Ice Road Truckers on The History Channel
Maybe it’s because it is getting awfully close to 100 degrees in Texas.
Maybe it’s because of the 40 days of rain.
Whatever the reason, my family and I are hooked on Ice Road Truckers on The History Channel.
It is a mini-series documenting the annual rush to get supplies up to the DeBeers Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories of Canada over several frozen lakes. The truckers have a few scant weeks to get the needed manufacturing and living supplies across the ice road, built on top of several frozen lakes and tundra with a healthy portion of man-made engineering. The story is told mostly through the experiences of a few 
truckers: Hugh, who holds the record for most loads; Rick, who is doing this for the second year and works for Hugh, but covets his record; Drew, a rookie on Hugh’s crew; Alex, who has about 100 kids and has been doing the ice road the longest; TJ, a rookie; and Jay, a local (from Yellowknife where the road starts) who has been doing this since he was 18.
The pay is high, the risks are high and the conditions suck. Plus the more loads you move, the more you get paid, and there are, of course, bragging rights. So lots of sleep deprivation. What else do you need for a summer blockbuster hit?
And I’m willing to bet they bring this back next year; the series has garnered a lot of interest so I’m sure a lot of dry weather truckers are going to be heading up to Yellowknife this coming winter, certain that they can drive on the ice, thinking that it’s no big deal. All you need is a truck, a tuque and a map of Canada, ay?
Sundays at 10pm Eastern on The History Channel. Updates posted in the Comments below.
Just watched Episode 3. Alex is in the lead, Drew is down for the count (truck in the shop)!
Ice Road Truckers’ Load Counts
Trucker::Tons::Estimated Cash
Alex:::::::125::::::: $13.0K
Rick:::::::::86::::::::$11.2K
Hugh::::::110::::::::$10.8K
Drew::::::::60::::::::$10.2K
TJ:::::::::::65::::::::$10.0K
Jay::::::::::87::::::::::$9.2K
After episode 4, 19 days into the 60 day season, TJ is using duct tape to warm up his truck! Excellent! Drew is finally back on the road….for the time being.
Trucker::Tons::Estimated Cash
Alex::::::::176::::$16,200
Hugh:::::::163::::$15,600
Rick:::::::::140::::$14,400
TJ::::::::::::122::::$12,200
Drew:::::::::60::::$10,200
Jay::::::::::::97::::$10,200
Episode 5. Kick off one guy on Hugh’s team that you have rarely seen on the show for speeding, and TJ gets in a fender bender. At the end of the show, all 3 of Hugh’s drivers are sitting in a bar with broken down trucks (or suspended) while he’s still driving…but not yet in the lead.
Trucker::Tons::Estimated Cash
Alex:::::::262::::$21,200
Hugh::::::214::::$20,400
Rick::::::::202::::$17,200
Jay:::::::::173::::$16,800 (they don’t even show Jay in this show)
TJ:::::::::::177::::$15,400
Drew::::::116::::$13,400
Episode 6. Someone falls through the ice, but not all the way. And Jay hauls the heaviest load of the season, vaulting him up the charts, 7 tons and $800 behind the polar bear…still don’t know if they win anything besides bragging rights TJ’s numbers don’t look right to me, as he has 21 more tons hauled but his money is still the same, so I’m sure he is ahead of the laggard Drew.!
Trucker::Tons::Estimated Cash
Alex:::::::346::::$26,000
Hugh::::::249::::$23,600
Jay::::::::242::::$22,800
Rick:::::::254::::$20,200
Drew:::::127:::$16,200
TJ::::::::::198::::$15,400
Episode 7: TJ gets sick and med-evac’d off the ice, cost him $12,000 (no insurance!!!!). Drew goes home (with some push from Hugh). Alex tries a new northwest path on the ice. After 35 days:
Trucker::Tons::Estimated Cash
Alex:::::::412::::$31,000
Hugh::::::376::::$29,400
Jay:::::::::333:::$28,000
Rick::::::::329:::$25,000
Drew::::::220:::$19,000
TJ:::::::::::213:::$18,400
Episode 8: TJ gets lost after over sleeping (from his injury?) and the convoy left him , Hugh calls in Danny to drive Drew’s old truck. The boys get caught in a story and stuck at one of the mines. After 39 days:
Trucker::Tons::Estimated Cash
Alex:::::::440::::$32,600
Hugh::::::418::::$30,800
Jay:::::::::371::::$30,500
Rick::::::::344::::$26,600
TJ:::::::::::233::::$20,000
Drew:::::220::::$19,000
Episode 9: one more episode to go. Jay goes on a new road for $6,000 for one load. Rick quits and goes home with Hugh won’t fix his heater (is Hugh a hard nut or are his drivers whiners?).
Hugh is all alone, but he is finally in the lead, after day 56 going into the last episode. It’s all up to Hugh, Alex, Jay and the rookie TJ, who just keeps on truckin (had to say that!).
Trucker::Tons::Estimated Cash
Hugh::::::572::::$42,800
Alex:::::::498::::$41,400
Jay::::::::440:::::$39,500
TJ:::::::::::288::::$29,000
Rick:::::::374:::::$28,000
Drew:::::220:::::$19,000