Truckers shift gears to outsmart bandits on deadly highways of Iraq

After May, truckers began to avoid the stones-in-the-middle-of-the-road tactic, so looters took to target practice on passing trucks' tires. The convoys Kadairiyakam travels in are bracketed by machine-gun armed US military vehicles. The convoys are long, however, snaking down Iraq's back roads with up to 40 vehicles at a time. The armed escorts protect the front and back but leave the middle vulnerable to attackers.

On July 19, a truck in the middle of Kadairiyakam's convoy was targeted. One Indian driver was shot. "I thought we would be attacked," Kadairiyakam says when recounting the experience, implying that a direct assault would follow the shooting.

The convoy stopped a quarter-mile up the road, snatched the wounded driver, torched the truck so as to leave nothing for would-be looters, and then resumed its journey. The injured man was taken by the US military to a hospital in Baghdad. "The US Army never leaves anyone behind," Kadairiyakam notes.

Kadairiyakam, who makes regular trips into Iraq, says that the window of his truck has been hit with rocks dozens of times, requiring eight replacements in the last year and a half.

He knows the risk he faces. "Any moment you are expecting death," he says about his days on the road. Still, he thinks the money makes it worthwhile. After shelling out about the recruiting firm fee, Kadairiyakam needed to recoup his expenses. But he made only $136 a month working as a personal driver.

Driving trucks into Iraq, he makes $509 a month plus $102 in allowance for each trip he takes. In an average month, with two trips into Iraq, Kadairiyakam clears about $712 or around 33,000 Indian rupees. This is the wage of a mid-level government official in India and enough to support his wife and child.

In June, Delhi tried to prevent its nationals from driving in Iraq. The move triggered unrest among the Indian community in Kuwait. About 120 truckers staged a protest in front of the Indian Embassy. The result was a deal among the drivers, the Indian government, and some Kuwaiti trucking firms. Delhi asked that Kuwaiti trucking firms to provide life insurance for its truckers. Not all complied, but Kadairiyakam's company did.

When they agree to the jobs, truckers are thinking about the money that will provide for their families. Behind the wheel, their minds are focused on safety. Constant vigilance is Kadairiyakam's best defense. "When you're driving along you only think of staying alive," he says. The drivers take note when passing places where attackers may hide.

Some trucking firms are taking other precautions as well. Truckers drive 155 miles before taking their first break. Many firms have been asking truckers to drive only during daylight.

Typically, truckers avoid the searing heat and dust-clouded roads by traveling at night since few, if any, of their cabs are air-conditioned.

Kadairiyakam traveled mostly mornings and evenings during his last trip. He says he will continue to do so - despite calls to travel only during the day when it is reputed to be safer.

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