ice road truckers

Scary Stuff

2011-10-30T07:04:00.000-07:00

new Deadliest Roads

2011-10-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.nmevideo.com/ice-road-truckers-deadliest-roads-dvd-trailer-1

The Ice Road Truckers are back, and this time they're trading the frozen freeways of the far north for the perilous highways of India.

Deadliest Roads - fierce video

2011-10-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

Tonight's episode

2011-09-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

In Alaska, Lisa and Maya help a stranded driver get back on the road. Tony gets a surprise from Carlile while Dave continues his descent into isolation. In Canada, Hugh and Rick keep up their load count with backhauls. Alex has to deal with unstable freight but also scores a backhaul, keeping the race with his rival close.

Maya

from Vancouver Sun July 30, 2011

2011-08-05T12:30:00.000-07:00

Is Ice Road Truckers coming back for another season, or was IRT Deadliest Roads the very last season?

- Rose Adami, Red Deer, Alta.

Deadliest Roads was a spinoff of Ice Road Truckers, but not the series' swan song. The show returns to History Television and to Canada on Aug. 31 with a new season.

Meltdown

2011-07-24T04:17:00.000-07:00

Premiere Date: 07/24/2011

As the season reaches the halfway point, drivers are desperate to pull ahead in the dash for the cash. Hugh, Rick, and Alex, struggled to make deliveries to the remote villages of northern Manitoba, but now, the return trip over 880 miles of Canadian wilderness will push them past the breaking point. In Alaska, the biggest storm of the season descends on the Dalton--forcing every driver to face a brutal whiteout or risk falling behind in the load count. Lisa Kelly deals with the fallout of driving her oversize load into the ditch.

Some Dangers in Ice Road Trucking

2011-07-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

- Skids

Naturally skids are quite common. Ice does not provide a lot of traction and trucks weigh a lot. A simple mistake in breaking can send a truck sliding long distances over the road or ice. They may end up either in the roadside ditch, overturned, or in worst cases, going over the edge of a precipice. Truckers attempt to prevent these occurrences by using very careful and purposeful braking techniques.
- Whiteout

Whiteouts occur when there is so much snow that a trucker can barely see the road ahead. The entire surroundings like a single white field. It would be nice if the trucker could stop and wait out the storm, but in most cases that is not even an option. Temperatures would fall presenting hypothermia risks, the goods would take too long to deliver, and if a trucker left the engine on they could run out of fuel. A trucker simply has to keep going through the whiteout to get to safer territory. Reflective markers on the sides of roads give some assistance, but it is still quite easy for a trucker to drive off the road during a whiteout if they aren't careful.

- Cracking Ice

When trucks are driving over frozen lakes, ice can crack under the vehicle, causing skids, overturns, accidents with other trucks, and even actual submergence in the cold winter water. This is, to say the least, a dangerous situation.

- Frostbite

Frostbite, or a less serious form of it called frost nip, can occur due to the cold temperatures of ice road trucking regions. As truckers get out to make adjustments or fuel up, they may forget how cold the air is and stay out too long or neglect to put on protective clothing. This can result in their getting frost nip of frost bite. (See pic of Snow Beard.)

- Flying Rocks

Since ice road trucking takes place in extreme northern climates, the roads are often not as well kept up as in some other areas. Rocks may be on the surfaces of roads and these can be hit bit trucks and sent flying into the windshields of other oncoming trucks.

- Animals

Animals such as bears (even polar bears), moose, and deer are plentiful in these northern regions. While seeing them is one of the perks of the job, they can also be dangerous if they suddenly run into the path of a truck.

Under the Hammer

2011-07-01T06:59:00.001-07:00

http://www.history.com/shows/ice-road-truckers/videos/playlists/season-5-full-episodes#ice-road-truckers-5-under-the-hammer

Ice Road Truckers 5: Under the Hammer (45:00)

Ice road veterans are put to the test when sparks fly during a massive haul, leaving one trucker in a dangerous situation. Meanwhile, Lisa helps out a fellow trucker in need of roadside assistance. Will she keep up her reputation as a push-truck pro?

Comparing dangerous roads in Alaska and India

2011-07-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

10 Worst Jobs in US - Ice Road Truckers didn't make it

2011-06-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

Looking for work? You may want to take a look at the list below. According to Forbes, these are the positions with the gloomiest outlook for 2011.

The jobs listed below offer a combination of abysmal pay, high risk of physical injury, stressful conditions, or other undesirable working conditions.

Without further ado, The Ten Worst Jobs in the US are:
◦Roustabout – Main job duties include routine maintenance and labor on oil rigs and pipelines. The pay is low and the risk for injury is high.

◦Iron Worker – These guys raise steel structures to create buildings and bridges. It is another highly physical job with relatively low pay.

◦Lumberjack – Job duties include felling, cutting, and transporting lumber to be utilized for various purposes. This job is not only extremely dangerous physically, it also ranks high for stress.

◦Roofer – Whether they’re installing new roofs, repairing existing roofs, or replacing old ones, this job is not for the faint of heart. Dangerous work environments and high physical demands combine to make roofing a physically stressful and demanding career choice.

◦Taxi Driver – Responsible for transporting travelers to and from various destinations, taxi drivers must know their area well and be prepared for a variety of situations. Taxi drivers experience hazardous road conditions, inclement weather, and difficult clientele on a daily basis.

◦Emergency Medical Technician – EMTs tend to emergent medical situations that run the spectrum from car accidents to gunshot wounds. This job is fast-paced, high stress, and physically demanding.

◦Welder – Welders repair and bond metal surfaces. Dangerous tools, high temperatures, and ever changing surfaces make this physically demanding career dangerous.

◦Painter – A bit surprising to see this on the list, but painters have extremely high physical demands in addition to potentially dangerous working conditions. Scaffolding, dangerous chemicals, and perilous reaches put this position on the list.

◦Meter Reader – Long days, physical demands, and not a lot of room for advancement make meter reading one of the worst jobs in America. Add in a not so great hiring outlook and disgruntled neighborhood pets, and you can see why this job is not a favorite.

◦Construction Worker – This generic term covers anyone assisting in construction trade work. Often physically demanding and dangerous, these workers do a lot for little in return.

High physical demands, stress, and low pay combine to create the list above.

So You Want an Ice Road Trucker Job?

2011-06-20T05:49:00.000-07:00

Many of you who've been wanting to take up the career of truck driving are probably familiar with the popular TV series about working on the ice roads of Canada's far north. The show is called "Ice Road Truckers" and it's all about the men and women who brave the transporting of goods across the northern regions that only have access roads for part of the year.
This is because the 'roadways' are only made of ice that stretch for many miles across nothing but open, frozen lakes! The supplies and materials that these truckers bring to these barely-accessible areas are always essential to the functioning of these areas. Whether it's oil, food and medical supplies or building materials and essential machinery such as furnaces and oil boilers for industry, the supplies need to get through...and these brave (and well paid) drivers get the job done.

Driving on the ice roads isn't a job that every truck driver can do though. It takes nerves of steel and more than a little craziness to get out there and travel - usually in a convoy - across miles and miles of frozen nothingness. Most drivers who give this sort of work a try turn around at the first sound of the ice cracking under the tremendous weight of their rigs. Others make it across the frozen ice to their destination but decide the stress for them isn't worth the money. And the money is great! Most ice road drivers make their entire year's salary in three months of practically non-stop transporting of materials and supplies. This pace is required because the ice roads are only useable for 3-4 months of the year. After that, they become unstable as the ice thickness begins to deteriorate in spots.
One of the most disheartening sights an ice road trucker can see on his journey across the emptiness of the ice road is the front end of a big rig, half submerged in the ice and frozen in place, a testament to the dangers of trying to get across the ice road too quickly or at the wrong time of the season.
No One Goes it Alone

The ice roads are carefully monitored and controlled by companies assigned to make sure the loads get through. The thickness of the ice is carefully monitored throughout the ice road season and no truck is allowed to go across the ice roads on its own. Convoys of trucks are assigned slots and each driver must maintain a steady speed and space between the trucks ahead of and behind them. This is to ensure that the ice under the extreme weight of the trucks doesn't begin to flex and create a swell of water that will push ahead of the convoy and crack the ice. Physics and careful planning are required to ensure that each and every truck gets to the other side of the frozen lakes without causing cracks in the ice that become a danger to other truckers and themselves.
For those of you who think you have what it takes to drive across the frozen north with nothing but a few feet of ice under your wheels, give ice road trucking a try. The industry is always looking for careful and skilled drivers who have the guts to get their loads to these remote areas. If you can follow specific rules including setting and maintaining speed limits, keeping your cool under pressure and being able to drive within a convoy, then ice road trucking is the high-paying truck driving career you've been looking for.

Grizzly, Moose, & Caribou

2011-06-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

Grizzly bear, moose, caribou, and other residents of Alaska adapt to the cold weather. Some hibernate during the long, cruel winter, and some drive trucks!

Watch this episode: Ice Road Rage

2011-06-10T13:09:00.001-07:00

http://www.history.com/shows/ice-road-truckers/videos/ice-road-truckers-5-ice-road-rage

Tempers flare on the ice roads when Dave reaches his boiling point with Tony and Maya gets a taste of Alaskan driving. Meanwhile, Lisa goes on a rescue mission and Hugh and Rick roll deeper into the heart of the Canadian wilderness.

Watch this episode: Pushing the Edge

2011-06-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

http://www.history.com/shows/ice-road-truckers/videos/ice-road-truckers-5-pushing-the-edge

The ice road truckers are back and in full throttle as they hit the Alaskan roads. With two rookie drivers joining the convoy, anything can happen as the Dash for the Cash is officially on.

Pushing the Edge/Ice Road Rage

2011-06-10T13:01:00.000-07:00

The Ice Road Truckers are back in action, and the roads are more dangerous than ever. Lisa's first run of the season goes south in a hurry. Two rookie drivers raise the stakes in the "Dash for the Cash." And old pros Hugh and Alex, along with wildcard Rick Yemm, leave Alaska behind to take on some of the most remote and deadliest roads on the planet. Then, Hugh and Rick roll deeper into the Canadian outback, while a dangerous overflow may leave Alex stranded in the wilderness. Dave's training run with Tony reaches the boiling point. Lisa Kelly goes on a rescue mission. And Maya's first look at the Haul Road may be enough to send this rookie back to the big city.

A Nightmare

2011-06-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

http://youtu.be/8xPJz315dFI

What's new this season

2011-06-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

“In the world’s highest mountains are roads only the best can survive. It’s a whole new challenge for the top ice road truckers. They’re taking on the world’s deadliest roads to prove there’s no route they can’t conquer, and no load they can’t haul…”
The Ice Road Truckers are back, but it’s not the haul roads of Canada or Alaska they’ll be facing this time. They’ve been taken to India where they’ll haul cargo across the Himalayan mountains in trucks of wooden cabins and a third the horsepower they’re used to. And, the worse danger isn’t even the sheer cliffs or unpredictable landslides. It’s the other cars. If you think they drive like maniacs where you live, you haven’t seen anything yet. One of the drivers will get into two accidents before he even gets to the mountain.
“…But these roads average a death every 4 1/2 minutes, and one trucker won’t make it through the first day. These are the truckers who make their living on the thin ice…”

These are the four drivers you’ll see in this season:
Lisa: She’s a 28-year-old second-year driver who ends up being tougher than a lot of the guys. She’s just starting to get into the dangerous stuff, which this year included becoming a push driver. For extra heavy loads extra trucks are employed to push the load up the steep hills. She’s still looking for respect in the toughest job on the road.
Alex: Alex is one of two Canadians from previous seasons of the show. One year he had a heart attack while on the Canadian ice roads. Against his doctor’s advice, he’s back on the road, this time in India, to try to prove he can still do it.
Rick Yemm: Rick is unmistakable in his blue Mohawk. He’s another Canadian who hasn’t been on the show since it moved to Alaska. Rick’s got a short temper that is going to be pushed to its limit here.
Dave Redmon: Dave is an Alabama good ol’ boy, and he’s got a bit of a challenge getting used to the way they drive in India.

It’s called Ice Road Truckers: World’s Most Dangerous Roads, and you can think of it as a kind of spin-off. The style remains the same but the terrain and challenges are quite different. It starts with the trucks themselves. Usually, the drivers are in rigs that they are very familiar with. Here the vehicles are underpowered and are made of wooden frames. That offers little protection in a wreck. Because India was a long-time British colony, they drive on the wrong side of the road. As if that’s not enough to cause major problems, that’s just getting out of the yard.
Each driver carries a native spotter to help them navigate the really tight spots on the narrow mountain road. The dangers include cliffs that show where the road was literally carved out of the mountain itself. They offer low clearance. The roads are problematic when two trucks meet going opposite directions. Too close to the edge and it’s up to a 4,000 foot drop and often with no guard rail and a road surface that is literally crumbling under your tires. In case that doesn’t get you, there are falling boulders the size of houses that can strike without warning. There isn’t our kind of building code so that bridges are quite fragile and seem like they’re going to fall at any moment. The temperature ranges can go from 127 in the city to below freezing in the mountains. One of the passes is called the Rohtang which literally means “pile of corpses”. Accidents are a part of life here, and the locals try to extort payments from the American drivers at each incidence. They also tend to gather in hostile mobs when there’s trouble.
Lisa adopts a puppy and keeps the dog in her cab during the season run. She doesn’t get along with her spotter, however. The show obviously went to a lot of trouble to find Indian spotters with poor English skills. The communication is a nightmare, and Lisa doesn’t like his bossy nature.

The season still has those dramatic CGI demonstrations that show you what can go wrong with explosive results. And the season’s final run is a load of helicopter fuel, and only one driver will make that run successfully. There’s no “leader board” here. They don’t keep the competitive nature going in this show. In the end it’s much more of the same with a new environment.

Who are these truckers?

2011-05-07T12:38:00.000-07:00

Connecting Fairbanks to the oil fields is the infamous Dalton Highway. Three fourths of the 414 mile long "haul road" is north of the Arctic Circle, and not one inch of the route is for the timid. Here are some of the truck drivers featured on the History Channel show:

• Hugh Rowland – A resident of Canada, the "polar bear" is a veteran of the ice roads in his native country and has been featured in all 4 season of Ice Road Truckers. Rowland lives large, talks loud, has little patience for the wimps who can't keep up with him and less for those who can.

• Jack Jesse – Cool and methodical, Jesse knows the Dalton Highway like back of his hands. Jesse is the most trusted driver on the road, and gets the heaviest, widest and most valuable loads. Jesse is the standard that other truck drivers on the Dalton are measured against.

• Lisa Kelly – One of the few women truck drivers in Alaska, Lisa feeds off of the challenge of driving with the best truck drivers on the nastiest road in Alaska. Trucking is a profession where respect is earned, and not given, and Lisa Kelly craves this respect more than the money that this truck driving job pays.

• Alex Debogorski – Living in Yellowknife, NWT, Alex has spent most of his trucking life driving on roads that barely qualify as roads. Alex has more kids than some trucks have gears, and he has been on all 4 seasons of Ice Road Truckers, just like Rowland.

Season Three and Season Four on DVD

2011-05-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

Buy Season Three and Season Four on DVD

Get all past seasons on DVD

2011-05-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

Season One and Season Two on DVD!

What do Ice Road Truckers snack on?

2011-05-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

I wonder if they can get M&M's even on those dangerous road trips? What would your favorite be: peanut or chocolate?

How much money do they make?

2010-11-08T11:34:00.000-08:00

Road Truckers Salary Revealed

If you were going to risk your life driving a truck on thin ice, what would your
salary have to be to make it worthwhile.

For the men who star in the History Channel's Ice Road Truckers, the answer is
simple: as much as $38,000 total salary for 8-10 weeks work. That is a
salary of $4,750 a week if they work 8 weeks total.

But here's the catch. The Ice Road Truckers don't all get paid that. Their salaries
vary from trucker to trucker, due in part to how big their loads are.

That salary of about $38,000 for the season is what the top guy is making
of the six of them. The salary for the lowest paid Ice Road Trucker is
about $2,500 for 8 weeks.

Would you risk your life trucking supplies across 350 miles of frozen lakes to Canada's
remote diamond mines for the salaries these Ice Road Truckers are making?

Dangerous road trip in India

2010-10-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

Seasoned drivers Lisa Kelly, Rick Yemm and Alex Debogorski are headed from Alaska to the Himalayas and the ancient highways of India, where there is a casualty on the roads every 4.5 minutes.
From the crowded streets of Delhi to treacherously steep, narrow and congested roads blasted into mountainsides, they're about to embark on an exhilarating, exhausting and terrifying adventure.
India's Himalayan roadways are among the oldest on the planet. Dating back to 206 B.C., the Himalayas were an integral part of the famous Silk Routes, connecting Central Asia with South Asia, and creating a bridge between the culturally and religiously diverse countries of India, China, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan.

This season, the drivers will cover two main routes, each with its share of difficulties and dangers: the NH21 and NH22.

Starting out on NH22 in Shimla, the "highway" heads northeast through the town of Rampur, onto the villages of Tapri, Karcham, Kuppa,and Kalpa. Cut somewhat haphazardly out of mountain cliff-sides, parts of NH22 have earned fear-inducing nicknames like "Freefall Freeway," "The Cutouts," "Breakaway Bend," "The Ledge" and "Angry Mountain."

In many places along "the Cutouts," only enough rock has been blasted out of the mountains to allow one vehicle to pass at a time. The drivers have to both be aware of the 1,000-foot cliff they're driving along and scraping the top of their truck on the rock ceiling. "Breakaway Bend" challenges drivers to dangers of the unnatural kind--too much blasting has weakened the mountain from below, leading to not only potholes, but, in some places, total roadway failure. The road could give away from under the wheels of the truck at any moment.

On NH21, things only get worse. From Shimla, the drivers head north, straight into the heart of the Himalayas, toward Manali and onto Keylong. The real troubles aren't in the towns though, it's between them, as drivers are forced to cross the Rohtang Pass. Whether it's dodging landslides, rain or heavy snow; all-day traffic jams and weeks-long road closures, sometimes getting anywhere at all is too much to ask.

Deadliest roads

2010-10-03T13:07:00.001-07:00

IRT: Deadliest Roads, is both interesting and exciting. Three of the regular drivers have headed to India for two months to drive in the Himalayas during spring and early summer. It’s clear from the start that Alex Debogorski, Lisa Kelly, and Rick Yemm have no idea what they are getting into with this job. At a trucking company in Delhi, each driver is assigned a truck and a spotter, who helps with everything from navigating city streets to guiding the trucks along narrow mountain roads. The trucks themselves are underpowered and unprotected, with less than 50% of the horsepower of North American trucks and simple wooden frames. Driving on the left side of the road with a steering wheel on the right side of the cab provide two more challenges for the veteran truckers. Oh, and the temperatures at ground level soar to well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, a far cry from the below zero temperatures they know best.

The three truckers are assigned to deliver cement to in-progress dam projects high in the Himalayas. Their first problem is just getting out of Delhi, with its busy streets and careless pedestrians and drivers. Each driver has a different problem, with Rick’s stress level especially soaring on the treacherous mountain roads up to the town of Shimla. His truck’s weak engine forces him to crawl up the roads at 20 miles per hour. All the while, cars and buses speed around to pass him, heading into oncoming traffic. The shots of all this dangerous driving make it clear that it really is as bad as Rick thinks. We haven’t seen him since Season Two of Ice Road Truckers, as he was left behind in Canada when the show moved to Alaska. During those seasons, he often came across as a mixture of whiny and overconfident, a petulant man who was difficult to like. In India, outside of his comfort zone, his frustration and fear are completely understandable.

The second day of driving brings new challenges. The road gets more perilous heading through “The Cutouts,” areas where a narrow strip was literally blasted out of the side of mountains and clearance is difficult for taller vehicles. Buses whiz by, coming amazingly close to crashing into the trucks. A bridge, over a thousand feet high, is barely able to support the weight of the trucks. The spotters have to get out and direct the drivers to crawl across it, looking for the patches where the aging steel is strong enough to hold.

Deadliest Roads creates a palpable sense of white-knuckle fear that’s mostly absent from the original Ice Road Truckers. Despite being experienced drivers, the North Americans face numerous obstacles in India, including the language barrier. While this isn’t good news for the drivers themselves, it makes for very good television.

'Ice Road Truckers' Star Lisa Kelly Talks Danger and Earning Respect

2010-10-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

Posted on the Internet today, October 3, 2010:
If you thought the ice roads of Alaska were tough-trucking, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Lisa Kelly, Rick Yemm and Alex Debogorski of The History Channel's 'Ice Road Truckers' fame are leaving the frozen tundra of the Dalton Highway for the out-of-this-world trucking action of the Himalayan Mountains on a new spinoff, 'IRT: Deadliest Roads' (premiering Sun., Oct. 3 at 10PM ET).
Look for the guys and gal to navigate the crowded streets of Delhi -- locals aren't very attentive to traffic signals over there -- and the Himalayan roadways, which date back to 206 B.C. The Himalayan route, first built for yaks, has historically connected Central Asia with South Asia and provided a bridge among the cultures of India, China, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan.
TV Squad spoke with Kelly, who calls Wasilla, Alaska home, about her trip to the Himalayas and the challenges of being the only gal featured on 'Ice Road Truckers.' (And no, the married 29-year old has never met Wasilla's most famous resident, Sarah Palin.)
Q: It's my understanding that India has a big trucking culture. Is that true based on your experiences?
A: Trucking is big anywhere because you have to get stuff from one place to another, but it is different just because it was so wildly different. I don't know how to start to tell you.
Q: Folks don't pay as much attention to traffic signs and signals there as compared to here?
A: Ah, yeah! There's rules but they aren't enforced, so no one really follows them [And] there's no law on how much you can weight the trucks. Right before you break the frame, I guess. So they overload them and underpower them.

Q: It sounds like you're glad you're not a trucker there?
A: I am very thankful for where we live and how things are set up and the size of our trucks.
Q: What's more dangerous, trucking in the places that you truck on 'Ice Road Truckers' or the Himalayas?
A: It's definitely far more dangerous over there.
Q: On 'Ice Road Truckers,' you once hit a moose. Did you hit any creatures over there?
A: I hit lots of cars and rocks, but no creatures.
Q: You hit some cars there, though, right?
A: Oh, it's so unavoidable. Everybody smashes into something.
Q: It sounds like a demolition derby.
A: Pretty much. It's like, "Wait a minute, rules don't apply here. We can do whatever we want in these trucks -- watch out, here we come!"

Q: How do you feel you've been portrayed on 'Ice Road Truckers'? Does the Lisa Kelly that we watch jibe with how you really are in real life?
A: It's really hard to put out every aspect of my personality on TV in few minutes but for the most part I'm as real as I can be. I'm not faking anything. What comes across is the edited version, but more or less, yes.

Q: You fixed an air valve on your truck this season. It sounded like it was a big explosion in the engine and you got out and you fixed that.
A: That was kind of cool because it seems like I know how fix stuff a little bit here and there, not everything. But it seemed like every time something happened wrong on the camera, it would be something I didn't know how to fix. I'm like "Why can't something happen that I know how to fix?'' So it was nice to have something happen I could fix.
Q: In the last two seasons, 'Ice Road Truckers' has portrayed you as the new trucker who's trying to earn respect.
A: I've already proved myself to the guys in Alaska because I've been driving for six or seven years. They already know I can drive, but when the cameras are on, I have to reprove it to the world. It's a story. You can't just drive down a road, driving, so you build on a story. I would like the respect of the guys up there, but not to extent that I sometimes play, because I'm trying to make an interesting story. I do want their respect but I mostly already have it. I'm proving myself to the camera. But when the cameras aren't there, I just truck. I don't worry too much about it.

Q: Has the show altered your relationships? Are some guys jealous that you get so much attention?
A: I thought we'd stick together and be a good family, but it's just not that way, I guess. It just brings out the funny side of people. It's been a cool experience because I have discovered who my real friends are and who turns tail and runs at the first sign of a problem.

Q: Were you taken aback by the negative comments about you on the CB radio from the truckers during the June 13 episode ('The Polar Bear Returns')?
A: I was disappointed. The guys must think I live behind a screen and I'm not out there trucking with them. It's disappointing when you find out somebody doesn't like you but that's all right. Life goes on. I can get over it.