Ice road truckers

[Boggin]

He he he, could you imagine a f-250/350 with an Eaton-Fuller Super 10 in it? LOL Imagine people trying to hop in and drive that. Never mind a 13 or 18 speed.

What everyone has to understand is that you can spec a Heavy truck any way you want. This isn't your car dealership where you only get one option of engine brand. The Western Stars, Pete's, K-wops are all expensive brand names you are paying for. A Volvo mud flap is about $20, a Pete one is over $100. Same thing just with a different name and came from a different dealer network.

You buy a fancy, expensive "brand" and you are going to be running your butt off trying to break even on the never/never plan. There is a lot to know and learn when you are looking into spec'ing a truck.

yup i dont think ill be buying petes

my dad had a western star, and a freightliner, the Star had a 475 cat with 18speed Eaton, she could pull pretty good

now the freightliner... she was a twin turbo'd 550 cat with 18 speed eatons
that could move

but ill be looking in to western stars/volvos and getting something with a Cat...possibly detroit or cummins, i hate mercedes

and yes i can shift up to 18th gear but when i did it was on a private road and i was towing an empty container with about 3 crates of pallets. thatwas with the twin turbo'd 550
and i know all about the trucking industry, unloading loads, sleeping day driving night, barely and sleep, stupid ass Dispatchers that only care about getting payed, but one time when i was in a yard with my dad {he drives for Day and Ross} one of the McCains guys came out with a cake, a box bust open and everybody took one and theres one left over, lol

first thing ill start off with is driving for a local trucking company around here, and when my 5 years is up, ill start driving for DayandRoss, cause they need 5 years too, and first i will be just driving around the island for a year or two, then gradually building up to farther and farther trips, than around the couple years ill be buying myself a new truck

roadkill how long does it usually take to buy a new truck? and i want to be able to pay for around half of it as a down payment, so approx 60-70k down payment

 

[Boggin]

ok after reading that, maybe around 30-40k

 

[Jason]

yup i dont think ill be buying petes

my dad had a western star, and a freightliner, the Star had a 475 cat with 18speed Eaton, she could pull pretty good

now the freightliner... she was a twin turbo'd 550 cat with 18 speed eatons
that could move

but ill be looking in to western stars/volvos and getting something with a Cat...possibly detroit or cummins, i hate mercedes

and yes i can shift up to 18th gear but when i did it was on a private road and i was towing an empty container with about 3 crates of pallets. thatwas with the twin turbo'd 550
and i know all about the trucking industry, unloading loads, sleeping day driving night, barely and sleep, stupid ass Dispatchers that only care about getting payed, but one time when i was in a yard with my dad {he drives for Day and Ross} one of the McCains guys came out with a cake, a box bust open and everybody took one and theres one left over, lol

first thing ill start off with is driving for a local trucking company around here, and when my 5 years is up, ill start driving for DayandRoss, cause they need 5 years too, and first i will be just driving around the island for a year or two, then gradually building up to farther and farther trips, than around the couple years ill be buying myself a new truck

roadkill how long does it usually take to buy a new truck? and i want to be able to pay for around half of it as a down payment, so approx 60-70k down payment

That all depends on too many things. It's almost like asking "how long is a piece of string"?

 

[Boggin]

well based on an average trucker, only home on weekends and making around .25 cents a mile

 

[Jason]

Well, if you own nothing else. Maybe 5-6 year and that assumes you prepare food in the truck and don't eat out much.

 

[Boggin]

yea, well im not sure yet, i still got another couple years in school

 

[willied]

As far as the manuals being easier, I saw an episode of Top Gear where they were driving semis and they were having quite the trouble with shifting and just driving the trucks in general. But I know nothing about semis, so yeah...lol.

 

[Jason]

the thing with heavy truck transmissions is they are almost all non-synchronized. You have to match the engine rpms manually or you won't get it in to gear. Plus, if you use the clutch like you would while learning, you have to be really careful not to get in to the clutch brake. Couple that with somewhat complicated procedures to find all of the available gears and you have a fun time waiting.

 

[Boggin]

yep on most tractor trailers the RPM got to be almost dead on to go in gear

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Me personally....I love the look of a Pete 379 done up right. If i was a rich truck driver....id own one...like this...

later,
Dustin

 

[Roadkill]

If you are only getting .25 cpm then you are getting screwed. LOL Even starting from nothing you should get at least .36cpm.

Remember though that even though you are otr all the time EVERYTHING costs more while you're driving. You can't just pull into a grocery store since most have weight limits and parking limits on their lots. Most of your food and supplies come from truck stops and they cost more. You can restock at home. Make sure you get a BIG plug in cooler and you can be set for a week out for cold food.

You won't be buying a new truck with a CAT engine as of the 2010's. They have said they are pulling out of the market due to the emissions BS that is going on for manufacturers. Cummins ISX, Detroit, or the Volvo engines are all quite nice.

You should be able to save up about $40K for a down payment in about 2 years if you pinch your pennies and live smart on and off the road. If you have a house and family then you can almost forget that number and double it. Don't get stupid with buying toys and make sure you budget and put away the money into a separate account.

I love driving, have enjoyed every moment on the road no matter the weather or what I'm loading/offloading. The thing I miss the most are my family, 36 hours or less at home is not much every week.

It can be a very rewarding career, and enjoyable. It's all in what you make of it really.

 

[wrecking-crew]

hey....i just started driving my ranger like 3 weeks ago.....im still not used to driving stick. never really drove stick until now.

 

[crbnunit]

I've driven that road about 8 times now. Never in the winter. I can tell you for a fact it is NOTHING like it used to be. They have been very busy straightening and widening it since the 70's.

I drove it the first time in 96. It was freaking frightening. It was/is gravel, about 1.5 lanes wide and in most places narrower than that. You shared it with all manner of vehicles including big trucks. It is about 400 miles long and no one is going slow.

It was not unusual to top a little rise only to find there was no other side! You would get to the crest and see nothing but sky!!! The road would drop out from underneath you into a very steep downhill that was whooped out from the trucks trying to stop before hitting the 90 degree turn at the bottom. If you were carrying any speed at all, you were in trouble no matter what you were driving. This happened over and over. You learned really quickly to slow down when you couldn't see over the hump. Guard rails? What are guard rails? There is nowhere it is safe to leave the roadway. You either drive off a mountain, into a forest, river or a swamp. The entire length of the road was marked with little white crosses where people had died.

The road is nothing like that now. It is 2-2.5 lanes wide, smooth and most all of the hills and turns have been mellowed. I have no doubt it is still challenging in the winter but nowhere near what it was. There is a little town called Coldfoot about halfway up the road. In the truck stop there is a "wall of shame". Pretty entertaining.

A beautiful drive. I highly recommend it to anyone with a spirit of adventure. Fair warning though, you can't get to the Arctic Ocean. Access is through the Prudo oilfields and is restricted. You will pay big bucks for fuel and the stops are a long way apart. Take survival gear! The mosquitos can be voracious and it can snow on any day of the year. There are bear... Brown ones black ones and even white if you get far enough north. Tree line is about 2000' and there are no trees north of the Brooks Range. You will pass through some of the most beautiful and remote country left on the planet. North of the Yukon River you could pick North, East or West, start walking and never see another human being. It is an awesome place.

 

[Jason]

I've driven that road about 8 times now. Never in the winter. I can tell you for a fact it is NOTHING like it used to be. They have been very busy straightening and widening it since the 70's.

I drove it the first time in 96. It was freaking frightening. It was/is gravel, about 1.5 lanes wide and in most places narrower than that. You shared it with all manner of vehicles including big trucks. It is about 400 miles long and no one is going slow.

It was not unusual to top a little rise only to find there was no other side! You would get to the crest and see nothing but sky!!! The road would drop out from underneath you into a very steep downhill that was whooped out from the trucks trying to stop before hitting the 90 degree turn at the bottom. If you were carrying any speed at all, you were in trouble no matter what you were driving. This happened over and over. You learned really quickly to slow down when you couldn't see over the hump. Guard rails? What are guard rails? There is nowhere it is safe to leave the roadway. You either drive off a mountain, into a forest, river or a swamp. The entire length of the road was marked with little white crosses where people had died.

The road is nothing like that now. It is 2-2.5 lanes wide, smooth and most all of the hills and turns have been mellowed. I have no doubt it is still challenging in the winter but nowhere near what it was. There is a little town called Coldfoot about halfway up the road. In the truck stop there is a "wall of shame". Pretty entertaining.

A beautiful drive. I highly recommend it to anyone with a spirit of adventure. Fair warning though, you can't get to the Arctic Ocean. Access is through the Prudo oilfields and is restricted. You will pay big bucks for fuel and the stops are a long way apart. Take survival gear! The mosquitos can be voracious and it can snow on any day of the year. There are bear... Brown ones black ones and even white if you get far enough north. Tree line is about 2000' and there are no trees north of the Brooks Range. You will pass through some of the most beautiful and remote country left on the planet. North of the Yukon River you could pick North, East or West, start walking and never see another human being. It is an awesome place.

Huh?

 

[Boggin]

If you are only getting .25 cpm then you are getting screwed. LOL Even starting from nothing you should get at least .36cpm.

Remember though that even though you are otr all the time EVERYTHING costs more while you're driving. You can't just pull into a grocery store since most have weight limits and parking limits on their lots. Most of your food and supplies come from truck stops and they cost more. You can restock at home. Make sure you get a BIG plug in cooler and you can be set for a week out for cold food.

You won't be buying a new truck with a CAT engine as of the 2010's. They have said they are pulling out of the market due to the emissions BS that is going on for manufacturers. Cummins ISX, Detroit, or the Volvo engines are all quite nice.

You should be able to save up about $40K for a down payment in about 2 years if you pinch your pennies and live smart on and off the road. If you have a house and family then you can almost forget that number and double it. Don't get stupid with buying toys and make sure you budget and put away the money into a separate account.

I love driving, have enjoyed every moment on the road no matter the weather or what I'm loading/offloading. The thing I miss the most are my family, 36 hours or less at home is not much every week.

It can be a very rewarding career, and enjoyable. It's all in what you make of it really.

well yes dad andall his company and every company got within 35-40cents but in the end after fuel and food etc he would get around 25cents a kilometer