Ice Road Truckers returns for a fourth season, starts June 6

[Harry]

“Ice Road Truckers” actually began in 1999 when The History Channel aired a 46-minute episode as part of the “Suicide Missions” series. The first full season of the show aired in 2007.
On Sunday, June 6, at 9 p.m. Eastern,“Ice Road Truckers” returns for its fourth season. The truckers will be heading back to Alaska, 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle. This season, they’ll be driving dual trucks and will tackle the Ice River, where fast-flowing water beneath the ice constantly weakens the road.
Returning are drivers Hugh Rowland, OOIDA Life Member Alex Debogorski, Jack Jesse and Lisa Kelly.
According to The History Channel, “They’re joined by two new drivers: Ray, once an owner of his own Montana-based trucking company, who went bust during this recession, and Greg, the youngest and cockiest of the bunch, who may be helped or hindered by his extreme confidence.”
In a preview for the series, Debogorski says, “People have gone out there and made mistakes and got caught, got lost, got cold. Freezing to death and hypothermia are always a problem.”
Northern News Services reported recently that Debogorski is also participating in a new trucking series titled “Extreme Trucking,” which is expected to air this fall. Few details have been released, but the location is supposedly remote, exotic and challenging.
Earlier this year Debogorski wrote the lyrics for a song on the third volume of “Truckers Tracks.” The music for “Ice Road Trucker” was composed by Doug Jones, a Nashville recording artist and OOIDA member, and was sung by Grammy-nominated vocalist Johnny Neel.
Debogorski’s autobiography is scheduled for release by Penguin Canada in November.
Fellow Ice Road celebrity Rowland’s autobiography titled “On Thin Ice: Breakdowns, Whiteouts, and Survival on the World’s Deadliest Roads” will be published by Hyperion this June.
For a glimpse of what’s in store for viewers on “Ice Road Truckers” this season, click here (http://www.history.com/shows/ice-road-truckers/videos/irt-season-4-sneak-peek#irt-season-4-sneak-peek).
– By Elizabeth Andersen, staff editor
Courtesy of LandLine Magazine

[Mercenary]

I know its all hype but I really enjoy watching "Ice Road Truckers"

I have spoken to a couple of drivers who run the roads in Yellowknife and they say it isn't anywhere near as bad as what the show portrays but its good TV IMO even if 80% of it is hype.

[Tired Driver]

Too bad they had to go to Montana to film the truck sliding and going over the cliff, cost them 500,000.00 to get it on film.

[bikerboy]

I doubt it will air in canada for another year or more, we are always a year behind on history channel canada! season 3 is just airing now!

[Mercenary]

Ahhhhh BB....the wonders of the internet!!! You never need to be behind a season again if you use the right programs :)

[bikerboy]

ya i could watch it online, but i got no way to hook my computer to the tv, so i don't

[Mercenary]

ya i could watch it online, but i got no way to hook my computer to the tv, so i don't

Not really a 'techie' are you :P

I own a DVD player that 'allows' me to use a USB flash drive. Download the show to the flash drive and there ya go. Pretty cheap too....its a Pioneer and I paid about 90 bucks at Futureshop for it.

[JReid]

its on my star choice

[bikerboy]

Not really a 'techie' are you :P

I own a DVD player that 'allows' me to use a USB flash drive. Download the show to the flash drive and there ya go. Pretty cheap too....its a Pioneer and I paid about 90 bucks at Futureshop for it.

I am just to cheap to buy a dvd player with a USB port or a tv which can hook to the computer, someday i should.

[Pipeman]

In the early to mid 70's when the Alaska Pipeline was built. I had 22 trucks running the Alaska Highway from Alberta to the Deadhorse (North Slope) which is 501 miles north of Fairbanks. I have no idea what the big deal is today that they have to film these Ice Road Truckers. Hell, with a 350 Cunnins or 318 Detroit we used to make a rounder from Fairbanks to Deadhorse and back in 30 to 33 hours. The trip actually was paid on 54 hours but my drivers were paid the 54 and owner ops got 80% of gross. PLUS all Fuel, tire repairs and Board and Room at all the camps north of the Yukon River was paid for by Alyeska. The rate worked out to $7.28 a loaded mile. Thats a hell of a lot better than guys work for today.

My guys all had Alaska Highway experince for a number of years by the time the job started. Remember, at that time the Alaska Highway was gravel from Mile 101 to the Alaska border.

At one time US Immiigration and the US Justice Department cleared 7 of my trucks and drivers to haul within the USA from Fairbanks to Deadhorse and back because they knew how to run on ice. They stayed up there for 8 weeks.

[Mercenary]

Back when trucking was trucking eh Pipeman....

I think with most of these show like 'Ice Road Truckers" and 'Deadliest Catch' its all about the hype. 99.8% of the public won't ever be anywhere near jobs like this so, to them, it looks like the most dangerous job in the world.

I think it would be a blast to head up there and drive. I might get a shot one day....who knows.

[JReid]

I did it in 2006,a short season,still did ok though.I bobtailed to Edmonton on Jan 28 and got homeon March 14 signed my truck on with Continental in Edmonton and was working out of the Tli-Cho yard in Yellowknife.I tried to go again but they said there was too many truck's up there already.When the road was closed we had to take an empty back to Edmonton and if there was no empty's we bobtailed and it paid the same.

[Pipeman]

I did it in 2006,a short season,still did ok though.I bobtailed to Edmonton on Jan 28 and got homeon March 14 signed my truck on with Continental in Edmonton and was working out of the Tli-Cho yard in Yellowknife.I tried to go again but they said there was too many truck's up there already.When the road was closed we had to take an empty back to Edmonton and if there was no empty's we bobtailed and it paid the same.

In 2006 you would also have been working along some Pioneer Truck Lines lowbeds that were hauling for Continental.

[Mercenary]

Anybody been watching season 4?

[bikerboy]

i can hardly stand watching it anymore, there is so much untrue and bs and shots that are supposed to be all of the same truck, but the truck looks totally different in some of the shots. the show is made for stupid people that don't notice all the bs and fake stuff.
and they make it sound so dangerous, like trucks will just jackknife for no reason out of no where, LOL

[Tired Driver]

Try driving on the open road with untrained drivers coming at you going like crazy because they think they are the only ones on the road. Most of the shows roads are closed to public and have far more rules that are adhered to, or they are removed from the job fast. Too bad they can't show some video of drivers running some of the 2 lane goat paths we run in the night in the winter with flying snow and some stupid jerk running down the center of the road because his shorts are full. Run some of the wide loads down the hwys and have several cars giving you the finger because they can't get around you like they own the very road you are on. Smack the breaks and pot holes they don't seem to fix and then cross a scale with a full blown inspection going on.

[Mercenary]

Well for season 3 and 4 the show was filmed in Alaska on the Dalton Highway which is a public road. I think the Dalton is more in line to what drivers face in BC and Alberta in the winter.

I watch strictly for entertainment value alone. There is this one rookie on the road this season who won't chain up on the hills and he keeps spinning out. You'd think he'd have learned after the first couple times but no...

Then you have ol Alex and Hugh back as the Canadian content again which is always entertaining.....

Some freakin cold temperatures for sure. Minus fifty is cold no matter which scale you are using :)

[Pinner]

Spinning out because he can't shift ? Must be, because they only haul "part loads".

[buzzy]

Season 4 starts tonight on History Channel Canada 10pm

Question???? After all the discord on Deadliest Catch last winter, coupled with Cap'n Phil's passing, do you think they will do another season on TV?

[Mercenary]

I don't know. I think there are still plenty of boats on the water and as long as they are making money, then the show will still happen. THOSE *******s really go through hell for their pay eh!

Just when you think your job sucks......

[buzzy]

Sorry people, I was a day ahead of myself. Season 4- Ice road Truckers airs tonite (wednesday) on history channel canada.

[bikerboy]

watching it right now, and what a joke it is, lisa is so dumb, she tightens up a slack adjuster, and then doesn't know how to back it off again! lol

maybe she should have figured that out first! before trying to adjust them. then they were calling a drum brake a disc brake, and talking about a fuel tanker that was hauling 9000 tons, that must be one h*ll of a fuel tanker! LOL

these narratars are morons! they need someone who has drove a truck to do it.

[Pipeman]

Anyone that bothers watching that crap can't be too smart.

[Mercenary]

Anyone that bothers watching that crap can't be too smart.

Hey now......I watch it for the comedy....not for the insight into the trucking industry.......

[Pipeman]

Hey now......I watch it for the comedy....not for the insight into the trucking industry.......Well I suppose it could educational, you know, "How not to truck 101" . lol

[Pinner]

Wow, just wow. I'm caught up to episode 14 season 4.

114,000 lbs. on 10 axles (51,000 kg) and they have 2 pusher trucks... And a truck needs to help brake the load downhill.... Wow, and all chained up for good road conditions...?

Those drivers are soo bad I'm speechless. They can't shift to save their souls, horrible decision for Carlile to broadcast that incompetence. That Ray guy pulled out to pass and blew a shift, he stopped on the wrong side of the road, spun out because he can't shift as the trucks he was passing drove by...

I would not want to share a 2 lane highway with those drivers ! Total incompetence. FAIL

[ratfink]

Watched 10 min of it, had enough.
dont even know what episode it was.

Not bad for our image huh?

[Pipeman]

Wow, just wow. I'm caught up to episode 14 season 4.

114,000 lbs. on 10 axles (51,000 kg) and they have 2 pusher trucks... And a truck needs to help brake the load downhill.... Wow, and all chained up for good road conditions...?

Those drivers are soo bad I'm speechless. They can't shift to save their souls, horrible decision for Carlile to broadcast that incompetence. That Ray guy pulled out to pass and blew a shift, he stopped on the wrong side of the road, spun out because he can't shift as the trucks he was passing drove by...

I would not want to share a 2 lane highway with those drivers ! Total incompetence. FAILMy God, that's just enough drill pipe on a trailer to gross out 114,000 on a location move. What a bunch of wimps.

[Peacerider]

Well I suppose it could educational, you know, "How not to truck 101" . lol

I'm inexperienced, but you can say one thing about the show. Even if it hypes everything up about the dangers, the show actually makes trucking look more complicated than it is in that respect. You guys want to be recognized as 'skilled workers'. Well, guess what - if Canada watches that show and sees those exaggerations of danger and how drivers navigate through those things, it might just be a great PR tool for improving industry pay. To use a correlation, I believe television shows broadcasting minorities has helped stem the tide of racism more than any speech given by an activist. It allows people to draw an association between you and this thing they know nothing about. Besides how boring would a trucking show be to most people if there wasn't a bit of danger involved. Nobody wants to watch a big truck making it's way across the prairies for the next hour. The show is actually good attention, much the same way as action flicks of army dudes blowing up stuff on tv is the greatest recruitment tool the armed forces has.
Watching an action flick, everyone know, even if you aren't in the army that much of it is greatly exaggerated. Cars and other vehicles don't blow up like that and often explosions don't send people flying the way they show it, but it's great to watch. Take away the explosion from a car going over a cliff and suddenly it's nowhere near as exciting and nobody cares for it.

I for one, really enjoy the show and despite it not being 100 % real world, it does give an interesting glimpse into the trucking world or at least that of ice road truckers.

[nate980]

Season 4 starts tonight on History Channel Canada 10pm

Question???? After all the discord on Deadliest Catch last winter, coupled with Cap'n Phil's passing, do you think they will do another season on TV?

Deadliest catch is back!
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/deadliestcatch/about/about.html

[nate980]

I also thought the ice road trucking show was pure entertainment but i still watched it. Hugh rowland was my favourite character lol. And his book was full of him boasting about himself and all stories about stuff he did. Someday i think id like to give it a try...

[OilPatchTrucker]

Wow, just wow. I'm caught up to episode 14 season 4.

114,000 lbs. on 10 axles (51,000 kg) and they have 2 pusher trucks... And a truck needs to help brake the load downhill.... Wow, and all chained up for good road conditions...?

Those drivers are soo bad I'm speechless. They can't shift to save their souls, horrible decision for Carlile to broadcast that incompetence. That Ray guy pulled out to pass and blew a shift, he stopped on the wrong side of the road, spun out because he can't shift as the trucks he was passing drove by...

I would not want to share a 2 lane highway with those drivers ! Total incompetence. FAIL
I just did a push job to Ft AMc from Calgary.. load was 28 high 24 wide weighed in at 157,000KG and i was the only push truck.. we did it in 3 jumps travelling at 60km/hr approx,, Also did a rig move with Jerry from Mullen and hes not too impressed with how thye portray soem drivers in some of them shows..
and to see a guy with so much experience not know to chain up before he spun out..LOLOLOL just a joke to entertain the ignorant folks who aint drove more than 100 miles from the town they were born in

[BlueRaven]

Finally watched IRT for the first time tonight. I can say i liked it. Now i know why they keep calling me Lisa when i pick up in NS i kinda look like her. One man swear it was me because i always seem to disappear at the end of December, he's so convinced he keeps asking me why i change my name and color my hair every year when i come back to the Maritimes. Very entertaining.

[CNDTRUCKMAN]

I watched a trailer of IRT,don't know which season.
oh man,i love the sound of that engine.

anyone knows where to see the whole season online?

[OilPatchTrucker]

In the early to mid 70's when the Alaska Pipeline was built. I had 22 trucks running the Alaska Highway from Alberta to the Deadhorse (North Slope) which is 501 miles north of Fairbanks. I have no idea what the big deal is today that they have to film these Ice Road Truckers. Hell, with a 350 Cunnins or 318 Detroit we used to make a rounder from Fairbanks to Deadhorse and back in 30 to 33 hours. The trip actually was paid on 54 hours but my drivers were paid the 54 and owner ops got 80% of gross. PLUS all Fuel, tire repairs and Board and Room at all the camps north of the Yukon River was paid for by Alyeska. The rate worked out to $7.28 a loaded mile. Thats a hell of a lot better than guys work for today.

My guys all had Alaska Highway experince for a number of years by the time the job started. Remember, at that time the Alaska Highway was gravel from Mile 101 to the Alaska border.

At one time US Immiigration and the US Justice Department cleared 7 of my trucks and drivers to haul within the USA from Fairbanks to Deadhorse and back because they knew how to run on ice. They stayed up there for 8 weeks.
Its great TV for the un knowing isnt it?? But how many drivers go up and down ever season with never a prob?? LOTS.. take 4 dummies and have high drama every week makes good TV but not reality