I`ve been watching ice road truckers in India and the state of driving by the locals , driving around blind bends on the wrong side of the road,ignoring red lights,driving on pavements to avoid traffic lights,cutting other drivers up then shaking their fists at them and in genral driving like lunatics,well thats a normal drive home from work in Bradford but now i know where they learnt there trade
ramone:
I`ve been watching ice road truckers in India and the state of driving by the locals , driving around blind bends on the wrong side of the road,ignoring red lights,driving on pavements to avoid traffic lights,cutting other drivers up then shaking their fists at them and in genral driving like lunatics,well thats a normal drive home from work in Bradford but now i know where they learnt there trade
stone the crows,i thought it was bradford.how wrong could i have been !!! 
curnock:
ramone:
I`ve been watching ice road truckers in India and the state of driving by the locals , driving around blind bends on the wrong side of the road,ignoring red lights,driving on pavements to avoid traffic lights,cutting other drivers up then shaking their fists at them and in genral driving like lunatics,well thats a normal drive home from work in Bradford but now i know where they learnt there tradestone the crows,i thought it was bradford.how wrong could i have been !!!
Its not as primitive as Bradford ,
Morning Gentlemen, no its not Bradford, Curnock you should recognise the buildings, its Sparkbrook! Cheerio for now!
M&C Jamie:
Hi lads, here we have a recovery job on Imranli mountain Turky,around winter78 The graders wanted me to go in between them so that the three of us could pull the merc out, but i did not fancy being streched between two graders . So i let them chain me on the end farthest away and with a bit of tugging we pulled it out.
There but for the grace of god go I. Regards Jamie.
Some great photos there Dave 
.
I just wondered if the blonde hair guy with his back to the camera was Ken Corrigan 
Regards Steve.
mushroomman:
M&C Jamie:
Hi lads, here we have a recovery job on Imranli mountain Turky,around winter78 The graders wanted me to go in between them so that the three of us could pull the merc out, but i did not fancy being streched between two graders . So i let them chain me on the end farthest away and with a bit of tugging we pulled it out.
There but for the grace of god go I. Regards Jamie.
Some great photos there Dave
I just wondered if the blonde hair guy with his back to the camera was Ken Corrigan
Regards Steve.
Hi Steve, if i remember correctly it was big Mick, who was a driver with Ollins Overland that ran four Scammell Crusader’s from London to Teheran. regards jamie.
A Scot Lost in the Valley’s.
Hi all.After re reading this item which i posted almost a year ago it reinforces my point that although the I.R.T program is recent,[ok,they drive equipement from the 70s].The drivers who were driving long distance in the 70s,in Europe,East block and M.E. had as good,if not better equipement and a much more tighter sense of helping and sharing.
Looking at the photos posted on here[most recently by NZ Jamie and Budgie],especially the convoys from Horosan and Eleskirt to cross Tahir.Add to this the way people of all nationalities stopped to help each other and it really knocks the much vaunted I.R.T.into a cocked hat.We were all in a ‘‘dash for the cash’’ driving.Most of us had a minimal basic wage and either a pecentage of the load,km money or just trip money.I think some trips we made less than a basic wage as we spent so much time helping each other,but i don’t think anyone regretted it because as was recently said on one thread ‘‘what goes around,comes around’’.I think we all made ‘‘enough’’ to satisfy ourselves and had the added feeling of a ‘‘job well done’’.I wonder if the same can be said now. 
Mike
St Marie was tasty in Winter before they opened the tunnel. Also Grand St.Bernard pass into Italy could be fun. Steel works was always best when it came to a blizzard- coming down that is.
Sorry folks, but if you believe all that is on that show then you are being misled. Those people were dangerous to be around at any time, and they do not represent those of us that go up there and do the job as it should be done. As for the camera cars, well they are real menaces.
Despite what you may think, we do stop for each other when there is a problem. I have many pictures of doing the same thing. I even towed a car load of Aboriginals out of the bush this winter after they blew the motor in their minivan.
These roads last a few months tops. They are frozen marshes and lakes. They may be flat but they can be spooky as hell. And where do you get the idea that it is all flat? The goods have to get through regardless. And in the era you speak of, there was no such thing as a good road anywhere.
Even though we do have to work together up there, it doesn’t prevent stupidity. I had a guy write my truck and trailer off last winter, and he is now suing me for liability as he disagrees with MPI, the assessors, me…
bobthedog:
Sorry folks, but if you believe all that is on that show then you are being misled. Those people were dangerous to be around at any time, and they do not represent those of us that go up there and do the job as it should be done. As for the camera cars, well they are real menaces.Despite what you may think, we do stop for each other when there is a problem. I have many pictures of doing the same thing. I even towed a car load of Aboriginals out of the bush this winter after they blew the motor in their minivan.
These roads last a few months tops. They are frozen marshes and lakes. They may be flat but they can be spooky as hell. And where do you get the idea that it is all flat? The goods have to get through regardless. And in the era you speak of, there was no such thing as a good road anywhere.
Even though we do have to work together up there, it doesn’t prevent stupidity. I had a guy write my truck and trailer off last winter, and he is now suing me for liability as he disagrees with MPI, the assessors, me…
I was refering to ice road truckers in india and the standard of driving by the locals over there.It has definitely been exported to England and with the large population of asians in Bradford i can see where their driving skills originate from.Apparently Bradford has 1 of the highest premiums for car insurance in the country ,we are regarded as a high risk area due to the amount of accidents and uninsured drivers here.I`ve never had a claim on my car insurance in 28 years but my premium rose from £400 to £620 this year
As for the show its self the canadian and american series are for entertainment purposes only and i dont think should be taken too seriously ,i can imagine it will get irritating for the likes of yourself who cut through the bull and try to get on with what looks like a very cold and tiring job daily
bobthedog:
Sorry folks, but if you believe all that is on that show then you are being misled. Those people were dangerous to be around at any time, and they do not represent those of us that go up there and do the job as it should be done. As for the camera cars, well they are real menaces.Despite what you may think, we do stop for each other when there is a problem. I have many pictures of doing the same thing. I even towed a car load of Aboriginals out of the bush this winter after they blew the motor in their minivan.
These roads last a few months tops. They are frozen marshes and lakes. They may be flat but they can be spooky as hell. And where do you get the idea that it is all flat? The goods have to get through regardless. And in the era you speak of, there was no such thing as a good road anywhere.
Even though we do have to work together up there, it doesn’t prevent stupidity. I had a guy write my truck and trailer off last winter, and he is now suing me for liability as he disagrees with MPI, the assessors, me…
And this from someone who is suing another driver who in his opinion was going too fast and is claiming the accident cost him 7 weeks work, even though the accident was self inflicted on his own quad
On the road again:
going too fastand is claiming the accident cost him 7 weeks work, even though the accident was self inflicted on his own quad
I take it this is the latest in a long line of his ‘campaigns’
All the solicitors will have to do is log in to his fb page, every gory detail of how the injury came about is there to see 
Maybe the crash was why he got the elbow from the last place, must be some reason behind it, a bad one too, otherwise surely he wouldn’t need to scrape the bottom of the barrel and go to H&R
newmercman:
On the road again:
going too fastand is claiming the accident cost him 7 weeks work, even though the accident was self inflicted on his own quad
I take it this is the latest in a long line of his ‘campaigns’
All the solicitors will have to do is log in to his fb page, every gory detail of how the injury came about is there to see
Maybe the crash was why he got the elbow from the last place, must be some reason behind it, a bad one too, otherwise surely he wouldn’t need to scrape the bottom of the barrel and go to H&R
More campaigns than Mary Whitehouse but if you want to hear some good stuff about his antics at his last place you only need to speak to Bobby 
Hi Mike, unfortunately most americans are drama queens and program makers like to pick out and over dramatize situations, facial expressions or sentences to try and make the program seem more interesting. Having watched IRT in India you have to think that apart from the scenes about running along the edge of the roads with a sheer drop, which may or may not have been embellished for the story, that with patience and a calmer approach to the other drivers with an acceptance that it is what it is when it comes to driving in a different country then the job would have been a lot easier but it would’nt make good television and that is what it’s all about.
Hi Charlie.When i first posted this at the beginning of the year i had only seen a few episodes of IRT.Now i have seen a few more.I have seen them now driving in Canada from Tuk and Inuvik where i worked.My point,at the time was based on irritation mixed with sadness that they portray a very difficult and dangerous job in such a way as to give a totally wrong impression and i found it,[personally]to be degrading to the guys in North America,[and anywhere else for that matter]who drive trucks in the winter.Driving in the winter is not a game,and the guys i met,and worked with were really professional at their job and always had time to help each other.
I appreciate that television requires a bit of ‘‘hollywood’’,but it just ■■■■■■ me off a bit to see the show,giving the impression that they are so hot,when most of them wouldn’t get a job driving supermarket trollies in the real world.Mike
Mike, that just about sums it really, the drivers in the show have done more harm than good to the public’s perception of drivers in general, the worst offenders are Hugh and Rick (pronounced with a capital P) Then there’s that other red neck clown who wants to fight everyone
About the only one who comes out of it with any dignity is the one that does the heavy loads, Jack, I think.
Driving up north is just like any other driving job really, you pick stuff up and take it somewhere else, conditions can be more challenging, but really it’s only lorry driving, if they didn’t over dramatise it, it would be of no interest to anyone but fans of lorries, not too many of them in the world 
Having never seen an episode I have just one question bothering me, did they carry chainsaws
After having watched one episode early on,couldn’t be arsed to watch any more as it was obviously hyped up for TV.I and a lot of other forum members have spent winters in Turkey,nuff said!
Just from the pictures of the M/E lads, it would seem that Eastern Turkey kicks arse in comparison with even the proper winter roads up here, but you have to consider that things have changed, I’m sure that pictures from Canada in the 70s would show similar conditions, today the weather is the same, but the roads have improved dramatically in both places, in a ■■■■■■■ contest it would be a draw
The same goes for the drivers, the idiots on the TV would’ve had competition from some of the idiots that were on the M/E run and I’m sure there were a few clowns in Canada over the years, so as much as things change, some things stay the same
Another thing to consider when you talk about conditions is timing, a run up to Alaska is not so difficult, but if you hit the roads during a storm it will change things dramatically, the producers of the show have thousands of hours of footage, they only pick out the worst of the worse, unfortunately, they do the same with the steering wheel holders too You either need to be a complete ■■■■■■ or have ■■■■■■■■ to get filmed
Hi NMM.i hope your getting set for the winter. When i posted the original post it was not to get into any sort of ■■■■■■■ contest with anyone.My reason for posting was that i was so ■■■■■■ at,what to me,seemed an almost demeaning program to the thousands of professional drivers who drive in the winter.The guys[and girls] i worked with were,in my opinion,some of the most professional people i have had the pleasure to work with
As i said,having done a bit,here and there myself,i have nothing but the greatest respect for anyone,anywhere who drives in the winter with a truck.
The last few years that i lived in Holland i was confronted by the macho mentality when,as we had 1 customer in Tromso during the summer it was a free for all to get the trips,but after September,for some strange reason i seemed to get all of the trips
It’s not difficult to drive on ice roads when all you do is trundle up and down the same 100kms of road for a few months.I drove 90kms home from my work yesterday on ice so does that make me an IRT.
If they were to film the truckers who go many 100s of kms in ice and snow and to many varied destinations it would give a much better view of '‘winter’'driving.
My wife was filmed once for Quebec tv but i think it was because she was a better driver than me, because as she was quite small you couldn’t see her breasts 
Mike