Fans of the basic cable network A&E have certainly come across the reality show “Shipping Wars”, which follows independent shippers who are competing in time auctions organized by the internet company uShip, Inc., for large and unusual items which no other traditional carriers would be willing to deliver. The series aired its eight seasons between 10 January 2012 and 29 April 2015 when it was cancelled, however, it returned for its ninth season on 30 November 2021. It today numbers more than 100 episodes, and has received mostly positive reviews, while it has a 6.3/10 rating on the online movie database IMDb.
Some of the main cast members today include Marc Springer, Jennifer Brennan and Jarrett Joyce, while the show’s fans are eager to find out what happened to Roy Gaber, an independent shipper who starred in the show between 2012 and 2014.
What happened to Roy Garber?
Roy appeared in 39 episodes of “Shipping Wars”, and was one of its most loved cast members, mostly because he occasionally took pro bono jobs, because the stories behind the shipments had touched him. He was also a highly skilled shipper, and the job, as well as his starring role in “Shipping Wars”, had helped him amass a net worth estimated at more than $800,000.
Roy passed away in Austin, Texas on 17 January 2014, aged 49, from a heart attack. More than 2,000 people have written a goodbye message for Roy on the website obits.nola.com, most of them stating that he was their favorite person in the show, some even claiming that he was the only reason why they were watching it in the first place.
The producers of “Shipping Wars” also honored Roy in 2014, by releasing two episodes in his memory: “Giant Pains in the Ass” and “Who Ya Gonna Call?… Not Two Blondes and a Truck”.
Who was Roy Garber?
Roy ‘The Handyman’ Garber was born in Austin, on 4 November 1964 – his zodiac sign was Scorpio, and he held American nationality. He was known best for his role in “Shipping Wars”, but had worked various other jobs prior to founding his own Arbie’s Team Transport Company; one of the most unusual jobs which he had worked was trapping and then transporting alligators.
He was raised in Austin by his parents about whom nothing’s known, as Roy respected their privacy, but it’s believed by some that his father was a fisherman; because he didn’t speak of having any siblings, most people think that Roy was an only child. He grew up being a highly active kid, spending most of his spare time outdoors playing sports with his friends, while he also enjoyed learning various things from his father. Roy studied at a local high school, from which he matriculated in 1982, and because he didn’t speak of his further education, he’s believed not to have attended college.
Roy’s career
Roy apparently worked a couple of jobs upon matriculating, including as a removalist, and upon saving enough money, he launched his own small re-modeling and home building company. By the time he joined the cast of “Shipping Wars”, he had already launched his own shipping company, which had made him the highest earning man in the show. Because he was good at various things, including at alligator hunting and Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding, Roy was nicknamed ‘jack of all trades’ and ‘a major know-it-all’.
Following his death, his family revealed that Roy had an ongoing heart condition, and that he had previously suffered a heart attack. It’s widely believed that his death caused the show not to be renewed for another season, although it did return six years later.
Roy’s love life
Roy preferred not to share the details of his love life with the public, but it’s widely known that he owned the Arbie’s Team Transport Company together with his son Travis Garber.
The boy was raised solely by Roy, and he hasn’t shared any details concerning his mother.
It’s believed by some of Roy’s fans that he was in a relationship with Travis’ mother, and that she died during his birth, while others claim that she was perhaps a drug addict, and that Roy decided it would be for the best if he would raise Travis all by himself.
At the time of his death, Roy was in a long-term relationship with a non-celebrity American lady named Molly; they had apparently met nearly a decade earlier, and she also helped the father and son run their company. Some of Roy’s closest friends have claimed that he and Molly were planning to marry, although no evidence has been provided to support this claim.
Roy’s hobbies
Roy was a huge fan of deep sea fishing and scuba diving, and spent a lot of his spare time searching for undersea life off Florida’s gulf coast. He was quite active on his Instagram account, which has since been removed from the network, which featured pictures of strange fish he’d found while diving.
He was a huge cat lover, and had a pet cat Muffy, which was also a star of the show. Roy took his cat with him whatever he was doing, including wherever he went during the five seasons of “Shipping Wars”. Muffy was loved by the audience, and people started to wonder what had happened to it after Roy had passed away. It was soon revealed by multiple media outlets, including “TMZ”, that Muffy was taken to New Hampshire to live with Roy’s mother and her pets. On 4 August 2014, the official Facebook page of Arbie’s Team Transport Company announced that an estranged relative of Roy’s had taken the cat without permission.
Roy loved eating unhealthy fast food, so it’s believed by some that his death might had been prevented. Having already suffered a heart attack, Roy was advised by his doctor to change his lifestyle, to stop eating salty and greasy foods, and to stop spending a lot of time in his truck, however, this was Roy’s way of life, and he wasn’t up to changing it.
https://www.instagram.com/p/pHTv4oTheM/
Controversies and interesting details about the show “Shipping Wars”
Fans of the popular show have pointed out that it’s not nearly as real as the producers claim, and that a big part of it is scripted, especially the auction process. They found it strange that the only people bidding for a job were actually the stars of the show, while there were plenty of other companies and drivers doing the same work; it’s believed that the bidding part which we see in the show is dramatized, so that it would be more appealing to the viewers.
It’s also believed that the shipper Jarrett Joyce played a character rather than being himself, and that he was made by the producers to pretend to be stupid, and to make careless mistakes. He was one of the funniest characters in the show, and certainly made it more interesting to watch. After his fans heard him giving interviews and sharing his thoughts on various matters on social media networks, they realized that Joyce was actually quite intelligent, especially when he went on to discuss politics.
The truckers were also made to be rude to each other, with the producers believing that the added drama would benefit the show. In real life, most of the cast members are good friends, and occasionally help each other with certain jobs.
A group of people on Facebook created a page dedicated to bringing down the show and its cast, claiming that they were all fake, and how they were going to expose them. The shipper Jennifer Brennan suffered the most because of the page, as they managed to doxx her, meaning that they had published many of her personal details, including her home address and ‘phone number.
Some of the eight shipping companies featured in “Shipping Wars” were able to work only thanks to the show itself, and thus once it was cancelled, these were also closed down.
Arbie’s Team Transport was closed not long after Roy passed away, while nearly half of the others were closed as well.
The producers managed to mislead the audience into believing that various events had happened on the same day, by making their cast members wear the same clothes for several days. Jarrett Joyce revealed that they were given a couple of sets of the same clothes by the producers, so that they wouldn’t have to rush to wash them in between filming sessions, while Jessica Samko has stated in an interview that she had to maintain her blonde hair, so that no dark roots would be visible. Aside from this, the women were also encouraged to dress and act provocatively, which was the main reason behind them wearing short shorts, tank tops and tight jeans.
https://www.facebook.com/ShippingWarsAETV/photos/4567379296673334
Jocelyn Schutte has sued the producers of the show, claiming that she worked more than 40 hours per week, but wasn’t paid overtime; the network A&E wasn’t mention in the lawsuit, only the production companies Mansfield Films LLC and Megalomedia Inc.
Some controversy hit the show in its first season, when some fans claimed that Suzanne Bawcom, owner of the trucking company Dreamtime Transport, was previously an adult actress, and that her husband Scott had also appeared in one of her adult videos, but neither of the Bawcoms has addressed these rumors.
Robbie Welsh and Chris Hanna were removed from the show for unknown reasons
Chris Hanna and Robbie Welsh starred in the first five seasons of the show, and were loved for their sense of humor and kind hearts, especially Robbie who was also a model, and went on to appear on the cover page of various trucking magazines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qllCNxIBQYw
However, the two didn’t appear in the show’s sixth season, and the producers failed to provide answers as to why they were removed from “Shipping Wars”.
Chris and Robbie’s social media accounts were flooded with questions about why they were fired, and Robbie went on to tweet: ‘I know you want an explanation & I would love to give you one, but I’m waiting on a few explanations myself so #bepatient’, followed by ‘…we aren’t sure what we are allowed to say.’
This still remains one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the show.
UShip is a controversial company
The main element holding the show together is uShip, the internet company which connects clients in need of transport to the independent truckers; “Shipping Wars” also helped the company expand, as more people starting using its services.
The company is hated by numerous people, mostly by those who were running legal transporting and shipping businesses, and had to close because uShip ‘stole’ their work, implying that the latter is operating illegally, which seems unlikely given its exposure. Many people have also filed complaints on the uShip website, claiming that it’s only taking people’s money, without protecting either the clients or the truckers; according to multiple sources, there are currently more than 600 complaints about the company and its work, while none of these have been resolved.
“Shipping Wars” today
The ninth season of the show premiered on 30 November 2021, and has since aired all of its 16 half-hour episodes, each of which follows a new delivery and a tight deadline. It features many new cast members, including Dwight and Tyesha, Chris Kikelhan and Natasha – the fans of “Shipping Wars” have apparently already found their new favorites.
The ninth season aired its final episode “Land, Sea and the Tiki” on 25 January 2022, and “Shipping Wars” is yet to be renewed for its 10th season.
