forgot which symbol was male.
(Scott laughs)
Goes to show you how active I am lately.
I'm gonna do simple automatic.
I think I probably should walk through the tutorial.
Okay, use E to start the engine.
This is exciting.
Is it gonna make that sound?
Vroom.
Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.
I wanna use my foot.
Yeah.
(car honking)
Who's that honking at me?
Is there somebody behind me?
They're getting mad.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
I wonder if that's an accident.
Maybe that truck is going to move.
Let's see what it does after these cars go by.
(clock ticking)
Get outta my way.
Here, let me help you.
(Scott laughs)
Is there a moment when the police arrive?
(police siren blaring)
Good luck, other people.
The thing about driving a big vehicle like this
is that you have to be so aware
of your spacial requirements.
It's possible to do a lot of damage.
It's very hard to make a left turn
unless you give yourself plenty of turning radius
and you know, those signs
that they have on the back of the truck,
if you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you.
That's true.
I've definitely had people ride in my blind spot.
They don't realize how close
they're coming to a fatal accident.
Very windy also, that's another factor.
That's why they've got those new contraptions
on a lot of these semi trucks.
Oof.
On the back, it's kind of like a kite.
It kinda looks like a (indistinct).
But I would say the graphics
and the reality of the road conditions
is very well done, is amazing.
Okay, away we go.
Driving at night, that's a whole nother skill set.
Oh.
(Scott laughs)
Let's slam into the police officers.
Is he just gonna drive away?
Okay. Yeah.
It's dark and full of terror.
Actually, I kind of like driving at night,
usually because there's less other traffic on the road.
The biggest problem that anybody faces
in a big truck is other drivers
because they might get in your blind spots
or pull in front of you and slam on the brakes.
I mean, a lot of other drivers are just ignorant
about what a big truck needs.
I've pulled over and taken a nap.
It's very insidious when you start doing that nodding off
and it only takes a few seconds
before you stray off the road
or end up in a ditch or hit another car.
There are even people who are so called trucker chasers.
(Scott laughs)
It's like people who would like to have a little liaison
with a trucker at like a rest area
or a truck stop or something like that.
There's apps for that.
Well, if you're driving a semi truck
or something like that, I mean, you have a sleeper area.
So you can have company in there with you
if you are so inclined.
In the old days, in the seventies
they used to have these people
that were referred to as lot lizards.
Were basically sex workers who hung out
at the truck stops and provided their services
to the guys that would pull in for their fill up.
Diesel price, $4.
(Scott laughs)
Yeah, this is a blast from the past.
It's like twice that now.
For the low price of $466, 106 gallons.
That sounds right.
I wonder if this has contributed
to the number of people going into the trucking industry.
So now they want me to do it in manual.
That's gonna be tricky with using buttons
cause usually you would hit the clutch
and then...
(air whooshing)
You know, shift.
Shift up, fourth gear.
There's 10 gears usually.
But sometimes I think a manual drive actually is better
because it keeps you more involved in the actual driving.
The longest I've driven is about eight hours.
So I don't try to be a superhero or push the envelope.
If I were to give it a score
with 10 being the most accurate,
I would give it a seven.
And it's amazing how much cheaper the gas was
when this game was made.
But I would say the graphics
and the reality of the road conditions is very well done.
It's amazing that it was over 10 years ago.
(instrumental music)
It's just like anything in life.
Once you do it
and you start feeling like you're getting good at it,
you're more inclined to stick with it.
That's the way I tend be.
(instrumental music)