whats the deal with those "ice road truckers" up in Alaska or wherever that is....

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by somebody, Jan 8, 2013.

  1. Bayle

    Bayle Road Train Member

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    My Qualcomm has hos for Canada main and canda north and the hours are longer for north. Not quite sure what they mean though. For example right now mine is showing drive time available for US 08:18, Canada Main 10:18, and Canada north 12:18
     
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  3. walstib

    walstib Darkstar

    What surprises me, from what I've seen is they don't seem to have what I would consider emergency gear for the conditions they drive under. Or over, like frozen lakes. Saw one breakdown, -30 or so out, and he had nothing but coat and basic clothing. I'd think an emergency heater would be standard equipment and a thermal tent if they needed it. Not saying, just saying.
     
  4. freightrunner

    freightrunner Heavy Load Member

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    They say 55k-85k. I can believe that more than the 250k but The time away from home, and expenses makes it not worth it..
     
  5. Chinatown

    Chinatown Road Train Member

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    Go to the trans-system website. They run Alaska and the website will give info on the training/CDL schools required, etc.

    A friend of mine, from Alaska, did that stuff for 30 years & now retired at $10K a month. The sorry rascal is now bumming around the Orient with those 20 something's hotties. He didn't waste his money and made wise investments in retirement plans,etc.
     
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  6. double yellow

    double yellow Road Train Member

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    Wikipedia says Alaskan intrastate drivers can drive 15 hours in a 20-hour window. There may be additional exemptions for oilfield work.
     
  7. chompi

    chompi Road Train Member

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    You may want to start off with getting your license first.
     
  8. cuzzin it

    cuzzin it Road Train Member

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    go ahead take the fun oput of it :biggrin_25522:
     
  9. Flatbedder73

    Flatbedder73 Medium Load Member

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    i lived in AK for four years...before I started trucking. We are thinking about going back, but the job opps seem thin...for a new driver, try driving 81 in a West VA winter at max weight...then decide if you are Jack Jessie.
     
  10. Rockey

    Rockey Bobtail Member

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    I've always just ran the 11 hours in Canada. Just so I wouldn't be hassled in the 48.

    I did it once. I hauled a shorty 45x12 mod house across a frozen lake in ON to a gold mine.

    Was one of the worse paying loads I ever had. I loaded the house on Monday and then waited until Thursday because of the weather (over size loads suck) I had a grand total of something like 430 miles loaded. Then I got there Thursday night and they weren't ready for me. But that was as a company driver, lol. I'm sure the owner made bucks on it.
     
  11. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    Many of them are employees, not O/O and they make an OK wage.

    The problem with the show is the producers edit the episodes to make it look like something it isn't.

    It isn't that bad as they make their commentary out as and those drivers "showcased" are as marginal a driver as you can get according to a few who worked up there for years (speaking about the Alaska version of the show). The really funny thing is those five or so drivers don't represent the other 400 who work up there.

    Now the new Canadian version is kind of ruined by the tv created rivalry of the two companies (who really cares who gets the most loads, talk about the actual work) while bringing the drivers from the states seems to be rather disingenuous.
     
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