There’s a subset of reality TV that leans more toward the “reality” of life rather than other more superfluous endeavors, like “dating” or “winning a million dollars.” Like Deadliest Catch and Fear Factor before it, Ice Road Truckers is a show where bad things can happen to its stars simply through doing a job. That’s what happened to Darrell Ward, a star of IRT who’s no longer with us. So what happened?
What is Ice Road Trucking?
IRT ran for 11 seasons on the History Channel. It premiered in 2007, and it highlighted just how dangerous it was for long-haul truck drivers as they drove through the Arctic parts of Alaska and Canada delivering goods.
It was also one of the most popular reality shows around during its run, with the first episode ending up being the highest ratings debut for a new show that year. The show itself follows the fortunes of people who take 18-wheelers and bravely traverse ice-over roads and frozen lakes to deliver supplies to diamond mines.
To add some dramatic tension to a show that needs none, the lakes are only frozen for about 60 days every year, and the spots they deliver to are not accessible any other time of the year. This means that drivers try to pack as much as they can in for each run to make sure the trip is worth it. Often, it can be so good for the wallet that it can support their families for a whole year.
It’s a complicated game of trying to maximize profits while also, well, not dying, and the dangers are legion: The truck drivers could mess up and end up in the water; they could freeze; they could fall asleep at the wheel; or they could simply take a wrong turn.
What’s absolutely true is that these drivers have nerves of steel, and over the course of the show we’ve only lost one trucker, and it didn’t even happen while he was driving his truck. Part of the low mortality rate on the show is due to the safety protocols in place.
Trucks making the dangerous journey to the ice mines travel in a convoy, although not bumper to bumper. The most experienced drivers take the lead, and sometimes they only move 10 miles an hour if they have to. If there’s slush forming, drivers are advised to keep on pushing through rather than get stuck in the ice, which can end up being catastrophic for everyone involved.
Also, the drivers don’t just randomly traverse the ice. Engineers come out and workers built a road that’s the equivalent of an eight-lane highway. For example, the route from Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road spans about 595 kilometers and spans through north of Yellowknife into Nunavut territory.
It takes about 140 workers a year to carve out the roads, which are graded to specifically support 70 ton trucks. A lot of thought goes into the routes, actually. The Dalton Highway in Alaska, which spreads about 424 miles from Fairbanks to the Prudhoe Bay, recently needed a big repair job.
Workers had to underlay about 50 miles of the highway with polystyrene foam to keep the road above flood level and frozen solid.
What are the requirements to be an Ice Road Trucker?
Despite all the inherent danger, it’s fairly easy to become an ice road trucker if you have the stomach for it.
Anyone interested basically just has to have a high school diploma, a trucking license, and a will made of Valhallan steel to do the job. It’s not like you have to get a certain amount of hours driving over ice or anything; the trucking company will provide your training.
That doesn’t mean they’re just hiring noobs right of trucking school. Most ice road truckers have been doing the job for years, and have untold amounts of experience to help them navigate the deadly frozen terrain each year.
Drivers also need to be able to repair their rigs if something goes wrong. Unlike regular highways, there are no pit stops or Denny’s on the way to their destination. If something goes wrong mechanically on the way, they are often on their own save for the help of another trucker.
What would drive a person to pursue such a dangerous job? Why money, of course. Drivers can earn anywhere from $20k to $80k a season, but top earners can net up to a quarter of a million in one trip. Of course, remuneration depends on factors like cargo, distance, and danger.
The more dangerous the job, the more money there is to make. It’s also not a job most truckers seem to hold on to. The turnover is a problem, especially after a first-time driver suddenly realizes just how dangerous their job is day in and day out.
The weirdest part of the whole thing is that its the warmer climates that pose the most danger because of cracking and slush. As global warming continues its death march, we may be seeing less and less of these types of jobs.
What happened to Darrell Ward?
Believe it or not, Ward didn’t lose his life behind the wheel of a truck. He joined the show in Season 6 and was supposed to appear in Season 11, but unfortunately fate had other plans for him. In 2016, Ward was 52 years old and piloting a single-engine Cessna 182.
Ward was preparing to land at the Rock Creek Airport in Montana when his aircraft crashed and caught fire. The accident proved fatal. What’s worse, Ward was flying to Montana in order to appear in a different show about recovering crashed airplanes.
The History Channel wrote a touching tribute to the man, highlighting how in his free time, you could find Ward “giving back to the community any chance he got” by promoting food drives and appearing as the grand marshal for the Truck Convoy for the Special Olympics.
Ward enjoyed fishing, hunting, dirt bike riding, camping and all the other outdoor related activities he could participate in. He was a self-proclaimed “adrenaline junkie” and his motto and outsized personality still carry on today. That motto, by the way, is “ANY ROAD, ANY LOAD.” RIP, Ward.