Winter Road Trucking
 

I'm sure most of you guys on here have heard enough about ice road truckers, but its something I've wanted to do long before watched the show or found out how much they made, it seems like a good job for me because I work a seasonal job which means I sit around all winter waiting for the spring.

So I've got a few questions for you guys who know more about it than I do:

1. I have a 1995 ford ltl9000 with a 350 hp cummings and a 10 speed with 650 000 original kms on it, is it enough truck or do they need a 500-600 hp truck?

2. Is there anything I can do to get my foot futher in the door than all those tv show fans?

I would suggest that you contact the companies that do the haul work. I would think your truck has enough hp for the job, since you don't drive fast on the ice..but it's age may be an issue.

Start with the companies that do the work though....and good luck. Now would be the time.

Thanks for the advice, but I would think the age would be an advantage because I wouldn't want wreak a new truck skidding on or going through the ice.

If the winter went well I would likely buy a newer low mileage truck to go back.

Say whaaaaat?

Yeah a cummings M11 set at 350 HP with a 10 speed behind it.

You might consider sending WILDKAT a PM.
She's been there and done that.

Oh. Must be a new engine. I have a Cummins in my Kenwerth :)

I'm a catipiler guy anyway;)

The size of the engine and hp ratings are not the real issue with that type of work. All the other components of the truck must be top line stuff to handle extreme cold, rough conditions and be reliable to lower risk of breakdown when someone is way out away from shops. I drove in Alaska for 10 years and the size and hp of the engine was not really top of the list of things I worried about. But temps that regularly get at, near, or below -50F can really be brutal on equipment. Brake lines, suspension components, etc will really start to take a beating in that kind of cold. We even ran tubes in the tires to prevent the bead from breaking when the truck would sit for only a couple of hours and a tire go flat. Just sitting for a couple of hours, the tires would stiffen such that it took a while to get them to soften enough to not feel like you were running over railroad tracks. We called it the "Fairbanks Square Tire effect". Along with air dryers, we also ran alchohol injection systems to put alchohol regularly in the air system to keep things from freezing up. It is very important to carry a number of spare parts, fluids, and plenty of tools. Belts and hoses (coolant and air) are the most suseptible to breaking at the most inoportune time. Fuel filters are critical!!

It takes a heavy dose of common sense to operate in those conditions. Simple little things mean a lot, like not setting your brakes when you stop until the brakes are completely cold. Busting them loose is not a fun task at extreme cold conditions. And you can forget about those simple walk around pre trips that are so common in the lower 48. A thorough, complete pretrip is mandatory!

Doing that type of work is a real mind game. You have to really want it and you have to be mentally prepared for it. Mind over matter is not a catch phrase in that environment.

Well the truck I have is in good mechanical shape, although I would worry about the body, thats why I would likely buy a different truck before going back. Would I have to go somewhere special to buy tubes? I sure I haven't seen tubed tires in a while.

I guess my engine is just a little more excited than yours.:cool:

True, you won't really find tubes in tires down here, but they are quite common in Alaska for cold weather use. They would be easy to get once you get to more northern climates. You can use them even in tubeless tires.

Check www.carlile.com they run trucks on the Alaskan Highway.They are currently hiring drivers.

Your website link isn't right, but I think I want to stay in Canada anyway, although the dalton does look more interesting.

Sorry about that.The company is Carlile.They have been featured on Ice Road Trucker this season.

You have to work in your own country.

Cabotage rules.

If you are serious, go work for Continental Cartage starting now, and keep quiet about the Winter Road. They are a Landtran affiliate to Tli Cho, the company that they were all working for in the first year series.

First dibs go to their own drivers, then they fill from outside, and they also do a lot of the pre-positioning of freight in Yellowknife before the winter.

350 HP might be a little small, but see if they'll take you, economy the way it is, who knows?

The time to get your air system up to snuff for arctic conditions is right now. You want a few months of nice dry air floating around in there. Fresh desicant in the air drier, get the leaks and crappy hoses changed out. Rubber, not plastic, for the lines to the trailer.

I'd love to head up there now and work, but I have a seasonal job here for a family owned business, climbing trees if you can believe it.