* North West Canada - Merthyr-born, , is now driving trucks across ice in
-- Ice Road Trucker Simon Petherick of Merthyr Tydfil (Wales, UK), he says it's not all as glamorous as it appears on Channel 5 show Ice Road Truckers... Driving vehicles weighing almost 64,000kg over treacherous icy terrain with temperatures sometimes reaching as low as -60C - just a normal working day for Simon Petherick... Employed as an ice truck driver in north-western Canada, the dangerous job has seen him crossing 56 lakes in one journey and can see a normal work day consist of a 15-hour drive - all a far cry from his start in life growing up at his home in Swansea Road, Merthyr Tydfil... Simon’s current responsibility is to deliver fuel to the Diavik Diamond mine from Yellowknife, which takes him via the winter ice roads... He is in his first season after starting in the role last year... Soon after moving, Simon got a job driving trains hauling materials such as molten sulphur, asphalt and propane. His routine saw him drive from Edmonton, the capital of Canada’s western Alberta province, to Yellowknife, a 1,400km journey, taking two days to complete... But he was then moved onto driving ice trucks, which meant uprooting to be based in Yellowknife. His routine then involved driving the icy, treacherous route between the city and the Diavik Diamond Mine, a distance of more than 400km... Some mean the driver must slow down to 10km per hour due to their precarious nature, while others take three hours to cross, and others pose the constant risk of slipping off, which would cost $1,200 to be towed back to safety, as well as a long wait for the services to arrive... But it seems Simon’s stint as an ice road trucker won’t last too much longer... He said: “Ice road trucking is not for me and I will not be doing another season" ...
(Simon and his truck, delivering fuel to the Diavik Diamond mine) -- Yellowknife, Northwest, Canada, Wales On Line (UK), by TOM HOUGHTON - 10 March 2016Labels: ice road truckers
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