Trucking Tidbits | Trucking Abroad: Iceland

Iceland is a place that looks like nowhere else on our planet. It’s raw, prehistoric, and feels like you’ve stepped onto another planet. From volcanoes to glaciers and the extended day and night cycle makes it highly sought after for explorers, and adventurers. If you want to travel here, having a car is a must. If you want to have an adventure, you might need to call on the assistance of a Super Jeep. 

These are highly modified and customized 4×4 vehicles that are specifically designed to handle Iceland’s rough and often brutal, rocky, sharp, snowy terrain. These mountain taxis are often used for off-road tours and expeditions and are popular among tourists to experience some of Earth’s most beautiful and extreme terrains. Since surroundings tend to get really foggy and dark, a GPS is a must! No matter how well you build these jeeps, they will probably get stuck in the snow. Despite how much you plan to protect your vehicle from nature, nature is a force of, well, nature. They’re built sturdy in the front and back, so they can be pulled loose from heavy snow. Oh, they can also do the pulling. These things are Tough with a capital T! 

Another option for an amazing tour of Iceland is a super bus, like this Frost Giant here which was assembled by Astvaldur Oskarsson. You can see him in the behind the scenes video here grilling up the best hotdogs in the world -this is not up for debate, by the way! Named after Odin’s 8 legged horse, Sleipnir is a Czech Tatra 158 Phoenix built for touring the rugged, snowy landscapes of Langjökull, the closest glacier to Reykjavík. It’s 15 metres long, 4 metres high, weighing more than 30 tonnes, able to contain 48 passengers with central tire inflation system, and features an 850 horsepower engine that reaches speeds of 37 miles per hour. Since it’s so long, it allows the vehicle to cross cracks of the glaciers and is also great for driving up steep hills since it’s used on the mountains where the glaciers are formed. For those who are up for it, there’s a snowmobile service if you want to ride one with a driver to get a nice and close-up look at the glacier while on the adventure. This tour makes a nice addition to the world-renown Golden Circle tour route.