Ice Road Truckers - Bush Trucks (vehicles, traction, fuel, truck)

[quiet walker]

I've been enjoying this new third season of IRT. This year brings a change in location, crews, conditions and trucks. Previously, the drivers had a motley assortment of their own trucks and apparently were individual contractors. Now, they are working for Carlile Transportation Alaska with its own fleet of first class vehicles. These are interesting trucks!

I've heard the term "bush trucks" to differentiate these from the pretty haulers we see on the interstate highways. Everything about them appears extra large and heavy. Obviously, there are accommodations for conditions such as 50deg below zero temperatures and heavy loads on unforgiving rough roads. I've looked up bush trucks on the web but only seem to find links to truck leasing and servicing companies named "Bush." Where could one find out more about these special trucks.

A separate question, do today's big rigs have automatic or semi automatic transmissions? I imagine a lot has changed since the days of "gear jammers." I note the drivers on the IRT operations gear shift in small increments when negotiating this year's road's steep hills. Looks like automatic.

Ice Road Truckers Season Three - History.com

Carlile Transportation Systems – Serving Alaska, Canada and the United States

[Alaskan Mutt]

I doubt if you find a "Bush Truck" option at the dealer. In Alaska the term "bush" refers to the rural areas of the state. You will often hear people say "we live out in the bush" Modifications to a truck to make it a bush truck can be whatever one thinks is needed to survive the roads. Often they will weld a big plate of steel the front of the truck. Hitting a moose is so different than hitting a deer. It can be adding a 300 gallon fuel tank behind the cab.

[quiet walker]

Originally Posted by Alaskan Mutt

... Modifications to a truck to make it a bush truck can be whatever one thinks is needed to survive the roads...

Thanks for the information. Upon further investigation, I found these are 2008 Kenworth T800 with Aerocab sleeper, 550 Cat engine, lift axle and 310"wb which is longer than is usual in the lower 48. No doubt with mods for severe winterization considerations. I wondered about extra fuel you mentioned. On the show, they said it could take up to five days to make the run, depending on delays due to conditions. And the truck has to keep running for the driver to survive the cold.

Kenworth Truck Company | T800 (http://www.kenworth.com/2100_vir_t800.asp - broken link)

[Chadro77]

I've seen T800's, W900's and a couple of Western Stars. They may have some extra options on them from the factory that we don't usually see in the lower 48 but the rest are company add-ons it looks like. Remember, that company has a big enough shop/crew that they probably add on quite a bit whenever they get new trucks in.

[HighPlainsDrifter73]

A lot of those mods made to trucks are done locally to accomodate those extreme operating conditions.

It appears that Carlile favors Kenworth trucks (T800 and W900). I was happy to see a couple of W900s since I own one and drive part time!

[Crew Chief]

Quiet walker, you can get any transmission in a big truck that you want! I drive for a large truckload carrier and all of our fleet trucks are now 10-speed fully automatic transmissons. We went through a couple of generations of semi-automatic (with a clutch pedal) but now I only have two pedals on the floor. I really like the automatics and thought they were wonderful even when I ran heavy loads out in the mountainous Western U.S. About the only complaint I have with my automatic is that backing under a trailer and "bumping a dock" have an entirely different feel than using a clutch. The other complaint is that I can no longer select 3rd gear for more traction when trying to get started on snow/ice.

My transmisson control is a stalk on the right side of the steering column and I can actually override the automatic if I want (haven't seen a need to, other than not being able to get into 3rd gear, as previously mentioned)