By Barry, BC, Canada
Jescon Transport, 100 Mile House, BC
I am getting a little tired of hearing about the ice roads out of Yellowknife, and how wonderful it is.
I hauled those roads in the winter of 2004 into 2005. Snap Lake, Diavik, Lupin,and Jericho mines were some of my destinations. I worked for the main trucking company on those roads at that time.
During that season, one truck and driver went thru the ice and the driver died. It was a very low paying job at 24 cents a km. and doing 15 to 30 km an hour. Well, you do the math.
Any tying down loads, fueling, repairs, stuck in blizzards or anything else outside of driving, I did not get paid for.
The food was pretty much non-existent and when you found something, usually sandwiches at checkpoints like Lockhart or Lac de Gras, you had to load up as there would not be much more.
Trucks were 20 years old and you drove wrapped in your sleeping bag to keep the cold out.
I eventually quit with about 20 other guys. I then flew from Yellowknife to Edmonton and hired on with a company driving a hay shaker moving oil rigs.
The pay was $35/hour and time and a half after 10 hours on that job, and there was no shortage of hours. I was able to make some money there to make up for my terrible ice road experience.
This translates to a company truck driver earnings of between $30,000 to $40,000 CDN in about 3 months, with very little out of pocket expenses other than some snack foods to help pass the time….pretty decent money for a few months of driving.
I eventually quit with about 20 other guys. I then flew from Yellowknife to Edmonton and hired on with a company driving a hay shaker moving oil rigs.
The pay was $35/hour and time and a half after 10 hours on that job, and there was no shortage of hours. I was able to make some money there to make up for my terrible ice road experience.
This translates to a company truck driver earnings of between $30,000 to $40,000 CDN in about 3 months, with very little out of pocket expenses other than some snack foods to help pass the time….pretty decent money for a few months of driving.
