Im addicted to the show. Now im not looking to do this but watching the show and Hugh's truck problems I got to wondering. What does it cost to rent a truck? Would it make sense for any of those guys to lease/rent a truck just for the ice road season and return it? Seems like it would make sense as you generally would get an almost new truck. I know old and new trucks break but the odds are a little better than with something that hugh had i would assume. I have no idea of the costs involved.... Educate me please.....
I dont know about the big rig costs and havent seen the show yet. But I know when I was up in Inuvik all the auger trucks the company I was working for had were leased. They were one ton Fords. Poor bastards that bought those after we were done with them were not getting as good of deal as they figured. They had very little miles on them but ran 24/7 in 8-10 inches of water. For that application Im sure leasing is the way to go.
I wonder is a lease company would even rent you a truck? I bet there insurance company wouldnt cover any loss if you went through the ice. I also love the show and have recorded every show.
I know the Mackenzie river between Inuvik and Tuktoyuktuk is a government regulated road in the winter. Your insurance is good on it as long as your not on it after it closes for the season. Dont know how the insurance works on the rest of the roads though. I dont imagine it would be any diferent then going 'off road' down south?
That's my thought, If I were a leasing Co. no amount of $$ would get me to send trucks up there. DP
I've seen a few of these shows. My first thoughts are wow, these guys are nuts. And the money appears to be decent, but not even close to enough to deal with those conditions. I think, I might have a little fun with my insurance agent and tell them I am going to take a truck to the ice road. And hey is it just me,- if the heater fails, wouldn't that be the last load until it is fixed? What's with that guy almost getting frost bite on his feet, just to make a little more money. Does workers compensation in Canada cover idoits who freeze their own feet? RT
Yeah, the insurance company still insures my Chevy after all the things I've put it through.......granted, they haven't seen the pictures of some of them mudholes though. :cool2 :naughty When I get my bill every month, it says "1985 Chevrolet Silverado 4x2". Hmmm....someone musta forgotten to tell them about the 4x4 shifter.
Well I know everyone in Inuvik and Tuktoyuktuk all have insurance and drive the ice roads. As far as the conditions I could no more take the extream heat then you guys could take the extream cold. Its somthing you are conditioned to. I have spent plenty of 12-16 hour days working outside or in a machine with no heater and had no problems with it. I was just fine. You dress for the conditions. I loved it up there. I have been on many diferent adventures and sofar that place has been my favorite.
Right on CB :drinkup Yup the odds off wrecking your vehicle on the ice roads arnt near as bad a person would think. Follow the rules and they are safe. I would imagine the people that insure them are from the North and understand it.
I gather from the show that there are alot of regulations. One of them guys got a pretty hefty ticket, $250 I think, for moving 40 ft off the scales while overloaded. He was just pulling off the scales to pull to the side so he could offload a little bit and as soon as the rear tires came off, the blue lights came on. :cool2 Definately one of my favorite shows.
I gotta get my satelite hooked back up, I wanna see that show. When I was there about six years ago it was a really laid back environment. No one was all uptight like modern society. Everyone was easy going and I next to never seen a cop. The attitude of all the people was the best I have ever come across. There was no real need for serious law enforcement. Was the guy that gave the ticket a young guy power tripping or something? He should be careful, not the type of place you want to be making to many enemies. :beatsme
I don't remember if he was young or not. :beatsme I know they have, or atleast thats what the show was putting across, a huge department of inspectors and such that are out patrolling the roads. This might be TV exaggerating and such but thats the way it came across.
I imagine its probably a lot diferent now then when I was there. It was only about six years ago but I think there is way more going on there now then when I was there. As well the show may be in a diferent area then I was in. The North country is huge.
Over on the History Channel website, there is a discussion forum dedicated to the show. A few of the drivers have posted there (Drew, Rick, and TJ), and let's just say that what was shown on TV wasn't necessarily the whole story... I thought it was a cool show, but I could have used a little less "drama" about Hugh and his drivers, but I guess that's the stuff that most people want to see. Joe
title on a reply? As to leasing a truck... You pay weekly. You pay say $800.00 a week just for the payment, then, you pay the insurance, which can get hefty. (If they'll even cover those trucks on the ice road.) $800.00 times the 2 months approximately that they can run the road totals $6400.00. That isn't incuding the taxes and insurance needed. Besides towards the end of the season, if they closed the road, and you are "up river", you have to leave your truck there, and get flown out, so, besides the hefty flight to get out, you also will have the hefty lease payment for another year while you wait for the ice road to form again...lol...Needless to say, if you own your own truck, you don't have a lease payment coming out of the $30,000.00 or so that they earn while up there. (and that is the high end of those that earned money up there.) Whereas if you own your truck, you don't have the lease payment, and like Hugh that owns the 4 trucks, he OWNS them. He probably doesn't owe anything on them at all. He was Ricks boss outside of the ice road, so if he's a boss somewhere else, I'm sure he has a little extra income. He hired 3 other drivers to drive his other trucks for him. If he hired them, they didn't get paid all the money they "earned." They were paid by the load/mile from Hugh. If they had a problem with their trucks, they had a place to get them fixed. Their problem was that they were in it for the money, and if the truck is sitting still, there is no money to be earned. You can also buy a brand new truck and have issues. Sometimes it takes time for them to "break in." So, even with a newer truck, that doesn't mean there won't be any problems. Yeah, Jay did get a ticket pulling off the scales. No, Jay wasn't power tripping, he was just trying to get his load balanced on the axles. They had over 800 drivers that started out on the ice road, and at the end of the season, there were only 125 left. We watched a show about 7 drivers. They picked the person that has been there the longest, the new person on the block, the one that hired his own crew and another young person (that specialized in "huge" loads). So, no, we didn't see all that was going on up there. They drove in "group of 4-5, so, if that were the case, and we only saw those that were doing the driving, they wouldn't have accomplished their goal. (NO, I didn't get into the show ....lol.... I just taped it and watched all of them...lol)
Welcome to HEF colleend01! :drinkup
Hi colleend01 welcome to HEF No one seems to know were the show is taped? Do you? I still haven't had a chance to see it. If the ice roads in the show are a river then this is probably the area http://www.explorenwt.com/destinations/arctic_coast/communities.asp All the places on that map have government regulated ice roads going to them in the winter. It is no problem getting insurance to drive on them. As long as the road is open your insurance will cover you. Once the roads close in the spring your not completely trapped yet but insurance no longer covers you. People still travel them for weeks. What happens is the spring run off from down South starts to swell the river, but the ice is still six feet thick (thawing down South but still cold in the Arctic). It begins to crack and flood but is still very strong until it starts completely breaking up and flowing to the ocean. If you have your own truck I'm sure you would bring in more then 30g. You couldn't even cover your fuel and maintenance bill for that much up there. That would likely be an average earnings if your driving for someone else, plus a roof and food covered. Not to bad considering the season is only about three months up there. I was referring to the guy giving the ticket power tripping, not the guy receiving. The numbers are always drastically reduced near the end of the season. Not so much from people quiting but just the season winding down. There are not as many people needed near the end.
Brian, The show was taped in Yellowknife, and focused primarily around three of the diamond mines to the north: BHP's Ekati mine, DeBeers' Snap Lake mine, and the Diavik mine. There was also a little footage of a few trips to a couple of the gold mines. As I mentioned in my other post. The History Channel has a website dedicated to the show, including a message forum. Oh yea, and welcome colleend01... :waving :drinkup Joe
oh ok, I'm gunna check that forum out. I haven't been on the ice roads North of Yellowknife. Stopped in at the airport there on my way back down South from Inuvik. What an awsome flight. Some beautiful country to see. I drove up and flew back. Their season is likely shorter there because when I flew out it had only been thawing for about a week in Inuvik but it was green in Yellowknife. My uncle spent a lot of time on those roads hauling iron into the mines. He also hauled one of the giant generators that power the town of Inuvik up the dempster hiway. He is the one that hooked me up with the people up there. I have some pictures I will scan and post from when I was there. Some cool stuff.
I personally see the +'s to using older trucks, simplicity, no sensors wiring etc to deal w/, pretty much your gonna get home. I know you can condition yoruself but I dont think anyone could to -46 below. I cant belive some of those guys out there chaining down laods w/o a mask over their face. I have to agree I think the now a days ice road is fairly closly watched and safe. Back in the old days though Heck no. I realize its all about the almighty dollar but I cant see why they dont team drive. OTher guy might drive you nuts but the seasons short, and its all about "turning and burning" 2 guys could SAFELY AND COMFORATBLY, run 24x7
That was "tj tilt cox" I liked his 378 pete I belive, he said it had a 525 cummins w/18spd, floater fronts winch truck was nice.
I finally got around to watching the last episode, number 10, today. I had forgotten some of the names. It was Jay that had gotten the ticket in one of the previous episodes. He was the one known for hauling the big loads.
Ok yeah your right it was jay who got it, I think he was the one that was 25 w/a wife and kid at home, tj was the one who got upgraded to that white volvo, and got in that fender bender
Last winter I had a truck spin a rod bearing, wiping the crankshaft out in Wytheville, Va. I got it towed to Roanoke to the Cat shop where I had them drop the pan to reveal the good news. Being I had a $500,000.00 machine on the trailer headed to Rockford,Ill. to an upscale machine shop, I had to do something. I priced out 3 rental trucks in the Roanoke area, and found Penske to be the least expensive. I got a ride to Penske and after hitting all the high spots on the company credit card, the kid with the necktie behind the counter gave me a set of keys and pointed to a Freightliner Columbia outside. I said, "Don't you want to see my drivers license or anything?" He said, "Naaaah. You're all set." I couldn't believe what I was hearing, but realizing I just finalized the simplest deal I've ever been involved in, I didn't say another word and jumped in and left. It was that easy to rent a truck. That's just what I'd do if I lost my mind completely, and went up to run the ice roads...I'd take one of those big, ugly Penske condo Freightliners that make even a handsome man look like a complete idiot just sitting in the thing, and head for TLI CHO's dispatch trailer in Yellowknife. And if it did fall through the ice, well, hey...it's one less Freightliner, that's all.:drinkup Not a bad thing...
In the discussions on the history channel forums, Hugh said that they aren't allowed to have anyone else in the cab while on the ice. I'd guess that's to keep the second driver from going down with the ship in the sleeper if you break through.:beatsme You can notice that the video shot while on the ice was from mounted cameras both on the outside of the trucks and in the cabs. The interviews and such in the cabs were shot while in town or at the destinations.
It seems it is in the Northwest Territories. I did several searches based on different names brought up in the show. (Yellowknife(town) Nuna Logistics, Lockart Rest Stop (found a .pdf file that shows the map), tli cho landtran) Just to name a few of the things I searched. The show was shown on the history channel, so, there may be more information there. LOL as to the guy giving the ticket power tripping.... yeah.. I have to agree on that one. Thanks for the welcome all!
I'm unsure of the show details, I will have to check it out.I haven't had the pleasures of the inuvit roads. But look on a map from almost Edmonton, Alberta North to the top of the continent can have ice roads. I have put alot of miles on ice roads, it is a little precarious at first but if all abide by the rules it is a safe mode of travel. Speed kills ice roads, suprisingly 3-6' of ice can still move (You can't actually see it!!)and the weight of the vehicle especially the larger ones will push heaves like unseen waves in water. While flooding and freezing muskeg flats I've watched larger 60 Naudwells push a heave into back it litterelly popped the Naud fell in and allowed us a dozen more hours of cool overtime. NOTHIN' gets your heart pumpin' harder than cruisin' along at 50mph. trees haven't been seen for miles and you hear a CRACK! on them cold 20- 40 F mornings it can get as loud as a close lighting storm. But being on the road crew first thing in the fall is were the stress is. Today we have ice analysis and lighter specialty equipments and it keeps your attention similar to any road push,pack and grade snow though.
Definitly gone high tech. They were using sonar on the show. One I believe it was luna logistics. As for where. It was headquarterd out of yellow knife.
Here is TLI CHO sp? web site . They take applications for drivers and owner operators October 1 . http://www.tlicholandtran.com/ THis should get you close to the history channel ice road info. http://www.history.com/ :drinkup
another site. http://www.iceroadtruckerhugh.com/
Hi Noose, is there an online map of the ice roads in Northern Canada? What ice roads were you traveling and what were you doing up there? Got some pictures for us? It must have been a ways North. You have to travel a long ways past Edmonton before the tree line ends.
Yes, I too am hooked on the show. BUT, it would have to be ten times the money to get me up there. Good for those who do it and those of us who watch it.
I've not been on the big water ice, But there is just as risky ice roads over the grand lay of muskeg, that covers most of the northern province east to the Canadian shield. Remember muskegg is just stale water solidifying. There is untold depths of water beneath semi firm ground, but certain vegetation grows hardy on the solid ground. Ice roads are difficult to map. If you have business up there yor business builds and maintains the road. But not all are maintained, basically if you have business up there you'll be privy to the knowledge. Any private ice road or logging road or any service road will have a sign at the entrance and exits, on that sign are the two way channels and the road name call at least every 5 miles if not 2. get the right two way channels and get it through the skull that loaded trucks ALWAYS have the right of way, Generally a loaded truck can pull you out you can't pull him out.
Oh ok...I thought when you said have a look at a map there was a map to look at. No one said that skeg is not dangerous, it surely can be. I have spent a few years working in it and I am aware of the dangers of it. So what was your business on the ice roads over it? What were you doing up there? Got some pics to share with us? I have some I will get scanned and posted asap. There are no ice road pics on HEF. We should get some of ours up along with the stories behind them. Looks like there are lots here who would enjoy them.
Years back I worked with a couple of outfits up around Wabasca, NW between Slave lake and Ft. McMurray, There were ribbons of ice roads up there. I was driveing a picker up in that exact same area( the Pelican) and the roads were close but some were reclaimed back. Maybe bad wells ,Muskeg, a lake who knows?:beatsme
i found this link the other day from the diavik mines has some good info about the ice road http://www.diavik.ca/News/2006/Winter Road Slides.pdf
If you think about what those guys made, it wasnt really worth it. I took what Alex and Hugh made in the 72 days they were there and they averaged $750 per day to the truck (gross), driver usually makes 25% of gross ($187 per day), and that was for the top earners. Could be big $$ for that area but i would rather stay down here and be home every few days and have some warmer weather.
Those are low rates. On average, flat beds will pull in at least 1500-2000 a day. Canadian.
Opps, double post, walked away for a bit and forgot where i was.