Ice Road Truckers (2007) s05e01 Episode Script
Pushing the Edge / Ice Road Rage
For five seasons The ice road truckers have tested themselves on the most dangerous roads in North America.
We're on the ice.
This year, old friends Hey, you look familiar.
And new rivals I cannot wait to get driving.
I came here to drive the ice road.
You know, everybody talks about the ice road.
Will face off in a battle across the continent.
Well, I think little miss Muffet's gonna get knocked off her tuffet.
It ain't over till the fat lady sings.
They'll return to the deadly mountains of Alaska.
Holy crap.
And take on the frozen wilderness of Canada.
It's four-wheel driving in a big rig.
To fight for the title-- King of the ice roads.
Dash for the cash.
I want to be the guy making all the dough.
Two roads.
One winner.
When you only got 60 days to make your cash, you drive her.
No second chances.
That cop's gonna come arrest me right now.
Stop.
Stop.
Brake, brake, brake, brake, brake.
As winter takes hold across the North, plummeting temperatures mean one thing.
I love ya.
Love you too.
And I'll see you in the spring.
It's time for the polar bear to get back on the prowl.
Okay, let's roll.
Let's do it.
You can sleep in may.
Let's get at her.
This trucking legend has made a name driving the toughest roads in the North.
Yellow knife.
Inuvik.
She's another good bingo.
I made her back to Inuvik.
One more time.
And for the last two seasons, Alaska's Dalton highway.
Come on, baby! But this year, the polar bear is stalking new territory back in his homeland of Canada.
Well, I was kind of sick of the Dalton.
I mean, uh, it's a glorified [Bleep.]
highway.
My driveway is steeper than most of the [Bleep.]
hills out there.
The girls on the Dalton can stay on the Dalton.
I mean, this is where the real boys actually do some trucking on the ice road.
His destination, the starting point of Manitoba's deadly winter roads.
through some of the most remote and unforgiving wilderness on the planet.
Drivers here face axel-crushing frost heaves Oh, jeez! Heart-stopping ice crossings And frozen swamps that can swallow a big rig whole.
And out here, the only thing more dangerous than the ice is the isolation.
You're basically taking your truck, driving it through the worst [Bleep.]
possible, and hoping things don't break down.
These are the most southerly ice roads in North America.
You got a small window here.
That's what I like.
head down, ass up, and get at it.
For just a few weeks each year, the window opens to resupply dozens of tive communities across the wild.
All these people depend on us to get their supplies up there for the upcoming year.
Last year the season ended really early.
There was essentials that needed to get in for communities, and the weather turned, and everything just went to [Bleep.]
.
This year, we got a lot work to do, because we've got last year's loads and this year's loads to Haul up.
The extreme danger means big money for any trucker willing to take the risk.
And for this job, Hugh is bringing along some backup His ex-employee Rick Yemm.
Feels good to be back.
I've been off from the ice trucking for a few years now, and, uh, for I guess my triumphant return, I get to deal with my best friend.
I said Rick will never drive one of my trucks again, and that was a couple of years ago, and he never has drove one of my trucks again.
This time he's leasing a truck, and he's his own boss.
- Well, because I'm [Bleep.]
- After years struggling to play by other people's rules You're [Bleep.]
Come back in this yard again, I'm gonna get the RCMP in.
Leasing Hugh's truck is Rick's first shot to be in business for himself.
Lot more money for me, and, well, lot more responsibility for me too, but I'm taking a big step and moving forward, and moving my way up in this kind of work.
This is his big redemption here.
If he can make her here, he's gonna be in the-- He'll be in the money game now.
Finally, Hugh and Rick arrive in Winnipeg, and the polar bear wastes no time getting down to business.
I'll try this Mark guy, see what he's got going on.
Hello, Mark? Hey, Mark.
Hugh rowland here.
Uh, coming from, uh, b.
C.
, there.
Just made her into Winnipeg now.
So, uh, what's she looking like for loads over there? Okay.
Okay, thanks, Mark.
Bye.
He said give him a call tomorrow.
He's got lots of loads.
He said he's got lots of loads.
Just not till the first of the week.
But he's got lots of loads, he said, so that's good.
Lots of loads.
Yep.
Yep.
You nail some of these loads, you're going home with a pocket full of cash.
This separates the highway truckers from the real guys that know how to drive a truck.
I mean, this is the Canadian ice roads.
This is where it all started.
This is where-- This is how they learned how to drive on ice was right here.
While Hugh and Rick gear up, 2,600 miles Northwest, at the starting line of the Dalton highway The race has just begun.
Alaska's elite truckers are about to embark on an epic mission.
The goal? Deliver 1,500 loads in just billion-dollar oil fields of Prudhoe Bay.
We're Hauling modules.
We're gonna Haul pipe.
We're gonna Haul fuel.
Basically, if they build it, we're Hauling it.
With a record number of heavy Hauls this season, every trucker on the road will have to raise their game.
It doesn't matter if it's going over the ice Through the wind, through the white out.
We're gonna get up there.
And at the Carlile yard in Fairbanks Veteran trucker Lisa Kelly is up for the challenge.
Well, I ain't blondie no more.
My hair is red, because I've been blond for too long.
Doing the whole, "oh, I'm a damsel in distress and I don't know what I'm doing," and this year I'm taking no prisoners, so I dyed it red because it's to remind me of my fiery attitude that I'm taking on this year.
Lisa's first load of the season-- 80,000 pounds of pipe.
And she'll be leading a convoy of heavy Haul drivers to Prudhoe Bay.
Heading out on the first trip of the season.
Our little convoying gang is heading down the road.
Let's get this party started.
As the short Alaska days give way to night, the heavy Haul team approaches one of the biggest challenges on the Dalton.
We are almost to Koyukuk, and Koyukuk is a nice, left-hand, uphill corner.
It's one of the steepest grades on road.
Better do it now.
Pulling a 60-ton load, convoy partner Carey hall don't have the horse power to climb Koyukuk on his own.
The tail-heavy lifts weight off the drive.
Here's the truck and the trailer.
Tail-heavy pulls it up like this, pulls weight off the drives.
To get the job done Putting the cables together.
Lisa hooks a one-inch thick steel tow line to Carey's rig to drag him up and over the hill.
What if we slip? What if we start slipping on this one? What do we do? We start slipping, ain't much we can do.
Pulling 120,000 pounds up Koyukuk's steep slope will put extreme pressure on the towing gear.
One wrong move and the tow strap could snap, sending Carey's rig crashing backwards over the edge.
Okay, I'm ready whenever you are.
Okay, let's go.
Can you feel him back there? You can feel a jerk.
I am in, uh, second over.
What are you in? I'm at 1,500 RPMs.
And start spinning.
Okay.
Right at the top is the steepest grade.
Slipping already? Yeah, he's slipping like crazy.
What? What's wrong? Halfway up the Dalton's steepest slope What? What's wrong? Whoa.
Holy crap.
When the temperature drops below minus 40 degrees, metal becomes brittle.
And pulling 60 tons up the 11% slope was more than Lisa's tow hooks could handle.
There's what we're pulling with.
All right.
Have to do a little modification here.
The only option is to hook the tow line to the smaller "d" rings on Lisa's bumper and continue the climb.
If those break off, then we're pretty much done.
Okay, ready when you are.
I'm in first right now.
Gonna go to second.
Okay, I'm in second.
The metal holds for now, but Lisa's convoy still has If one of those breaks, we're gonna have to get creative.
I think I'm just gonna kind of take that as it comes.
southeast in Canada, Hugh and Rick have rolled North to get a sneak peek at the ice.
This is a winter road right here.
Why don't we go up a little further? Even though it's [Bleep.]
closed.
Well, we'll go up and see which ones are open and which ones are closed, anyway.
But two unfamiliar trucks quickly get the attention of a passing officer.
How you doing? Hello, gentlemen.
Oh, we're just up here checking the roads out, seeing which ones are open, which ones are closed.
First time on these roads, so we kind of come up to get a little bit of a heads-up before we got to start Hauling.
Oh, yeah.
That's why we got no trailers on or anything.
Okay.
All right.
But, uh, yeah, no, we weren't gonna go up.
We see the road's closed, and, well, we go on the ice we know when it's closed it's for a reason.
Yeah, we got some construction activities going on.
We're-- We're removing some beaver dams today.
Uh, you know, if you want to come along to see some of that, you're welcome to.
Oh, that'd be cool.
Want to go check it out? We got time.
Yeah? Sure.
Well, if the road's closed, we're not Hauling.
Yeah.
There you go.
So we're gonna end up going about 100 miles North to blow up some beaver dams today.
There's a few there that are causing us grief, and we need to get them removed so we can get our road in in time to get the freight going.
A four-foot high beaver dam is blocking access to the last section of the ice road, and it's up to the manitoba road crew to clear it away.
Damn beaver dam.
Yeah, we-- We curse the beaver dams, yeah.
How do you guys remove 'em? Do you just get a, like, an excavator over here, or--? Oh, these ones, yeah, but this one we've had to blast out of here.
Explosives.
That's a lot of dynamite, man.
Sorry.
I'm getting a little excited now.
I thought he was gonna put a couple sticks in the ground.
Boom, that'd be good.
That dam runs, uh, right across the roadway here and runs all the way over to that rock.
We're chopping holes in that beaver dam to find a place to set the dynamite.
Oh, yeah.
We'll set the dynamite in there, and, uh Pop her.
Okay, it's ready to go.
Go.
Run! Get up.
Get up.
[Bleep.]
.
Gonna get blown up.
Couple of [Bleep.]
clowns.
I wasn't sure you guys were gonna make it under there in time.
With the path clear, the road crew can get down to business.
And the winter road season will begin.
You know, hopefully the trucks start coming, the freight starts moving.
Uh, the communities are happy.
Uh, we're all happy when the freight's going.
That's what-- That's what we're out here for.
Back in Alaska, another old pro rolls into Fairbanks ready to give the Haul road veterans a run for their money.
I'm gonna come out on top of the dash for the cash.
I mean, that's just a given.
All the others think they're gonna come out on top.
They might as well just I guess pack it in now, 'cause it ain't gonna happen.
Trucker Dave Redmon, a good old boy from riverside, Alabama, with a truckload of swagger and 25 years of driving to back it up.
This isn't my first rodeo.
I've driven in every state in the lower 48.
I've been in virtually every city, every small town.
Got 2 1/2 million miles of experience.
Last summer I went to India to do a job.
I mean, there's no room for error.
Tell these [Bleep.]
to piss off.
Oh, [Bleep.]
.
Done most everything you can, but I've never driven up here on these roads.
It's kind of a badge of honor.
It's kind of bragging rights, you know, where you can go into the truck stop and guys will be talking, and you can say, "well, I got one better.
" Basically made a few phone calls and found an opening, and here I am.
Lane? Howdy.
That'd be me.
How you doing? Dave Redmon.
How you doing? All right.
Good.
I'm gonna go Haul freight.
That's what I'm here to do.
Yes, sir.
We're going to send you out with Tony Molesky.
Okay.
Um, one of our senior drivers.
You know, Tony's been out there for a long time.
He's been there for 20 years.
I know you got 25, 26 years driving experience yourself, but this is just a different road.
Am I gonna, you know, be expected to just basically sit there and, uh, look out the window all day or--? Well, if Tony tells me you're ready to go, I'll-- We'll cut you loose, and, uh, we'll get you out there doing it with the guys.
Okay.
All right? All righty.
All right.
Thanks, Dave.
All right.
Have a good trip.
Yep.
I've been on the ice, been on the snow, been in the mountains, you know? And I've-- I been more places than they've been.
I've been in traffic and done the same [Bleep.]
, you know? This-- This road has a way of, uh, busting an ego in an awful hurry, so that's the big thing we try and get through to the drivers, whether, you know, got a lot of miles or they're a new driver, is that the road doesn't care who you are.
I don't need a [Bleep.]
chaperone.
I just want to get out of the road, get this [Bleep.]
done, get going, you know, by myself.
Hi.
You must be the new guy.
Tony? What's happening, Dave? Ready to rock and roll? Ready to go.
Cool.
Well, we just loaded diesel fuel for Prudhoe, so, uh, let's go get her done.
All right.
Let's go.
will judge Dave's skills as they head to Prudhoe Bay.
He knows firsthand what can happen when a rookie gets behind the wheel.
Last Wednesday, I was heading for Prudhoe Bay with a load of fuel, and, uh, came up over a small, little rise.
What we call a surprise rise.
And met another truck coming at me.
Couldn't get out of his way fast enough, and I had about two seconds to react, and I just steered the truck into the ditch as hard as I could.
I thought I was gone.
It's been a long time since I seen a wreck this bad.
Literally just a couple inches from--From taking his life.
Probably one of our most senior drivers on the Haul road.
Been doing it for 20 years.
You know, he's second to none out there.
Proves it can happen to anybody.
The gentleman that hit me has been on that road less than a year.
Probably did not remember where he was at, and so that makes me think of safety a little bit more.
If you don't drive safe on the Haul road, you're not gonna make it.
That's just the way it is.
I could drive this truck on the Dalton myself, by myself right now.
It's just another road.
Just another truck.
Just another load of freight.
I'm here to make money.
I'm not here to sit on my ass.
I'm gonna go Haul freight.
Coming up Whoo-hoo! Old pros hit the road.
Oh, this is a good day for driving on ice.
And later, new arrivals raise the stakes.
Trucking is such a passion of mine.
I have a tattoo of Kenworth on the back of my neck.
Outside Winnipeg, Canada, at the headquarters of polar industries We made it finally.
Ice road truckers Rick Yemm and Hugh rowland report for duty.
Well, hello, gentlemen.
Mark? Yes, sir.
Hey.
How are you? Good to meet you.
Rick.
Mark with polar industries.
Rick.
How you doing, Rick? Good.
Welcome back to Canada.
Right on.
We have a six to eight week window to get 200 loads into manitoba, Northwestern Ontario.
You're moving millions and millions of dollars worth of freight.
I need the best guys out there, and that's why you're here.
First order of business, I'm gonna be sending you guys to Oxford House.
Uh, the elder's residence, where the ceiling is starting to collapse, and, uh, I've got a load that's got to get up there for tomorrow.
Uh, it's in the yard, ready to go.
It's an emergency load.
Hugh and Rick's first run this season will be Hauling building supplies 620 miles Northeast to the creek community of Oxford House.
Sounds good.
When do we get goin'? Right now.
Sweet.
There's your load sheet.
There's your load sheet.
See you in a couple days.
Thank you.
Take care.
Drive safe.
You bet.
This is a time-sensitive load.
They have to get up there.
Uh, the trailers are loaded.
They got to go.
Like, there's-- There's no farting around.
There's no sleeping.
There's no nothing.
They got to get there.
First [Bleep.]
load of the season.
Here we go.
All right, polar bear.
She's good.
I feel good.
I'm on the road.
That's all I wanted to do was get going, get making some [Bleep.]
cash here, and if I'm moving, I'm making money.
That's all that matters to me.
they leave the pavement behind.
And roll on to the newly built winter road.
Whoo-hoo! Well, that's a little rough.
You got that right.
Bouncing the farts right out of me.
Welcome to running Canadian style.
You got to do what you got to do to get a buck in the pocket.
That's a big 10-4.
When you only got 60 days to make your cash, you drive it.
This ice road is built on frozen swamp land called muskeg.
The constant melting and re-freezing of the bog makes for a rough ride.
Muskeg is, like, a wet, sloppy ground.
When you put the weight of these big trucks on it, it actually punches it out, makes big holes in it.
And then it just gets wetter and wetter and wetter with the weight.
Turns it all up, and then you can't get through anymore.
It's like mud bogging almost.
You get off where the road is, and you'll sink just like quicksand.
Your truck's probably staying there till [Bleep.]
spring.
This'd mess Lisa's hair up for sure.
She'd constantly have a brush in it.
Bounce that mother[Bleep.]
.
Aw, yeah, buddy.
Yee-[Bleep.]
-Haw.
The rocky ride may have the Canadians revved up, but just a few miles ahead Hello, Joe.
Where you at? We got a casualty.
A casualty? Got a casualty up here.
Really? Trailer broke in half.
A what broke in half? Trombone trailer's broke in half up here.
Ain't that something, eh? Gotcha.
See? Going a little too fast through here.
That's a big 10-4.
They were saying the roads are nice right now, and he broke the trailer in half.
He was going too fast over these helmets, broke in half.
Oh, you got to find your-- What works to get you in quick, but without doing all that damage.
We-- You go too fast, you're not gonna make it.
Load's not gonna make it.
He's not gonna get paid.
You have to keep-- As much as you want to get in and out, you got to keep cool.
And this-- This is only gonna get worse.
Back in Alaska, halfway up the Haul road Let's go.
We got to go.
Dave Redmon is getting his first shot behind the wheel.
So how you feeling over there? I'm getting, uh, used to the truck.
You know, things are kind of falling into place.
They say anybody can drive the truck.
Yep.
It's pretty easy to sit here and shift gears and steer the wheel.
It's the decisions like when to put chains on and your fans on there too, by the way.
[Bleep.]
You know, it's those other decisions that make this job hard.
I'm definitely not new to this game.
I been doing this for 25 plus years.
It'll just take me, a, you know, a couple of passes to just get comfortable.
Yeah, this is a dash for the cash.
This isn't a daycare center.
Koyukuk, it's gnarly.
It's that steep, dude.
And it is a nasty son of a bitch.
Koyukuk gets a lot of guys.
The hill's 11% grade is the steepest on the Haul road.
To make it to the top, Dave will have to build speed, then quickly shift gears as he climbs the slope.
I'd go from six direct to fourth direct, so whatever you got to do to get into six direct halfway up the hill, and then, you know, once you get into the hard pull, go from six direct to fourth direct.
And then hit your fourth direct.
Stay to the right.
Stay to the right.
Second.
Oh, [Bleep.]
.
Stop.
Stop.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Oh, [Bleep.]
.
Stop.
Stop.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Brakes.
I'm on 'em.
You put on the brake? Boy, I [Bleep.]
ed that up, didn't I? You did.
But we're all right.
We're all right.
We're stuck.
Keep on the brakes.
I'm on 'em hard.
You gonna take it over? Nope.
I'm gonna put chains on.
I couldn't get it into fourth gear quick enough.
Dave's mistake puts the tanker and its flammable load dead in the middle of the road.
Crucial that we get our chains on right away.
We don't want anybody barreling up behind us.
So make sure we're clear behind.
Somebody comes down the hill and can't stop, they could smash into us.
At any moment, a southbound truck could come over the top of the hill and jackknife directly into the tanker.
We got to get out of here.
Let's go.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Let your clutch out until it starts to grab a little bit.
Now let go of your brakes and go.
There you go.
Where we gonna walk it up to? Is that enough action for you today? I'm awake now.
Finally they reach the top and stop to take off the chains.
My ego's for [Bleep.]
right now.
I shouldn't have missed that gear.
I mean, I'm real-- I'm And I don't And I'm not just saying that.
I shouldn't have missed it.
But it's a new truck.
I've never driven it before.
Lots of guys have trouble on this hill.
And really it's the way to figure out what a guy's got, you know? 'Cause it's a nasty son of a bitch, isn't it? Let's turn around and go try it again.
No.
You can do it next time.
All right.
So this road isn't quite as easy as you were thinking earlier, is it? Oh, it's fine right here.
Let's go to Coldfoot.
Back in Winnipeg Another legend of the ice roads prepares to enter the race.
Hi, Geraldine.
Hello.
How are you? Good, thanks.
You about ready for your load? I'm Alex Debogorski from yellow knife, Northwest territories, Canada.
Other people may describe me as sweet, calm, collected, cool, good looking.
Handsome.
Do you want to come and look? Sure.
With more loads than ever this season, first nation's trucking is looking for top drivers, and is as good as they come.
I've come back to Canada to truck because the opportunity was there.
There's a good chance we'll make more money here than we would have in Alaska.
You're heading up to Red Sucker.
Food supplies, okay? Very good.
Winnipeg, Red Sucker lake is one of the most remote destinations on the winter road.
There's-- Right before you get into Red Sucker there's a lot of ice.
So you just take your time.
Well, you know what you're doing.
Okay? Basically it's a half load.
So it's a half load.
Probably got some ice we're going over.
Yeah, it's only open for half loads.
Still a little thin there.
It is, yes.
Okay? I don't have any questions right now.
I might have in five minutes.
If I do, I'll come back.
Can't find your trailer back there? If I can't find the truck and the trailer, yeah.
Exactly.
Guess we're gonna have to thaw that out before we drink it.
And we're off.
Slip-sliding away.
So this is a good day for driving on ice.
As long as there's enough of it in the first place.
Alex approaches his first true test on the winter roads.
Our next stop is gonna be at a river crossing.
This must be the fellow from highways here.
Let's not run him over.
Good day, sir.
Hey.
How you doing? We're just finishing up some ice testing here.
So got a few more holes to drill before-- Before you cross.
Okay, you want me to come down there with you? Yeah, sure.
We're gonna punch a hole.
The safety officer uses an auger to dig in and test the thickness of the ice crossing.
Well, check that out.
- Well, it's 100 right there, so - 100 centimeters or about 39 inches is the bare minimum to support a fully-loaded big rig.
So we'll, uh-- We'll open up the ice crossing, and we'll get you on your way.
Very good.
Am I gonna be the first one through? Yeah, you betcha.
Well, that should make it interesting.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Take it easy.
Next, Alex gambles on unknown ice.
Whoa, baby.
And a rookie driver rolls the dice in Alaska.
I can't wait to drive.
I can't.
of Winnipeg, manitoba Alex Debogorski is about to become the first driver on a newly frozen ice road.
I'm afraid to drive across the ice sometimes.
It tends to make me nervous.
There's a lot of ice on this winter road compared to what we have up on the Dalton.
This ice crossing spans a half a mile.
While a few spots show the right thickness, other areas are much thinner.
If the ice road flexes under the weight of the truck, it could fracture And swallow the entire rig.
Yeah, we're loaded and it's supposed to go and he says it can go, then it's gonna go.
Whoa, baby.
Thank you, dear God, for this day.
Thank you for this job.
Thank you for my family and friends.
Thank you for the challenges in my life.
Thank you for the strength to handle them.
Let me have a safe Constructive trip.
Help me to handle any of the challenges or problems that we come across.
In the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit.
Amen.
And we're off like a hurdle of turtles again.
Good day to be on the road.
Yes, sir.
As Alex rolls deeper into the Canadian wilderness Back in Alaska, Lisa Kelly is the first to cross the finish line.
Just got to Prudhoe Bay.
I'm here.
Time for bed.
Scoring the first load in the dash for the cash, Lisa is now the one to beat.
And it's a good feeling to go to bed just exhausted and tired and happy because you got a good-- Played hard and you worked hard.
Just behind Lisa Southern driver Dave Redmon pulls in.
And now it's up to trainer Tony Molesky to decide if the good ol' boy from Alabama has what it takes to run the Haul road on his own.
You know, knowing what you're gonna have to deal with in the next few weeks, I get this feeling, you know? I know what you're gonna have to do.
I know what it takes to get up and down this road.
And, um I basically just come up with the decision.
You don't just get turned loose after a trip-- One trip on the Haul road.
That's just the way it is.
Not around our place.
You're an experienced driver.
It's just about the road, man, and knowing where you're at and knowing what to do, when to do it.
Well, so anyways, that's the scoop.
One more trip and then we'll just go from there.
Yeah, that's just the way it's gonna be.
All right.
I'm a lot frustrated right now.
Just, um If I have to go one more, I have to go one more.
I mean, you know, what else can I do? I'm behind from the start.
Yeah, Tony's got one load more than I do and, hell, I helped deliver it, so.
And I won't get credit for it.
It's close.
Okay.
He's pumping already? Yeah.
Make sure we're not leaking anywhere.
All the valves are open.
Think Dave might be a little irritated at me, but I'm making a judgment call.
So you're cool with, uh, taking another ride with Phil? Maybe in your own truck? Or me, whoever.
I'm sure it's disappointing to hear, but-- - What choice do I have? You don't.
Well, see? So-- Yeah, yeah.
You don't.
I need to feel it in my gut and right now I just don't feel like you're quite ready to be on your own.
You know, I've been on my own for 25 years.
Um, I haven't taken a road test in-- I can't remember when.
You know, I mean, I made a mistake.
I should have just started at the bottom of the hill in fourth gear and what did he say? "That's not how we do things around here.
" See? So he's not checking me out to make sure I can drive the truck.
He's making sure I can do it his way.
That's all it is.
That's wearing on my last nerve.
It really is.
While Dave's plans to run the Dalton are on hold At the airport in Fairbanks, a new challenger has come 4,000 miles to earn her place as an ice road trucker.
My name's Maya Sieber, and I'm here to bring a little bit of New York up to Alaska.
My last couple of working days were crazy.
I mean, we had a lot of snow in New York, a lot of ice.
I've been traveling for two days to get here to Alaska.
I need a slap in the face and a cup of coffee.
I have the biggest trucker withdrawal right now.
I can't take this anymore.
Trucking is such a passion of mine, I have a tattoo of Kenworth On the back of my neck.
I want to get out there at least.
So I can't wait to drive.
I can't.
I'd drive right now with no sleep if I could.
Deep in the heart of the Canadian wilderness Look, look, look, look, here.
Got a big hole.
A hole and a bump and a hill.
Alex Debogorski is 200 miles into his first run on the winter roads.
He's Hauling groceries to the isolated community of Red Sucker lake.
And upsy-Daisy.
Over we go and around and about.
How much fun do you want? More fun than a guy can handle here.
I love my job.
Oh, look at this.
What's around this corner here? Oh, baby.
Turn.
Oh, lordy, lordy.
Alex almost ate it But he managed to keep all 18 wheels on the ground.
A few more feet to the left and his rig would have been sunk in the Canadian swamp.
It's always a surprise at night where, "what's gonna come up next?" As Alex presses on alone through the remote wilderness The surprises don't let up.
So what's going on here now? What's this? There's a, uh-- Some overflow.
A nearby river has breached its banks, causing water to flood onto the road.
Just gonna have to decide whether I'm gonna attempt to cross it.
This one here don't look too good.
There's no telling exactly how deep this water is Or if a 26-ton big rig can make it across.
But on a strange road hundreds of miles from civilization, Alex has to make the call on his own.
Yeah, this is a little bit dangerous.
It's a little bit Just a little ways in could wreck stuff.
It's one of those things.
You'll either make it or not.
Hang on to your underwear.
Ah, we're doing good so far.
Easy, easy.
Whoa.
Come on, baby.
Come on.
Come up a little bit more.
Yeah, good.
Finally Made it.
Happy day.
Alex reaches solid ground.
Rock and roll boogie woogie Well, there you go.
Some more excitement today.
Every day, never a boring day.
Next thing we're gonna get attacked by a blasted herd of ice worms.
Or it'd be a flock of ice worms.
in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska All right, we ready? Dalton newcomer Dave Redmon has just completed his first training run.
Hey, just touching base with you again here.
After the thumbs down from Tony, Dave won't be driving alone anytime soon.
I'd definitely like for him to take another trip.
I just don't feel, like, comfortable with his awareness on the road yet.
Right turn.
I can't see.
Okay, bye.
I couldn't see a thing.
Yeah.
I just told him the whole awareness of yourself on the road, you know, has got me concerned a little bit.
You have got to know where you're at, man, and I'm not comfortable with that yet.
Watch getting on your brakes too hard here.
You can let it roll now.
All right.
Take it nice and slow around this corner here.
Hit that shift.
Right.
Like you said, a lot of times I'll go, uh, indirect to-- Six then four.
Correct.
I'd go seventh, over to six direct, and then six direct to fourth direct.
That's what I would do if I were you.
Dude, get over.
You're in the middle of the road.
With over two decades behind the wheel, Dave isn't used to being treated like a rookie.
You know, you're absolutely professional at this job.
I'm gonna give you 1,000% credit for that, okay? I know what I'm doing, man.
Let me finish.
I'm driving this truck.
You know what I've learned today? What's that? Absolutely [Bleep.]
nothing.
All I have learned is how you do this [Bleep.]
job.
It don't-- It ain't gon' work for me.
Why does it got to be your way? I could say, "I'm gonna step out here and take a [Bleep.]
and this is how I'm gonna do it," and you're automatically on me, "that's not how we do things up here.
" I bet you've said that 100 times since yesterday morning.
How do you think that makes me feel? How do you think it would be if all I talked about is these guys from [Bleep.]
Alaska, you know? They think they own the road.
I own this road? Well, I'm not-- Dude, you are talking [Bleep.]
, man.
You are talking so much bull[Bleep.]
.
It's starting to really bug me.
I know you got 25 years of driving experience.
You know how many guys I've heard say that and watch frickin' either crash or make it six months up here? I'm here to help you and you need to realize that and you're taking offense to it.
I'm taking offense to you choking it down my throat.
And that's exactly what you're doing.
You're on my ass non-stop.
I mean, I can't even turn into a [Bleep.]
parking lot without you over there.
I feel like I'm [Bleep.]
eight years old over here driving a [Bleep.]
big wheel.
Think your attitude might have something to do with that? I have not had one [Bleep.]
Bit of [Bleep.]
attitude with you.
That's the way I see it, so.
Well, that's it.
Then this is-- This is done.
I don think it really is.
It's done.
'Cause you just got to just spiel and spill your guts and so I'm supposed to sit here and just shut up and not let you know how what I'm thinking? Are you gonna even let me say anything here, Mr.
attitude? Every time that I said, "dude, get over.
You're in the middle of the road.
Dude, get over.
"You're in the middle of the road--" But they're legitimate, man! Every time that I've said these things, it's been legit.
All of them! I'm not just sitting over here preaching.
I'm generally concerned with what's going on in this truck.
The attitude that I'm getting here, you know-- I don't think that I'm the only one that you're gonna have trouble with, man.
Halfway back to Fairbanks There you go.
The truck stop at Coldfoot offers a much-needed break from the road and each other.
Pretty irritated.
Very irritated about the way the guy-- He's disrespectful.
This guy is the biggest [Bleep.]
on the planet.
Bad-mouthing me.
We got a lot of drivers looking for jobs.
You know, we don't need somebody that's gonna come up here and be a hothead or a cowboy.
Meanwhile, in the Canadian outback Yee-haw! It's gonna be a rough one.
Hugh rowland and Rick Yemm are 500 miles into their first run on Canada's notorious winter roads.
Only the best drivers in the world do these Canadian ice roads.
I mean, that's why they left all them boys and girls over there on the Dalton.
They, uh-- I don't think they can handle these Canadian ice roads.
That's a big dang bore.
They're Hauling emergency building supplies across 120 miles of frozen swampland to the native community of Oxford House.
For Rick, today is more than just the start of the season.
First load in on my birthday.
Happy Birthday.
Let the moneymaking begin.
Well, this is-- This is the first crossing right here.
So, I mean, I'm just stopping to check the ice.
That's all I'm doing right now.
With 30 years experience on the ice >> The polar bear knows trouble when he sees it.
The more pretty ice is, the more dangerous it is.
That's what we always said.
So if you got real nice looking ice in all pretty colors, it's not very thick there, 'cause the water's right underneath it.
Here under the snowbank, it's probably only a foot thick right now, so this is safe.
Under that snowbank, it's not safe.
So stay out here in between the tree lines is where we got to drive today.
The main path across the lake is thick enough to support the trucks.
But closer to the banks, a layer of snow acts as insulation, keeping the ice dangerously thin.
Once it's passable, we start Hauling.
We don't wait till it's perfect.
She's opened up, so this is the first load of the season.
We'll, uh, see what happens.
Coming up Hugh takes a hit.
Holy! And Maya takes her shot.
If she doesn't measure up, then, uh, we're gonna send her back to New York City.
We're on the ice.
Deep in the Canadian wilderness, Hugh rowland and Rick Yemm hit the ice.
The start and the finish are are the deadliest times of the year.
Ice isn't up to full weight, so it's thin.
I've never seen a stretch of asphalt open up and swallow someone up and kill 'em.
We're only going about 15 mile an hour most the time here.
How you making out back there? Ah, I like this driving.
This is what it's all about.
This is the ice roads.
Ah, you don't get tired behind the wheel here.
That's a fact.
You get on the real ice roads, there ain't no such thing as getting tired and falling asleep.
You ain't got time.
Come on.
Come on, baby.
Come on.
Made her.
By God, I made her.
Ain't this [Bleep.]
something, eh? See the Dalton boys try that.
Come across open water.
Oh, I knew these roads were gonna be fun.
Let's, uh, make some money here.
Get some cash happening.
Yee-haw! After making a name as an elite big city trucker, rookie Maya Sieber has come to Fairbanks to test herself against some of the best truckers in the world.
I'm on my way to Carlile.
I'm really excited.
Um, it feels like forever just to get to this point.
I was a truck driver for about three years from New York.
Look at this truck trying to go.
So you've got to make this tight turn and these cars just don't want to cooperate.
Go, driver, go.
And I worked my way up.
I mean, I had to work a lot harder than a lot of people.
It's driving me crazy.
If I can conquer city driving I have to do something else and that's coming up to Alaska and driving the ice road.
Something dangerous and something that takes a lot of skill.
Holy [Bleep.]
, it's cold.
I'm taking a huge risk right now.
I mean, I left everything behind and I quit my job and I left my family.
I left my apartment.
I left everything.
Hi, Phil? It'll be up to veteran trainer Phil Krom to find out if Maya's got the skills to take on the Dalton.
I suppose you're ready for a road test.
I'm more than ready.
Good, good.
We're gonna go out to a truck and trailer I already have hooked up.
It's an empty flatbed.
Maya's first test: Proving that she knows her way around a big rig.
Gonna give Maya a road test today and if she doesn't measure up, then, uh, we're gonna send her back to New York City.
I didn't come 15 hours here and freeze my ass off just to do driving around town.
I mean, I came up here to really live a challenge and just experience the Dalton and go all the way.
I mean, I could do this right where I came from.
I have been.
Well, whenever you're ready, um, we can go ahead and go.
What we'll do is take a left out of the yard.
Just drive.
Just do your thing.
Take a right at the stop sign.
I gotcha.
You guys are crazy up here.
I'm from New York, but you guys are crazy.
We're the ones that are crazy? You guys are crazy because you guys got a powerful truck on ice.
Maya settles in behind the wheel and it's not long before she feels right at home.
Oh, my God.
Look at this four-wheeler in front of me.
Just cut me off like that.
What the hell? This is not New York.
This is ridiculous.
I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind, like, right now.
You think that'll work? Yeah.
I'll tell 'em that they're number one right now.
That's how we do it in New York.
Yeah, but here people carry guns.
Really? Yeah.
I want you to turn into the yard here.
Right here? Mm-hmm.
The road test is over quickly.
Now it's up to Phil to decide whether Maya moves to the next step and takes on the Haul road.
You did do good.
Little nervous and that's totally expected.
There's some things we can work on.
Um I'm gonna recommend that they hire you and start you in the training process on the Haul road.
There will be plenty of stuff to work on.
Awesome.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Good to be working with you.
You too.
See you soon.
Take care.
I never give up.
It doesn't matter how hard it gets.
Never.
I've never given up and I never will.
I think people are gonna be very surprised about what they see when I take on that road.
Don't judge a book by it's cover.
Lisa Kelly leads the pack with her second heavy load of pipe.
She's determined to be the top driver this season.
But in the dash for the cash, Lisa opts for a steady crawl.
I just drive safe and careful and I'm pretty much the grandma up there.
Just slow, steady.
The tortoise.
I'm not the hare.
But just around the next bend What? There's trouble.
There's somebody spun out.
I'm not sure if he's blocking the road.
I would love that.
Knowing Lisa is closest to the scene, dispatch sends her ahead to help.
Somebody's already spun out and I might have to go chain up and push this guy up the hill, get him unstuck so we could get by.
I am always happy to help somebody.
Wonder if he got-- No, there he is.
I see him.
I think I see him.
That blinking light up there, that might be him.
There's our guy.
She'll have to push the stranded truck out of the ditch, but with just a few feet of clearance.
You got a copy here, lowboy? It'll take all of Lisa's skill to avoid sliding off the road herself.
You ready for me to push on you? Okay.
We're moving.
I'm, like, right in the ditch.
Don't freak me out.
Don't freak me out.
He's heavy.
See, these lowboys are heavy.
We're both just like-- I can just feel it.
We're both just, like, feathering it trying to make this thing go.
Finally All right, Lisa.
The 75,000-pound lowboy reaches the peak.
You are so welcome.
Let me know if you need it anymore.
And Lisa continues her steady pace on to Prudhoe Bay.
I knew that I was gonna be working hard this year, and I am really glad that I'm ready.
in Northwest manitoba These roads here, they're-- not built for 18 wheelers.
They're, uh-- They're rough as hell.
Hang on to your [Static.]
Ass coming through there, buddy.
Hugh and Rick roll deeper into the Canadian wilderness.
It's like four-wheel driving in the big rig.
Hey, buddy, you okay? It's a rodeo.
Holy! What the-- Canadian winter roads Whoo! Holy [Bleep.]
! What the [Bleep.]
? I thought I seen something.
Yeah, I heard a bang.
My tire there blew out.
She's running around on the rim, too.
I don't know.
I'll catch up to you and see what I can see here.
Oh, yeah.
She's barely hanging on there.
I don't know if it just blew the tire or blew the rim and tire.
I don't know.
I can't see from here.
Need to stop, Hugh, and look at, though.
That's a big ten-four.
Got a flat tire.
Bent rim.
Yeah, the tire's okay.
It's just the rim's [Bleep.]
up.
I'd say a little bit.
Hundreds of miles from civilization, it can be days before Hugh gets help.
Think that's gonna make it up the road? Well, you can keep her all the way back to town, I think.
I got seven spares on there.
I'll just drive her up and drive her home.
You gonna be able to make it through this season? You are getting a little bit older.
You're talking to the wrong hombre, buddy.
It's gonna take a lot more than that to slow huey down.
Back on the road again.
While Hugh limps his way through the wilderness At the Carlile yard in Fairbanks, rookie Maya Sieber has proven she can handle a big rig.
Hey.
There she is.
Now it's time to get her first look at the dangers of the Haul road.
Climb on in here and we'll get going.
It's cold.
Yep.
Oh, my God.
Well, you ready for this? I'm ready.
It's unlike anything I've ever seen before.
It looks like the moon.
This road and mother nature can and will throw everything at you.
You have to be-- Be ready for it.
On the Dalton, there's a dead man for every mile and many a rookie has called it quits after their first trip to Prudhoe Bay.
Big truck.
You have to be thinking all the time, you know? Like, we're getting ready to drop into the roller coaster and you got to think about, "okay, what gear?" You got to be thinking about if somebody's already dropped in that we can't see.
Hanging with the Dalton's opening miles is one thing, but for a rookie, facing down the notorious roller coaster is a whole different ball game.
Oh, my God.
You've got to be kidding me.
Now this is a roller coaster.
Yeah.
It's scary.
A little bit of the-- Absolutely no way.
This is not real.
No way what? Yeah.
No, this is crazy.
You're gonna have to learn how to drive through this stuff.
I had no idea, like, how steep they really were.
Holy [Bleep.]
.
Well, it should scare you a little bit, but not too much.
That's unlike anything I've ever seen before.
ahead, the wind kicks up.
And the road disappears.
Oh, my gosh.
Northbound, dropping off beaver slide.
Okay.
This is the beaver slide.
It's 2 miles down at 11%.
It's a little hard to see.
I mean, we can see.
We just can't see very far.
How do you even, like, see the side of the road? Um, sometimes you can't see the side of the road.
That's crazy.
I see why you can't-- You got to keep looking far ahead 'cause otherwise I would want to go the direction the snow is blowing.
That's, like, ghostly.
Is any of this [Bleep.]
Sinking in? Oh, this [Bleep.]
Is sinking in big time.
Coming up A rookie gets the cold shoulder That's how some of these arrogant [Bleep.]
are.
I mean, he's just got some serious issues.
And the other gets more than she can handle.
Oh, my God.
Halfway up the Dalton at the Coldfoot truck stop I just-- You know, like I said, I'm not gonna play the bashing game, you know? That happened a little bit last night Trainer Tony Molesky is heading South.
But after last night's blow-up with new driver Dave Redmon You're on my ass non-stop.
I mean, I can't even turn into a [Bleep.]
parking lot without you over there.
They're legitimate, man.
Every time that I've said these things, it's been legit.
All of 'em! He's decided to lighten his load.
And that's not my job to-- To deal with that.
All right, Mark, we'll see you in a day or two.
All right.
Dave's stranded in the middle of the Dalton with no truck and no way to make a buck.
You know, he's pissed 'cause I called him out.
[Bleep.]
I mean, he's just got some serious issues.
But that's how some of these arrogant [Bleep.]
are.
I did my part, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm done with-- I'm done with that.
Unless he can learn some respect, he's really not welcome back in here.
Now we're turning a two-day trip into a [Bleep.]
week-long event.
You know, I was warned.
I was warned before I ever met him.
You know, "this is exactly how this guy's gonna do you.
" I've said my piece.
I'll pretty much just let Dave figure it out on his own at this point.
He's either gonna make it or he's not.
Back in Canada, Hugh rowland fights his way into Oxford House On only 17 of his 18 wheels.
My tire's still on there.
I think she'll hang right in there.
And then I'm trying to make up a little time here.
This load's supposed to be there this afternoon, so I'm going a little faster than normal.
Yeah, a guy gets cooking on her and then all of a sudden, that helmet jumps up in front of you and you bounce right through the roof.
Ten-four.
This is Hauling.
This is bush road Hauling.
Always said I'm an off-road guy.
Don't like the highway.
Yeah, I knew we'd have some fun on this one.
We made her anyway.
I guess we go into town up here.
Wow, a stop sign.
Haven't seen one of those in a while.
Your load kind of went for a ride, eh? The building supplies may be shaken up, but they've arrived just in time to rebuild the home of the village elders that was damaged by a busted water line.
They're very close to getting the, uh, elders back to their community.
No longer misplaced, as Hugh would say.
My load's just about off here, so when it's empty, I'm shutting them doors and I'm boogieing South.
It is my birthday today and stuff and I guess I'm giving the gifts.
I give the gift to help put this place back together.
So the faster they get this fixed, they can come home.
So there's load number one done.
I'm ready for number two.
While Hugh and Rick begin the long trek back to Winnipeg You awake? I'm awake.
I mean, "are awake.
" Rookie Maya Sieber has made her way to the North slopes' icy roads.
Still can't let your guard down, even though there's no hills to deal with.
There's been a lot of guys run off without a hill, crash the trucks.
And when it happens, like, the closer you get somewhere, you get a little more relaxed, like, "oh, I'm almost there.
" Exactly.
Just 20 miles from Prudhoe Bay Oh, my God.
Holy [Bleep.]
.
Well, there's a pickup on its top here in the ditch and, yeah, nobody's said anything about a roller.
Well, you think somebody would have said something about it being here.
Let me just make sure if everything's All right here.
Just South of Prudhoe Bay Oh, my God.
Phil and Maya have pulled up to an accident.
Well, we better make sure nobody's in here.
Nobody's said anything about this, so.
Don't look like anybody's in there.
So it looks like an old crash, but-- Or not old.
But nobody's said anything, so any time you come across something like this without anybody telling you it was there, you want to stop and make sure nobody's-- Nobody's needing any help.
That's what can happen out here.
I'm surprised nobody's said anything about that.
The driver of the overturned pickup walked away unharmed.
But on the Haul road, every trucker knows that luck doesn't last forever.
First thing really to look for is tracks in the snow of somebody walking out of there.
You got to look inside just to make sure.
It reminds you how short life is and how fragile we are as human beings, you know? Finally The lights of Prudhoe Bay appear.
Dude, this is the coldest I've ever felt in my life.
It's not below 15.
There's no [Bleep.]
way in hell.
It's 15 below.
It was-- Wind chill is about 50 below.
Oh, that's why.
And Maya's new York attitude has begun to thaw.
It's just non-stop.
You can never take your mind off the road at all.
It's a lot to, uh-- To know what to do, but I'm ready.
I'm ready.
It's damn cold, isn't it? That's not even the word.
It's like-- It's vicious.
Yeah, well Welcome to Prudhoe Bay.
Back on the Canadian ice roads Alex is grinding out the last leg of his 700-mile journey.
Oh, this is walking the mine fields, yeah.
All the rocks sticking through, trying to grab something.
Trying to grab something off the bottom of the truck.
Grab a piece of truck going by.
But there's still one major hazard in front of him.
Well, we've just come onto Red Sucker lake.
So we're almost to our destination.
Just take it easy going across here, because this lake hasn't come up to weight yet.
Well, all the ice roads are holding together.
They're not melting, so that's a good sign.
After making it across the lake, Alex pulls into the town of Red Sucker and delivers his first load of the season.
Heading South tomorrow morning.
I'm tired.
Got lots of adventure.
Yeah, it's been an eventful day.
I'm glad to be here.
The next morning, on the shores of the arctic ocean Lisa Kelly crosses the finish line with her second load of the season.
Got it all here safely and intact.
Chains were good and everything was good.
I'm excited that things are going so well this year.
Lisa's hustle has her at the front of the pack, with Tony and her Canadian rivals on her heels with one load apiece.
Lisa.
Hey, Phil.
How are you? Good.
How are you? Have you met Maya? Hey, Maya.
Hi, Lisa.
How are you? Good.
Nice to meet you.
Yeah, you too.
How was your trip? It's a lot scarier.
Doesn't do justice seeing it in any other way than your-- Like, just seeing it-- In person.
Yeah, in person.
So I saw that-- A hill.
The first hill, I was like, "Oh, my God.
" That's just the beginning.
I was like, "oh, my God.
" You can't get bored of this road.
Definitely.
Nope.
Well, let's hit the road.
Ready when you are.
Have a good day.
You too.
That's my advice.
I'll see you on the road.
Back in Canada Hey! Holy [Bleep.]
! Slack Alice, is that you? Hey, you look familiar.
What the heck are you doing here? Are you lost or-- Boy, you're a long way from home.
I think you got taller.
What the hell are you doing? I'm working.
The-- The parrot's here.
Rick.
He leased one of my trucks.
Your son.
Well, yeah.
Have you told him that you're his dad yet? I told him-- I told him I [Bleep.]
a parrot when I was 12.
So now I got two of you bastards to baby-sit up here.
[Bleep.]
me.
Well, I got to get going.
I can't [Bleep.]
around here all day.
Not sure I've known Hugh probably since roughly 1978.
We'll see you there.
Okay, okay.
Take care.
God bless you, even though you don't believe in him.
[Bleep.]
you! I may not get the most loads, but I always get the best of Hugh.
You can tell by how much huffing and puffing he's doing at the time.
This season on ice road truckers Could get really nasty.
The battle to be king of the road gets personal.
Today! I'm [Bleep.]
pissed off.
Let me ask you your honest opinion.
Do you think I'm an [Bleep.]
? The Canadian winter roads push the old pros to the breaking point.
I didn't sign up for this.
This stupid [Bleep.]
.
Yeah, you did.
And in Alaska, two newcomers fight for their jobs Big truck.
But only one will last the season I'm just gonna make a run for it.
When ice road truckers takes their race across the continent.
I got a load of explosives here.
We're on the ice.
This year, old friends Hey, you look familiar.
And new rivals I cannot wait to get driving.
I came here to drive the ice road.
You know, everybody talks about the ice road.
Will face off in a battle across the continent.
Well, I think little miss Muffet's gonna get knocked off her tuffet.
It ain't over till the fat lady sings.
They'll return to the deadly mountains of Alaska.
Holy crap.
And take on the frozen wilderness of Canada.
It's four-wheel driving in a big rig.
To fight for the title-- King of the ice roads.
Dash for the cash.
I want to be the guy making all the dough.
Two roads.
One winner.
When you only got 60 days to make your cash, you drive her.
No second chances.
That cop's gonna come arrest me right now.
Stop.
Stop.
Brake, brake, brake, brake, brake.
As winter takes hold across the North, plummeting temperatures mean one thing.
I love ya.
Love you too.
And I'll see you in the spring.
It's time for the polar bear to get back on the prowl.
Okay, let's roll.
Let's do it.
You can sleep in may.
Let's get at her.
This trucking legend has made a name driving the toughest roads in the North.
Yellow knife.
Inuvik.
She's another good bingo.
I made her back to Inuvik.
One more time.
And for the last two seasons, Alaska's Dalton highway.
Come on, baby! But this year, the polar bear is stalking new territory back in his homeland of Canada.
Well, I was kind of sick of the Dalton.
I mean, uh, it's a glorified [Bleep.]
highway.
My driveway is steeper than most of the [Bleep.]
hills out there.
The girls on the Dalton can stay on the Dalton.
I mean, this is where the real boys actually do some trucking on the ice road.
His destination, the starting point of Manitoba's deadly winter roads.
through some of the most remote and unforgiving wilderness on the planet.
Drivers here face axel-crushing frost heaves Oh, jeez! Heart-stopping ice crossings And frozen swamps that can swallow a big rig whole.
And out here, the only thing more dangerous than the ice is the isolation.
You're basically taking your truck, driving it through the worst [Bleep.]
possible, and hoping things don't break down.
These are the most southerly ice roads in North America.
You got a small window here.
That's what I like.
head down, ass up, and get at it.
For just a few weeks each year, the window opens to resupply dozens of tive communities across the wild.
All these people depend on us to get their supplies up there for the upcoming year.
Last year the season ended really early.
There was essentials that needed to get in for communities, and the weather turned, and everything just went to [Bleep.]
.
This year, we got a lot work to do, because we've got last year's loads and this year's loads to Haul up.
The extreme danger means big money for any trucker willing to take the risk.
And for this job, Hugh is bringing along some backup His ex-employee Rick Yemm.
Feels good to be back.
I've been off from the ice trucking for a few years now, and, uh, for I guess my triumphant return, I get to deal with my best friend.
I said Rick will never drive one of my trucks again, and that was a couple of years ago, and he never has drove one of my trucks again.
This time he's leasing a truck, and he's his own boss.
- Well, because I'm [Bleep.]
- After years struggling to play by other people's rules You're [Bleep.]
Come back in this yard again, I'm gonna get the RCMP in.
Leasing Hugh's truck is Rick's first shot to be in business for himself.
Lot more money for me, and, well, lot more responsibility for me too, but I'm taking a big step and moving forward, and moving my way up in this kind of work.
This is his big redemption here.
If he can make her here, he's gonna be in the-- He'll be in the money game now.
Finally, Hugh and Rick arrive in Winnipeg, and the polar bear wastes no time getting down to business.
I'll try this Mark guy, see what he's got going on.
Hello, Mark? Hey, Mark.
Hugh rowland here.
Uh, coming from, uh, b.
C.
, there.
Just made her into Winnipeg now.
So, uh, what's she looking like for loads over there? Okay.
Okay, thanks, Mark.
Bye.
He said give him a call tomorrow.
He's got lots of loads.
He said he's got lots of loads.
Just not till the first of the week.
But he's got lots of loads, he said, so that's good.
Lots of loads.
Yep.
Yep.
You nail some of these loads, you're going home with a pocket full of cash.
This separates the highway truckers from the real guys that know how to drive a truck.
I mean, this is the Canadian ice roads.
This is where it all started.
This is where-- This is how they learned how to drive on ice was right here.
While Hugh and Rick gear up, 2,600 miles Northwest, at the starting line of the Dalton highway The race has just begun.
Alaska's elite truckers are about to embark on an epic mission.
The goal? Deliver 1,500 loads in just billion-dollar oil fields of Prudhoe Bay.
We're Hauling modules.
We're gonna Haul pipe.
We're gonna Haul fuel.
Basically, if they build it, we're Hauling it.
With a record number of heavy Hauls this season, every trucker on the road will have to raise their game.
It doesn't matter if it's going over the ice Through the wind, through the white out.
We're gonna get up there.
And at the Carlile yard in Fairbanks Veteran trucker Lisa Kelly is up for the challenge.
Well, I ain't blondie no more.
My hair is red, because I've been blond for too long.
Doing the whole, "oh, I'm a damsel in distress and I don't know what I'm doing," and this year I'm taking no prisoners, so I dyed it red because it's to remind me of my fiery attitude that I'm taking on this year.
Lisa's first load of the season-- 80,000 pounds of pipe.
And she'll be leading a convoy of heavy Haul drivers to Prudhoe Bay.
Heading out on the first trip of the season.
Our little convoying gang is heading down the road.
Let's get this party started.
As the short Alaska days give way to night, the heavy Haul team approaches one of the biggest challenges on the Dalton.
We are almost to Koyukuk, and Koyukuk is a nice, left-hand, uphill corner.
It's one of the steepest grades on road.
Better do it now.
Pulling a 60-ton load, convoy partner Carey hall don't have the horse power to climb Koyukuk on his own.
The tail-heavy lifts weight off the drive.
Here's the truck and the trailer.
Tail-heavy pulls it up like this, pulls weight off the drives.
To get the job done Putting the cables together.
Lisa hooks a one-inch thick steel tow line to Carey's rig to drag him up and over the hill.
What if we slip? What if we start slipping on this one? What do we do? We start slipping, ain't much we can do.
Pulling 120,000 pounds up Koyukuk's steep slope will put extreme pressure on the towing gear.
One wrong move and the tow strap could snap, sending Carey's rig crashing backwards over the edge.
Okay, I'm ready whenever you are.
Okay, let's go.
Can you feel him back there? You can feel a jerk.
I am in, uh, second over.
What are you in? I'm at 1,500 RPMs.
And start spinning.
Okay.
Right at the top is the steepest grade.
Slipping already? Yeah, he's slipping like crazy.
What? What's wrong? Halfway up the Dalton's steepest slope What? What's wrong? Whoa.
Holy crap.
When the temperature drops below minus 40 degrees, metal becomes brittle.
And pulling 60 tons up the 11% slope was more than Lisa's tow hooks could handle.
There's what we're pulling with.
All right.
Have to do a little modification here.
The only option is to hook the tow line to the smaller "d" rings on Lisa's bumper and continue the climb.
If those break off, then we're pretty much done.
Okay, ready when you are.
I'm in first right now.
Gonna go to second.
Okay, I'm in second.
The metal holds for now, but Lisa's convoy still has If one of those breaks, we're gonna have to get creative.
I think I'm just gonna kind of take that as it comes.
southeast in Canada, Hugh and Rick have rolled North to get a sneak peek at the ice.
This is a winter road right here.
Why don't we go up a little further? Even though it's [Bleep.]
closed.
Well, we'll go up and see which ones are open and which ones are closed, anyway.
But two unfamiliar trucks quickly get the attention of a passing officer.
How you doing? Hello, gentlemen.
Oh, we're just up here checking the roads out, seeing which ones are open, which ones are closed.
First time on these roads, so we kind of come up to get a little bit of a heads-up before we got to start Hauling.
Oh, yeah.
That's why we got no trailers on or anything.
Okay.
All right.
But, uh, yeah, no, we weren't gonna go up.
We see the road's closed, and, well, we go on the ice we know when it's closed it's for a reason.
Yeah, we got some construction activities going on.
We're-- We're removing some beaver dams today.
Uh, you know, if you want to come along to see some of that, you're welcome to.
Oh, that'd be cool.
Want to go check it out? We got time.
Yeah? Sure.
Well, if the road's closed, we're not Hauling.
Yeah.
There you go.
So we're gonna end up going about 100 miles North to blow up some beaver dams today.
There's a few there that are causing us grief, and we need to get them removed so we can get our road in in time to get the freight going.
A four-foot high beaver dam is blocking access to the last section of the ice road, and it's up to the manitoba road crew to clear it away.
Damn beaver dam.
Yeah, we-- We curse the beaver dams, yeah.
How do you guys remove 'em? Do you just get a, like, an excavator over here, or--? Oh, these ones, yeah, but this one we've had to blast out of here.
Explosives.
That's a lot of dynamite, man.
Sorry.
I'm getting a little excited now.
I thought he was gonna put a couple sticks in the ground.
Boom, that'd be good.
That dam runs, uh, right across the roadway here and runs all the way over to that rock.
We're chopping holes in that beaver dam to find a place to set the dynamite.
Oh, yeah.
We'll set the dynamite in there, and, uh Pop her.
Okay, it's ready to go.
Go.
Run! Get up.
Get up.
[Bleep.]
.
Gonna get blown up.
Couple of [Bleep.]
clowns.
I wasn't sure you guys were gonna make it under there in time.
With the path clear, the road crew can get down to business.
And the winter road season will begin.
You know, hopefully the trucks start coming, the freight starts moving.
Uh, the communities are happy.
Uh, we're all happy when the freight's going.
That's what-- That's what we're out here for.
Back in Alaska, another old pro rolls into Fairbanks ready to give the Haul road veterans a run for their money.
I'm gonna come out on top of the dash for the cash.
I mean, that's just a given.
All the others think they're gonna come out on top.
They might as well just I guess pack it in now, 'cause it ain't gonna happen.
Trucker Dave Redmon, a good old boy from riverside, Alabama, with a truckload of swagger and 25 years of driving to back it up.
This isn't my first rodeo.
I've driven in every state in the lower 48.
I've been in virtually every city, every small town.
Got 2 1/2 million miles of experience.
Last summer I went to India to do a job.
I mean, there's no room for error.
Tell these [Bleep.]
to piss off.
Oh, [Bleep.]
.
Done most everything you can, but I've never driven up here on these roads.
It's kind of a badge of honor.
It's kind of bragging rights, you know, where you can go into the truck stop and guys will be talking, and you can say, "well, I got one better.
" Basically made a few phone calls and found an opening, and here I am.
Lane? Howdy.
That'd be me.
How you doing? Dave Redmon.
How you doing? All right.
Good.
I'm gonna go Haul freight.
That's what I'm here to do.
Yes, sir.
We're going to send you out with Tony Molesky.
Okay.
Um, one of our senior drivers.
You know, Tony's been out there for a long time.
He's been there for 20 years.
I know you got 25, 26 years driving experience yourself, but this is just a different road.
Am I gonna, you know, be expected to just basically sit there and, uh, look out the window all day or--? Well, if Tony tells me you're ready to go, I'll-- We'll cut you loose, and, uh, we'll get you out there doing it with the guys.
Okay.
All right? All righty.
All right.
Thanks, Dave.
All right.
Have a good trip.
Yep.
I've been on the ice, been on the snow, been in the mountains, you know? And I've-- I been more places than they've been.
I've been in traffic and done the same [Bleep.]
, you know? This-- This road has a way of, uh, busting an ego in an awful hurry, so that's the big thing we try and get through to the drivers, whether, you know, got a lot of miles or they're a new driver, is that the road doesn't care who you are.
I don't need a [Bleep.]
chaperone.
I just want to get out of the road, get this [Bleep.]
done, get going, you know, by myself.
Hi.
You must be the new guy.
Tony? What's happening, Dave? Ready to rock and roll? Ready to go.
Cool.
Well, we just loaded diesel fuel for Prudhoe, so, uh, let's go get her done.
All right.
Let's go.
will judge Dave's skills as they head to Prudhoe Bay.
He knows firsthand what can happen when a rookie gets behind the wheel.
Last Wednesday, I was heading for Prudhoe Bay with a load of fuel, and, uh, came up over a small, little rise.
What we call a surprise rise.
And met another truck coming at me.
Couldn't get out of his way fast enough, and I had about two seconds to react, and I just steered the truck into the ditch as hard as I could.
I thought I was gone.
It's been a long time since I seen a wreck this bad.
Literally just a couple inches from--From taking his life.
Probably one of our most senior drivers on the Haul road.
Been doing it for 20 years.
You know, he's second to none out there.
Proves it can happen to anybody.
The gentleman that hit me has been on that road less than a year.
Probably did not remember where he was at, and so that makes me think of safety a little bit more.
If you don't drive safe on the Haul road, you're not gonna make it.
That's just the way it is.
I could drive this truck on the Dalton myself, by myself right now.
It's just another road.
Just another truck.
Just another load of freight.
I'm here to make money.
I'm not here to sit on my ass.
I'm gonna go Haul freight.
Coming up Whoo-hoo! Old pros hit the road.
Oh, this is a good day for driving on ice.
And later, new arrivals raise the stakes.
Trucking is such a passion of mine.
I have a tattoo of Kenworth on the back of my neck.
Outside Winnipeg, Canada, at the headquarters of polar industries We made it finally.
Ice road truckers Rick Yemm and Hugh rowland report for duty.
Well, hello, gentlemen.
Mark? Yes, sir.
Hey.
How are you? Good to meet you.
Rick.
Mark with polar industries.
Rick.
How you doing, Rick? Good.
Welcome back to Canada.
Right on.
We have a six to eight week window to get 200 loads into manitoba, Northwestern Ontario.
You're moving millions and millions of dollars worth of freight.
I need the best guys out there, and that's why you're here.
First order of business, I'm gonna be sending you guys to Oxford House.
Uh, the elder's residence, where the ceiling is starting to collapse, and, uh, I've got a load that's got to get up there for tomorrow.
Uh, it's in the yard, ready to go.
It's an emergency load.
Hugh and Rick's first run this season will be Hauling building supplies 620 miles Northeast to the creek community of Oxford House.
Sounds good.
When do we get goin'? Right now.
Sweet.
There's your load sheet.
There's your load sheet.
See you in a couple days.
Thank you.
Take care.
Drive safe.
You bet.
This is a time-sensitive load.
They have to get up there.
Uh, the trailers are loaded.
They got to go.
Like, there's-- There's no farting around.
There's no sleeping.
There's no nothing.
They got to get there.
First [Bleep.]
load of the season.
Here we go.
All right, polar bear.
She's good.
I feel good.
I'm on the road.
That's all I wanted to do was get going, get making some [Bleep.]
cash here, and if I'm moving, I'm making money.
That's all that matters to me.
they leave the pavement behind.
And roll on to the newly built winter road.
Whoo-hoo! Well, that's a little rough.
You got that right.
Bouncing the farts right out of me.
Welcome to running Canadian style.
You got to do what you got to do to get a buck in the pocket.
That's a big 10-4.
When you only got 60 days to make your cash, you drive it.
This ice road is built on frozen swamp land called muskeg.
The constant melting and re-freezing of the bog makes for a rough ride.
Muskeg is, like, a wet, sloppy ground.
When you put the weight of these big trucks on it, it actually punches it out, makes big holes in it.
And then it just gets wetter and wetter and wetter with the weight.
Turns it all up, and then you can't get through anymore.
It's like mud bogging almost.
You get off where the road is, and you'll sink just like quicksand.
Your truck's probably staying there till [Bleep.]
spring.
This'd mess Lisa's hair up for sure.
She'd constantly have a brush in it.
Bounce that mother[Bleep.]
.
Aw, yeah, buddy.
Yee-[Bleep.]
-Haw.
The rocky ride may have the Canadians revved up, but just a few miles ahead Hello, Joe.
Where you at? We got a casualty.
A casualty? Got a casualty up here.
Really? Trailer broke in half.
A what broke in half? Trombone trailer's broke in half up here.
Ain't that something, eh? Gotcha.
See? Going a little too fast through here.
That's a big 10-4.
They were saying the roads are nice right now, and he broke the trailer in half.
He was going too fast over these helmets, broke in half.
Oh, you got to find your-- What works to get you in quick, but without doing all that damage.
We-- You go too fast, you're not gonna make it.
Load's not gonna make it.
He's not gonna get paid.
You have to keep-- As much as you want to get in and out, you got to keep cool.
And this-- This is only gonna get worse.
Back in Alaska, halfway up the Haul road Let's go.
We got to go.
Dave Redmon is getting his first shot behind the wheel.
So how you feeling over there? I'm getting, uh, used to the truck.
You know, things are kind of falling into place.
They say anybody can drive the truck.
Yep.
It's pretty easy to sit here and shift gears and steer the wheel.
It's the decisions like when to put chains on and your fans on there too, by the way.
[Bleep.]
You know, it's those other decisions that make this job hard.
I'm definitely not new to this game.
I been doing this for 25 plus years.
It'll just take me, a, you know, a couple of passes to just get comfortable.
Yeah, this is a dash for the cash.
This isn't a daycare center.
Koyukuk, it's gnarly.
It's that steep, dude.
And it is a nasty son of a bitch.
Koyukuk gets a lot of guys.
The hill's 11% grade is the steepest on the Haul road.
To make it to the top, Dave will have to build speed, then quickly shift gears as he climbs the slope.
I'd go from six direct to fourth direct, so whatever you got to do to get into six direct halfway up the hill, and then, you know, once you get into the hard pull, go from six direct to fourth direct.
And then hit your fourth direct.
Stay to the right.
Stay to the right.
Second.
Oh, [Bleep.]
.
Stop.
Stop.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Oh, [Bleep.]
.
Stop.
Stop.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Brakes.
I'm on 'em.
You put on the brake? Boy, I [Bleep.]
ed that up, didn't I? You did.
But we're all right.
We're all right.
We're stuck.
Keep on the brakes.
I'm on 'em hard.
You gonna take it over? Nope.
I'm gonna put chains on.
I couldn't get it into fourth gear quick enough.
Dave's mistake puts the tanker and its flammable load dead in the middle of the road.
Crucial that we get our chains on right away.
We don't want anybody barreling up behind us.
So make sure we're clear behind.
Somebody comes down the hill and can't stop, they could smash into us.
At any moment, a southbound truck could come over the top of the hill and jackknife directly into the tanker.
We got to get out of here.
Let's go.
Brakes.
Brakes.
Let your clutch out until it starts to grab a little bit.
Now let go of your brakes and go.
There you go.
Where we gonna walk it up to? Is that enough action for you today? I'm awake now.
Finally they reach the top and stop to take off the chains.
My ego's for [Bleep.]
right now.
I shouldn't have missed that gear.
I mean, I'm real-- I'm And I don't And I'm not just saying that.
I shouldn't have missed it.
But it's a new truck.
I've never driven it before.
Lots of guys have trouble on this hill.
And really it's the way to figure out what a guy's got, you know? 'Cause it's a nasty son of a bitch, isn't it? Let's turn around and go try it again.
No.
You can do it next time.
All right.
So this road isn't quite as easy as you were thinking earlier, is it? Oh, it's fine right here.
Let's go to Coldfoot.
Back in Winnipeg Another legend of the ice roads prepares to enter the race.
Hi, Geraldine.
Hello.
How are you? Good, thanks.
You about ready for your load? I'm Alex Debogorski from yellow knife, Northwest territories, Canada.
Other people may describe me as sweet, calm, collected, cool, good looking.
Handsome.
Do you want to come and look? Sure.
With more loads than ever this season, first nation's trucking is looking for top drivers, and is as good as they come.
I've come back to Canada to truck because the opportunity was there.
There's a good chance we'll make more money here than we would have in Alaska.
You're heading up to Red Sucker.
Food supplies, okay? Very good.
Winnipeg, Red Sucker lake is one of the most remote destinations on the winter road.
There's-- Right before you get into Red Sucker there's a lot of ice.
So you just take your time.
Well, you know what you're doing.
Okay? Basically it's a half load.
So it's a half load.
Probably got some ice we're going over.
Yeah, it's only open for half loads.
Still a little thin there.
It is, yes.
Okay? I don't have any questions right now.
I might have in five minutes.
If I do, I'll come back.
Can't find your trailer back there? If I can't find the truck and the trailer, yeah.
Exactly.
Guess we're gonna have to thaw that out before we drink it.
And we're off.
Slip-sliding away.
So this is a good day for driving on ice.
As long as there's enough of it in the first place.
Alex approaches his first true test on the winter roads.
Our next stop is gonna be at a river crossing.
This must be the fellow from highways here.
Let's not run him over.
Good day, sir.
Hey.
How you doing? We're just finishing up some ice testing here.
So got a few more holes to drill before-- Before you cross.
Okay, you want me to come down there with you? Yeah, sure.
We're gonna punch a hole.
The safety officer uses an auger to dig in and test the thickness of the ice crossing.
Well, check that out.
- Well, it's 100 right there, so - 100 centimeters or about 39 inches is the bare minimum to support a fully-loaded big rig.
So we'll, uh-- We'll open up the ice crossing, and we'll get you on your way.
Very good.
Am I gonna be the first one through? Yeah, you betcha.
Well, that should make it interesting.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Take it easy.
Next, Alex gambles on unknown ice.
Whoa, baby.
And a rookie driver rolls the dice in Alaska.
I can't wait to drive.
I can't.
of Winnipeg, manitoba Alex Debogorski is about to become the first driver on a newly frozen ice road.
I'm afraid to drive across the ice sometimes.
It tends to make me nervous.
There's a lot of ice on this winter road compared to what we have up on the Dalton.
This ice crossing spans a half a mile.
While a few spots show the right thickness, other areas are much thinner.
If the ice road flexes under the weight of the truck, it could fracture And swallow the entire rig.
Yeah, we're loaded and it's supposed to go and he says it can go, then it's gonna go.
Whoa, baby.
Thank you, dear God, for this day.
Thank you for this job.
Thank you for my family and friends.
Thank you for the challenges in my life.
Thank you for the strength to handle them.
Let me have a safe Constructive trip.
Help me to handle any of the challenges or problems that we come across.
In the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit.
Amen.
And we're off like a hurdle of turtles again.
Good day to be on the road.
Yes, sir.
As Alex rolls deeper into the Canadian wilderness Back in Alaska, Lisa Kelly is the first to cross the finish line.
Just got to Prudhoe Bay.
I'm here.
Time for bed.
Scoring the first load in the dash for the cash, Lisa is now the one to beat.
And it's a good feeling to go to bed just exhausted and tired and happy because you got a good-- Played hard and you worked hard.
Just behind Lisa Southern driver Dave Redmon pulls in.
And now it's up to trainer Tony Molesky to decide if the good ol' boy from Alabama has what it takes to run the Haul road on his own.
You know, knowing what you're gonna have to deal with in the next few weeks, I get this feeling, you know? I know what you're gonna have to do.
I know what it takes to get up and down this road.
And, um I basically just come up with the decision.
You don't just get turned loose after a trip-- One trip on the Haul road.
That's just the way it is.
Not around our place.
You're an experienced driver.
It's just about the road, man, and knowing where you're at and knowing what to do, when to do it.
Well, so anyways, that's the scoop.
One more trip and then we'll just go from there.
Yeah, that's just the way it's gonna be.
All right.
I'm a lot frustrated right now.
Just, um If I have to go one more, I have to go one more.
I mean, you know, what else can I do? I'm behind from the start.
Yeah, Tony's got one load more than I do and, hell, I helped deliver it, so.
And I won't get credit for it.
It's close.
Okay.
He's pumping already? Yeah.
Make sure we're not leaking anywhere.
All the valves are open.
Think Dave might be a little irritated at me, but I'm making a judgment call.
So you're cool with, uh, taking another ride with Phil? Maybe in your own truck? Or me, whoever.
I'm sure it's disappointing to hear, but-- - What choice do I have? You don't.
Well, see? So-- Yeah, yeah.
You don't.
I need to feel it in my gut and right now I just don't feel like you're quite ready to be on your own.
You know, I've been on my own for 25 years.
Um, I haven't taken a road test in-- I can't remember when.
You know, I mean, I made a mistake.
I should have just started at the bottom of the hill in fourth gear and what did he say? "That's not how we do things around here.
" See? So he's not checking me out to make sure I can drive the truck.
He's making sure I can do it his way.
That's all it is.
That's wearing on my last nerve.
It really is.
While Dave's plans to run the Dalton are on hold At the airport in Fairbanks, a new challenger has come 4,000 miles to earn her place as an ice road trucker.
My name's Maya Sieber, and I'm here to bring a little bit of New York up to Alaska.
My last couple of working days were crazy.
I mean, we had a lot of snow in New York, a lot of ice.
I've been traveling for two days to get here to Alaska.
I need a slap in the face and a cup of coffee.
I have the biggest trucker withdrawal right now.
I can't take this anymore.
Trucking is such a passion of mine, I have a tattoo of Kenworth On the back of my neck.
I want to get out there at least.
So I can't wait to drive.
I can't.
I'd drive right now with no sleep if I could.
Deep in the heart of the Canadian wilderness Look, look, look, look, here.
Got a big hole.
A hole and a bump and a hill.
Alex Debogorski is 200 miles into his first run on the winter roads.
He's Hauling groceries to the isolated community of Red Sucker lake.
And upsy-Daisy.
Over we go and around and about.
How much fun do you want? More fun than a guy can handle here.
I love my job.
Oh, look at this.
What's around this corner here? Oh, baby.
Turn.
Oh, lordy, lordy.
Alex almost ate it But he managed to keep all 18 wheels on the ground.
A few more feet to the left and his rig would have been sunk in the Canadian swamp.
It's always a surprise at night where, "what's gonna come up next?" As Alex presses on alone through the remote wilderness The surprises don't let up.
So what's going on here now? What's this? There's a, uh-- Some overflow.
A nearby river has breached its banks, causing water to flood onto the road.
Just gonna have to decide whether I'm gonna attempt to cross it.
This one here don't look too good.
There's no telling exactly how deep this water is Or if a 26-ton big rig can make it across.
But on a strange road hundreds of miles from civilization, Alex has to make the call on his own.
Yeah, this is a little bit dangerous.
It's a little bit Just a little ways in could wreck stuff.
It's one of those things.
You'll either make it or not.
Hang on to your underwear.
Ah, we're doing good so far.
Easy, easy.
Whoa.
Come on, baby.
Come on.
Come up a little bit more.
Yeah, good.
Finally Made it.
Happy day.
Alex reaches solid ground.
Rock and roll boogie woogie Well, there you go.
Some more excitement today.
Every day, never a boring day.
Next thing we're gonna get attacked by a blasted herd of ice worms.
Or it'd be a flock of ice worms.
in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska All right, we ready? Dalton newcomer Dave Redmon has just completed his first training run.
Hey, just touching base with you again here.
After the thumbs down from Tony, Dave won't be driving alone anytime soon.
I'd definitely like for him to take another trip.
I just don't feel, like, comfortable with his awareness on the road yet.
Right turn.
I can't see.
Okay, bye.
I couldn't see a thing.
Yeah.
I just told him the whole awareness of yourself on the road, you know, has got me concerned a little bit.
You have got to know where you're at, man, and I'm not comfortable with that yet.
Watch getting on your brakes too hard here.
You can let it roll now.
All right.
Take it nice and slow around this corner here.
Hit that shift.
Right.
Like you said, a lot of times I'll go, uh, indirect to-- Six then four.
Correct.
I'd go seventh, over to six direct, and then six direct to fourth direct.
That's what I would do if I were you.
Dude, get over.
You're in the middle of the road.
With over two decades behind the wheel, Dave isn't used to being treated like a rookie.
You know, you're absolutely professional at this job.
I'm gonna give you 1,000% credit for that, okay? I know what I'm doing, man.
Let me finish.
I'm driving this truck.
You know what I've learned today? What's that? Absolutely [Bleep.]
nothing.
All I have learned is how you do this [Bleep.]
job.
It don't-- It ain't gon' work for me.
Why does it got to be your way? I could say, "I'm gonna step out here and take a [Bleep.]
and this is how I'm gonna do it," and you're automatically on me, "that's not how we do things up here.
" I bet you've said that 100 times since yesterday morning.
How do you think that makes me feel? How do you think it would be if all I talked about is these guys from [Bleep.]
Alaska, you know? They think they own the road.
I own this road? Well, I'm not-- Dude, you are talking [Bleep.]
, man.
You are talking so much bull[Bleep.]
.
It's starting to really bug me.
I know you got 25 years of driving experience.
You know how many guys I've heard say that and watch frickin' either crash or make it six months up here? I'm here to help you and you need to realize that and you're taking offense to it.
I'm taking offense to you choking it down my throat.
And that's exactly what you're doing.
You're on my ass non-stop.
I mean, I can't even turn into a [Bleep.]
parking lot without you over there.
I feel like I'm [Bleep.]
eight years old over here driving a [Bleep.]
big wheel.
Think your attitude might have something to do with that? I have not had one [Bleep.]
Bit of [Bleep.]
attitude with you.
That's the way I see it, so.
Well, that's it.
Then this is-- This is done.
I don think it really is.
It's done.
'Cause you just got to just spiel and spill your guts and so I'm supposed to sit here and just shut up and not let you know how what I'm thinking? Are you gonna even let me say anything here, Mr.
attitude? Every time that I said, "dude, get over.
You're in the middle of the road.
Dude, get over.
"You're in the middle of the road--" But they're legitimate, man! Every time that I've said these things, it's been legit.
All of them! I'm not just sitting over here preaching.
I'm generally concerned with what's going on in this truck.
The attitude that I'm getting here, you know-- I don't think that I'm the only one that you're gonna have trouble with, man.
Halfway back to Fairbanks There you go.
The truck stop at Coldfoot offers a much-needed break from the road and each other.
Pretty irritated.
Very irritated about the way the guy-- He's disrespectful.
This guy is the biggest [Bleep.]
on the planet.
Bad-mouthing me.
We got a lot of drivers looking for jobs.
You know, we don't need somebody that's gonna come up here and be a hothead or a cowboy.
Meanwhile, in the Canadian outback Yee-haw! It's gonna be a rough one.
Hugh rowland and Rick Yemm are 500 miles into their first run on Canada's notorious winter roads.
Only the best drivers in the world do these Canadian ice roads.
I mean, that's why they left all them boys and girls over there on the Dalton.
They, uh-- I don't think they can handle these Canadian ice roads.
That's a big dang bore.
They're Hauling emergency building supplies across 120 miles of frozen swampland to the native community of Oxford House.
For Rick, today is more than just the start of the season.
First load in on my birthday.
Happy Birthday.
Let the moneymaking begin.
Well, this is-- This is the first crossing right here.
So, I mean, I'm just stopping to check the ice.
That's all I'm doing right now.
With 30 years experience on the ice >> The polar bear knows trouble when he sees it.
The more pretty ice is, the more dangerous it is.
That's what we always said.
So if you got real nice looking ice in all pretty colors, it's not very thick there, 'cause the water's right underneath it.
Here under the snowbank, it's probably only a foot thick right now, so this is safe.
Under that snowbank, it's not safe.
So stay out here in between the tree lines is where we got to drive today.
The main path across the lake is thick enough to support the trucks.
But closer to the banks, a layer of snow acts as insulation, keeping the ice dangerously thin.
Once it's passable, we start Hauling.
We don't wait till it's perfect.
She's opened up, so this is the first load of the season.
We'll, uh, see what happens.
Coming up Hugh takes a hit.
Holy! And Maya takes her shot.
If she doesn't measure up, then, uh, we're gonna send her back to New York City.
We're on the ice.
Deep in the Canadian wilderness, Hugh rowland and Rick Yemm hit the ice.
The start and the finish are are the deadliest times of the year.
Ice isn't up to full weight, so it's thin.
I've never seen a stretch of asphalt open up and swallow someone up and kill 'em.
We're only going about 15 mile an hour most the time here.
How you making out back there? Ah, I like this driving.
This is what it's all about.
This is the ice roads.
Ah, you don't get tired behind the wheel here.
That's a fact.
You get on the real ice roads, there ain't no such thing as getting tired and falling asleep.
You ain't got time.
Come on.
Come on, baby.
Come on.
Made her.
By God, I made her.
Ain't this [Bleep.]
something, eh? See the Dalton boys try that.
Come across open water.
Oh, I knew these roads were gonna be fun.
Let's, uh, make some money here.
Get some cash happening.
Yee-haw! After making a name as an elite big city trucker, rookie Maya Sieber has come to Fairbanks to test herself against some of the best truckers in the world.
I'm on my way to Carlile.
I'm really excited.
Um, it feels like forever just to get to this point.
I was a truck driver for about three years from New York.
Look at this truck trying to go.
So you've got to make this tight turn and these cars just don't want to cooperate.
Go, driver, go.
And I worked my way up.
I mean, I had to work a lot harder than a lot of people.
It's driving me crazy.
If I can conquer city driving I have to do something else and that's coming up to Alaska and driving the ice road.
Something dangerous and something that takes a lot of skill.
Holy [Bleep.]
, it's cold.
I'm taking a huge risk right now.
I mean, I left everything behind and I quit my job and I left my family.
I left my apartment.
I left everything.
Hi, Phil? It'll be up to veteran trainer Phil Krom to find out if Maya's got the skills to take on the Dalton.
I suppose you're ready for a road test.
I'm more than ready.
Good, good.
We're gonna go out to a truck and trailer I already have hooked up.
It's an empty flatbed.
Maya's first test: Proving that she knows her way around a big rig.
Gonna give Maya a road test today and if she doesn't measure up, then, uh, we're gonna send her back to New York City.
I didn't come 15 hours here and freeze my ass off just to do driving around town.
I mean, I came up here to really live a challenge and just experience the Dalton and go all the way.
I mean, I could do this right where I came from.
I have been.
Well, whenever you're ready, um, we can go ahead and go.
What we'll do is take a left out of the yard.
Just drive.
Just do your thing.
Take a right at the stop sign.
I gotcha.
You guys are crazy up here.
I'm from New York, but you guys are crazy.
We're the ones that are crazy? You guys are crazy because you guys got a powerful truck on ice.
Maya settles in behind the wheel and it's not long before she feels right at home.
Oh, my God.
Look at this four-wheeler in front of me.
Just cut me off like that.
What the hell? This is not New York.
This is ridiculous.
I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind, like, right now.
You think that'll work? Yeah.
I'll tell 'em that they're number one right now.
That's how we do it in New York.
Yeah, but here people carry guns.
Really? Yeah.
I want you to turn into the yard here.
Right here? Mm-hmm.
The road test is over quickly.
Now it's up to Phil to decide whether Maya moves to the next step and takes on the Haul road.
You did do good.
Little nervous and that's totally expected.
There's some things we can work on.
Um I'm gonna recommend that they hire you and start you in the training process on the Haul road.
There will be plenty of stuff to work on.
Awesome.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Good to be working with you.
You too.
See you soon.
Take care.
I never give up.
It doesn't matter how hard it gets.
Never.
I've never given up and I never will.
I think people are gonna be very surprised about what they see when I take on that road.
Don't judge a book by it's cover.
Lisa Kelly leads the pack with her second heavy load of pipe.
She's determined to be the top driver this season.
But in the dash for the cash, Lisa opts for a steady crawl.
I just drive safe and careful and I'm pretty much the grandma up there.
Just slow, steady.
The tortoise.
I'm not the hare.
But just around the next bend What? There's trouble.
There's somebody spun out.
I'm not sure if he's blocking the road.
I would love that.
Knowing Lisa is closest to the scene, dispatch sends her ahead to help.
Somebody's already spun out and I might have to go chain up and push this guy up the hill, get him unstuck so we could get by.
I am always happy to help somebody.
Wonder if he got-- No, there he is.
I see him.
I think I see him.
That blinking light up there, that might be him.
There's our guy.
She'll have to push the stranded truck out of the ditch, but with just a few feet of clearance.
You got a copy here, lowboy? It'll take all of Lisa's skill to avoid sliding off the road herself.
You ready for me to push on you? Okay.
We're moving.
I'm, like, right in the ditch.
Don't freak me out.
Don't freak me out.
He's heavy.
See, these lowboys are heavy.
We're both just like-- I can just feel it.
We're both just, like, feathering it trying to make this thing go.
Finally All right, Lisa.
The 75,000-pound lowboy reaches the peak.
You are so welcome.
Let me know if you need it anymore.
And Lisa continues her steady pace on to Prudhoe Bay.
I knew that I was gonna be working hard this year, and I am really glad that I'm ready.
in Northwest manitoba These roads here, they're-- not built for 18 wheelers.
They're, uh-- They're rough as hell.
Hang on to your [Static.]
Ass coming through there, buddy.
Hugh and Rick roll deeper into the Canadian wilderness.
It's like four-wheel driving in the big rig.
Hey, buddy, you okay? It's a rodeo.
Holy! What the-- Canadian winter roads Whoo! Holy [Bleep.]
! What the [Bleep.]
? I thought I seen something.
Yeah, I heard a bang.
My tire there blew out.
She's running around on the rim, too.
I don't know.
I'll catch up to you and see what I can see here.
Oh, yeah.
She's barely hanging on there.
I don't know if it just blew the tire or blew the rim and tire.
I don't know.
I can't see from here.
Need to stop, Hugh, and look at, though.
That's a big ten-four.
Got a flat tire.
Bent rim.
Yeah, the tire's okay.
It's just the rim's [Bleep.]
up.
I'd say a little bit.
Hundreds of miles from civilization, it can be days before Hugh gets help.
Think that's gonna make it up the road? Well, you can keep her all the way back to town, I think.
I got seven spares on there.
I'll just drive her up and drive her home.
You gonna be able to make it through this season? You are getting a little bit older.
You're talking to the wrong hombre, buddy.
It's gonna take a lot more than that to slow huey down.
Back on the road again.
While Hugh limps his way through the wilderness At the Carlile yard in Fairbanks, rookie Maya Sieber has proven she can handle a big rig.
Hey.
There she is.
Now it's time to get her first look at the dangers of the Haul road.
Climb on in here and we'll get going.
It's cold.
Yep.
Oh, my God.
Well, you ready for this? I'm ready.
It's unlike anything I've ever seen before.
It looks like the moon.
This road and mother nature can and will throw everything at you.
You have to be-- Be ready for it.
On the Dalton, there's a dead man for every mile and many a rookie has called it quits after their first trip to Prudhoe Bay.
Big truck.
You have to be thinking all the time, you know? Like, we're getting ready to drop into the roller coaster and you got to think about, "okay, what gear?" You got to be thinking about if somebody's already dropped in that we can't see.
Hanging with the Dalton's opening miles is one thing, but for a rookie, facing down the notorious roller coaster is a whole different ball game.
Oh, my God.
You've got to be kidding me.
Now this is a roller coaster.
Yeah.
It's scary.
A little bit of the-- Absolutely no way.
This is not real.
No way what? Yeah.
No, this is crazy.
You're gonna have to learn how to drive through this stuff.
I had no idea, like, how steep they really were.
Holy [Bleep.]
.
Well, it should scare you a little bit, but not too much.
That's unlike anything I've ever seen before.
ahead, the wind kicks up.
And the road disappears.
Oh, my gosh.
Northbound, dropping off beaver slide.
Okay.
This is the beaver slide.
It's 2 miles down at 11%.
It's a little hard to see.
I mean, we can see.
We just can't see very far.
How do you even, like, see the side of the road? Um, sometimes you can't see the side of the road.
That's crazy.
I see why you can't-- You got to keep looking far ahead 'cause otherwise I would want to go the direction the snow is blowing.
That's, like, ghostly.
Is any of this [Bleep.]
Sinking in? Oh, this [Bleep.]
Is sinking in big time.
Coming up A rookie gets the cold shoulder That's how some of these arrogant [Bleep.]
are.
I mean, he's just got some serious issues.
And the other gets more than she can handle.
Oh, my God.
Halfway up the Dalton at the Coldfoot truck stop I just-- You know, like I said, I'm not gonna play the bashing game, you know? That happened a little bit last night Trainer Tony Molesky is heading South.
But after last night's blow-up with new driver Dave Redmon You're on my ass non-stop.
I mean, I can't even turn into a [Bleep.]
parking lot without you over there.
They're legitimate, man.
Every time that I've said these things, it's been legit.
All of 'em! He's decided to lighten his load.
And that's not my job to-- To deal with that.
All right, Mark, we'll see you in a day or two.
All right.
Dave's stranded in the middle of the Dalton with no truck and no way to make a buck.
You know, he's pissed 'cause I called him out.
[Bleep.]
I mean, he's just got some serious issues.
But that's how some of these arrogant [Bleep.]
are.
I did my part, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm done with-- I'm done with that.
Unless he can learn some respect, he's really not welcome back in here.
Now we're turning a two-day trip into a [Bleep.]
week-long event.
You know, I was warned.
I was warned before I ever met him.
You know, "this is exactly how this guy's gonna do you.
" I've said my piece.
I'll pretty much just let Dave figure it out on his own at this point.
He's either gonna make it or he's not.
Back in Canada, Hugh rowland fights his way into Oxford House On only 17 of his 18 wheels.
My tire's still on there.
I think she'll hang right in there.
And then I'm trying to make up a little time here.
This load's supposed to be there this afternoon, so I'm going a little faster than normal.
Yeah, a guy gets cooking on her and then all of a sudden, that helmet jumps up in front of you and you bounce right through the roof.
Ten-four.
This is Hauling.
This is bush road Hauling.
Always said I'm an off-road guy.
Don't like the highway.
Yeah, I knew we'd have some fun on this one.
We made her anyway.
I guess we go into town up here.
Wow, a stop sign.
Haven't seen one of those in a while.
Your load kind of went for a ride, eh? The building supplies may be shaken up, but they've arrived just in time to rebuild the home of the village elders that was damaged by a busted water line.
They're very close to getting the, uh, elders back to their community.
No longer misplaced, as Hugh would say.
My load's just about off here, so when it's empty, I'm shutting them doors and I'm boogieing South.
It is my birthday today and stuff and I guess I'm giving the gifts.
I give the gift to help put this place back together.
So the faster they get this fixed, they can come home.
So there's load number one done.
I'm ready for number two.
While Hugh and Rick begin the long trek back to Winnipeg You awake? I'm awake.
I mean, "are awake.
" Rookie Maya Sieber has made her way to the North slopes' icy roads.
Still can't let your guard down, even though there's no hills to deal with.
There's been a lot of guys run off without a hill, crash the trucks.
And when it happens, like, the closer you get somewhere, you get a little more relaxed, like, "oh, I'm almost there.
" Exactly.
Just 20 miles from Prudhoe Bay Oh, my God.
Holy [Bleep.]
.
Well, there's a pickup on its top here in the ditch and, yeah, nobody's said anything about a roller.
Well, you think somebody would have said something about it being here.
Let me just make sure if everything's All right here.
Just South of Prudhoe Bay Oh, my God.
Phil and Maya have pulled up to an accident.
Well, we better make sure nobody's in here.
Nobody's said anything about this, so.
Don't look like anybody's in there.
So it looks like an old crash, but-- Or not old.
But nobody's said anything, so any time you come across something like this without anybody telling you it was there, you want to stop and make sure nobody's-- Nobody's needing any help.
That's what can happen out here.
I'm surprised nobody's said anything about that.
The driver of the overturned pickup walked away unharmed.
But on the Haul road, every trucker knows that luck doesn't last forever.
First thing really to look for is tracks in the snow of somebody walking out of there.
You got to look inside just to make sure.
It reminds you how short life is and how fragile we are as human beings, you know? Finally The lights of Prudhoe Bay appear.
Dude, this is the coldest I've ever felt in my life.
It's not below 15.
There's no [Bleep.]
way in hell.
It's 15 below.
It was-- Wind chill is about 50 below.
Oh, that's why.
And Maya's new York attitude has begun to thaw.
It's just non-stop.
You can never take your mind off the road at all.
It's a lot to, uh-- To know what to do, but I'm ready.
I'm ready.
It's damn cold, isn't it? That's not even the word.
It's like-- It's vicious.
Yeah, well Welcome to Prudhoe Bay.
Back on the Canadian ice roads Alex is grinding out the last leg of his 700-mile journey.
Oh, this is walking the mine fields, yeah.
All the rocks sticking through, trying to grab something.
Trying to grab something off the bottom of the truck.
Grab a piece of truck going by.
But there's still one major hazard in front of him.
Well, we've just come onto Red Sucker lake.
So we're almost to our destination.
Just take it easy going across here, because this lake hasn't come up to weight yet.
Well, all the ice roads are holding together.
They're not melting, so that's a good sign.
After making it across the lake, Alex pulls into the town of Red Sucker and delivers his first load of the season.
Heading South tomorrow morning.
I'm tired.
Got lots of adventure.
Yeah, it's been an eventful day.
I'm glad to be here.
The next morning, on the shores of the arctic ocean Lisa Kelly crosses the finish line with her second load of the season.
Got it all here safely and intact.
Chains were good and everything was good.
I'm excited that things are going so well this year.
Lisa's hustle has her at the front of the pack, with Tony and her Canadian rivals on her heels with one load apiece.
Lisa.
Hey, Phil.
How are you? Good.
How are you? Have you met Maya? Hey, Maya.
Hi, Lisa.
How are you? Good.
Nice to meet you.
Yeah, you too.
How was your trip? It's a lot scarier.
Doesn't do justice seeing it in any other way than your-- Like, just seeing it-- In person.
Yeah, in person.
So I saw that-- A hill.
The first hill, I was like, "Oh, my God.
" That's just the beginning.
I was like, "oh, my God.
" You can't get bored of this road.
Definitely.
Nope.
Well, let's hit the road.
Ready when you are.
Have a good day.
You too.
That's my advice.
I'll see you on the road.
Back in Canada Hey! Holy [Bleep.]
! Slack Alice, is that you? Hey, you look familiar.
What the heck are you doing here? Are you lost or-- Boy, you're a long way from home.
I think you got taller.
What the hell are you doing? I'm working.
The-- The parrot's here.
Rick.
He leased one of my trucks.
Your son.
Well, yeah.
Have you told him that you're his dad yet? I told him-- I told him I [Bleep.]
a parrot when I was 12.
So now I got two of you bastards to baby-sit up here.
[Bleep.]
me.
Well, I got to get going.
I can't [Bleep.]
around here all day.
Not sure I've known Hugh probably since roughly 1978.
We'll see you there.
Okay, okay.
Take care.
God bless you, even though you don't believe in him.
[Bleep.]
you! I may not get the most loads, but I always get the best of Hugh.
You can tell by how much huffing and puffing he's doing at the time.
This season on ice road truckers Could get really nasty.
The battle to be king of the road gets personal.
Today! I'm [Bleep.]
pissed off.
Let me ask you your honest opinion.
Do you think I'm an [Bleep.]
? The Canadian winter roads push the old pros to the breaking point.
I didn't sign up for this.
This stupid [Bleep.]
.
Yeah, you did.
And in Alaska, two newcomers fight for their jobs Big truck.
But only one will last the season I'm just gonna make a run for it.
When ice road truckers takes their race across the continent.
I got a load of explosives here.