Page 17 - TW-DE-20190101.pdf

COVER STORY
Creating an
ice road
Continued from page 1
smooth and to protect the underly- ing land.
Much the same as any road, the finishing touches of the ice road is done with graders.
“You want to get the road so that the trucks can safely and without hurting themselves travel 30 km/h fully loaded,” said Wheaton.
Unlike back in the 1980s, when ice road trucks were built specif- ically for those harsh conditions, Wheaton said the trucks that travel on the road today are regular highway models.
“The same trucks you see running between Edmonton and Calgary is the same equipment that is running up the ice road,” he said.
Because there is such a short window when the ice roads can be used, it made more economi- cal sense to use standard highway trucks, and the ice road had to change to accommodate.
“Nobody wants to come up here and work for six to eight weeks and have their equipment broken or cracked,” said Wheaton. “So more money was invested into the road, which makes it more valuable for the trucking side.”
Donald Chisholm has been driving the JV Road for seven years and admitted he had to shake off some nerves the first time he rolled onto the frozen lake.
“The whole safety aspect of hauling 63,000 kg over water on
a temporary road had me ques- tioning doing it,” said Chisholm. “After three or four runs, I was comfortable. Safety was top notch with three-and-a-half to four feet of ice on the road, which is mea- sured daily.”
Fatigue is one of the biggest chal- lenges Chisholm said drivers have to face when traveling an ice road, with the long distances they have to cover at slow speeds.
“It’s important to maximize your rest,” said Chisholm. “Don’t get caught up with sitting around the camp table talking. Also, trying to run at regular times throughout the whole season helps with routine and combating fatigue.”
Another driver, Travis Smees, agrees that battling fatigue is a chal- lenge. In his fourth season driving the ice roads for Westcan, Smees said he had lofty expectations when he first headed up north.
“I was never really concerned about falling through the ice, as it has never happened to any major effect on this road to the diamond mines,” said Smees. “After the first couple of trips, it actually gets quite boring, monotonous even.”
Smees did say there are some spectacular sights traveling the
ice road, like the Northern Lights,
Constructing the JV ice road is about a six week process, and sees the majority of its truck traffic in February and March.
“Most of them leave here pretty
disappointed...it’s not what they
expected.”
– Larry Wheaton, on first-time ice road drivers
they don’t, and they come to a halt and wait for help.”
Wheaton said there are drivers who have a true passion for working the ice roads and return each year looking forward to the new season.
“Then we have the bucket list guys,” he said. “They show up because they watched it on TV and want to do that and put their mark that they’ve done it. Most of them leave here pretty disappointed...it’s not what they expected.” TW
herds of caribou, lynx, and even wolverines.
Having a positive attitude is something Smees would advise of any driver looking to drive a season on the ice road.
And be willing to learn.
“Take the advice on the road from the veterans who have been driving the road for years,” he said. “I learned my first year from some of the guys who have been at it for a while and they know all the tricks of the trade to make the season up north go along with few hitches.”
A fully-loaded tractor-trailer can travel a maximum of 30 km/h on the ice road, while empty trucks can up their speed to around 60-70 km/h.
RTL provides a crew that oper- ates 24/7 security and maintenance for the road to ensure its safety.
“The trucks beat the hell out of the road,” said Wheaton. “When you have traffic – running 175 to 200 trucks per day, loaded, one way – the road takes a beating, so you’re constantly maintaining it.”
One issue Wheaton has seen since 2008 is frigid temperatures crippling regenerated trucks.
“All these Tier 4 engines that we have to run in these cold tempera- tures really struggle,” he said. “You have guys running around with laptops trying to keep these things running because they have sensors that are out. You’re not physically breaking the truck; 80% of it is tied to re-gen issues.”
Wheaton said temperatures between -20 and -30 Celsius are ideal, but when they drop to -40 Celsius, much of today’s equipment struggles.
“If you have seasoned winter road drivers, they know how to deal with the situation,” he said. “If you have a bunch of new drivers,
Influence of
Ice Road Truckers
Though it makes for some enter- taining television, the show Ice Road Truckers has created what Wheaton said is an inaccurate depiction of driving on ice roads, particularly the JV Road.
“These guys are regulated from the time they leave until they get back,” said Wheaton. “They are monitored, there are people out on the road...this whole racing down the road, sliding trailers, and jackknifing, that doesn’t happen. We’re moving 12 trucks an hour up the road 24 hours a day. You don’t have time for all that stuff you see on TV.”
Chisholm said some new drivers get a kick out of watching Ice Road Truckers, but cautions them not to be fooled into think- ing that’s the reality of the job.
“Although the show depicts actual things that can happen on the ice roads, and may have happened, the frequency of the incidents make for exciting tele- vision, but are not the reality
of working the ice roads that
we travel,” said Chisholm. “The roads I work have a convoy of a
minimum of two and maximum of four trucks. We always have radio contact in case of emer- gency, the roads are well patrolled, and safety is at the forefront.”
Smees agrees, and said the show is more for the spectator than it is depicting what driving an ice road is really like.
“The ice road is heavily tested and constantly being worked
on by the maintenance crews anytime anything needs to be addressed like cracks,” he said. “There is security all over the road monitoring the trucks speeds and distances from each. They take it all very seriously and even a first time speeder can be removed from the ice road rotation. It is possibly the safest road to drive in the north, or even Canada, from what I’ve been told.”
Wheaton echoed that senti- ment, adding, “The JV Road that we have here is safer to drive on the one between Calgary and Edmonton by far, just because of the rules and regulations we have in place, and the training.” TW
January 2019 • Truck News – West 17