Ice Road Truckers (2007) s04e14 Episode Script
A Legend Meets His End
Tonight on ice road truckers I'm chasing you, buddy.
Keep running.
Tempers flare.
Hey, Greg, that was some dumbass [Bleep.]
To do.
Least you pulled into a driveway instead of into a ditch.
Alex has a run-in with the law.
And Lisa I have to figure out a way to get this done.
I can't go back and go, "I can't do this.
" Takes on the season's last mega-haul.
Everything you know is thrown out the window.
We may need to stop.
Not looking too good.
These are the truckers who make their living.
.
On thin ice.
At the Carlile yard in Fairbanks, Lisa Kelly is on the job early.
And you got your permits.
Cool.
So we gotta get on the move.
With only three weeks before the ice road closes, Carlile is racing to get the last of the oversized equipment up to the oil fields.
The final mega-load of the season is a massive 100-ton modular building, or "mod.
" I'm excited, but we're pressed for time.
So I'm concentrating on what I'm doing.
Loads over 180,000 pounds are too big for one truck to take alone.
So heavy haul veteran Neil Locke will be driving the load, while Lisa and push-truck driver Ron Dubbs How are you, miss Lisa? Good, good.
Will be providing the power to push it 500 Miles to Prudhoe bay.
Everything you know, like don't tailgate and all this stuff, is thrown out the window.
It's like breaking all the rules.
Tailgate, you get right on someone's bumper, you can't see anything, you're supposed to hit them.
You ready to teach me? Teach you? You've been doing it already for a while.
Once.
Gonna bang into you all kinds of times.
Oh, okay.
I think my first time, I could have done better, but I did the best that I could.
Lisa's first experience as a push trucker had some rocky moments.
You lost me.
But Jack Jessee was there to help her out.
Jack was a great teacher and was trying to coach me through it.
There's just so much to learn about it.
You just learn a lot from your first, like, touch.
This time, she'll be on her own.
So it's like, if they're doing this, I have to figure out a way to get this done, and I might not have the strength or the build or the look or anything, but I have to figure out how to do it, because I can't go back and go, "I can't do this.
" We haven't even loaded the block up yet, weighed it and readjusted it and chained it down yet.
Maybe this way! Cody, that way just a little bit.
Then you're good.
I'm ready.
Are you? I always do.
This heavy haul is Lisa's shot to prove she can run with the big dogs.
Nothing? What's going on? I think it was an air leak, 'cause I turned it off for, like, ten minutes, jumped in the truck, and it was already low on air.
Maybe we can check it out first.
See if it's something we can fix real quick.
Do you hear that when I'm letting off how it sounds like it's, like, going backwards? What is that why is it doing that? Go ahead and, uh The little rubber seal is leaking.
Okay.
That actually is what they call the e-valve, which is the same as a treadle valve.
It's basically the valve that's right underneath the foot pedal and sends the air to all sorts of different places.
It's gonna have to be fixed.
A broken air valve means Lisa's not going anywhere.
I'll just peel off and wait at the shop and get fixed first thing and try to hustle up and meet them at hilltop.
With the clock ticking, the team hi the road without her.
If Lisa can't get her truck repaired in the next two hours, she may lose her big chance before she even gets started.
Well, I'm not doing a whole lot of pushing sitting here, am I? 90 Miles north Yeah, we have a load of pipe, and we're heading north.
To everyone's surprise, rookie Ray Veilleux is leading the load count, but his road to the top hasn't been pretty.
After putting his truck in the ditch three weeks ago, Ray is finally learning respect for the road.
I'm doing a dangerous job, and I could lose my life any day on the haul road, but it is what it is, and I'm trying to hang onto my life and support my family.
Today, Ray's mission is to pay respect to a driver who came before him.
We have another truck behind us.
We have Doug Feistner.
His dad used to be an old haul road trucker up here, and he passed away a couple of years ago.
And Doug always wanted to, uh, spread his dad's ashes up on the haul road, but he never had the opportunity, and so today, he's gonna follow me up to Prudhoe, and on the way, we're gonna spread his dad's ashes someplace up on Atigun pass.
We gotta pay tribute to e veterans of the haul road.
Doug's dad, Robert Feistner, was a haul road legend, running the Dalton for decades under the call sign "coldfoot Bob.
" I felt pretty confident that i could lead Doug all the way up there without any problem, so I asked the boss.
He said, "yeah, as long as he follows you all the way up there, we'll let that happen.
" But it may not be as easy as it sounds.
This is the first time on the Dalton for 20 years.
Last time I ran the Dalton was in 1990 following my dad up in another truck.
Adding to the pressure of being off the Dalton for 20 years, Doug's also been asked to pick up a trailer that was stranded by a broken-down truck the day before.
Doug is gonna grab that load of pipe, and then he's gonna stay behind me, 'cause he really doesn't know the road.
Well, Dougie, there's your load, if you can try to pin to that.
Hopefully, we're just gonna hook up and leave, and it'll be real quick.
You better hit it harder than that.
Just hit her.
You get it real close.
Ahh! Ha ha! That's rookie [Bleep.]
Right there.
Hit it.
Might have to chain up just to get underneath her.
Hit it harder.
You almost get there.
You get yeah, a bunch of times.
You pull up, like, eight feet and just [Bleep.]
Hit it.
Gonna get a freakin' 20-foot running start at it now.
Hit it, man.
Not too bad.
Oh, that's a good slam.
Looks good.
Let's boogie on up there and not waste any time, 'cause I know there's other trucks coming up behind us.
Back in Fairbanks, Greg Boadwine's running dead last in the load count.
And he's hoping to pick up the pace before the ice road runs out.
Okay, boss, how you doing? Good.
How we doing this morning? Oh, not bad.
Greg's assigned a giant reel of pvc pipe.
Now, just be careful with that reel.
Man, that thing's Top-heavy.
Yeah, it's sitting up there about 15 feet, so All right, Greg.
Thanks, boss.
Have a good trip.
Get out, take a look at this big ol' son of a gun.
Get the trailer checked out.
It's a big one.
That thing is huge.
I don't know if I'm happy for this one or not.
It's a monster.
Got a lot of weight up high.
I notice when I slow down or even come to a stop, the trailer will sit there and rock back and forth.
The wheel's high center of gravity makes the load unstable.
One mistake and the top-heavy load could tip over, taking the truck with it.
Good thing is, I don't get motion sickness, I don't get seasick, so as long as I don't get tired from that thing trying to rock me to sleep, we should be good to go.
Back at the shop in Fairbanks Thought it was gonna be a quick fix.
It's just taking longer.
Lisa's hope of joining the push-truck team is slipping away.
Lisa let us know that she had a push load today.
We were trying to get it diagnosed, trying to get her going.
Unfortunately, you know, we're busy.
So I'm officially stuck.
Coming up A rookie on a collision course.
Dude, I can't believe you stopped on a [Bleep.]
Hill.
And later 'Cause you could have went anywhere here.
Alex gets busted.
Whoops.
Dalton, Ray is leading haul road novice Doug Feistner to Atigun pass.
He was on my ass all the way, now I don't even see him back there.
Now it's a whole different ballgame.
Now, you know, I worry about myself.
Now I gotta worry about Doug.
Ray spent all season learning how to get himself up the haul road.
Now he's responsible for a driver even less experienced that he is.
I thought he would have caught up by now, but But Doug's pipe has begun to shift, and if it slips off the trailer, it could send his entire rig sliding into the ditch.
Yeah, when I hit that last hole, the straps came undone.
Doug? A lot's changed in the 20 years since Doug last ran the haul road.
And stopping on a hill to fix a strap Is no longer an option.
Did that guy stop on the Hill or what? Oh, [Bleep.]
.
Really? I can get it out of the way, so it's not trailing behind us.
Doug's only thinking of himself.
"Oh, jeez, the strap's loose.
" He's gotta think of all these trucks that are oncoming.
You know, one could be just cresting over the hill and needs to get around him, another guy's coming up on him.
You don't stop on a Hill.
Get to the top.
You know, these guys aren't happy.
They're on the cb bitching about it.
There's nothing Ray can do but wait and worry.
Doug? Holy mackerel, he's still freakin' working on it.
We're done.
Doug.
Doug? Yeah, I'm coming up, Ray.
Dude, I can't believe you stopped on a [Bleep.]
Hill.
Yeah, neither can I.
That's a real nice place to start off with a load of pipe.
The other guy almost hit you in the ass.
You know, we gotta stop at Atigun to spread his dad's ashes, but he did a couple of rookie things here big-time.
I mean, how many more things are gonna happen here? It's getting to be nerve-racking.
Fairbanks, Alex Debogorski is headed South with his 15th load of the season, just one load behind his rival, Hugh.
I've been driving by here all winter and looking at this finger Mountain formation, wondering what kind of rock it is, so I've decided I'm gonna stop and do a load check right here, and once I make sure that everything's tied down, I'm gonna go over and break a rock off of that.
I'm what you call a hobby prospector.
So I'm gonna go over there and, uh, see if there's anything interesting looking.
Alex has been curious to investigate finger Mountain since he heard the area had a history of gold.
In this north country, you never know what you're gonna find in the rock.
See the kind of goldish sheen on that? I would suggest it's got a little bit of quartz in there, some copper in it.
Come back here, you son of a gun.
I'm not a real expert at it, but I would not be at all surprised, I would say there's a little bit of gold in there.
The discovery of gold has long been associated with the history of Alaska.
In 1902, Felix Pedro, an Italian-born immigrant, struck gold in a region called the Tanana hills.
His find turned out to be the largest discovery of gold in the state.
The discovery drew a flood of prospectors to the area and led to the creation of present-day Fairbanks.
There's a little bit of gold in there.
That was just laying right there on the ground.
It might not be the mother lode, but Alex has found Alaskan gold.
I put that rock back down there, leave the fortune for the next guy.
Back in Fairbanks My truck's in the shop right now.
Time is running out for Lisa, but at last they've discovered the problem with her truck.
Well, this valve was defective internally.
It was bleeding the air from this side, coming out this line, so, therefore, it was applying the brakes on its own.
Took longer than we thought it was going to to try to diagnose it, so, unfortunately, she is running behind on her push load.
And 90 Miles north, the mega-load needs to make its next move.
The plan right now, we're gonna just start rolling to Livengood and, um, hopefully, Lisa will catch us by then.
Livengood is as far north as the load can go with just one push truck.
After that, they'll need two trucks to get the load up the hills.
Neil's left, and I'm here, and I just gotta play catch-up as soon as it's done, but this being my last push load, I didn't want to spend it in the shop.
I'd rather be out pushing.
If Lisa doesn't hit the road soon, they'll have to call in a replacement driver, and Lisa's shot at becoming a full-fledged push-trucker will be over.
All right, Lisa.
Now it's a race to catch the mega-load To fuel this sucker up.
But five Miles out of Fairbanks Lisa's dream goes up in smoke.
Five Miles north of Fairbanks Lisa Kelly's race to catch the mega-haul has been brought to a halt by an explosion under the hood.
And with no one around to help, Lisa will have to solve the problem on her own.
This came out from this.
They put this new boot on there, and maybe they didn't, like, tighten it enough or something.
Lisa discovers the air line supplying her turbo system shook loose, killing power to the engine.
Hey, this is my chance to fix my truck by myself! That was loud, huh? It went "poof!" I went, "whoa, what was that?" Repairing the truck by herself is a victory for Lisa.
But with the mega-haul still 85 Miles ahead, it may be too little too late.
We'll keep going till we find him.
Before we find out he doesn't need me.
Ray and Doug have reached Atigun pass.
Well, you ready to show your dad one more run up on Atigun? After Doug's earlier incident Ray will be keeping a close eye on his friend during the All right, well, I'll be ahead of you.
Just watch where I'm on those turns, 'cause if you take it too much on the inside, you'll spin out there.
But they're further back.
Ray's in front of me, talkin' me through what I need to see and watch for.
Yeah, seems like Doug's doing pretty good.
Things happen, gets rough, you know.
He's doing all right.
Well, we made it, and he can go where he wants from here.
Um, this is it.
We're coming into The top of the pass.
This is where dad will spend the rest of his days.
Well, there you go, Doug.
You can take care of what you got to take care of and You do what you got to go do.
Thanks, Ray.
All righty, man.
Just a few minutes behind Ray and Doug Think we just found Ray.
Definitely see what he's still doing up here.
Kind of got me wondering, to be honest.
Especially with 818 up here.
That's one of our day cabs.
What in the hell? Come on.
Just get it going.
What is he thinking? Mom didn't want him to go for quite a while And, uh, she didn't want me driving.
SheSaying earlier that my dad taught me how to drive and my brother died when I was four in a truck accident, so my mom never wanted me to drive, so my dad taught me how to drive without my mom ever knowing it.
And she never knew that I made over 30 trips to Prudhoe with my dad.
Worked up here.
He drove up here.
He maintained the roads working for the state.
Worked the oil fields.
Drill platforms and the rigs.
Did a little of all of that.
Well, dad, I'm gonna let you go here Close to the road, 'cause you'd want to be right where the action's at.
Don't know what to say to you.
See you later, dad.
Hey, guys.
I'm coming for you.
Lisa Kelly has finally caught up to the mega haul.
Really, really, really enjoy this a I want to do my best at it and I want to be good at it and the more people that I can push on the back of and do a good job, the more that they'll want me in the future.
Her chance to build a reputation as heavy hauler is still alive, but now she's got to prove she's up to the job.
Hey, we're coming up to railroad hill there, Lisa.
We'll both be pushing down that one there.
As the mega haul hits the first steep incline of the haul road, Lisa lines up with Ron, adjusts her speed And makes her move to hook up.
See, she she got me a little ahead of time there.
We aren't quite hooked up.
Hang on a second, Lisa.
Sorry.
Lisa's push caught Ron before he was connected to the lead truck.
It'll get pretty rough on Ron, 'cause I'll bump back into him, Lisa will bump into him forward, and he's in the middle.
All right, I'm ready for you now.
What's that? Okay, I'm ready now.
Lisa has one more shot to prove she can handle the split-second timing.
Okay, all right.
But just as she hits the gas Hey, Neil, we may need to stop here.
I got a lot of steam coming out the front of my engine here.
Fairbanks Hey, Neil, we may need to stop.
I got a lot of steam coming out the front of my engine here.
It's not looking too good.
Yeah, I can see that from here.
Lisa Kelly's finally getting the chance to prove herself, but a potential blowout on the push truck may put the mega haul on hold.
Steam coming out of Ron's truck, so we're gonna check it out.
See what it is, 'cause it ain't exhaust at this point.
We're gonna stop here and check this out and, uh, make sure we don't have a blown hose or something going on.
There was steam coming off the front of the engine, yeah.
What you see in there, Ron? I don't see any excessive problems that looks like it's leaking it at all.
Do you think it was just snow being picked up? Could have had a bunch of snow on the front of the radiator.
My engine temperature was low till I started pulling the hill, then the temperature came up.
Oh, okay, yeah.
It could be.
It seemed like a lot of snow and stuff coming around, so there was steam coming off the front of the engine, yeah.
Steam? I think we're gonna be all right.
The team hits the road again ready to haul the mod up Atigun pass.
Weather's supposed to be getting crappy up there north, blowing, and it's supposed to snow tonight, so for you guys, it's gonna get dusty.
We'll just take our time and see.
If it gets too bad, we're gonna shut it down.
I don't want to put anybody in jeopardy.
Ready to go? Okay.
To make it up the trucks need to become one and Lisa will have to step up to the challenge.
Need to be pretty careful when I hook up with Ron here.
Pull it to the right, Ron.
Okay, Lisa.
Cloudy.
Like, the wind must be really blowing.
We're going from dry road to excessively icy.
Warm temperatures have turned the snowy road to slush.
A mistake here would leave t hundred-ton load unsupported with no chance to regain traction.
Kicking up a lot of snow dust.
Going 12 Miles an hour.
taking quite a while.
Thank we're all clear.
At last, the mega haul crests the peak of Atigun pass.
We're good to come down? Well, then it's a good thing I'm part-time then.
And it's all good.
Fairbanks Greg Boadwine's parked at the bottom of Atigun pass.
I managed to pass Ray, but figured I'd actually end up catching him when he was on the move.
I wasn't expecting him to be sitting up on the pass.
Kind of defeats my whole purpose of wanting to pass him.
It's kind of boring now.
Now I have to wait for him to catch back up.
Passing or sacking another driver on the road Here we come, buddy.
Is a point of pride for any trucker.
I love passing people.
Especially in a big truck.
I love laying the sack down and that's exactly what it's called.
But sacking a parked truck doesn't count, so Greg waits for Ray to go ahead to set up another chance to sack him.
That's Greg right there.
Saw what just [Bleep.]
Happened up on top of Atigun there.
I mean, Doug, he's here to drop his dad's ashes and Greg, he just pulls right out in front of him like that.
And I was watching.
I was like, "holy.
" As Ray passes by, Greg Springs into action.
There he goes.
All right.
Still going after him.
I don't give a [Bleep.]
What he does.
Hey, Greg, that was some dumbass [Bleep.]
To do.
Oh, Ray, must be in one of his moods.
It's pretty damn sad if you ask me.
Needs a [Bleep.]
Attitude adjustment.
So now I'm gonna go march and knock on Ray's door and Gonna go around him.
I don't need to get sandbagged right at the [Bleep.]
End.
That load's got to be pretty heavy for him.
Maybe I can keep going.
Hope he knows we're coming.
I'm chasing you, buddy.
Keep running.
Well, there's the hills where he can get me, but he'd have to come he'd have to come around me and I won't let him come around me.
Greg makes his move I think I'll let him just go by.
I'm gonna pull in this driveway and then I'm gonna back out of it.
But Ray doesn't give him the satisfaction.
I don't know what Ray's deal was.
Closing on him slowly and he wouldn't even take a pass like a man.
Wouldn't even just keep trucking.
He knows I'm 15,000 pounds lighter than he is with more motor.
Instead of having me pass him, he decided to literally get off of the road.
I don't know what there is to be scared of.
A pass is a pass.
It happens to us all.
That's fine.
He wants to take the easy way out and literally get off the road? Get off the road.
Hey, Ray, at least you pulled into a driveway instead of into a ditch, so.
Good one.
Good one.
You know what? If Doug went in the ditch, Tim would be all over my.
Sounds like all the rumors about male menopause must be true.
Guess it's kind of one of those situations where if you can't stand the heat, get out the kitchen.
Tim would have been, "you're responsible for him.
" He got out of the kitchen.
"We sent you out there and" he was to follow you.
You [Bleep.]
Pulled away from him and this [Bleep.]
"Happened.
" I'd be getting yeah.
He ought to just go back down to the states.
Just ten Miles from Fairbanks Alex is heading South with a deck set backhaul.
But lights at the weigh station mean another stop before calling it a night.
How's it going, Alex? Very good, thanks.
You have your log book with you? Yes, sir.
Just happened to have it right handy.
Oh, I haven't had an inspection this year.
Very good, sir.
Now, here you were in coldfoot? Yes, sir.
So you were in the sleeper? I slept in the hotel there, yes.
In the hotel? Yes, sir.
'Cause you could have went anywhere here.
And then here you've got it, "on duty, not driving," when it should have been "driving.
" Right.
So.
That was kind of a screw up there.
You're gonna get a violation for that.
Along with the ticket, Alex could be facing a hefty fine.
So where's, uh Can I get you to slow him down for me? I'm willing to bribe you if you stop and give him a ticket.
I'll bake you a cake.
All right.
So like I said, we conducted a level three vehic driver inspection.
Three copies.
Basically just need to sign down here saying you received it.
Very good.
Thank you very much.
Can I ask you for one other thing? Can I have a picture with you? Since that's my first citation.
I should have a picture with the guy who gave it to me.
Okay, do I have to pay a fine for that too? No.
No fine.
Let's get the hell out of here before we get in trouble.
Before we get in any more trouble.
See you later.
Enjoy your weekend.
The whole thing you got to keep cool and, you know, if there was a problem, I had a little song and dance all ready, you know? And most of these guys, you treat 'em with respect and that's it.
That's the way I figure it out.
At the other end of the haul road Greg Boadwine rolls in with load number nine.
Right now, I am pulling into the Prudhoe bay Carlile yard.
But the day didn't go as planned.
Don't like the way I accomplished passing Ray.
I wouldn't even really call it passing.
He decided to pull off the side of the damn road.
You're not gonna stay on the road, go ahead and get off the road, period.
Pulling into the yard.
Another pipe load delivered on time.
Been waiting for this all day.
He's just [Bleep.]
Looking at me, man.
The guy's been about ready to Explode crying.
Where do I park the truck for the night? Oh, I'll show you.
Okay.
So you just hang with me.
I'll show you what to do and where to go.
I won't let you hang.
Okay.
For rookie Ray Vellieux, hauling in load number the top of the load board with Hugh just one load behind.
But for Ray, today's run was about more than the competition.
So you did good.
That was your first load up there? Well, nobody crashed.
Nobody went in the ditch, so it's all good.
Where the hell are we going? We'll go grab something to eat and we're good.
That's it.
I'll tell you what.
As the mega haul team reaches Prudhoe bay, another successful run keeps Lisa in the race for the load count crown.
I just I've gotten so lucky.
I never was even ever in a truck before I decided to be a truck driver.
It was like, "I think I'm gonna try being a truck driver," and I worked my butt off to become one.
I'm so lucky.
I love it.
With the heavy haul team counting on her, Lisa delivered and took another step towards proving herself as one of the best.
She did a good job.
She did what was asked of her and she did it well.
Next, on ice road truckers I don't know how long this ice road's gonna last.
The ice is melting and it's heating up the dash for the cash I'll bet you $100 that I'll haul as many or more loads than you guys this year.
I know only losers say, "winning doesn't matter.
It's how you play the game.
" Hugh gets busted This is the scale man who wants my ass.
Jack loses his cool I don't like that at all.
That [Bleep.]
Pisses me off.
And an overturned rig sends a warning up the Dalton.
Keep running.
Tempers flare.
Hey, Greg, that was some dumbass [Bleep.]
To do.
Least you pulled into a driveway instead of into a ditch.
Alex has a run-in with the law.
And Lisa I have to figure out a way to get this done.
I can't go back and go, "I can't do this.
" Takes on the season's last mega-haul.
Everything you know is thrown out the window.
We may need to stop.
Not looking too good.
These are the truckers who make their living.
.
On thin ice.
At the Carlile yard in Fairbanks, Lisa Kelly is on the job early.
And you got your permits.
Cool.
So we gotta get on the move.
With only three weeks before the ice road closes, Carlile is racing to get the last of the oversized equipment up to the oil fields.
The final mega-load of the season is a massive 100-ton modular building, or "mod.
" I'm excited, but we're pressed for time.
So I'm concentrating on what I'm doing.
Loads over 180,000 pounds are too big for one truck to take alone.
So heavy haul veteran Neil Locke will be driving the load, while Lisa and push-truck driver Ron Dubbs How are you, miss Lisa? Good, good.
Will be providing the power to push it 500 Miles to Prudhoe bay.
Everything you know, like don't tailgate and all this stuff, is thrown out the window.
It's like breaking all the rules.
Tailgate, you get right on someone's bumper, you can't see anything, you're supposed to hit them.
You ready to teach me? Teach you? You've been doing it already for a while.
Once.
Gonna bang into you all kinds of times.
Oh, okay.
I think my first time, I could have done better, but I did the best that I could.
Lisa's first experience as a push trucker had some rocky moments.
You lost me.
But Jack Jessee was there to help her out.
Jack was a great teacher and was trying to coach me through it.
There's just so much to learn about it.
You just learn a lot from your first, like, touch.
This time, she'll be on her own.
So it's like, if they're doing this, I have to figure out a way to get this done, and I might not have the strength or the build or the look or anything, but I have to figure out how to do it, because I can't go back and go, "I can't do this.
" We haven't even loaded the block up yet, weighed it and readjusted it and chained it down yet.
Maybe this way! Cody, that way just a little bit.
Then you're good.
I'm ready.
Are you? I always do.
This heavy haul is Lisa's shot to prove she can run with the big dogs.
Nothing? What's going on? I think it was an air leak, 'cause I turned it off for, like, ten minutes, jumped in the truck, and it was already low on air.
Maybe we can check it out first.
See if it's something we can fix real quick.
Do you hear that when I'm letting off how it sounds like it's, like, going backwards? What is that why is it doing that? Go ahead and, uh The little rubber seal is leaking.
Okay.
That actually is what they call the e-valve, which is the same as a treadle valve.
It's basically the valve that's right underneath the foot pedal and sends the air to all sorts of different places.
It's gonna have to be fixed.
A broken air valve means Lisa's not going anywhere.
I'll just peel off and wait at the shop and get fixed first thing and try to hustle up and meet them at hilltop.
With the clock ticking, the team hi the road without her.
If Lisa can't get her truck repaired in the next two hours, she may lose her big chance before she even gets started.
Well, I'm not doing a whole lot of pushing sitting here, am I? 90 Miles north Yeah, we have a load of pipe, and we're heading north.
To everyone's surprise, rookie Ray Veilleux is leading the load count, but his road to the top hasn't been pretty.
After putting his truck in the ditch three weeks ago, Ray is finally learning respect for the road.
I'm doing a dangerous job, and I could lose my life any day on the haul road, but it is what it is, and I'm trying to hang onto my life and support my family.
Today, Ray's mission is to pay respect to a driver who came before him.
We have another truck behind us.
We have Doug Feistner.
His dad used to be an old haul road trucker up here, and he passed away a couple of years ago.
And Doug always wanted to, uh, spread his dad's ashes up on the haul road, but he never had the opportunity, and so today, he's gonna follow me up to Prudhoe, and on the way, we're gonna spread his dad's ashes someplace up on Atigun pass.
We gotta pay tribute to e veterans of the haul road.
Doug's dad, Robert Feistner, was a haul road legend, running the Dalton for decades under the call sign "coldfoot Bob.
" I felt pretty confident that i could lead Doug all the way up there without any problem, so I asked the boss.
He said, "yeah, as long as he follows you all the way up there, we'll let that happen.
" But it may not be as easy as it sounds.
This is the first time on the Dalton for 20 years.
Last time I ran the Dalton was in 1990 following my dad up in another truck.
Adding to the pressure of being off the Dalton for 20 years, Doug's also been asked to pick up a trailer that was stranded by a broken-down truck the day before.
Doug is gonna grab that load of pipe, and then he's gonna stay behind me, 'cause he really doesn't know the road.
Well, Dougie, there's your load, if you can try to pin to that.
Hopefully, we're just gonna hook up and leave, and it'll be real quick.
You better hit it harder than that.
Just hit her.
You get it real close.
Ahh! Ha ha! That's rookie [Bleep.]
Right there.
Hit it.
Might have to chain up just to get underneath her.
Hit it harder.
You almost get there.
You get yeah, a bunch of times.
You pull up, like, eight feet and just [Bleep.]
Hit it.
Gonna get a freakin' 20-foot running start at it now.
Hit it, man.
Not too bad.
Oh, that's a good slam.
Looks good.
Let's boogie on up there and not waste any time, 'cause I know there's other trucks coming up behind us.
Back in Fairbanks, Greg Boadwine's running dead last in the load count.
And he's hoping to pick up the pace before the ice road runs out.
Okay, boss, how you doing? Good.
How we doing this morning? Oh, not bad.
Greg's assigned a giant reel of pvc pipe.
Now, just be careful with that reel.
Man, that thing's Top-heavy.
Yeah, it's sitting up there about 15 feet, so All right, Greg.
Thanks, boss.
Have a good trip.
Get out, take a look at this big ol' son of a gun.
Get the trailer checked out.
It's a big one.
That thing is huge.
I don't know if I'm happy for this one or not.
It's a monster.
Got a lot of weight up high.
I notice when I slow down or even come to a stop, the trailer will sit there and rock back and forth.
The wheel's high center of gravity makes the load unstable.
One mistake and the top-heavy load could tip over, taking the truck with it.
Good thing is, I don't get motion sickness, I don't get seasick, so as long as I don't get tired from that thing trying to rock me to sleep, we should be good to go.
Back at the shop in Fairbanks Thought it was gonna be a quick fix.
It's just taking longer.
Lisa's hope of joining the push-truck team is slipping away.
Lisa let us know that she had a push load today.
We were trying to get it diagnosed, trying to get her going.
Unfortunately, you know, we're busy.
So I'm officially stuck.
Coming up A rookie on a collision course.
Dude, I can't believe you stopped on a [Bleep.]
Hill.
And later 'Cause you could have went anywhere here.
Alex gets busted.
Whoops.
Dalton, Ray is leading haul road novice Doug Feistner to Atigun pass.
He was on my ass all the way, now I don't even see him back there.
Now it's a whole different ballgame.
Now, you know, I worry about myself.
Now I gotta worry about Doug.
Ray spent all season learning how to get himself up the haul road.
Now he's responsible for a driver even less experienced that he is.
I thought he would have caught up by now, but But Doug's pipe has begun to shift, and if it slips off the trailer, it could send his entire rig sliding into the ditch.
Yeah, when I hit that last hole, the straps came undone.
Doug? A lot's changed in the 20 years since Doug last ran the haul road.
And stopping on a hill to fix a strap Is no longer an option.
Did that guy stop on the Hill or what? Oh, [Bleep.]
.
Really? I can get it out of the way, so it's not trailing behind us.
Doug's only thinking of himself.
"Oh, jeez, the strap's loose.
" He's gotta think of all these trucks that are oncoming.
You know, one could be just cresting over the hill and needs to get around him, another guy's coming up on him.
You don't stop on a Hill.
Get to the top.
You know, these guys aren't happy.
They're on the cb bitching about it.
There's nothing Ray can do but wait and worry.
Doug? Holy mackerel, he's still freakin' working on it.
We're done.
Doug.
Doug? Yeah, I'm coming up, Ray.
Dude, I can't believe you stopped on a [Bleep.]
Hill.
Yeah, neither can I.
That's a real nice place to start off with a load of pipe.
The other guy almost hit you in the ass.
You know, we gotta stop at Atigun to spread his dad's ashes, but he did a couple of rookie things here big-time.
I mean, how many more things are gonna happen here? It's getting to be nerve-racking.
Fairbanks, Alex Debogorski is headed South with his 15th load of the season, just one load behind his rival, Hugh.
I've been driving by here all winter and looking at this finger Mountain formation, wondering what kind of rock it is, so I've decided I'm gonna stop and do a load check right here, and once I make sure that everything's tied down, I'm gonna go over and break a rock off of that.
I'm what you call a hobby prospector.
So I'm gonna go over there and, uh, see if there's anything interesting looking.
Alex has been curious to investigate finger Mountain since he heard the area had a history of gold.
In this north country, you never know what you're gonna find in the rock.
See the kind of goldish sheen on that? I would suggest it's got a little bit of quartz in there, some copper in it.
Come back here, you son of a gun.
I'm not a real expert at it, but I would not be at all surprised, I would say there's a little bit of gold in there.
The discovery of gold has long been associated with the history of Alaska.
In 1902, Felix Pedro, an Italian-born immigrant, struck gold in a region called the Tanana hills.
His find turned out to be the largest discovery of gold in the state.
The discovery drew a flood of prospectors to the area and led to the creation of present-day Fairbanks.
There's a little bit of gold in there.
That was just laying right there on the ground.
It might not be the mother lode, but Alex has found Alaskan gold.
I put that rock back down there, leave the fortune for the next guy.
Back in Fairbanks My truck's in the shop right now.
Time is running out for Lisa, but at last they've discovered the problem with her truck.
Well, this valve was defective internally.
It was bleeding the air from this side, coming out this line, so, therefore, it was applying the brakes on its own.
Took longer than we thought it was going to to try to diagnose it, so, unfortunately, she is running behind on her push load.
And 90 Miles north, the mega-load needs to make its next move.
The plan right now, we're gonna just start rolling to Livengood and, um, hopefully, Lisa will catch us by then.
Livengood is as far north as the load can go with just one push truck.
After that, they'll need two trucks to get the load up the hills.
Neil's left, and I'm here, and I just gotta play catch-up as soon as it's done, but this being my last push load, I didn't want to spend it in the shop.
I'd rather be out pushing.
If Lisa doesn't hit the road soon, they'll have to call in a replacement driver, and Lisa's shot at becoming a full-fledged push-trucker will be over.
All right, Lisa.
Now it's a race to catch the mega-load To fuel this sucker up.
But five Miles out of Fairbanks Lisa's dream goes up in smoke.
Five Miles north of Fairbanks Lisa Kelly's race to catch the mega-haul has been brought to a halt by an explosion under the hood.
And with no one around to help, Lisa will have to solve the problem on her own.
This came out from this.
They put this new boot on there, and maybe they didn't, like, tighten it enough or something.
Lisa discovers the air line supplying her turbo system shook loose, killing power to the engine.
Hey, this is my chance to fix my truck by myself! That was loud, huh? It went "poof!" I went, "whoa, what was that?" Repairing the truck by herself is a victory for Lisa.
But with the mega-haul still 85 Miles ahead, it may be too little too late.
We'll keep going till we find him.
Before we find out he doesn't need me.
Ray and Doug have reached Atigun pass.
Well, you ready to show your dad one more run up on Atigun? After Doug's earlier incident Ray will be keeping a close eye on his friend during the All right, well, I'll be ahead of you.
Just watch where I'm on those turns, 'cause if you take it too much on the inside, you'll spin out there.
But they're further back.
Ray's in front of me, talkin' me through what I need to see and watch for.
Yeah, seems like Doug's doing pretty good.
Things happen, gets rough, you know.
He's doing all right.
Well, we made it, and he can go where he wants from here.
Um, this is it.
We're coming into The top of the pass.
This is where dad will spend the rest of his days.
Well, there you go, Doug.
You can take care of what you got to take care of and You do what you got to go do.
Thanks, Ray.
All righty, man.
Just a few minutes behind Ray and Doug Think we just found Ray.
Definitely see what he's still doing up here.
Kind of got me wondering, to be honest.
Especially with 818 up here.
That's one of our day cabs.
What in the hell? Come on.
Just get it going.
What is he thinking? Mom didn't want him to go for quite a while And, uh, she didn't want me driving.
SheSaying earlier that my dad taught me how to drive and my brother died when I was four in a truck accident, so my mom never wanted me to drive, so my dad taught me how to drive without my mom ever knowing it.
And she never knew that I made over 30 trips to Prudhoe with my dad.
Worked up here.
He drove up here.
He maintained the roads working for the state.
Worked the oil fields.
Drill platforms and the rigs.
Did a little of all of that.
Well, dad, I'm gonna let you go here Close to the road, 'cause you'd want to be right where the action's at.
Don't know what to say to you.
See you later, dad.
Hey, guys.
I'm coming for you.
Lisa Kelly has finally caught up to the mega haul.
Really, really, really enjoy this a I want to do my best at it and I want to be good at it and the more people that I can push on the back of and do a good job, the more that they'll want me in the future.
Her chance to build a reputation as heavy hauler is still alive, but now she's got to prove she's up to the job.
Hey, we're coming up to railroad hill there, Lisa.
We'll both be pushing down that one there.
As the mega haul hits the first steep incline of the haul road, Lisa lines up with Ron, adjusts her speed And makes her move to hook up.
See, she she got me a little ahead of time there.
We aren't quite hooked up.
Hang on a second, Lisa.
Sorry.
Lisa's push caught Ron before he was connected to the lead truck.
It'll get pretty rough on Ron, 'cause I'll bump back into him, Lisa will bump into him forward, and he's in the middle.
All right, I'm ready for you now.
What's that? Okay, I'm ready now.
Lisa has one more shot to prove she can handle the split-second timing.
Okay, all right.
But just as she hits the gas Hey, Neil, we may need to stop here.
I got a lot of steam coming out the front of my engine here.
Fairbanks Hey, Neil, we may need to stop.
I got a lot of steam coming out the front of my engine here.
It's not looking too good.
Yeah, I can see that from here.
Lisa Kelly's finally getting the chance to prove herself, but a potential blowout on the push truck may put the mega haul on hold.
Steam coming out of Ron's truck, so we're gonna check it out.
See what it is, 'cause it ain't exhaust at this point.
We're gonna stop here and check this out and, uh, make sure we don't have a blown hose or something going on.
There was steam coming off the front of the engine, yeah.
What you see in there, Ron? I don't see any excessive problems that looks like it's leaking it at all.
Do you think it was just snow being picked up? Could have had a bunch of snow on the front of the radiator.
My engine temperature was low till I started pulling the hill, then the temperature came up.
Oh, okay, yeah.
It could be.
It seemed like a lot of snow and stuff coming around, so there was steam coming off the front of the engine, yeah.
Steam? I think we're gonna be all right.
The team hits the road again ready to haul the mod up Atigun pass.
Weather's supposed to be getting crappy up there north, blowing, and it's supposed to snow tonight, so for you guys, it's gonna get dusty.
We'll just take our time and see.
If it gets too bad, we're gonna shut it down.
I don't want to put anybody in jeopardy.
Ready to go? Okay.
To make it up the trucks need to become one and Lisa will have to step up to the challenge.
Need to be pretty careful when I hook up with Ron here.
Pull it to the right, Ron.
Okay, Lisa.
Cloudy.
Like, the wind must be really blowing.
We're going from dry road to excessively icy.
Warm temperatures have turned the snowy road to slush.
A mistake here would leave t hundred-ton load unsupported with no chance to regain traction.
Kicking up a lot of snow dust.
Going 12 Miles an hour.
taking quite a while.
Thank we're all clear.
At last, the mega haul crests the peak of Atigun pass.
We're good to come down? Well, then it's a good thing I'm part-time then.
And it's all good.
Fairbanks Greg Boadwine's parked at the bottom of Atigun pass.
I managed to pass Ray, but figured I'd actually end up catching him when he was on the move.
I wasn't expecting him to be sitting up on the pass.
Kind of defeats my whole purpose of wanting to pass him.
It's kind of boring now.
Now I have to wait for him to catch back up.
Passing or sacking another driver on the road Here we come, buddy.
Is a point of pride for any trucker.
I love passing people.
Especially in a big truck.
I love laying the sack down and that's exactly what it's called.
But sacking a parked truck doesn't count, so Greg waits for Ray to go ahead to set up another chance to sack him.
That's Greg right there.
Saw what just [Bleep.]
Happened up on top of Atigun there.
I mean, Doug, he's here to drop his dad's ashes and Greg, he just pulls right out in front of him like that.
And I was watching.
I was like, "holy.
" As Ray passes by, Greg Springs into action.
There he goes.
All right.
Still going after him.
I don't give a [Bleep.]
What he does.
Hey, Greg, that was some dumbass [Bleep.]
To do.
Oh, Ray, must be in one of his moods.
It's pretty damn sad if you ask me.
Needs a [Bleep.]
Attitude adjustment.
So now I'm gonna go march and knock on Ray's door and Gonna go around him.
I don't need to get sandbagged right at the [Bleep.]
End.
That load's got to be pretty heavy for him.
Maybe I can keep going.
Hope he knows we're coming.
I'm chasing you, buddy.
Keep running.
Well, there's the hills where he can get me, but he'd have to come he'd have to come around me and I won't let him come around me.
Greg makes his move I think I'll let him just go by.
I'm gonna pull in this driveway and then I'm gonna back out of it.
But Ray doesn't give him the satisfaction.
I don't know what Ray's deal was.
Closing on him slowly and he wouldn't even take a pass like a man.
Wouldn't even just keep trucking.
He knows I'm 15,000 pounds lighter than he is with more motor.
Instead of having me pass him, he decided to literally get off of the road.
I don't know what there is to be scared of.
A pass is a pass.
It happens to us all.
That's fine.
He wants to take the easy way out and literally get off the road? Get off the road.
Hey, Ray, at least you pulled into a driveway instead of into a ditch, so.
Good one.
Good one.
You know what? If Doug went in the ditch, Tim would be all over my.
Sounds like all the rumors about male menopause must be true.
Guess it's kind of one of those situations where if you can't stand the heat, get out the kitchen.
Tim would have been, "you're responsible for him.
" He got out of the kitchen.
"We sent you out there and" he was to follow you.
You [Bleep.]
Pulled away from him and this [Bleep.]
"Happened.
" I'd be getting yeah.
He ought to just go back down to the states.
Just ten Miles from Fairbanks Alex is heading South with a deck set backhaul.
But lights at the weigh station mean another stop before calling it a night.
How's it going, Alex? Very good, thanks.
You have your log book with you? Yes, sir.
Just happened to have it right handy.
Oh, I haven't had an inspection this year.
Very good, sir.
Now, here you were in coldfoot? Yes, sir.
So you were in the sleeper? I slept in the hotel there, yes.
In the hotel? Yes, sir.
'Cause you could have went anywhere here.
And then here you've got it, "on duty, not driving," when it should have been "driving.
" Right.
So.
That was kind of a screw up there.
You're gonna get a violation for that.
Along with the ticket, Alex could be facing a hefty fine.
So where's, uh Can I get you to slow him down for me? I'm willing to bribe you if you stop and give him a ticket.
I'll bake you a cake.
All right.
So like I said, we conducted a level three vehic driver inspection.
Three copies.
Basically just need to sign down here saying you received it.
Very good.
Thank you very much.
Can I ask you for one other thing? Can I have a picture with you? Since that's my first citation.
I should have a picture with the guy who gave it to me.
Okay, do I have to pay a fine for that too? No.
No fine.
Let's get the hell out of here before we get in trouble.
Before we get in any more trouble.
See you later.
Enjoy your weekend.
The whole thing you got to keep cool and, you know, if there was a problem, I had a little song and dance all ready, you know? And most of these guys, you treat 'em with respect and that's it.
That's the way I figure it out.
At the other end of the haul road Greg Boadwine rolls in with load number nine.
Right now, I am pulling into the Prudhoe bay Carlile yard.
But the day didn't go as planned.
Don't like the way I accomplished passing Ray.
I wouldn't even really call it passing.
He decided to pull off the side of the damn road.
You're not gonna stay on the road, go ahead and get off the road, period.
Pulling into the yard.
Another pipe load delivered on time.
Been waiting for this all day.
He's just [Bleep.]
Looking at me, man.
The guy's been about ready to Explode crying.
Where do I park the truck for the night? Oh, I'll show you.
Okay.
So you just hang with me.
I'll show you what to do and where to go.
I won't let you hang.
Okay.
For rookie Ray Vellieux, hauling in load number the top of the load board with Hugh just one load behind.
But for Ray, today's run was about more than the competition.
So you did good.
That was your first load up there? Well, nobody crashed.
Nobody went in the ditch, so it's all good.
Where the hell are we going? We'll go grab something to eat and we're good.
That's it.
I'll tell you what.
As the mega haul team reaches Prudhoe bay, another successful run keeps Lisa in the race for the load count crown.
I just I've gotten so lucky.
I never was even ever in a truck before I decided to be a truck driver.
It was like, "I think I'm gonna try being a truck driver," and I worked my butt off to become one.
I'm so lucky.
I love it.
With the heavy haul team counting on her, Lisa delivered and took another step towards proving herself as one of the best.
She did a good job.
She did what was asked of her and she did it well.
Next, on ice road truckers I don't know how long this ice road's gonna last.
The ice is melting and it's heating up the dash for the cash I'll bet you $100 that I'll haul as many or more loads than you guys this year.
I know only losers say, "winning doesn't matter.
It's how you play the game.
" Hugh gets busted This is the scale man who wants my ass.
Jack loses his cool I don't like that at all.
That [Bleep.]
Pisses me off.
And an overturned rig sends a warning up the Dalton.