Yellowknife ice trucking

I agree 100%, but you should hear what the highway drivers had to say about it! Keep reading for more on that...


Oh, and hi Gale!

Feb 18th 2011

Another load of cement for Diavik. I had an 05:20 start from Yellowknife, following two Ventures West tankers to Lockhart. We were quite slow, though, for whatever reason. I do remember that Todd lost a bolt from a u-joint and had to stop on the top of Charlie's hill to put a new one in, but that only took 5 mins. The group behind us, led by Lex, caught up and we all ended up having lunch together at Lockhart. That was a good bunch - I remember we were taking the piss out of each other because we decided to split into two groups form there on. Between the six of us in the two convoys there were three trucks going to Diavik and three for BHP. We swapped around so that we would have a convoy for each mine, and there was much ribbing each other about which convoy was better and who was doing whom a favour by joining the other group, etc.

For a part of the lower portion of the road, you can hear southbound trucks on the alternate route while you're on the main road. The bitching about the state of the alternate route was unreal. For one thing it isn't even a bad road at all. As I think I've said before it reminded me of the Colomac Rd., and anyway the cracks and potholes on Mackay made that lake a far bumpier ride. I guess if you're a highway driver through and through then you may be a little uncomfortable, but I was shocked at the amount of crying that was going on. Worst of all, the crews were out working on the road while this was going on, so they were listening to these idiots insult them and the the job they were doing. All credit to them that the crews barely responded, and when they did so it was politely. I was actually a little embarrassed by the whole thing. People were saying that they'd quit before they had to drive that route again - sheesh, I could have made a fortune selling those adult diapers.

It was cold that morning, below -40c and the suspension in my rear trailer was acting up. The night before I'd dropped the trailer for a couple of hours to go into town and grab some supper, get a caffeine fix and stock up on junk food. When I came to reconnect I noticed that although the air rose in the lead trailer, the gauge on the rear trailer hardly moved. Here - I'll show you:

Lead trailer


Actually I think I might have deleted the wrong pics when I got back. that isn't the lead trailer at all, it is the rear one when I reconnected. That is reading a little below 20 pounds, and it should have been around the 40 or 50 mark. This isn't a huge problem and is to be expected in the cold, usually after just a couple of minutes driving it'll come back up of its own accord, and it is perfectly fine to run with it the way it is, so I left it. I kept checking it every time we stopped and had seen that it wasn't rising, but when I looked at Lockhart it read this:



:eek1 That's a whole lot of zero, folks! This could be a problem, it depends on whether or not anything is banging or rubbing that shouldn't be, but I was lucky and there was no harm being done. It wasn't worth creating any unnecessary drama about so I poured some methyl hydrate into the supply line between the two trailers (usually I'd have done both but Lex was saying something about leaving the service line alone) and carried on. The suspension never rose so that would be something I'd have to sort out once I was back in YK before I headed out again.

I think I've mentioned before how much I respect and enjoy Lex. He writes poetry and on occasion has been known to give a recital when the boys are stormed in at Lockhart. I was listening to him chatting with another driver on the way up about his writing and some of the stories behind it, and I had an idea.

We arrived at Diavik at 21:45 and it was very busy. Everyone prepared themselves for a long wait, and having visited the drivers trailer for a few minutes obligatory chin-wagging with everyone else, I went to Lex's truck and asked whether he had any books of his poetry. Yes he did - two - and I am now the proud owner of one of each. Once the season is over and he's back home I'll ask him whether or not I can print one or two here for you. There are two that catch the feel of the job perfectly.

I wrote in my notes that I had thoroughly enjoyed talking to all my IRT buddies that day - Lex, Charlie, Johnny Mack, Todd, Rick. This trip was far more enjoyable than the previous two, mostly due to who I was running with (although my last trip south from Lockhart with all those CCI guys had been fun).




Feb 19th 2011

An extremely bitter wind came up while I was being unloaded, which made being outside for more than a few minutes at a time pretty much impossible. Once my straps were off and put away, I put myself away in the cab and made sure the engine kept its temp up until it was time to brave the outside again when I had to take my paperwork to the loader operator to sign. On the radio I could hear guys talking on P.54 and P.55, and they were having trouble seeing each other.

Left the mine at 03:25 and the plan was to get the hell off Mackay Lake before we ended up trapped, but word was that Lockhart was full and we were all so tired that we stopped on P.49 and took our chances. We ended up there for 2.75 hrs and luckily were able to carry right on once we woke up. Behind us we heard a loaded tanker roll over on P.52. Oops. I never got to see this, but later I saw a video that someone else had taken when they drove past. There was no damage and the driver wasn't hurt, but that truck was lying right on its side in the snowbank. The driver had moved to toward the edge as another rig passed, and got a bit too close. Once you have one wheel over the edge you're lucky if you aren't just sucked right in. He wasn't lucky.



On the way south I arrived at Lockhart at 10:45. My buddy Brad was there - remember Brad and Wayne and the conversations we'd had about beautiful women a few years ago? I left again at 12:05 and passed Bill Murray Hollywood Superstar coming the other way! Anyone that read last year's stories about our adventures running back and forth from Colomac will remember Bill Murray. Funny thing is that neither of us knew the other was up there - and he had even seen that my truck had a different driver and had asked about me. I heard him say something very brief on the radio and recognized his voice instantly. "Hi Bill" I said, and immediately he replied, "Hey Ben". That's cool, I like that. Unfortunately I never saw him again so we never had the chance to catch up.

Back in Yellowknife (arrived at 18:30), one of the quarry guys and I spent almost two hours lying under the rear trailer in the cold and the dark with various tiger torches trying to get the suspension to rise. Eventually we had to admit defeat and they gave me another set of Super-Bs. A nice one!

Ah bollocks. I had uploaded another video for you but now they say it needs to be uploaded again. I'll post it up in a while...

EDIT: Here is the vid...

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/21366125" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/21366125">Plow 2</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3572985">Squonker</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

Cool job!

What's a Super-B?

That's the second time today I've heard that mentioned.

A Super-B (or Super-B train) is a 32ft trailer pulling a 28ft trailer, with the two connected by a second 5th wheel (the first 5th wheel being what connects the 'lead' trailer (the front one) to your truck). The three axles between the two trailers are called the 'bridge'. You can get a regular (i.e. not super!) B train, too, and that only has a tandem axle bridge. The trailer lengths may be different too, I'm not sure.

Because a set of 'trains' (whether they're super or not) articulates between the two trailers, a regular trailer is sometimes referred to as a 'straight' trailer - it doesn't bend (unless you wrap it around a tree, perhaps!)

Hmmm, probably not the world's best explanation. I'll see what I can find in the way of pix....

A straight trailer




A 'regular' B-train (two axle bridge)




A Super-B train (tri-axle bridge)



A choo-choo train (on a bridge )




Hope that helps!

Clear as mud!

Thanks!

I understand the truck lingo, pups,b trains, super b , etc but what caught my eye was that real coal burner steamer , where is this one scene located and out of what town?

Thanks ahead of time for the update. Love your take on what a real rough road can/should/will be in real time.

ride smart gale

sorry, feel like a shit for not saying a thing and lurking like a little baby. Very much enjoying the crazy stories and glad my friend is making some cash. I still don't undertstand how you get the train on the ice?

Very cool! Thanks Bud. Love seeing those graders on the ice.

I noticed in that vid and some of the others of plow vehicles it looks like they are moving along pretty good. Do they not have to follow the same 10kph speed limits as the trucks? The last grader I ran would run out at 29 mph in road gear, talk about fun on ice. LOL.

Gale, the choo choo train is from google! Sorry to disappoint you - I have no idea what the details are behind the picture, just thought it might generate a larff if I put it up while talking about 'trains' and 'bridges'. I hope it did...!

Jenna, no feeling like shit while reading this thread. It's da rulz! Good to hear from you, and I see no harm in lurking (unless it's the kind of lurking the cops need to hear about...).

How to get the train onto the ice? Hmmm....

Be good!

You know, I can honestly say that I only take those vids of the graders and plows for you! I know I'll be in shit if I don't, and every so often I think, "Oh, I should film this for galute"!

That's a good question re:the speed limits. No, weighing so much less the equipment doesn't have to keep to the same speed limits as the trucks. Also, plowing snow often works better with a little speed (when you're using a blade as opposed to a bucket, anyway). That does bring up a few good points, actually, but that's a whole different rant!

Glad you're enjoying the videos, there are more to come (including one of the steam train on the ice!!)

with the hit's my insurance takes per ticket (4 tickets will give you 200% surcharge) it's cheaper to pay a paralegal to get it thrown out for you.

It may have something to do with the location, but I suspect it's more to do with the nature of the ticket. (I don't have much experience with this - someone who has experience being ticketed can confirm or deny it for me)!

A ticket for, say, a log book infraction or having a headlight out isn't going to affect your insurance. But a ticket for DUI or dangerous driving...whole 'nuvver thing.

I would figure the tickets for doing a few km over the limit would be the ones that you would want to fight... at least here in ontario where a 5 over ticket is the same to your insurance as a 45 over. or is the ice road special?

Oh crap, before I do anything else I should get another video uploading. Hold on...

Ok, I'm back. Video about clutch-less shifting on the way....




Feb 20th 2011

I was much happier with my new trailers. I seem to remember that when I'd filled out an inspection report on the previous set before I'd even moved them anywhere, the list of problems to write down was so long that I needed to get creative about where I would fit it all in. These ones were sweet.

Left town at 06:40 having had a full five hours sleep. So spoiled! I was hungry though - I'd had no supper the night before, and it was too early for Gastown to be open. The way things were shaping up, it was beginning to look as though I might get eight trips in, which in two weeks is phenomenal. And to aid that goal, this trip was to Snap Lake, which is quite a bit closer to home than Diavik and BHP. On the negative side, though, Snap Lake is even more unorganized than Diavik. The problem with the latter is that the disorganization seems to be built into the system. At Snap Lake, they simply hire stupid people for the dispatch office.

I remember going there a few years ago...I've mentioned before how Tli-Cho were getting serious about people dragging wheels and creating flat spots on tires, it was costing the company mega $$. They began to put in a system whereby it would be harder for someone to do that and hide the fact, not tell anyone and get away with it. When we return from a trip and go to dispatch to hand on our trip tickets, we have to sign a line on the ticket that says that you've checked your tires and they're ok. Now, when the next guy comes and hooks up to the trailer you just dropped off, if he finds a hooped tire it is kinda hard for you to deny that it was you, having just signed off on their being ok when you dropped the trailer.

Anyway, the rest of the trip ticket is for dispatch at the mines to fill out. There are various reference numbers for your load, and lots of times to fill in. When you arrived at the mine, when you were ready to be unloaded, unload start time etc... Getting back to my story, this one time I was at Snap collecting my paperwork to leave and the dispatcher told me to sign that line about having checked my tires. Of course, if I'd said what I was thinking I'd have been in trouble, so I merely said, "We don't sign that until we are home". But no, she wasn't having any of it and wanted my john henry on the line before she'd sign off on my paperwork. I wonder whether she'd even read what she was asking me to sign.


Anyway, I digress! A disorganized mine and dumb-ass dispatchers can create problems. It wouldn't be unheard of if I had to wait there for 12 hours before being told merely to drop my trailer where I was sitting and hook up the one beside me...but let's try and think positive!



As I'd been getting loaded the night before (my trailer, not in the bar!), Charlie and I had discussed what time we were going to leave in the morning. I was keener to get out of town than he was, and he suggested that Merv might be looking for a partner. I didn't have a clue who Merv was, but it turns out that he and Charlie are neighbours back home. Acquaintances. I pretty much ignored this, but in the morning at Nuna dispatch, it turned out that I was indeed running with Merv.

Merv...well, where do I begin? He's a nice enough guy actually, but he's a little too keen on his GPS. I was leading, and at the Meadows he asked me whether I wanted him to let me know what speed I was doing. Are you fucking serious? I have a great big gauge in the middle of my dash for just that purpose ! But all was revealed when he next opened his mouth. "I usually like to run one or two over." Oh, so that's it. Well Merv buddy, I don't really give a shit how you like to run, and why should I? You were happy for me to lead, so shut up and sit 0.5 km behind me. Blimey...and there's more to come.



On the way north we heard from lots of guys who had been given tickets for not monitoring LADD 1. This is always of particular interest to me, because some of you will know that the only ticket I've ever got up there was for that exact same thing. I'm not very social anyway so I often just sit on LADD 1 and let everyone else yap elsewhere, but of course if I'm running with or passing friends I'll shoot the shit with them happily. Some guys seem to have a problem keeping their mouths shut, and as soon as they're on a lake more than 3 feet long they want you to go over to another channel and tell them your life story. Gimme a break! (Sheesh, I'm a crotchety old bastard aren't I! )

So...arrived at Lockhart at 15:10. Malcolm and Johnny Mack were there and they came north with us. Those two went ahead and Merv and I tucked in behind because we'd be turning off for Snap Lake, and as Malcolm pulled out of the parking lot onto the ice, John and I were sat there looking at each other. I got on the radio and said, "You'd better go first, John....age before beauty and all that " and Malcolm said something like , "Oh, it's going to be one of those trips!" Malcolm's a good guy, too, and we did have some chuckles.

Oh, and I see in my notes that we had had a 15 min wait at Lockhart before dispatch would let us go north. I checked my straps, cleaned my dash, adjusted a mirror and finally got my drivers side window to close all the way. I'll never open it again! (All last year and so far this year that window would only close to about 0.5 in. shy of where it should have done. It got cold in that cab sometimes!)



All my fears about the operation at Snap Lake were unfounded, and I was unloaded in half an hour, which might be my fastest ever time at that particular mine. Merv and I agreed to head straight back to Lockhart, but I think I heard something about trucks not being allowed to sleep at Snap Lake this year, so perhaps we'd have had no choice anyway. As we were heading out toward the main road, Charlie was in an in-bound group that we passed.

As we were about half way back to the main road a truck spun out coming up Snap 1 and we had to sit and wait. We (Merv and I) stopped on P.2, it being safer to hang out there than on the ice when we weren't sure how long we'd be held up. Merv started his shit again at this point, saying that we should go onto P.1. We couldn't do that because then we'd have met the inbound trucks on that portage once they were all moving again, and there isn't room to pull over on Snap 1. I had to tell him three times that were staying there, on Snap 2, and that once the in-bounds were moving again we'd make our way slowly towards them, and all pass each other on the ice. He didn't like it, but that wasn't my problem. While we were waiting, Charlie came up behind us having also made a quick exit from the mine.

When it became evident that the trucks on P.1. were almost ready to go again, Merv started to pester me about how we should be on the move. Well, that's pretty pointless. If we'd just taken off toward Snap 1 we'd have ended up sitting on the ice just this side of the portage until everyone else was off it. No harm in that, but we were already sitting waiting so why did it matter whether we did so where we were or elsewhere? My main thought was that there were other incoming trucks waiting at the bottom of Snap 1 too, and there wasn't any point on our moving until we knew for sure that everyone was up the hill. Merv, pipe down! If nothing else, I had already arranged with Security that we weren't going to move until he (Security) told us to. I was also wondering why Merv couldn't see that we'd look pretty stupid if we all suddenly appeared at P.1 when Security thought we were waiting patiently on Snap 2. Anyway....

When we did finally get going again, it turned out that a fourth truck had joined us and was sitting behind Charlie. This was news to me - it hadn't called any of the portages coming out of the mine, hadn't let me know it was there and I couldn't see it because it was a good ways back, around the corner. When Charlie told me it was there I asked the driver for his number so that I could call us all in at Lockhart, but also as leader I'm supposed to know the numbers of all the trucks in my group. But there was no answer. I tired a few times and never got a word out of him. Was his radio broken?

As we passed, Security, who had heard me trying to call him, called himself and the dude answered. I wrote this down because it turned out to be significant - his number was...666 . Well, ok then that's a silly joke :huh. It was 1371.




Feb 21st 2011

We were the last group allowed to park at Lockhart before they declared themselves full (we arrived at 01:00), and just a minute or so after I had called our numbers in, dispatch asked me to confirm the last number - 1371. I checked my piece of paper and yep, that's what I'd written down. Dispatch said that 1371 wasn't a valid number, that there was no 1371 on the road this season, but I didn't think I'd misheard it. I said if dispatch was really concerned he could get hold of the Snap Security guy who had got the number out of him in the first place.

Of course, before going to all this trouble I'd have just called him on the radio, "Hey, 1371, last truck in the group just pulling into Lockhart southbound, can you confirm your number?" but Charlie told me that he'd dropped out on P.44. Well, wtf - he never told me! This was strange - did the guy have some allergy to speaking on the radio? And why would you give security a false number? Spooky!

Before hitting the sack I went to speak to Charlie for a few minutes and he mentioned Merv. I said, "Yeah, that Merv is kinda annoying!" Charlie smiled and agreed. He said that a few years ago they'd been running together and after a few trips Charlie had had to find someone else to run with, he hadn't been able to stand it any longer .



We got a decent sleep at Lockhart and left at 07:15. When I went in for breakfast I asked dispatch whether they'd managed to solve the problem of the ghost truck - they have to know who is where because it's their job to know the location of every truck at all times. That way if there's an accident or a white out they can make sure everyone is safe. They had managed to find out what the truck's real number was, but wouldn't tell me anything about what he'd been up to. . It's definitely one of the stranger things I've encountered up there - I mean, we all try to cheat the system whenever we can (hey, we're truck drivers!!) but giving a fake number to Security....not quite sure how you'd ever get away with that.

So Charlie and Merv wanted to sleep in in the morning. I left with another guy who's name I can't remember, and he's one of the ones that wants to chat off channel all the time. Leave me alone! It was an uneventful trip back south until we got to just about Prosperous Lake on the alternative route. When taking that road we have to call in to dispatch at Blue Fin mine and they told us to wait on P.71. Soon trucks started to pile up behind us...





Next to turn up were Charlie and Merv, actually...so get this - I've said before how slow and steady always wins the day. Take this trip as an example. Before leaving town, Charlie had taken extra sleep, but then caught up with me while I was delayed two hours for the spin out on Snap 1 to be cleared. At Lockhart that morning he'd again opted for extra sleep, and now I was delayed another 90 mins for a tanker that managed to get itself sideways on P.70, again he caught up to me. All that hustling and bustling on my part, and I'm only about 500 metres ahead! Actually it was a clusterfuck while we were waiting for this second incident to be cleared, so many people were chatting on LADD 1 that Security and Blue Fin dispatch, who were trying to coordinate the rescue mission, couldn't communicate with each other.

Finally made it back to town at 15:00 and once I'd been reloaded with another load of cement for Diavik, I unhooked and went to pick up some Subway. A very dear friend lives close by so I called while I had the opportunity, and walked over there for a cup of tea.

Bloody hell, that's a long write-up!

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/21534592" width="400" frameborder="0" height="300"></iframe>Clutchless shifting from Squonker on Vimeo.

Oh yeah, I see the confusion. The DOT has no jurisdiction on the ice road. The tickets we get from Security on the ice never result in anything more than a suspension, and of course the more heinous the crime the longer the holiday. Those tickets are in no way related to driving licences, driver abstracts or insurance. Private road, private security company.

The DOT tickets are government issued, of course, but they don't have radar guns so they can't know if we're speeding on the Ingraham Trail, which is the only place we drive they they have any jurisdiction. They make a stop-check and pull us over to check log books and look over the truck etc. Those tickets (and those are the ones I was referring to in my previous answer) still don't reflect on your licence, insurance or abstract, but they can result in a fine. You asked earlier whether we could challenge the fine, and my answer still stands.

Interesting video, clutchless shifting is really the only way to do it with that box. I`ve tried using the clutch and stuffed it up most times, although I sometimes gave it a stab just to break contact when changing down.

Not sure how I`d go these days, after using an automated box for so long. Maybe a case of " lucky the gears are in a box and not a paper bag".

We had 15 tonne 6 wheelers until recently which had the 9 speed Eaton syncro box, so at least I could keep the shift pattern in my muscle memory

Now, we have new 27.5 tonne Scania 8 wheelers with the in house Opticruise 12 speed. This box is almost as disastrous as Eaton`s effort to automate their Roadranger.

great video, merv sounds like he has ants in his pants.

that makes more sense now

Since the DOT has no juristiction then you do not have to keep a log book and comply with hours of service then. Is that correct. Do they ever mandate a minimum hours of sleep rest or do they leave that totally up to you.

Obviously at various places you get in some sleep. so how cold does it get in the sleeper. diesels do not make much heat when not working, and as far as I know there is not a lot of insulation in a cab. Do you have extra heat sources or just use cold weather sleeping bag.

Rod

Hi David, yeah I also sometimes use a stab of clutch to help it out of gear when changing down too. I think the video would have been better if I could have shown the shift lever and the ground outside too, but it was the best I could do on the fly!

Last week, for the first time ever I drove a tractor with an auto box. A Mack, but I had no trailer on and it was just a quick couple of times around the block thing to see what it was like. I can imagine it being sweet if you were in the city all day long, but otherwise (and to be honest, even then!) give a proper 'box any day!

Rod, I'll answer the first part of your question when I have more time .

At a high idle the trucks keep their heat alright - depending on the outside temp and the wind direction, I find anywhere from 900 rpm and up is enough, and 90% of the time I'm idling between 900 and 1100 rpm while I'm sleeping. You get to know your truck, too, what it does and doesn't like/when it will or won''t keep its heat. We do have bunk heaters but I find that they generally make the place too hot, so I just let the cab heat make its way back to me and I'm usually pretty comfortable. I just use a regular sleeping bag (good for 0c) and a blanket. Although the cabs may be leaky and cold, the sleepers are usually pretty good. No doors or windows to leak and let the wind in.

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/21556354" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/21556354">Flood bus</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3572985">Squonker</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>