10 Worst Jobs in US - Ice Road Truckers didn't make it

Looking for work? You may want to take a look at the list below. According to Forbes, these are the positions with the gloomiest outlook for 2011. 

The jobs listed below offer a combination of abysmal pay, high risk of physical injury, stressful conditions, or other undesirable working conditions.

Without further ado, The Ten Worst Jobs in the US are:
◦Roustabout – Main job duties include routine maintenance and labor on oil rigs and pipelines. The pay is low and the risk for injury is high.

◦Iron Worker – These guys raise steel structures to create buildings and bridges. It is another highly physical job with relatively low pay.

◦Lumberjack – Job duties include felling, cutting, and transporting lumber to be utilized for various purposes. This job is not only extremely dangerous physically, it also ranks high for stress.

◦Roofer – Whether they’re installing new roofs, repairing existing roofs, or replacing old ones, this job is not for the faint of heart. Dangerous work environments and high physical demands combine to make roofing a physically stressful and demanding career choice.

◦Taxi Driver – Responsible for transporting travelers to and from various destinations, taxi drivers must know their area well and be prepared for a variety of situations. Taxi drivers experience hazardous road conditions, inclement weather, and difficult clientele on a daily basis.

◦Emergency Medical Technician – EMTs tend to emergent medical situations that run the spectrum from car accidents to gunshot wounds. This job is fast-paced, high stress, and physically demanding.

◦Welder – Welders repair and bond metal surfaces. Dangerous tools, high temperatures, and ever changing surfaces make this physically demanding career dangerous.

◦Painter – A bit surprising to see this on the list, but painters have extremely high physical demands in addition to potentially dangerous working conditions. Scaffolding, dangerous chemicals, and perilous reaches put this position on the list.

◦Meter Reader – Long days, physical demands, and not a lot of room for advancement make meter reading one of the worst jobs in America. Add in a not so great hiring outlook and disgruntled neighborhood pets, and you can see why this job is not a favorite.

◦Construction Worker – This generic term covers anyone assisting in construction trade work. Often physically demanding and dangerous, these workers do a lot for little in return.

High physical demands, stress, and low pay combine to create the list above.

So You Want an Ice Road Trucker Job?

Many of you who've been wanting to take up the career of truck driving are probably familiar with the popular TV series about working on the ice roads of Canada's far north. The show is called "Ice Road Truckers" and it's all about the men and women who brave the transporting of goods across the northern regions that only have access roads for part of the year.
This is because the 'roadways' are only made of ice that stretch for many miles across nothing but open, frozen lakes! The supplies and materials that these truckers bring to these barely-accessible areas are always essential to the functioning of these areas. Whether it's oil, food and medical supplies or building materials and essential machinery such as furnaces and oil boilers for industry, the supplies need to get through...and these brave (and well paid) drivers get the job done.


Driving on the ice roads isn't a job that every truck driver can do though. It takes nerves of steel and more than a little craziness to get out there and travel - usually in a convoy - across miles and miles of frozen nothingness. Most drivers who give this sort of work a try turn around at the first sound of the ice cracking under the tremendous weight of their rigs. Others make it across the frozen ice to their destination but decide the stress for them isn't worth the money. And the money is great! Most ice road drivers make their entire year's salary in three months of practically non-stop transporting of materials and supplies. This pace is required because the ice roads are only useable for 3-4 months of the year. After that, they become unstable as the ice thickness begins to deteriorate in spots.
One of the most disheartening sights an ice road trucker can see on his journey across the emptiness of the ice road is the front end of a big rig, half submerged in the ice and frozen in place, a testament to the dangers of trying to get across the ice road too quickly or at the wrong time of the season.
No One Goes it Alone


The ice roads are carefully monitored and controlled by companies assigned to make sure the loads get through. The thickness of the ice is carefully monitored throughout the ice road season and no truck is allowed to go across the ice roads on its own. Convoys of trucks are assigned slots and each driver must maintain a steady speed and space between the trucks ahead of and behind them. This is to ensure that the ice under the extreme weight of the trucks doesn't begin to flex and create a swell of water that will push ahead of the convoy and crack the ice. Physics and careful planning are required to ensure that each and every truck gets to the other side of the frozen lakes without causing cracks in the ice that become a danger to other truckers and themselves.
For those of you who think you have what it takes to drive across the frozen north with nothing but a few feet of ice under your wheels, give ice road trucking a try. The industry is always looking for careful and skilled drivers who have the guts to get their loads to these remote areas. If you can follow specific rules including setting and maintaining speed limits, keeping your cool under pressure and being able to drive within a convoy, then ice road trucking is the high-paying truck driving career you've been looking for.

Grizzly, Moose, & Caribou

Grizzly bear, moose, caribou, and other residents of Alaska adapt to the cold weather. Some hibernate during the long, cruel winter, and some drive trucks!

 



Watch this episode: Ice Road Rage

http://www.history.com/shows/ice-road-truckers/videos/ice-road-truckers-5-ice-road-rage

Tempers flare on the ice roads when Dave reaches his boiling point with Tony and Maya gets a taste of Alaskan driving. Meanwhile, Lisa goes on a rescue mission and Hugh and Rick roll deeper into the heart of the Canadian wilderness.

Watch this episode: Pushing the Edge

http://www.history.com/shows/ice-road-truckers/videos/ice-road-truckers-5-pushing-the-edge

The ice road truckers are back and in full throttle as they hit the Alaskan roads. With two rookie drivers joining the convoy, anything can happen as the Dash for the Cash is officially on.

Pushing the Edge/Ice Road Rage

The Ice Road Truckers are back in action, and the roads are more dangerous than ever. Lisa's first run of the season goes south in a hurry. Two rookie drivers raise the stakes in the "Dash for the Cash." And old pros Hugh and Alex, along with wildcard Rick Yemm, leave Alaska behind to take on some of the most remote and deadliest roads on the planet. Then, Hugh and Rick roll deeper into the Canadian outback, while a dangerous overflow may leave Alex stranded in the wilderness. Dave's training run with Tony reaches the boiling point. Lisa Kelly goes on a rescue mission. And Maya's first look at the Haul Road may be enough to send this rookie back to the big city.

A Nightmare

http://youtu.be/8xPJz315dFI

What's new this season

“In the world’s highest mountains are roads only the best can survive. It’s a whole new challenge for the top ice road truckers. They’re taking on the world’s deadliest roads to prove there’s no route they can’t conquer, and no load they can’t haul…”
The Ice Road Truckers are back, but it’s not the haul roads of Canada or Alaska they’ll be facing this time. They’ve been taken to India where they’ll haul cargo across the Himalayan mountains in trucks of wooden cabins and a third the horsepower they’re used to. And, the worse danger isn’t even the sheer cliffs or unpredictable landslides. It’s the other cars. If you think they drive like maniacs where you live, you haven’t seen anything yet. One of the drivers will get into two accidents before he even gets to the mountain.
“…But these roads average a death every 4 1/2 minutes, and one trucker won’t make it through the first day. These are the truckers who make their living on the thin ice…”


These are the four drivers you’ll see in this season:
Lisa: She’s a 28-year-old second-year driver who ends up being tougher than a lot of the guys. She’s just starting to get into the dangerous stuff, which this year included becoming a push driver. For extra heavy loads extra trucks are employed to push the load up the steep hills. She’s still looking for respect in the toughest job on the road.
Alex: Alex is one of two Canadians from previous seasons of the show. One year he had a heart attack while on the Canadian ice roads. Against his doctor’s advice, he’s back on the road, this time in India, to try to prove he can still do it.
Rick Yemm: Rick is unmistakable in his blue Mohawk. He’s another Canadian who hasn’t been on the show since it moved to Alaska. Rick’s got a short temper that is going to be pushed to its limit here.
Dave Redmon: Dave is an Alabama good ol’ boy, and he’s got a bit of a challenge getting used to the way they drive in India.

 It’s called Ice Road Truckers: World’s Most Dangerous Roads, and you can think of it as a kind of spin-off. The style remains the same but the terrain and challenges are quite different. It starts with the trucks themselves. Usually, the drivers are in rigs that they are very familiar with. Here the vehicles are underpowered and are made of wooden frames. That offers little protection in a wreck. Because India was a long-time British colony, they drive on the wrong side of the road. As if that’s not enough to cause major problems, that’s just getting out of the yard.
Each driver carries a native spotter to help them navigate the really tight spots on the narrow mountain road. The dangers include cliffs that show where the road was literally carved out of the mountain itself. They offer low clearance. The roads are problematic when two trucks meet going opposite directions. Too close to the edge and it’s up to a 4,000 foot drop and often with no guard rail and a road surface that is literally crumbling under your tires. In case that doesn’t get you, there are falling boulders the size of houses that can strike without warning. There isn’t our kind of building code so that bridges are quite fragile and seem like they’re going to fall at any moment. The temperature ranges can go from 127 in the city to below freezing in the mountains. One of the passes is called the Rohtang which literally means “pile of corpses”. Accidents are a part of life here, and the locals try to extort payments from the American drivers at each incidence. They also tend to gather in hostile mobs when there’s trouble.
Lisa adopts a puppy and keeps the dog in her cab during the season run. She doesn’t get along with her spotter, however. The show obviously went to a lot of trouble to find Indian spotters with poor English skills. The communication is a nightmare, and Lisa doesn’t like his bossy nature.


The season still has those dramatic CGI demonstrations that show you what can go wrong with explosive results. And the season’s final run is a load of helicopter fuel, and only one driver will make that run successfully. There’s no “leader board” here. They don’t keep the competitive nature going in this show. In the end it’s much more of the same with a new environment.