Top Gear (US) s05e05 Episode Script
Off Road Big Rigs
Now on Top Gear We put our big rig driving skills to the ultimate test as we attempt one of the most dangerous jobs in the world hauling over 40 tons of timber down the open road.
Holy Stop, baby, stop! The Pacific Northwest is home to over 40 million acres of wilderness and one of the most dangerous industries in America Logging.
And with all that timber, worth over $10 billion a year, someone has to haul it down the mountain.
Both logging and truck driving already rank as some of the most deadliest jobs in the world, but combine the two and you've got a serious challenge best left to the professionals Until now.
"Top Gear" challenged us to haul over 40 tons of timber across 75 miles of treacherous roads in possibly our riskiest challenge to date.
First one to reach the mill with the least amount of mistakes would win.
We were told to meet in an empty field by an abandoned airport, where we'd be introduced to our big rigs.
Oh, yeah! Look at that.
That's what I'm talking about.
Look at the size of these things.
This brings back memories.
We'd driven monsters like these before, with limited success Popped out of gear.
Oh brake! So the thought of getting back in a big rig was daunting.
What are we doing here? Let's se "tomorrow, you will embark on 75-mile journey "over tarmac, gravel, and dirt to pick up and deliver a load of logs.
" Good lord.
"You have to prove that you're still road-ready "by surviving a refresher course.
"Your first challenge will take place "on the other side of the runway, "but first, you must get there.
Extricate your truck from the pit in front of you.
" What? Extricate? Yeah.
Got to get it out of here.
First one out wins.
You d you know We're back in the big rigs.
Okay, just like riding a bike.
Nice to see you back, there, captain.
Last time, Rut proved he was the best driver, so today is all about payback.
Oh.
Parking brake.
I got the holeshot! Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! Oh, good.
There goes Tanner.
Okay.
Shift! Come on, baby.
Find a gear.
Oh, come on, Adam! I'm extricating! Come on! Tanner may have beat me in the mud But my trucker skills were kicking in.
Here I come on the outside.
It's like "how Stella got her groove back.
" But tiny dancer just got his groove back.
I do have the most torque here, so I'm gonna use it.
Come on, baby.
With Adam way behind, it was just the bearded lady and I as we headed down the last straightaway.
Oh, Tanner wants a piece.
Kenworth! Oh, it's on.
Yeah! That's what I'm talking about! That's one for me, fellas.
Okay, so it's gonna be like this, Tanner.
You gonna score everything? You know it! Oh, man, I'm rolling cool in a Kenworth.
I have truly missed driving a big rig.
It's all kind of coming back.
I do remember Rutledge was, like, a semi-truck-driving master.
It was obnoxious.
I don't know what the deal was.
Last time we raced big rigs, our Southern boy, Rut, proved to be the best I cannot believe that Rutledge won that.
And it was hardly surprising, given that his high-school mascot was a tractor.
Oh, I did it! I don't believe you.
I think this is where I celebrate, right? But these things were still monstrous to drive, and it was anyone's game.
I forgot how much I love this.
Kind of getting used to this stuff, huh? That's fun.
What are you driving, Tanner? 2006 Peterbilt 379 long-nose.
I don't know much about big rigs, but I do know a lot about speed, and with 625 horsepower and 2,050 foot-pounds of torque, this is by far the fastest truck of the three.
I would have preferred red, but I guess with green, I'll get fewer speeding tickets.
Listen, you're missing the point.
2007 Kenworth t800 mule train.
Who cares about speed? How about biggest hauling capacity? This silver stud is the little truck that could.
The mule train can pack 110,000 pounds, which is too much for Washington state.
You're only allowed to carry 105,000 pounds.
That's an outlaw rig, right there.
When I think of you, I think, "outlaw.
" Yeah.
That's pretty much me.
You guys know what you're looking at, here, right? I'd chosen a 1991 Kenworth w900l long-nose.
Tanner's got the fastest, and Adam's got the strongest, but this beauty is the oldest, so it deserves a little respect.
What are we doing here? Let's see.
" Truckers have to drive through tight spaces, "from tunnels to overpasses and narrow roads, "so it's important to be able to gauge dimensions accurately.
"To test your judgment, three gateways "with different widths and heights have been created, "and only one will allow a clean pass-through.
"You must determine which gate is big enough "and drive through it at no less than 30 miles per hour.
"After each person goes, "the gateways will be resized and reset.
Cleanest pass-through wins.
" This is like that old "square peg in a round hole" thing, but just sped up.
No, it's not.
This is square peg and smaller-square hole.
It's a size issue.
Yeah, why don't you go first, then, - if you're so confident? - Fine.
I don't have any size issues.
This truck is 13 feet, 6 inches to the top of the stacks, 8 feet, 6 inches to the edge of the mirrors give or take.
That's the problem is the "give or take.
" And all these look the same from back here.
Oh, I don't feel good about this.
All right, fellas, you ready? Yeah, ready.
Go for it.
There we go.
Oops.
Get in gear.
Has anyone ever been killed by a flying cardboard box before? Oh, that looks narrow.
That's narrower than I thought.
I'm going right.
Looks like he's choosing Oh, he's choosing right.
Oh! Oh! Line up straight.
Get through there.
30 miles an hour.
Come on, baby.
Come on, baby.
Come on, baby.
Straight through.
Yes! He hit the top.
Adam failed.
If that had been the top of a tunnel, it would have been nasty.
I didn't hit anything! I think.
Eh? "Eh"? What? You hit the pole.
Oh.
Yeah.
You didn't you didn't feel that or hear it or anything? All right, well, there's that.
You're just a little bit too tall, I think.
You'll never have that problem.
Hmm.
Actually, sometimes, I do.
No.
There are some vehicles, some doorways.
I'll go next.
Where, on a gingerbread house? Like in Europe.
The gates were resized, and it was the bearded lady's turn.
Oh, this is stressful.
I'm either going for the one in the middle or the one on the right.
I could go for the one on the left.
I don't know.
They all look the same to me.
I've seen him hit the side of his head going in a doorway before.
To be fair, that's a big head.
All right, you boys ready? Yeah.
Bring it on, big guy.
Nice and easy on the clutch.
Let her roll.
Oh, you know what? I can't do it.
I got to try this one.
He's choosing the center.
No, he's choosing the far side.
He's back to the center.
How bad is his vision? Is he wearing his glasses? All right.
I'm committed.
This doesn't feel good.
Oh Oh, I made it! He made it, but he was nowhere near 30 miles an hour.
Okay.
Now are you gonna try one at 30 miles an hour? What, are you kids mad because I'm so good? How awesome was that? You're walking faster than you drove through there.
What are you talking about? I did 30 miles an hour.
No.
That wasn't.
That was like 15.
Felt like 30.
I'm surprised you couldn't hear me pee my pants from here.
Yeah, it gets smaller when you're coming in on it, man.
Yeah, it's like you're driving straight towards a wall.
You know I have the widest truck here, right? You know what? If you just don't hit anything, it won't matter how wide it is.
See? - You know what it is? - What? He found out we wear the same size pants, and he's been really upset about it.
I'm very proud of you.
Thank you.
Come on.
- You got an idea? - Yeah.
As Tanner headed down the runway, i had a plan to stack the odds in our favor.
Oh, boy.
Oh, boy.
Here's the thing.
All I really need is a couple inches on each side.
Oh, yeah.
Now we're talking.
All right, gentlemen.
You ready? We're ready.
Bring it.
You think he's gonna notice what you did? What we did.
No, I just I just drove the lift, man.
Come on, baby.
There's 25.
Oh, gosh.
Oh.
Here he comes.
He's not gonna notice, is he? He's always going too fast to notice.
This will work like a charm.
I'll just slide right through here.
Looks a lot narrower than I thought.
Oh! Come on! Holy crap! Brake! Adam's life flashes before our eyes.
And later wet roads and Tanner don't mix.
Holy We were in Washington, preparing for the deadliest job we'd ever tried Hauling logs 75 miles down open road.
Our first challenge was to see how well we could navigate our big rigs through tight spaces.
I bonked my head, and Rut went too slowly.
Oh, I made it! Now are you gonna try one at 30 miles an hour? Now it was Tanner's turn to fail.
Rut and I had ensured it.
Come on, baby.
There's 35.
Looks a lot narrower than I thought.
Oh! Come on! Holy crap! How is it possible that I just hit that? What? What happened, man? You hit the box! I could have sworn I'd picked the biggest gate Hey, where are you goin'? So when I went back for a look, something didn't feel right.
Those are not the original boxes.
Listen, deny, deny, deny.
Didn't make any sense.
Clearly, I couldn't get through the one on the right.
Come on! I'm looking at the other one.
And clearly I was too tall for the one on the left.
You know you cheated.
Dude, you got the widest truck here.
Yeah, but it's not that wide, and I folded my mirror in, so it should have been even.
So he cheated! You cheated! You cheated first.
No, we just cheated better! Oh, yeah? Okay, well, now this is happening.
What's he doing? Oh, he's having a tantrum.
I don't know about you, but I feel better.
Yeah, you really showed us.
Since Adam hit the bar, Rut drove at grandma speed, and I was sabotaged, we reluctantly called that one a draw.
Our next challenge was just a hop away, across the airport.
This would be our last test before the training wheels came off and we'd have to contend with real roads, real cars, and real consequences.
Well, this looks fun.
What are we doing here? "With nearly 30 tons of logs directly behind your cab, "knowing your exact stopping distance is critical.
"To see which of you is the best at braking, "you will hit 40 miles an hour, then have to come to a stop.
Shortest distance wins.
" So, who can slow down the best? It's not just about braking.
It's about getting up to speed and then braking safely Zero to 40 to zero.
It does seem unfair.
It seems like this is really my challenge here.
Of course it is.
If anyone knows how to stop a great amount of weight quickly, it's him.
You know what? This is not high school P.
E.
! I had a glandular disorder as a child! I'm guessing the caution tape is, uh, there for a reason.
Well, because it's a swamp on the other side of that, maybe.
Yeah, I would not go past that.
Okay, good note.
I don't know why Rutledge is so good at this stuff.
It drives me crazy.
All right, gentlemen.
Ready? It's on.
Three Nice and easy.
Two One.
Go! 15.
20.
Oh, there we go.
It's 25, 30.
And 35.
Oh, this is it! Come on, come on! Go, go, go! Whoa, there it is! Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop! Oh! 40.
Brake! Uh-oh! Oh, no! Adam's going in! Aah! That's not good.
What happened? Are you okay? Yeah.
Yeah, I'm all right.
Uh, it was a good test.
I now have an idea of the braking distance.
How did Rutledge stop shorter than I did? That is lame.
You guys know what that honk means, right? It means I won.
So, once again, Rut proved his trucking talents.
But tomorrow morning, the adventure would begin.
We had to pick up our logs and deliver them to the mill, driving 75 very real miles in very real traffic, so we made a decision to get up at the crack of dawn like actual truckers.
Guys, I'm sorry.
That 4:00 A.
M.
was just too early.
6:00 is a lot better.
It's 8:30.
And it's still too early.
Apparently, waking up at 4:00 A.
M.
Was a trucker skill we had yet to master.
You guys ready for this? 100,000 pounds of weight pushing us? Mm.
This is gonna get scary real quick, fellas.
At least it'll be, like, dirt roads and cliffs and stuff.
Well, there's that.
Sounds great.
Follow me.
Watch out for that puddle.
I was just gonna step over it, since I'm full-size.
All right, tiny dancer.
We'll follow you.
Let me know if I'm gonna run over anything, okay? Yeah! The most dangerous job in this country is being a logger.
Still in the top 10 being a trucker for a logging company.
And we're just gonna jump on into that world.
Great idea.
We were on our way to pick up our timber and deliver it to the mill.
Whoever could get there first with the least amount of mistakes would win.
Adam, you doing okay back there? Right now, everything's going okay.
Thank you very much.
Make sure you stay in the Lane.
Don't cross the yellow line.
Man, to drive one of these big rigs, you have to be aware of everything.
You have to be aware of where your truck is at all times.
You have to be aware of your braking distance, what gear you're in.
I don't have any of that awareness.
My A.
D.
D.
is raging right now.
Oh.
Car coming.
Doesn't even know how dangerous this is.
All right, I got through that turn.
Ooh, boy, there's a lot going on in these things.
Ooh.
Ooh, I'm sweating.
Oh, there's a car.
I'm over here.
I'm in my Lane.
Hey.
Yeah.
Oh, I bet Adam's back there having an aneurysm.
There's a car.
Whoa! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
It's metal versus rotting wood.
Oh, I'm on it.
Oh.
And later This is tight.
We take our big rigs down little roads.
Oh! We were in Washington to see who was the best log hauler.
So far, Rut and I were even, but now that we were on the highway, all of us were struggling to keep our big rigs under control.
Oh, there's a car.
I'm over here.
I'm in my Lane.
Hey.
Yeah.
Oh, I bet Adam's back there having an aneurysm.
There's a car.
What do I Whoa! This is insane.
Driving one of these on the streets with other cars is completely terrifying.
There are a lot of dangerous things you can do with your life, and I'm pretty well versed in dangerous occupations.
Driving a semi truck is one of them.
Driving under this bridge, for example, feels like about the most dangerous thing I've done in the last year.
And I set a world record or two in the last year.
Come on.
Come on, baby.
Find a hole.
Get in there.
I think there's more of a skill set required just to drive these things down the road than to race a car.
I never thought he'd admit that.
Tanner Foust just said that.
I didn't say it.
Adam didn't.
Tanner admitted these are harder to drive and be good at than to race a car.
But I'm also not capable of being married, so I could be lacking a lot of skill sets.
The more we committed to trucking, the more we felt like honest-to-goodness truckers.
Smokey bear on the right.
Is that a Kojak with a Kodak, bearded lady? Yeah, that's affirmative.
Just watch out.
I think there's an evel knievel up here, too.
It's a cop on a motorcycle.
Okay, taking a right here.
Brace yourself.
This is it, fellas.
Finally, we're getting off the road.
We were closing in on the lumberyard just five miles away, but there was no pavement here.
We were going off-road.
Oh, that is all kinds of tight.
Just threading a needle.
It has officially gotten real 100 feet in.
Hold the phone.
Hold the phone.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Okay, we need to look at this thing.
I'm not driving over this.
Oh, this looks nice.
Oh, no way.
Look at that.
Seems like the earth is trying to reclaim this wooden bridge.
It says, "load limit, blank tons.
" Its' so old, you can't even read the number.
Seeing as over 60,000 Bridges in the U.
S.
Are known to be structurally deficient, all I could think of was my wife and kids at home.
I wasn't really sure if I wanted to cross this one.
Oh, look, it's the bridge.
The wood is broken here.
The moss is basically eating it.
This is really just rotting away, and it's above a river, and we're gonna drive on that.
That seems great.
Hold on.
I'm just gonna I'm just gonna do one Don't take that out of there.
No, just a little test.
Yeah, that's the thing that's holding it together.
Hold on.
Shh.
You'll be fine.
You should be fine.
This should be good.
You know what's holding this bridge up, fellas? Hope.
Come on, Tanner.
Don't die.
We had to straighten up these articulated trucks to keep the tires centered on the running boards or risk falling through the weaker beams.
Keep it straight.
Is it cracking? Are you kidding? You mean you don't hear that cracking? Are you okay? I'm alive! I'm alive! All right! That's what I'm talking about.
Your turn.
Here comes the bearded lady.
Tanner had kept his truck from plummeting into the river But he might have weakened the bridge in the process.
Ooh.
Ooh, boy.
Oh, I'm on it! Oh! This is scary.
This is scary.
Nice and easy.
Nice and easy.
Okay.
That did not feel good.
That did not feel good.
Mama's coming, boys.
Adam was last, with the heaviest truck of the bunch.
If he were to make it across, he'd have to focus and keep his tires dead center on the boards.
Oh, rickety.
Keep it straight, Adam, straight.
Oh.
That I got to get off this quickly.
That's Yeah, that's scary.
That's Okay.
We're on land.
That's sketchy.
Oh, thank goodness you're alive.
Did you hear that creaking? It was hard to hear the creaking over my own internal prayers.
Glad they worked.
Thankfully, we'd all made it across the bridge and were now just minutes away from loading 40 tons of logs on our trucks.
Look at this.
Wow, that's huge.
Looks like we're here, boys.
How's it look? I see the loader.
It looks like I've got to pull up here and back down in there.
Backing these articulated big rigs down a narrow road with a steep drop-off was not just incredibly difficult It was also dangerous.
It is so narrow here.
How in the am I supposed to back this thing up? You've got to be kidding.
Like, I a boat trailer, that's one thing, but a double Whatever.
I'm concentrating.
This is gonna be tough.
Get over there.
Get around that log.
Get around there.
Here we go.
Sure feels like I'm gonna sink into a hole here.
Come on.
Good lord, there is no freaking way.
Falling off of this edge is so easy.
It's just barely staying on the road.
Yeah, Lyle, this is Tanner backing to you.
Okay, that's good there.
Whoo! I'm, uh, not gonna say, but holy you know, you guys are gonna do great.
It's gonna be great.
Before loading the logs, the truck needed to be extended to its maximum length.
You ready? I'm gonna lift that trailer off.
It can come off pretty fast.
Yeah, ready here.
I'm okay to be in the cab, right? Holy he wasn't kidding.
All right, pulling ahead.
Once you put those trailers on, there's no more backing up, no more reversing.
If you pull into an area, you can't just get out and unhook and, you know, do everything by hand.
You are stuck.
Holy crap.
Those logs are so heavy.
If he even picks one and wiggles it a little bit, it just shakes this whole truck.
Holy One mistake and he could crush us.
I am loaded with 105,000 pounds of Washington's finest.
I can actually see the ground sloping away around me.
This is not good.
Oh, my gosh! How the does that feel to drive? Hey, we're screwed.
We're screwed.
I mean, there's no backing it up.
There's no stopping it.
We're screwed.
And then it was Rut's turn.
Now, I have a trailer at home, and it's maybe 25 feet.
This this is gonna be a challenge.
Oh.
That's gonna hit.
Oh, there's a log there.
Oh, that's a log.
Oh! Loggers are 40 times more likely to die than the average worker, so this was no joke.
Oh, boy! Let's get this sucker down there.
Oh, it's hard to see right there.
Watch out, Rut! Oh, it's going over! Oh! Oh, don't worry.
It's wet.
Things slide out of control.
Were in Western Washington, competing in one of the world's most dangerous jobs Log hauling.
Whoa! So far, Tanner was in the lead, but now it was time to pick up our 40-ton load.
Rut was already having difficulty backing his rig down the steep, narrow gravel road.
Nice and easy.
Oh, it's hard to see right there.
Oh, it's going over! Oh! After a mild correction and some coaching from the crane operator, i was back on track.
Keep coming back.
I'll tell you when to stop.
That's good there.
Once I had Lyle guiding me in, things felt a lot safer.
Okay.
Or so I thought.
Okay! All right! Never experienced an earthquake before, but I bet that's what it feels like.
All right, I'm nervous.
Yeah.
Come on.
More logs, Lyle.
Holy crap.
Oh, wow.
That is so different.
Ah! Ah! 100,000 pounds I am moving right now.
It was a relief to have my logs loaded, but now I wondered, how on earth was Adam going to manage? Oh, good.
There's no guardrail.
That's nice.
Ah, it's like a big parking lot.
Yeah, this is fine.
Keep coming around.
That's good.
Hold it right there.
With the shortest truck, Adam easily made it down.
But he wasn't out of the woods yet.
Oh, this guy knows I'm in here, right? I was a bit nervous, but my mule was strong and could haul more than those two Hey, Lyle, you mind adding a few extra logs? What Adam didn't realize is that the reason log hauling is so dangerous is that the loads are top-heavy.
Take a turn too fast And you could flip.
All this weight is like the load is daring you to move it.
"Go ahead, try and drive me up a Mountain.
" With our precious cargo loaded, it was time to make our way to the mill.
Given that Rut had just made a mistake, i was now in the lead.
All right, let's pull them out.
Follow me.
Slowly.
Not surprisingly, Tanner somehow got in front.
Now we'd have to wait until we get to the highway to try and get ahead.
Tanner, you know how to get us out of here? I'm just taking the only roads I can actually make the turns, so hopefully, that'll lead somewhere.
Sounds like a good plan.
Our destination of port Angeles was 40 miles east of here.
It didn't sound like very far, but with over 100,000 pounds each in our care, it might as well have been 4,000 miles.
We made it to a road, guys.
We are officially really gonna be dangerous here.
Wide turns, gentlemen.
Wide turns.
Oh, boy.
We're hitting the open road.
Keeping these monsters in the correct Lane took a tremendous amount of concentration.
We are a menace to society right now.
Car coming.
This is an entirely different experience, driving with a full load.
You miss a gear now, you're just screwed.
You screw up your braking distance, you don't hit a pipe or cardboard boxes.
Things get broken, and people get dead.
As we got a few more miles under our belts, we got slightly more comfortable.
There are those moments in your life that you stress about, and then you just say, "you know what? I got to rise up.
I got to meet this.
" And that is what's happening right now.
We finally felt like real truckers, and the world was a beautiful place.
Kind of feels like we're driving a freaking locomotive.
It's awesome.
I just have a huge grin on my face, 'cause it's really fun.
Yee-haw! Until mother nature decided to get in the game and made it rain.
And I was worried about how to stop a truck this big on dry pavement.
Oh, don't worry.
It's wet.
And in the wet, braking distances are dramatically increased.
Roads get pretty narrow up here.
Feels like you're driving on a postage stamp.
Cruising along, 55 miles an hour.
Feels like it would take me about 9 miles to slow down.
On some of these tight turns, you end up swinging out a p Swinging out past the double yellows.
You just hope there's no oncoming traffic, you know? Boy, Tanner's having a lot of trouble staying in the Lane up there.
Be careful up there, Tanner.
I mean, you get, like, a blind turn like this one, you have to Holy We were in Washington, competing on the deadliest job we'd ever faced log hauling.
The first one to get their timber to the mill with the least mistakes would win.
I was in the lead, and Adam was in second.
Now we each had 40 tons of lumber and 10 tons of truck, but mother nature had thrown us a curve ball and was making an already dangerous situation even worse.
Boy, Tanner's having a lot of trouble staying in the Lane up there.
I mean, you get, like, a blind turn like this one, you have to Holy Oh.
Holy crap.
Hey, guys.
Super, uh, tight up here, just so you know.
Dude, did you almost hit that guy? Uh, you're breaking up.
Tanner had almost broken the cardinal rule of trucking Don't kill thy fellow drivers.
I don't know why Tanner's in the lead.
I think that's just his thing.
He always feels like no matter what the vehicle is, he has to be up front.
After nearly hitting the S.
U.
V.
, Tanner decided to get off the highway and took a shortcut through a nearby town.
Hey, guys, follow me.
This, I think, is the better way to go.
This is no time for a shortcut, Tanner? We can't turn these things around that easy.
As long as it's straight, I think we're good.
I mean, it's just gonna save us time.
Now, l y oh, God.
I'm happy to lead if you want.
No.
I mean, nice of you, but that's okay.
That's a big 10-4.
I was trying to figure out how we could get around Tanner, but, like lemmings, we were just blindly following him through roads that were not designed for trucks.
Dude, this is a neighborhood.
We should not be going through here.
This is tight.
Come on, baby.
I don't want to stop.
That's it.
Easy.
Oh, that's That's a long mule train.
Thank you.
Tiny dancer, these trucks don't belong down these roads.
Ah, what are you worried about, mule train? You got the shorty bus, anyway.
We're gonna be good.
What am I worried about? We're driving through people's living rooms! I'm slowing down for this right turn.
You with me? Yeah.
I can see you.
You good, Rut? Yeah, it's just hard to navigate these streets.
They're really small, and now they're wet.
Yeah.
It's getting worse.
I thought the hard part was getting off the Mountain.
This is ridiculous.
You guys feel like you drive using your mirrors more than you do looking out the front windshield? Every five seconds.
This is just great.
Okay, you might be right.
We're not supposed to have commercial vehicles in this neighborhood.
Oh, you think? First, Tanner almost crashed head-on into a civilian, and now he was getting lost in the 'burbs.
I'd say that placed him firmly in last place.
Yeah, okay, so, maybe this wasn't the right turn, but that's fine.
We're I mean, it's all going to the same place, right? We'll be good.
Yeah, we're on the same place.
The roads are ruined.
Adam, am I okay back there? I feel like this thing's swinging real wide.
Just keep it steady, bearded lady.
When the road moves or dips at all, it feels like this thing's going right over.
It sure didn't feel like that before.
Hey, guys, just watch out for these cars on the right-hand side.
Shouldn't be a problem, though.
Oh, man.
This is so tight through here.
Oh! We were in Washington, competing to see who was the best log-hauling trucker.
So far, we had some difficulties handling these monsters.
Whoa! Watch out, Rut! Oh! Holy Now, in our final challenge, hauling 40 tons of logs to the mill, directionally challenged Tanner had led us into somebody's backyard.
Oh, man.
Th iso tight through here.
Oh! Ooh! Uh, Rut, did you just feel something? Kind of like a little bump.
What, did I hit something? You might have rubbed that trailer and that boat a little bit.
You might have to go back and leave a note.
Oh! Son of a biscuit.
You guys are gonna wait for me, right? No.
And good luck with that.
You guys suck.
This time around, Rut had made a fatal mistake, and that left just me and Tanner.
I figured, as the only person who hadn't nearly driven off a cliff or into oncoming traffic, I had the upper hand.
As long as Adam doesn't pass me on this road, then theoretically, I'm getting there first, which is good.
How far away are we, pal? I think we got about another 10 miles, so, I mean, it should be smooth sailing from here on out.
All right, let's bring it home, tiny dancer.
Yee-haw.
With Tanner's shortcut wasting so much time, we weren't just in a race against each other.
We had to deliver these logs before sundown.
But any chance I had of overtaking him was gone when he put his foot down.
We pushed the trucks to their limits well, our limits.
We had a newfound respect for hauling logs.
And before we knew it, the end was in sight.
We made it, Adam! We made it! Hot we made it! Good God.
I don't think I've ever been so relieved to finish a road trip.
This is no blood in my left leg.
Most importantly, we'd made it without killing anybody, and it felt good.
That's what I'm talking about, right there! Well, I mean, it was pretty close, to be honest.
What was close? I mean, like, you were, like, right behind me when we got here.
Yeah.
So, it was like a close second place.
What second place? I got the most wood here.
I'm carrying more weight than you.
Mine is more expensive.
A win is a win.
You're right, and I'm glad you see it my way.
You'll get 'em next time.
No, it's about delivering the wood the fastest.
No, no.
How much do you have? 105,800.
You have 105,000 Don't you tell You just said that because I said "800.
" More weight, more money.
You nearly pancaked that S.
U.
V.
Whatever.
It's raining.
Where's Rut? Good question.
Wait a minute.
Holy crap! Is that him? Where's the truck? Oh, the log's gonna go! Oh, the log is going! He's gonna kill somebody with that! Yeah, himself.
What That's good there.
Whoo! Now, that's how you log! "That's how you log.
" You hear that? Singular.
One log.
Y'all worried it was gonna come through the window? - Yes! - And were you? Not this guy.
Professional trucker.
What happened? Well, apparently, I hit an R.
V.
, then I hit a boat, at least one stop sign Looks like two And then I had some problems with the truck.
Define "problems.
" We don't really really need to get into that.
Some gray area.
But, um What happened to your trucker sense? Apparently, I got a little bit cocky about how good I am at driving a big truck.
But I don't know if you noticed I still got the wood here.
Yeah, late and light.
Look, you're buying the beers.
All right, let me just drop this log.
Did you really have over 105,000 pounds? As far as you know.
Nah.
Me either.
Does that mean I win? Nope, it doesn't.
Holy Stop, baby, stop! The Pacific Northwest is home to over 40 million acres of wilderness and one of the most dangerous industries in America Logging.
And with all that timber, worth over $10 billion a year, someone has to haul it down the mountain.
Both logging and truck driving already rank as some of the most deadliest jobs in the world, but combine the two and you've got a serious challenge best left to the professionals Until now.
"Top Gear" challenged us to haul over 40 tons of timber across 75 miles of treacherous roads in possibly our riskiest challenge to date.
First one to reach the mill with the least amount of mistakes would win.
We were told to meet in an empty field by an abandoned airport, where we'd be introduced to our big rigs.
Oh, yeah! Look at that.
That's what I'm talking about.
Look at the size of these things.
This brings back memories.
We'd driven monsters like these before, with limited success Popped out of gear.
Oh brake! So the thought of getting back in a big rig was daunting.
What are we doing here? Let's se "tomorrow, you will embark on 75-mile journey "over tarmac, gravel, and dirt to pick up and deliver a load of logs.
" Good lord.
"You have to prove that you're still road-ready "by surviving a refresher course.
"Your first challenge will take place "on the other side of the runway, "but first, you must get there.
Extricate your truck from the pit in front of you.
" What? Extricate? Yeah.
Got to get it out of here.
First one out wins.
You d you know We're back in the big rigs.
Okay, just like riding a bike.
Nice to see you back, there, captain.
Last time, Rut proved he was the best driver, so today is all about payback.
Oh.
Parking brake.
I got the holeshot! Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! Oh, good.
There goes Tanner.
Okay.
Shift! Come on, baby.
Find a gear.
Oh, come on, Adam! I'm extricating! Come on! Tanner may have beat me in the mud But my trucker skills were kicking in.
Here I come on the outside.
It's like "how Stella got her groove back.
" But tiny dancer just got his groove back.
I do have the most torque here, so I'm gonna use it.
Come on, baby.
With Adam way behind, it was just the bearded lady and I as we headed down the last straightaway.
Oh, Tanner wants a piece.
Kenworth! Oh, it's on.
Yeah! That's what I'm talking about! That's one for me, fellas.
Okay, so it's gonna be like this, Tanner.
You gonna score everything? You know it! Oh, man, I'm rolling cool in a Kenworth.
I have truly missed driving a big rig.
It's all kind of coming back.
I do remember Rutledge was, like, a semi-truck-driving master.
It was obnoxious.
I don't know what the deal was.
Last time we raced big rigs, our Southern boy, Rut, proved to be the best I cannot believe that Rutledge won that.
And it was hardly surprising, given that his high-school mascot was a tractor.
Oh, I did it! I don't believe you.
I think this is where I celebrate, right? But these things were still monstrous to drive, and it was anyone's game.
I forgot how much I love this.
Kind of getting used to this stuff, huh? That's fun.
What are you driving, Tanner? 2006 Peterbilt 379 long-nose.
I don't know much about big rigs, but I do know a lot about speed, and with 625 horsepower and 2,050 foot-pounds of torque, this is by far the fastest truck of the three.
I would have preferred red, but I guess with green, I'll get fewer speeding tickets.
Listen, you're missing the point.
2007 Kenworth t800 mule train.
Who cares about speed? How about biggest hauling capacity? This silver stud is the little truck that could.
The mule train can pack 110,000 pounds, which is too much for Washington state.
You're only allowed to carry 105,000 pounds.
That's an outlaw rig, right there.
When I think of you, I think, "outlaw.
" Yeah.
That's pretty much me.
You guys know what you're looking at, here, right? I'd chosen a 1991 Kenworth w900l long-nose.
Tanner's got the fastest, and Adam's got the strongest, but this beauty is the oldest, so it deserves a little respect.
What are we doing here? Let's see.
" Truckers have to drive through tight spaces, "from tunnels to overpasses and narrow roads, "so it's important to be able to gauge dimensions accurately.
"To test your judgment, three gateways "with different widths and heights have been created, "and only one will allow a clean pass-through.
"You must determine which gate is big enough "and drive through it at no less than 30 miles per hour.
"After each person goes, "the gateways will be resized and reset.
Cleanest pass-through wins.
" This is like that old "square peg in a round hole" thing, but just sped up.
No, it's not.
This is square peg and smaller-square hole.
It's a size issue.
Yeah, why don't you go first, then, - if you're so confident? - Fine.
I don't have any size issues.
This truck is 13 feet, 6 inches to the top of the stacks, 8 feet, 6 inches to the edge of the mirrors give or take.
That's the problem is the "give or take.
" And all these look the same from back here.
Oh, I don't feel good about this.
All right, fellas, you ready? Yeah, ready.
Go for it.
There we go.
Oops.
Get in gear.
Has anyone ever been killed by a flying cardboard box before? Oh, that looks narrow.
That's narrower than I thought.
I'm going right.
Looks like he's choosing Oh, he's choosing right.
Oh! Oh! Line up straight.
Get through there.
30 miles an hour.
Come on, baby.
Come on, baby.
Come on, baby.
Straight through.
Yes! He hit the top.
Adam failed.
If that had been the top of a tunnel, it would have been nasty.
I didn't hit anything! I think.
Eh? "Eh"? What? You hit the pole.
Oh.
Yeah.
You didn't you didn't feel that or hear it or anything? All right, well, there's that.
You're just a little bit too tall, I think.
You'll never have that problem.
Hmm.
Actually, sometimes, I do.
No.
There are some vehicles, some doorways.
I'll go next.
Where, on a gingerbread house? Like in Europe.
The gates were resized, and it was the bearded lady's turn.
Oh, this is stressful.
I'm either going for the one in the middle or the one on the right.
I could go for the one on the left.
I don't know.
They all look the same to me.
I've seen him hit the side of his head going in a doorway before.
To be fair, that's a big head.
All right, you boys ready? Yeah.
Bring it on, big guy.
Nice and easy on the clutch.
Let her roll.
Oh, you know what? I can't do it.
I got to try this one.
He's choosing the center.
No, he's choosing the far side.
He's back to the center.
How bad is his vision? Is he wearing his glasses? All right.
I'm committed.
This doesn't feel good.
Oh Oh, I made it! He made it, but he was nowhere near 30 miles an hour.
Okay.
Now are you gonna try one at 30 miles an hour? What, are you kids mad because I'm so good? How awesome was that? You're walking faster than you drove through there.
What are you talking about? I did 30 miles an hour.
No.
That wasn't.
That was like 15.
Felt like 30.
I'm surprised you couldn't hear me pee my pants from here.
Yeah, it gets smaller when you're coming in on it, man.
Yeah, it's like you're driving straight towards a wall.
You know I have the widest truck here, right? You know what? If you just don't hit anything, it won't matter how wide it is.
See? - You know what it is? - What? He found out we wear the same size pants, and he's been really upset about it.
I'm very proud of you.
Thank you.
Come on.
- You got an idea? - Yeah.
As Tanner headed down the runway, i had a plan to stack the odds in our favor.
Oh, boy.
Oh, boy.
Here's the thing.
All I really need is a couple inches on each side.
Oh, yeah.
Now we're talking.
All right, gentlemen.
You ready? We're ready.
Bring it.
You think he's gonna notice what you did? What we did.
No, I just I just drove the lift, man.
Come on, baby.
There's 25.
Oh, gosh.
Oh.
Here he comes.
He's not gonna notice, is he? He's always going too fast to notice.
This will work like a charm.
I'll just slide right through here.
Looks a lot narrower than I thought.
Oh! Come on! Holy crap! Brake! Adam's life flashes before our eyes.
And later wet roads and Tanner don't mix.
Holy We were in Washington, preparing for the deadliest job we'd ever tried Hauling logs 75 miles down open road.
Our first challenge was to see how well we could navigate our big rigs through tight spaces.
I bonked my head, and Rut went too slowly.
Oh, I made it! Now are you gonna try one at 30 miles an hour? Now it was Tanner's turn to fail.
Rut and I had ensured it.
Come on, baby.
There's 35.
Looks a lot narrower than I thought.
Oh! Come on! Holy crap! How is it possible that I just hit that? What? What happened, man? You hit the box! I could have sworn I'd picked the biggest gate Hey, where are you goin'? So when I went back for a look, something didn't feel right.
Those are not the original boxes.
Listen, deny, deny, deny.
Didn't make any sense.
Clearly, I couldn't get through the one on the right.
Come on! I'm looking at the other one.
And clearly I was too tall for the one on the left.
You know you cheated.
Dude, you got the widest truck here.
Yeah, but it's not that wide, and I folded my mirror in, so it should have been even.
So he cheated! You cheated! You cheated first.
No, we just cheated better! Oh, yeah? Okay, well, now this is happening.
What's he doing? Oh, he's having a tantrum.
I don't know about you, but I feel better.
Yeah, you really showed us.
Since Adam hit the bar, Rut drove at grandma speed, and I was sabotaged, we reluctantly called that one a draw.
Our next challenge was just a hop away, across the airport.
This would be our last test before the training wheels came off and we'd have to contend with real roads, real cars, and real consequences.
Well, this looks fun.
What are we doing here? "With nearly 30 tons of logs directly behind your cab, "knowing your exact stopping distance is critical.
"To see which of you is the best at braking, "you will hit 40 miles an hour, then have to come to a stop.
Shortest distance wins.
" So, who can slow down the best? It's not just about braking.
It's about getting up to speed and then braking safely Zero to 40 to zero.
It does seem unfair.
It seems like this is really my challenge here.
Of course it is.
If anyone knows how to stop a great amount of weight quickly, it's him.
You know what? This is not high school P.
E.
! I had a glandular disorder as a child! I'm guessing the caution tape is, uh, there for a reason.
Well, because it's a swamp on the other side of that, maybe.
Yeah, I would not go past that.
Okay, good note.
I don't know why Rutledge is so good at this stuff.
It drives me crazy.
All right, gentlemen.
Ready? It's on.
Three Nice and easy.
Two One.
Go! 15.
20.
Oh, there we go.
It's 25, 30.
And 35.
Oh, this is it! Come on, come on! Go, go, go! Whoa, there it is! Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop! Oh! 40.
Brake! Uh-oh! Oh, no! Adam's going in! Aah! That's not good.
What happened? Are you okay? Yeah.
Yeah, I'm all right.
Uh, it was a good test.
I now have an idea of the braking distance.
How did Rutledge stop shorter than I did? That is lame.
You guys know what that honk means, right? It means I won.
So, once again, Rut proved his trucking talents.
But tomorrow morning, the adventure would begin.
We had to pick up our logs and deliver them to the mill, driving 75 very real miles in very real traffic, so we made a decision to get up at the crack of dawn like actual truckers.
Guys, I'm sorry.
That 4:00 A.
M.
was just too early.
6:00 is a lot better.
It's 8:30.
And it's still too early.
Apparently, waking up at 4:00 A.
M.
Was a trucker skill we had yet to master.
You guys ready for this? 100,000 pounds of weight pushing us? Mm.
This is gonna get scary real quick, fellas.
At least it'll be, like, dirt roads and cliffs and stuff.
Well, there's that.
Sounds great.
Follow me.
Watch out for that puddle.
I was just gonna step over it, since I'm full-size.
All right, tiny dancer.
We'll follow you.
Let me know if I'm gonna run over anything, okay? Yeah! The most dangerous job in this country is being a logger.
Still in the top 10 being a trucker for a logging company.
And we're just gonna jump on into that world.
Great idea.
We were on our way to pick up our timber and deliver it to the mill.
Whoever could get there first with the least amount of mistakes would win.
Adam, you doing okay back there? Right now, everything's going okay.
Thank you very much.
Make sure you stay in the Lane.
Don't cross the yellow line.
Man, to drive one of these big rigs, you have to be aware of everything.
You have to be aware of where your truck is at all times.
You have to be aware of your braking distance, what gear you're in.
I don't have any of that awareness.
My A.
D.
D.
is raging right now.
Oh.
Car coming.
Doesn't even know how dangerous this is.
All right, I got through that turn.
Ooh, boy, there's a lot going on in these things.
Ooh.
Ooh, I'm sweating.
Oh, there's a car.
I'm over here.
I'm in my Lane.
Hey.
Yeah.
Oh, I bet Adam's back there having an aneurysm.
There's a car.
Whoa! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
It's metal versus rotting wood.
Oh, I'm on it.
Oh.
And later This is tight.
We take our big rigs down little roads.
Oh! We were in Washington to see who was the best log hauler.
So far, Rut and I were even, but now that we were on the highway, all of us were struggling to keep our big rigs under control.
Oh, there's a car.
I'm over here.
I'm in my Lane.
Hey.
Yeah.
Oh, I bet Adam's back there having an aneurysm.
There's a car.
What do I Whoa! This is insane.
Driving one of these on the streets with other cars is completely terrifying.
There are a lot of dangerous things you can do with your life, and I'm pretty well versed in dangerous occupations.
Driving a semi truck is one of them.
Driving under this bridge, for example, feels like about the most dangerous thing I've done in the last year.
And I set a world record or two in the last year.
Come on.
Come on, baby.
Find a hole.
Get in there.
I think there's more of a skill set required just to drive these things down the road than to race a car.
I never thought he'd admit that.
Tanner Foust just said that.
I didn't say it.
Adam didn't.
Tanner admitted these are harder to drive and be good at than to race a car.
But I'm also not capable of being married, so I could be lacking a lot of skill sets.
The more we committed to trucking, the more we felt like honest-to-goodness truckers.
Smokey bear on the right.
Is that a Kojak with a Kodak, bearded lady? Yeah, that's affirmative.
Just watch out.
I think there's an evel knievel up here, too.
It's a cop on a motorcycle.
Okay, taking a right here.
Brace yourself.
This is it, fellas.
Finally, we're getting off the road.
We were closing in on the lumberyard just five miles away, but there was no pavement here.
We were going off-road.
Oh, that is all kinds of tight.
Just threading a needle.
It has officially gotten real 100 feet in.
Hold the phone.
Hold the phone.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Okay, we need to look at this thing.
I'm not driving over this.
Oh, this looks nice.
Oh, no way.
Look at that.
Seems like the earth is trying to reclaim this wooden bridge.
It says, "load limit, blank tons.
" Its' so old, you can't even read the number.
Seeing as over 60,000 Bridges in the U.
S.
Are known to be structurally deficient, all I could think of was my wife and kids at home.
I wasn't really sure if I wanted to cross this one.
Oh, look, it's the bridge.
The wood is broken here.
The moss is basically eating it.
This is really just rotting away, and it's above a river, and we're gonna drive on that.
That seems great.
Hold on.
I'm just gonna I'm just gonna do one Don't take that out of there.
No, just a little test.
Yeah, that's the thing that's holding it together.
Hold on.
Shh.
You'll be fine.
You should be fine.
This should be good.
You know what's holding this bridge up, fellas? Hope.
Come on, Tanner.
Don't die.
We had to straighten up these articulated trucks to keep the tires centered on the running boards or risk falling through the weaker beams.
Keep it straight.
Is it cracking? Are you kidding? You mean you don't hear that cracking? Are you okay? I'm alive! I'm alive! All right! That's what I'm talking about.
Your turn.
Here comes the bearded lady.
Tanner had kept his truck from plummeting into the river But he might have weakened the bridge in the process.
Ooh.
Ooh, boy.
Oh, I'm on it! Oh! This is scary.
This is scary.
Nice and easy.
Nice and easy.
Okay.
That did not feel good.
That did not feel good.
Mama's coming, boys.
Adam was last, with the heaviest truck of the bunch.
If he were to make it across, he'd have to focus and keep his tires dead center on the boards.
Oh, rickety.
Keep it straight, Adam, straight.
Oh.
That I got to get off this quickly.
That's Yeah, that's scary.
That's Okay.
We're on land.
That's sketchy.
Oh, thank goodness you're alive.
Did you hear that creaking? It was hard to hear the creaking over my own internal prayers.
Glad they worked.
Thankfully, we'd all made it across the bridge and were now just minutes away from loading 40 tons of logs on our trucks.
Look at this.
Wow, that's huge.
Looks like we're here, boys.
How's it look? I see the loader.
It looks like I've got to pull up here and back down in there.
Backing these articulated big rigs down a narrow road with a steep drop-off was not just incredibly difficult It was also dangerous.
It is so narrow here.
How in the am I supposed to back this thing up? You've got to be kidding.
Like, I a boat trailer, that's one thing, but a double Whatever.
I'm concentrating.
This is gonna be tough.
Get over there.
Get around that log.
Get around there.
Here we go.
Sure feels like I'm gonna sink into a hole here.
Come on.
Good lord, there is no freaking way.
Falling off of this edge is so easy.
It's just barely staying on the road.
Yeah, Lyle, this is Tanner backing to you.
Okay, that's good there.
Whoo! I'm, uh, not gonna say, but holy you know, you guys are gonna do great.
It's gonna be great.
Before loading the logs, the truck needed to be extended to its maximum length.
You ready? I'm gonna lift that trailer off.
It can come off pretty fast.
Yeah, ready here.
I'm okay to be in the cab, right? Holy he wasn't kidding.
All right, pulling ahead.
Once you put those trailers on, there's no more backing up, no more reversing.
If you pull into an area, you can't just get out and unhook and, you know, do everything by hand.
You are stuck.
Holy crap.
Those logs are so heavy.
If he even picks one and wiggles it a little bit, it just shakes this whole truck.
Holy One mistake and he could crush us.
I am loaded with 105,000 pounds of Washington's finest.
I can actually see the ground sloping away around me.
This is not good.
Oh, my gosh! How the does that feel to drive? Hey, we're screwed.
We're screwed.
I mean, there's no backing it up.
There's no stopping it.
We're screwed.
And then it was Rut's turn.
Now, I have a trailer at home, and it's maybe 25 feet.
This this is gonna be a challenge.
Oh.
That's gonna hit.
Oh, there's a log there.
Oh, that's a log.
Oh! Loggers are 40 times more likely to die than the average worker, so this was no joke.
Oh, boy! Let's get this sucker down there.
Oh, it's hard to see right there.
Watch out, Rut! Oh, it's going over! Oh! Oh, don't worry.
It's wet.
Things slide out of control.
Were in Western Washington, competing in one of the world's most dangerous jobs Log hauling.
Whoa! So far, Tanner was in the lead, but now it was time to pick up our 40-ton load.
Rut was already having difficulty backing his rig down the steep, narrow gravel road.
Nice and easy.
Oh, it's hard to see right there.
Oh, it's going over! Oh! After a mild correction and some coaching from the crane operator, i was back on track.
Keep coming back.
I'll tell you when to stop.
That's good there.
Once I had Lyle guiding me in, things felt a lot safer.
Okay.
Or so I thought.
Okay! All right! Never experienced an earthquake before, but I bet that's what it feels like.
All right, I'm nervous.
Yeah.
Come on.
More logs, Lyle.
Holy crap.
Oh, wow.
That is so different.
Ah! Ah! 100,000 pounds I am moving right now.
It was a relief to have my logs loaded, but now I wondered, how on earth was Adam going to manage? Oh, good.
There's no guardrail.
That's nice.
Ah, it's like a big parking lot.
Yeah, this is fine.
Keep coming around.
That's good.
Hold it right there.
With the shortest truck, Adam easily made it down.
But he wasn't out of the woods yet.
Oh, this guy knows I'm in here, right? I was a bit nervous, but my mule was strong and could haul more than those two Hey, Lyle, you mind adding a few extra logs? What Adam didn't realize is that the reason log hauling is so dangerous is that the loads are top-heavy.
Take a turn too fast And you could flip.
All this weight is like the load is daring you to move it.
"Go ahead, try and drive me up a Mountain.
" With our precious cargo loaded, it was time to make our way to the mill.
Given that Rut had just made a mistake, i was now in the lead.
All right, let's pull them out.
Follow me.
Slowly.
Not surprisingly, Tanner somehow got in front.
Now we'd have to wait until we get to the highway to try and get ahead.
Tanner, you know how to get us out of here? I'm just taking the only roads I can actually make the turns, so hopefully, that'll lead somewhere.
Sounds like a good plan.
Our destination of port Angeles was 40 miles east of here.
It didn't sound like very far, but with over 100,000 pounds each in our care, it might as well have been 4,000 miles.
We made it to a road, guys.
We are officially really gonna be dangerous here.
Wide turns, gentlemen.
Wide turns.
Oh, boy.
We're hitting the open road.
Keeping these monsters in the correct Lane took a tremendous amount of concentration.
We are a menace to society right now.
Car coming.
This is an entirely different experience, driving with a full load.
You miss a gear now, you're just screwed.
You screw up your braking distance, you don't hit a pipe or cardboard boxes.
Things get broken, and people get dead.
As we got a few more miles under our belts, we got slightly more comfortable.
There are those moments in your life that you stress about, and then you just say, "you know what? I got to rise up.
I got to meet this.
" And that is what's happening right now.
We finally felt like real truckers, and the world was a beautiful place.
Kind of feels like we're driving a freaking locomotive.
It's awesome.
I just have a huge grin on my face, 'cause it's really fun.
Yee-haw! Until mother nature decided to get in the game and made it rain.
And I was worried about how to stop a truck this big on dry pavement.
Oh, don't worry.
It's wet.
And in the wet, braking distances are dramatically increased.
Roads get pretty narrow up here.
Feels like you're driving on a postage stamp.
Cruising along, 55 miles an hour.
Feels like it would take me about 9 miles to slow down.
On some of these tight turns, you end up swinging out a p Swinging out past the double yellows.
You just hope there's no oncoming traffic, you know? Boy, Tanner's having a lot of trouble staying in the Lane up there.
Be careful up there, Tanner.
I mean, you get, like, a blind turn like this one, you have to Holy We were in Washington, competing on the deadliest job we'd ever faced log hauling.
The first one to get their timber to the mill with the least mistakes would win.
I was in the lead, and Adam was in second.
Now we each had 40 tons of lumber and 10 tons of truck, but mother nature had thrown us a curve ball and was making an already dangerous situation even worse.
Boy, Tanner's having a lot of trouble staying in the Lane up there.
I mean, you get, like, a blind turn like this one, you have to Holy Oh.
Holy crap.
Hey, guys.
Super, uh, tight up here, just so you know.
Dude, did you almost hit that guy? Uh, you're breaking up.
Tanner had almost broken the cardinal rule of trucking Don't kill thy fellow drivers.
I don't know why Tanner's in the lead.
I think that's just his thing.
He always feels like no matter what the vehicle is, he has to be up front.
After nearly hitting the S.
U.
V.
, Tanner decided to get off the highway and took a shortcut through a nearby town.
Hey, guys, follow me.
This, I think, is the better way to go.
This is no time for a shortcut, Tanner? We can't turn these things around that easy.
As long as it's straight, I think we're good.
I mean, it's just gonna save us time.
Now, l y oh, God.
I'm happy to lead if you want.
No.
I mean, nice of you, but that's okay.
That's a big 10-4.
I was trying to figure out how we could get around Tanner, but, like lemmings, we were just blindly following him through roads that were not designed for trucks.
Dude, this is a neighborhood.
We should not be going through here.
This is tight.
Come on, baby.
I don't want to stop.
That's it.
Easy.
Oh, that's That's a long mule train.
Thank you.
Tiny dancer, these trucks don't belong down these roads.
Ah, what are you worried about, mule train? You got the shorty bus, anyway.
We're gonna be good.
What am I worried about? We're driving through people's living rooms! I'm slowing down for this right turn.
You with me? Yeah.
I can see you.
You good, Rut? Yeah, it's just hard to navigate these streets.
They're really small, and now they're wet.
Yeah.
It's getting worse.
I thought the hard part was getting off the Mountain.
This is ridiculous.
You guys feel like you drive using your mirrors more than you do looking out the front windshield? Every five seconds.
This is just great.
Okay, you might be right.
We're not supposed to have commercial vehicles in this neighborhood.
Oh, you think? First, Tanner almost crashed head-on into a civilian, and now he was getting lost in the 'burbs.
I'd say that placed him firmly in last place.
Yeah, okay, so, maybe this wasn't the right turn, but that's fine.
We're I mean, it's all going to the same place, right? We'll be good.
Yeah, we're on the same place.
The roads are ruined.
Adam, am I okay back there? I feel like this thing's swinging real wide.
Just keep it steady, bearded lady.
When the road moves or dips at all, it feels like this thing's going right over.
It sure didn't feel like that before.
Hey, guys, just watch out for these cars on the right-hand side.
Shouldn't be a problem, though.
Oh, man.
This is so tight through here.
Oh! We were in Washington, competing to see who was the best log-hauling trucker.
So far, we had some difficulties handling these monsters.
Whoa! Watch out, Rut! Oh! Holy Now, in our final challenge, hauling 40 tons of logs to the mill, directionally challenged Tanner had led us into somebody's backyard.
Oh, man.
Th iso tight through here.
Oh! Ooh! Uh, Rut, did you just feel something? Kind of like a little bump.
What, did I hit something? You might have rubbed that trailer and that boat a little bit.
You might have to go back and leave a note.
Oh! Son of a biscuit.
You guys are gonna wait for me, right? No.
And good luck with that.
You guys suck.
This time around, Rut had made a fatal mistake, and that left just me and Tanner.
I figured, as the only person who hadn't nearly driven off a cliff or into oncoming traffic, I had the upper hand.
As long as Adam doesn't pass me on this road, then theoretically, I'm getting there first, which is good.
How far away are we, pal? I think we got about another 10 miles, so, I mean, it should be smooth sailing from here on out.
All right, let's bring it home, tiny dancer.
Yee-haw.
With Tanner's shortcut wasting so much time, we weren't just in a race against each other.
We had to deliver these logs before sundown.
But any chance I had of overtaking him was gone when he put his foot down.
We pushed the trucks to their limits well, our limits.
We had a newfound respect for hauling logs.
And before we knew it, the end was in sight.
We made it, Adam! We made it! Hot we made it! Good God.
I don't think I've ever been so relieved to finish a road trip.
This is no blood in my left leg.
Most importantly, we'd made it without killing anybody, and it felt good.
That's what I'm talking about, right there! Well, I mean, it was pretty close, to be honest.
What was close? I mean, like, you were, like, right behind me when we got here.
Yeah.
So, it was like a close second place.
What second place? I got the most wood here.
I'm carrying more weight than you.
Mine is more expensive.
A win is a win.
You're right, and I'm glad you see it my way.
You'll get 'em next time.
No, it's about delivering the wood the fastest.
No, no.
How much do you have? 105,800.
You have 105,000 Don't you tell You just said that because I said "800.
" More weight, more money.
You nearly pancaked that S.
U.
V.
Whatever.
It's raining.
Where's Rut? Good question.
Wait a minute.
Holy crap! Is that him? Where's the truck? Oh, the log's gonna go! Oh, the log is going! He's gonna kill somebody with that! Yeah, himself.
What That's good there.
Whoo! Now, that's how you log! "That's how you log.
" You hear that? Singular.
One log.
Y'all worried it was gonna come through the window? - Yes! - And were you? Not this guy.
Professional trucker.
What happened? Well, apparently, I hit an R.
V.
, then I hit a boat, at least one stop sign Looks like two And then I had some problems with the truck.
Define "problems.
" We don't really really need to get into that.
Some gray area.
But, um What happened to your trucker sense? Apparently, I got a little bit cocky about how good I am at driving a big truck.
But I don't know if you noticed I still got the wood here.
Yeah, late and light.
Look, you're buying the beers.
All right, let me just drop this log.
Did you really have over 105,000 pounds? As far as you know.
Nah.
Me either.
Does that mean I win? Nope, it doesn't.