Anyone hooked on the TV series "Ice Road Truckers" that's currently running the History Channel, like me? I think its just fascinating to watch these guys trying to make HUGE amounts of money in just a window of time. Every second counts before the ice road melts but you've also gotta keep your truck speed low or you could CRACK THE ICE and take You and your truck to Davy Jones Locker. Here's a link:

http://www.history.com/minisites/iceroadtruckers

We've been watching it. What a tough way to make a living, but I suppose there are worse ways. If we have the air conditioning set to cold when we're watching it, it seems like winter and I start shivering.

The history channel has some great programming on it.

Deadliest Catch? That may be a worse way to make money...

Really Cool Show. Pun intended. I have been following it since it started.

There is supposed to be an "Ice Road Truckers" marathon on this coming Sunday before the season finale. I'll have to DVR it.(unless its raining, in which case, I'll probably stay inside and "couch potato" it.)

Here is a short clip of "Ice Trucking" that will blow your mind. Put your coffee down before you view the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQsL9cGOUuc

COOL! I mean icy.

It would make a great name for a band.......

The Ice Road Truckers and their Debut hit CD,

Melting Hearts, Melting Roads....

"Ice Road Truckers" makes me think of "Squirrel Nut Zippers" Don't know why.

Cool program, BTW.

Ice road truckers is real interesting, because it shows the extremes of human nature. Men, havent seen any women drivers on it, risking their lives for money and adventure. But the end result, is to have some pretty rocks, women and men can wear.

Full hooked.... love it. There's FTE and then there's extreme FTE.

Learn how to work, kid!

DeBeers is a sick Apartheid loving, land raping group of Afrikaners. Furthermore, any woman who would rather have a diamond on her finger than on her turntable is not worth keeping for ten minutes -- let alone forever.

I really dig this program. It is better than most "reality" based shows in that it doesn't recycle 5 minutes of footage over and over and over to fill an hour, and it does not bore me with endless CGI. Not a bad offering from the usually embarrassing Revisionist History channel.

Littlesongs, is there anything in this world you don't dislike?

I like the show. Seeing the lives and struggles of real people doing a hard job is a rare thing in mass media. The quasi-documentary approach is something I like and admire. I thought that was clear. I am a working person, so yes, coalitions of international straw bosses will always piss me off. Especially the ones, like DeBeers, with blood on their hands. Still, as I said, I like the show.

I find what passes for the things I am supposed to like to be pathetic and aimed to please a less intelligent creature. This is why I have no need for a big screen television or a marble toilet. Facilities primarily dedicated to gathering and distributing loads of shit deserve no "place of honor" in my house.

Should I start a Things I Like thread? It would be quite a project to narrow it down to a few gigabytes.

Sunday's marathon will last about as long as an average ice trucking run. I'll admit, I wish I had the time to do it. I wonder how many folks will catch the whole thing start to finish? Sit right in front of the AC with a splitting hangover for the full effect. :o)

When does it start and finish? I may try to DVR the whole thing, since I haven't seen the show but am intrigued as a result of this thread.

It looks like 11am to 9pm -- they are running all ten episodes!

http://www.history.com/schedule.do?action=daily&start=1187568000000&getFullDay=t rue

If any of you want to visit Yellowknife and carouse with the Ice Road Truckers, you'll most likely find them between runs at these Bars:

http://www.yellowknife.worldweb.com/RestaurantsBars/PubsSportsBars/

If you're talking about those Fed Ex drivers, I think I'll pass.


I'll be picking up the DVD of Ice Road Truckers no doubt.

"This is why I have no need for a big screen television or a marble toilet.

I want big money so that I can finally become a consumer and do my part to help the economy.

My first purchases would be a Marble TV and a large capacity toilet. Maybe even one of them fancy side by side two seaters, with the automatic paper dispenser and icemaker.

The Ice Road Truckers and their Debut hit CD,

Melting Hearts, Melting Roads....

featuring songs made famous by Vanilla Ice, Ice Cube, Ice-T, T Rex, and Rex Harrison, a special DVD with deleted American Grafitti scenes featuring Harrison Ford, old baseball footage of Ford Frick, and a movie short featuring Frick and Frack.......

and that's as far as you can go with that one.

LOL!

LOL too!

I am sure everyone has noticed that the show features clips of CBC Radio North.

http://www.cbc.ca/north/index.html

The finale shows Northern Air host Brian Collins waking up the frigid region with the hope of Spring.

http://www.cbc.ca/northernair/

If you make the trip to Yellowknife, here's what you can listen and watch:

AM
1340 CFYK - Public Broadcasting News/Talk, fed by "CBC Radio One" - 4,000 watts.

FM
95.3 CFYK-FM - Classical & Jazz music, fed by "CBC Radio 2" - 114 watts.
100.1 CJCD - "Mix 100" Adult Contemporary music - 400 watts. http://www.cjcd.ca/
101.9 CKLB - Community Radio for Northern Native Peoples' - 130 watts.
103.5 CIVR - "Radio Taiga" French programming.

TV
8 CFYK-TV - CBC Northern service - 4,200 watts.
11 CHTY - Aboriginal Peoples Television Network - 730 watts.
13 CH4127 - SRC (CBC's French service) - 730 watts.

I just finished watching the entire series this weekend. I really liked it, thanks for the tip.

Overall, the thing I thought about most is how important oil is to this entire operation. Over 10,000 loads delivered via truck, and I would have to assume that the diamond mines themselves get all of their electricity via oil, and all machinery uses oil. An enormous effort to get diamonds in the most extreme weather conditions.

And you'd think that someone would figure-out how to make and market a heated brakeline. It seems that cold brakelines were the #1 malfunction.

Maybe imbed electrical filaments into the hoses and use low voltage connectors at points that they connect? Doesn't have to be much heat, just enough to keep the fluid and hoses above 32°F or whatever the freezing-point of that stuff is.

Last night they ran some sort of follow-up and had a bunch of old footage of the pioneers who started the ice roads. Somehow, it reminded me of the old barn storming bi-wing pilots.

I always thought that was kind of weird, aircraft fly in much colder weather, and dont have that problem with hydraulic hoses.

Ahem, semi-tractors have AIR BRAKES, not hydraulic brakes! The problem rises when moisture gets in the air system and causes various parts to freeze up.

There are various devices that remove moisture from the air supply, however (I have not seen the show) a typical problem is actual moisture around the brake drums (they get hot you know) freezing after shutdown then refusing to disengage after start up later.

I suppose in ice trucking they leave the engines running and brakes disengaged to keep them from frezing while the truck is not being driven, but clearly frozen brakes is a major problem in that business.

Another problem is sluggish diesel fuel. In those temperatures, diesel flows like lukewarm tar! While there are fuel tank heaters, clogged lines are commonplace.

Imagine being under your semi with a blowtorch with the ice making cracking sounds.

No. I will not imagine that. Thank-you-very-much.

Along with tank heaters they also have heated fuel lines, battery warmers, air dryer's and alcohol injecters for the air system, anti-gelling chemicals for the fuel, block heaters for the engine, all kinds of things to keep em running in cold weather.

"Thank-you-very-much."

You're welcome Opus!

Just caught another Great episode called "The Ice Road: Then & Now". It's an overview of the entire making of the road and the diamond mines. It's not so much about the truckers hour by hour like most episodes. This one might have been the first episode. I haven't seen them all. Check out the entire September schedule to catch ICE ROAD TRUCKERS below:

http://www.history.com/search.do?action=scheduleSearch&searchText=Ice+Road+Truck ers

In about 20 minutes, a brand new Ice Road Truckers! In a two part episode, the drivers reflect on the ice trucking season.

Just found "The Polar Bear" on Myspace. It's a hoot! Hugh Rowland, the Ice Road Trucker Boss RULES!

I want the T-Shirt with "CROSS YOUR NUTS!"

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=204781 163

Here are a few sites to further explore the ice roads:

Canada's Winter Ice Roads

http://www.thedieselgypsy.com/Ice%20Roads-3B-Denison.htm

Ol' Sam

http://pontoonlake.spaces.live.com/mmm2007-08-23_15.41/#

Winter Ice Road from Yellowknife to Great Bear Lake - Winter '74 and '75

http://clanmcleod.spaces.live.com/photos/cns!21BDFD3C527F523C!380/

Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road

http://www.diavik.ca/News/2006/Winter%20Road%20Slides.pdf

Ice Road Trucker says he has aversion to the cold

https://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2007/7/18/IceRoadTruckersayshehasaversiontothecold.aspx

Ice Road Truckers message board

http://friendswithoutborders.yuku.com/forums/82