They are back! The Ice road boys and girl are back on History Channel.
I got a question- how do they keep those diesels running?
How do they keep the diesel fuel from turning into jelly in those saddle tanks?
I remember hearing stories about folks down on the border running Mexican diesel. A blue norther came through, the temperature dropped below 40.
There were dead diesels everywhere from Brownsville to El Paso.
I know the Mexican-based diesel is famous for having a lot of paraffin.
That actually gives you more BTUs which is great in warm weather.

__________________
NRA LIFE MEMBER

One of the few shows I miss after canning my cable service.Not quite good enough to make me subscribe again however.

u can just watch the shows online

They use #1 diesel with additives to help fight fuel gelling, and they have fuel preheaters too. When it's super cold, they don't even turn off the engines, just keep them running. If a truck or piece of equipment sits outside too long without running, they usually have to tow it indoors to thaw it out.

__________________
-Roger

Just like the other "reality" shows, way too much drama and BS. No way will I watch it.

Deadliest catch is my favorite, Ice road truckers is right up there.

__________________
Not enough space

One more question. How is it HISTORY? I mean the show is ok, not something I watch regularly but if I happen to land on it I'll watch sometimes. But i miss my HISTORY channel

I refer to these types of shows as "Man Oprah".
Love the truckers.

Also, diesels don't burn all the fuel they pump to the engine, the extra gets returned to the tanks and is warmed by it's passage through the fuel system.

The place I was working when the Alaskan Pipeline project started sent us promo material on the trucks they custom built for the project. The radiator was reduced to the size of a cab heater and the cab heater was greatly enlarged (in some cases replacing the passenger seat). There were also other changes including massively upgraded cab isulation and weather seals. I don't see any easily seen changes on the trucks on the show, possibly they discovered other work arounds. They might block most of the standard radiator instead.

my friends' cousin is on that show. (or was???) my friend said his cousin told him it's all fake. they set up the scenes and take "B shots" then edit it into a program.

__________________
UNDER THE CONE OF SILENCE

So you were telling us that they are not running trucks up through Alaska and Canada?
It only looks cold? I pretty much figured that a lot of the situational stuff was faked.
That don't come as a big surprise.
But they seem to be running big rigs over ugly roads in terrible weather and keeping the diesels running.

__________________
NRA LIFE MEMBER

It's fun to watch.Especially when a truck jackknifes or breaks through the ice and I'm left wondering how the hell they happened to have a camera right there

I question some of the time the drivers spend behind the wheel. (TV BS no doubt)

Been watching it since it first went on the air and on many shows they talk about DOT (or whatever else it is know by) giving out tickets and doing inspections. So it appears they do have cops on those roads.

Just last night I heard one of the driver’s ay he did 14 hours with more to do. How in the name of Haides do they get away with the hours it appears these drivers do? Many of the shows they do a long haul, quick drop and off they go again. No such thing as a log book up there or what!

__________________
14 S&W Revs none with locks!

I suspect all the reality shows create at least as much drama as they capture but I also suspect that much of the drama is creative editing rather than outright fabrication or staging. Not that they don't do that as well.
The episode the other night had a truck that slid down a hill and the driver said he'd only be driving a truck for two days. Maybe he meant he had only been on the ice road for two days but I would have thought any company running freight up there would require at least a year if not five years of operating a big rig under less extreme conditions before even giving them a chance.
I have seen episodes where a driver gets cited for not having the requisite flares or something on board, that stuff would be far easier to fake than a truck needing to be pulled off its side out of a ditch.

You have good point....However some of the shows are entertaining and informative. I have Cajun friends but I never heard about catching alligators...I also have a friend from Yellow ,Knife and he never mentioned ice roads..The one thing I do remember he always listened to WCKY radio out of Cincinnati back in the fifties..It was the most powerful radio station in those days. What happened to the Military channel, you now can see some military but with a lot of non-military stuff on it...Sure beats Oprah. I would never watch NBC if it didn't have some good sports.... in my opinion NBC is just basically a arm of the liberal so called progressive way of thinking....I guess I'm not progressive......I guess that is why they put channel changers on the boob tube....JMO

Just remember, in that truck or following close behind are several cameramen, a sound guy, a lighting guy, a director and producer and someone has to bring something to eat, etc.. It's quite a production if you've ever seen one. What they show on TV is quite a stretch from reality. Lisa is pretty easy on the eyes though.

__________________
Back to back World War Champs.

Canadian hours of service rules are different from those in the US, and it is also possible that they have some exceptions for the operations in that area. Keeping trucks running in the cold generally is not all that hard if they are set up for it. I used to run to Maine regularly. Gotta use good fuel (filled up at Buzzy's regularly, and they listed the blend all winter), plus I carried a few gallons of power service that I would use in the really cold, and I had a tank heater. Can't use a winter front or otherwise block the radiator with a Mack (at least not on the older engines into the mid 90s) as that voided the warranty.

__________________
NHI, 10-8.

I haven't watched the show for a couple of years, but.... That show is (was?) filmed on the ice roads between Fairbanks & the North Slope, Alaska, United States of America.

Unless something has changed recently...

__________________
-Roger

I gave up on the Ice Road Truckers several years ago because of all the drama. I don't care for any of those reality type shows or what ever you call them anymore. Just give me a good old western and I am happy.

__________________
James
On the Llano Estacado

I like it. Mostly faked? Don't know or care. I still like it.

They use arctic grade fuel, which is lighter than regular grade diesel plus additives. We used to retrieve the summer fuel from the work camps in early September and replace it with arctic grade fuel. The only time engines are shut down is to change oil and that is a two or three man job to drain the oil, replace the filters and start installing new oil to restart the engine. We ran the engines from late September or early October until mid or late April. The hours sure ran up on those engines.

Driving on ice is slow and steady to keep behind a steady pressure wave. In the early and late season a lot of guys drove with the door open incase of a break through and to listen to the ice cracking, which is pretty constant. Solid ice has a sharp crack and your butt sure puckered when you heard dull cracking.

A lot of mods are made to the trucks before they go north. Driving time was not regulated back when I was in the arctic. The show has a lot of fluff does not capture what really happens, but I guess that is "reality".

Isopropyl alcohol?

Expand your idea of what "history" is. History isn't just battles, generals, and presidents. History is made every day by ordinary folks doing ordinary things. My father made history every day when he built houses. Those houses are still standing with people living in them. My uncle made history with every furrow he plowed. It was small scale, and personal history, but it's history.

Pawn Stars deals with a lot of old stuff...that's history. Rick restors old things...those are history. Danny restors old cars. History The Ice Road Truckers are writing their own history on that road, just the same as the first truckers did on the Lincoln Highway back in the day. Even if you want to say the show is "fake" there are truckers up there doing that job every day.

__________________
John 3:16 .

You got that right, driver!

Attached Images

Lisa Kelly.jpg (59.1 KB, 39 views)

__________________
That's what we do!

It's been a long time since I enforced any traffic laws but I do know there is a difference in Intrastate vs. Interstate trucking. Since they stay in Alaska, that may make a difference and like you said Canada has their own rules.

__________________
Support your Police, & NRA

*
If I was a bad person, I would have a bad thought. Just sayin'.

__________________
NHI, 10-8.

I didn't think that guy Art would be back this year and what did he do on his first run, he went 12 hours in the wrong direction.

__________________
Don

They really have her dolled up....

I lived in Wasilla for 23 years. I have met her. She is not that gorgeous...

__________________
-Roger

I agree, they do have her dolled up. But shes still cute and worth looking at.

While I wouldn't expect her to take the crown at a beauty pageant, she is easier on the eyes than the Polar Bear or Debogorsky.

I guess the TV people didn't know the right way either....Keep plugging Art you just might get it right one of these days......Then again maybe not...