Ice Road Truckers (2007) s06e03 Episode Script

Tonight on Ice Road Truckers Hammer down, boys.
As the rig move deadline approaches Son of a bitch.
Tensions reach the breaking point.
I think it's bullshit that I have to be Jack's little brother all the time.
In Canada A pit stop turns deadly.
Holy fuck.
And one trucker is not gonna make it.
Holy smokes.
This year in Alaska A North Slope oil boom is under way.
Since the start of the season, Carlile's been racing to move a 3 1/2 million-pound oil rig in just ten days.
To finish the job, they must haul the final pieces of the rig to Prudhoe Bay, and then transport them to the rig site, across the Arctic ice.
If even one piece doesn't make it on time Carlile will face thousands of dollars in contract penalties.
And the deadline expires in just 24 hours.
- In Fairbanks - I ain't got a clue what this thing is, except it's heavy and they need it.
Haul road ace Jack Jessee is leading the final push north.
Yeah, we'll see.
It's a lot of weight.
Hauling a 50,000 pound piece of the rig's superstructure.
And he's not alone.
I don't wanna do this at all.
I think it's bullshit that I have to be Jack's little brother all the time.
Once again, riding in Jack's shadow.
They better stop really soon or else I'm gonna throw a real fit about it.
loaded up the truck by myself.
The young rookie is determined to fly solo.
This will be my last convoy.
I'm not doing any more.
I feel like they just treat me like I'm the kid.
It's really making me upset.
Today's load A 28,000-pound, My biggest concern is from Jack and everybody else that-- just believe in me, you know? Give me a chance to show you and I'll show you.
Here we go.
With no time to waste All right, let's gather it all up.
Yes, sir.
The convoy rolls out, hoping to beat the clock.
We're out of here.
Across the yard Looks pretty good.
Rocky mountain log hauler Darrell Ward is also hooking up his final piece of the oil rig.
I have to put extra lights on here so you can see the width of my load.
I got a good 10-feet, And got 'er all strapped down.
We can go and I'm ready to roll.
Despite being a newcomer, the Montana legend is starting to make his mark in Alaska.
I think they understand what I'm all about.
They're giving me the oversized loads now.
I am on top of the game.
While loads roll out, across the yard Have a seat.
Whew! Ronald "Porkchop" Mangum is back in the office.
We just wanna talk to you a little bit about, you know, how it went on your trip.
Dang! His first training run with Phil Kromm was a bust.
All right, you're done driving.
Pull over.
And bad habits Almost derailed his second run with Tony Molesky.
Porkchop, you can't afford to have a mistake here.
Now he's about to find out if he made the cut.
I have to make sure that when I get out of that truck, you're good to go, that you're not playing back into some of the bad habits that I think that you brought here.
Realistically, I think we had a good trip.
You were shifting smoother.
You were hitting ninth gear, for the most part, pretty regular.
And that was good.
I'm in kind of a tough spot here.
'Cause I got, you know, my two top trainers and the first one didn't really wanna get back in the truck with you.
And now the second one says you're ready to go.
So I'll tell you what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna let you go in your own truck, okay, based on Tony's word.
But you're still gonna follow somebody and--and that's gonna be Phil.
It's like, since I've been here, Phil Kromm's just been a thorn in my ass.
I'm up here for my family.
And I ain't going back empty-handed.
It's my turn to show him that I've learned something.
Morning.
Porkchop will drive his own truck, but he'll still be stuck in Phil's mirrors.
I told Lane Porkchop didn't belong and he was way too far out of his element.
My opinion was to cut him loose after the initial ride-along trip to Prudhoe.
Get 'er done.
Porkchop wants to get out on his own.
He's gonna get his wish in a big way.
Well, that's pretty much it.
Okay, let's go.
- 450 miles to the east - Feel good today.
Another day, looking to do some work.
Is trucking legend Alex Debogorski.
I'll be happy to get on the ice again.
This season, Alex has already survived some of the - harshest conditions on the planet - We're driving into a whiteout.
Delivering supplies to the remote communities of his northern homeland.
I come from Yellowknife, which is in the Northwest Territories.
And pretty well everything that comes there is by truck.
That's why I'm here this season.
'Cause I wanna help.
And I wanna have an impact on the people that need me the most.
- But today - They're calling for winds up to, uh, anywhere from 90 to Things are looking even worse.
If it blows really bad and I get a call that you're stuck, I might not be able to send help to you.
Okay, well, I'll go.
Okay? Yeah, very good, sir.
Okay, well, anyway, have a safe trip.
Thanks, Mike.
I'm gonna go over and put my stuff in the truck and then we'll check out the load.
Alex will be racing a storm with a load of snow machines bound for the village of Aklavik Where nine months of the year, they're one of the only means of transportation.
We're off to Aklavik in the great white north.
To reach the tiny village, Alex must take an ice road over the frozen Mackenzie River delta.
Here we are.
Off we go to another adventure.
But only inches below his wheels, the powerful flowing river eats away at the underside of the ice road, leaving his path littered with invisible pockets of fragile ice.
Ice wears--it might be good one day, it could wear thinner the next day.
You can come along and Kerplunk.
Get cold and wet and dead.
You can hear the ice cracking here.
Got a real snap through here.
Holy mackerel, look at that.
Ooh.
We have a crack right there.
Holy smokes.
Coming up Time to put your life vest on.
The rig move deadline approaches If you break down and have a problem, you freeze to death.
As three haul road rookies skate on thin ice.
Son of a bitch.
- 30 miles west of Inuvik - The ice is cracking a lot louder.
'Cause we got less ice.
Alex Debogorski is battling shifting ice as he races a storm across the Mackenzie delta.
Holy mackerel, look at that.
Ooh.
We have a crack right there.
Whoa, baby.
I'm just listening to the ice.
- Straddling a crack in the road - This could get rough.
The veteran hopes to balance the weight of his truck on the shifting ice.
Careful, careful.
Perfect.
Alex is finally on solid ground.
We're back on the road, heading to Aklavik.
But the storm is still on the horizon.
Darrell Ward is racing to Prudhoe Bay as the clock ticks on the rig move deadline.
You know, I don't know how much it would cost if something happened to this piece, but I can imagine it would be quite a little bit.
Delivering even one piece of the rig late would mean a costly failure for Carlile.
They get that rig all set up, they don't have this particular part, who knows how many days downtime they would have over one piece missing? And on the rugged Dalton Oh, fuck.
Nothing comes easy.
Oh, hell.
Load's lifting off of my trailer.
Whoa.
Thing's all rocking and rolling back there.
Darrell's chained at the base, leaving it free to bounce and shift with each passing bump.
Chained to the bottom like this, it's a lot easier to lose your load, you know? You can break your chains.
There's a lot more torque on that chain.
If something happened, it would reflect on me, because I'm the driver.
Already on the road and with no time to turn back I'm gonna have to be a little creative.
It might take me a little while.
Darrell's only choice is to take it slow.
It's my job to take care of it, and that's what I'm gonna do.
That's why I'm as good as I am.
While one rookie keeps an eye on his load rookie is being watched.
All right, now we're heading up the Dalton highway.
Porkchop's been allowed to join the rig move, but he's still on a short leash.
I gotta follow Phil.
Getting to tag along and watch his taillights for the next 400 miles.
Porkchop's learning curve is apparently gonna be a little longer than--than some drivers.
Those trainers, for the most part, are idiots.
And the reason I say they're idiots is because they went to school and they got a college degree and they took a few safety courses.
Now they're "safety coordinators.
" There was just a lot of little improper driving behaviors.
The biggest thing was, um, distraction.
And that concerned me more than anything.
You have to pay attention.
The second you aren't paying attention is the second the road takes control.
Fuck.
Some drivers have a hard time accepting the fact that they may have a long learning curve or that they may have a lot to learn.
They're idiots.
I don't really get along good with those people.
Okay, I see a town over there.
After racing a storm across the Mackenzie River delta Alex has reached the village of Aklavik.
I gotta get lined up, take the straps off.
It didn't fall off, which is good.
Hopefully the ski-doos are in good shape inside.
I made it again.
- But with the storm closing in - Oh, we got a little bit of snow.
It's overcast.
Alex makes the call to turn and burn back to Inuvik Well, we better get--don't stick around too long.
This here is starting to get snowy.
Okay, ah.
Hoping to avoid being stranded in the middle of the desolate Mackenzie River delta.
Looks bad up there.
We're onto the ice at Aklavik.
It's starting to come down.
It's starting to snow pretty good.
We still got a long way to go.
Fuck, I seen that one coming.
I couldn't get stopped.
Are Hugh "The Polar Bear" Rowland and Rick Yemm.
Oh, fuck.
That was a getter.
This season, they're both looking to cash in on the winter roads.
Hugh by sharing in Polar's profits and Rick by driving as an owner-operator.
Come on.
This is gonna be a bad one.
But over a week into the season I'm in the ditch.
Oh, no, no! Are you fucking kidding me? They're still struggling to deliver their first paying loads.
It's been a long day.
I want to finish it.
Now, pitch-black conditions aren't making things any easier.
- And for Rick - I gotta pee so bad.
Nature's calling at the worst possible time.
Oh, that one knocked the piss out of me.
I couldn't help it.
Holy fuck.
A hundred miles north of Winnipeg I gotta pee so bad.
Rick Yemm is making a dangerous pit stop on a blind corner.
I couldn't help it.
Holy fuck.
What the fuck? I pretty near run right up your ass.
I didn't know you were stopping.
I always tell when I'm stopping.
That's my fault, right? That was a corner too.
I am the guy that fucks everything up.
Back in Alaska, only rig move deadline expires.
I'd say we're getting after it tonight, huh, Jack? Hey, you know it.
Jack Jessee is pressing north as fast as his - 50,000-pound load will allow - I've got Austin out in front.
I'm gonna evaluate him from back here.
While impatient convoy partner Austin Wheeler takes the lead with his lighter load.
It's kind of nice having a light load every now and then so I can just get out and go.
And I thoroughly know that feeling.
After days of convoying with Jack, Austin is itching to run on his own.
Hammer down, boys.
And out in front, he's not holding back.
There's no point in slowing down on a hill if you can get speed.
Did you run off and leave me, Austin? Why don't you try speeding up a little bit, see how it works on your end of things? The only problem I got with him right now is he's running away from me.
And in a convoy, we gotta stay close, and it's not really my job to keep up with him, because he's got the lighter load.
I just wish Jack could keep up with me.
Come on, Austin.
Come on, Jack.
He's dragging his feet back there.
With every passing mile, the young gun pulls farther away.
If we're separated too far, we lose radio communications, and then the whole works just falls down.
Well, you know, the problem with being a gifted driver is usually the aces have a hard time catching up.
Hey, Austin.
Austin? Austin, can you hear me? Man, Austin.
I'm slowing down.
Don't worry.
I was just trying to clear the road for you.
I can't have you run off and leave me, you know? Yeah, I'll pay closer attention to where you're at.
Okay, thanks, buddy.
Jack better hurry up.
I'm ready to get to Prudhoe Bay.
As the last pieces of the rig are hauled up the Dalton in Prudhoe Bay, preparations are under way for the final phase of the rig move.
To finish the job all 70 rig loads must be transported from the Prudhoe Bay yard out to the rig build site.
Every Carlile driver will join the high-stakes relay until every piece of the rig move has made it across the Arctic ice.
And with just 12 hours until the deadline expires, they'll either get it done or die trying.
- First to arrive for the final push - Well, we're just getting into Prudhoe Bay.
Are Jack Jessee and Austin Wheeler.
It's just been a big time dilemma today.
I felt like we've lost hours and hours.
And the impatient driver is still sore about being stuck with Jack.
We got all these pieces up here that need to get out there.
And I don't know how much time we have left to get 'em all out there, but I know it's not a lot.
Across the yard Darrell Ward's also pulling in.
Well, check my load out, make sure she's good to roll.
Under the veteran's steady hand, his shaky load made it north.
Make sure all my lights and everything are good.
- And now, with chains in the yard - Ready to roll.
He can re-secure the trailer for the run to the rig site.
I've been around it a couple of times, checking her out.
Everything should be good to go.
- Bringing up the rear - Get these loads out here.
Make sure Lane's happy.
Porkchop rolls in behind trainer Phil Kromm.
Another long-ass day.
We made it though.
You know, I went into Lane's office the other day with a lot of doubt in my mind.
But I made it up here alive.
My wife and kids are counting on me for this.
I told Lane I wasn't going to let him down.
I'm not letting Carlile down.
Didn't seem to have any trouble.
Of course, I'm not in the truck with him, so it's hard to see the subtle little mistakes.
But we got a lot of work to do.
And there's nothing left to do right now except hit it hard.
With all hands now on deck, Jack leads the three newcomers on the final phase of the rig move.
We're gonna move this thing.
We're gonna get it out there and get it on the ice tonight.
Let's get this show on the road.
There we go.
And the convoy heads out onto the frozen Arctic Ocean.
Time to put your life vest on.
We're going on the ice.
It's nighttime.
The cracks, you can't see the cracks.
If there's any open holes, I can't see 'em.
At night it's all the same color.
Gotta take it easy.
Take it easy.
As the convoy rides above the ocean floor, reality starts to set in for the newcomers.
This is intense.
I mean, we are riding on top of an ocean.
I mean, it's quite bumpy out here.
Any given time, you could go through the ice.
You get a cold, gruesome, chilly death.
You know, it's cold up here.
You freeze to death.
If you break down and have problems, you're done.
You know? I mean, if I don't make it from point "A" to point "B" and I fall through the ice out there, you know, chances are of survival is-- you're not gonna survive.
With a line of four heavy big rigs weighing down the ice, proper speed and spacing is crucial to survival.
Whenever a vehicle drives too fast across the ice and someone else drives faster or slower, it'll bust the ice.
The weight of the convoy causes the ice to bow, creating waves under the surface that press back on the ice.
The drivers must stay properly spaced or the waves will magnify, shattering the ice, and sending them all to the bottom of the ocean.
But at the back of the line Porkchop's riding too close to Darrell.
Yeah, it's kind of desolate up here.
Just wide open spaces.
Fuck almighty.
Porkchop's just going too fast.
Porkchop, watch the truck ahead of you, dude.
Porkchop, get off my fucking ass! Fuck, damn it.
Excuse me, lord.
I'm a little bit fast.
Gotta slow it down a little bit.
'Cause I don't wanna go through the ice.
Finally, the convoy reaches the oil rig site.
Well, we just arrived at the pad here.
Uh, we're gonna get ready to drop this trailer and get back to Prudhoe Bay.
We're gonna get this job done, get off the ice, get back to town.
We got more to bring out here.
Riding with these guys is pretty cool.
I mean, there's only a few select that'll get to say they can do this.
This is the super bowl of trucking right here.
With more loads waiting back in Prudhoe Bay and - the deadline just six hours away - Yeah, right here on the ice.
Gotta get this stuff done.
There's no time to celebrate the first trip across the ice.
Let's roll.
Okay, everybody's clear.
Go ahead, Austin.
Let them truckers roll.
Son of a bitch.
Got an air leak.
Damn, Porkchop.
Phil, I got an air leak.
Um, from what I can tell, pretty bad.
Crack your brakes.
You're locking up on it.
- With Porkchop down - Got something leaking on the back end, on the brakes.
Everything stops, except the clock.
We ain't going nowhere.
We can't go nowhere.
Son of a bitch.
Got an air leak.
- On the Arctic ice - Damn, Porkchop.
Phil, I got an air leak.
An air leak in Porkchop's truck has the convoy shut down.
Um, from what I can tell, pretty bad.
Crack your brakes.
You're locking up on it.
With hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake, the delay couldn't have come at a worse time.
Got something leaking on the back end, on the brakes.
Which means we don't get to finish this load.
What the hell is Porkchop doing? And before Porkchop can react Gone to hell.
Veterans Jack and Darrell are already on the job.
Porkchop's got a leak.
He's got a bad air line.
He's losing all of his air.
Got a maxi leaking? I'm not incompetent.
I gotta go to work.
What the hell is it? You get her loose? Yeah-- whoa, easy there.
Holy fuck.
Damn ice.
You got a pile to clean up now.
This bolt shouldn't be sticking out this far.
Yeah, okay.
Oh, yeah, that stopped the air.
All right.
- Despite Porkchop's help - We're good.
The veterans make quick work of the air leak.
Jack and Darrell did great.
I appreciate 'em doing it.
It's just kind of disgracing to me.
When you're driving the ice roads and you have problem, you better know how to fix it.
You can't always rely on the experienced guys to be there to hold your hand.
He's in for a rough rodeo.
With time running out, the convoy hammers down back to Prudhoe to pick up the final rig loads.
Hey, Porkchop.
Six to seven, seven to eight.
Let's do this.
- 2,200 miles to the southeast - Long day, yeah, you betcha.
Hugh and Rick finally reach Winnipeg to deliver their first loads of the season.
We made 'er, buddy.
Yeah, that's a 10-4.
That was a long one.
Well, that was a fucker of a first trip.
You got that right.
Uh-huh.
Fuck.
They've survived near misses, thin ice, and barely passable roads.
That was a rough one.
It was a lot of fun.
But we made 'er here anyway.
Put 'er to bed and fucking call 'er a day.
Yep, for sure.
But they're already one week into a short season To a good one.
First one down.
And only one paying load is on the books.
Stress level's about Well, it's possible that I drove all the way across Canada for nothing.
That's not what I do this for.
To go in the hole? Uh-uh.
I never second-guessed my decision.
I, uh--I got nobody to blame but myself.
We made a commitment to this, and we're gonna finish it through.
Then you just pick up the pieces and get at 'er.
Well, I may as well shut 'er down.
It's getting pretty white out, eh? Alex raced through the night, hoping to beat a storm back to Inuvik.
Well, the road seems to be getting greyer and greyer.
I guess if it was-- there was more daylight, it'd probably be pretty close to whiteout conditions.
Now the wind picks up, that light stuff comes up, and all of a sudden you won't be able to see anything.
- But as the weather catches up - It's snowing fairly heavily.
Starting to see a little bit of little tiny finger drifts and stuff on the road here.
The lights of town appear in the distance.
Come off the ice-- whoa.
Oh, the snow's coming down.
The tracks are all covered.
So it must be just like-- we just came back in time.
Well, glad to be back.
Looks like we caught the front of the storm.
And the veteran chalks up another delivery to the remote villages of the north.
In the Northwest Territories in the Yukon, a human being is up against a lot more challenges.
They need supplies and they need support.
If they don't get 'em, they have a problem.
They're in trouble.
west in Prudhoe Bay Make sure my lug nuts are good, lights are working.
With only three hours until the rig move deadline expires, the Carlile drivers are gearing up to take the last pieces of the rig across the arctic ice.
Yeah, I gotta hook this up and get back out on the ice.
This last load is porkchop's chance to redeem himself after delaying the convoy earlier in the night.
I wanna prove to Carlile that I can drive the ice roads.
I want to succeed at this.
Next year, I plan on being back.
Let's go truckin'.
- But as he pulls out of the yard - Son of a bitch! Disaster strikes again.
In Prudhoe Bay, Alaska Son of a bitch! Porkchop's driven out from under his trailer, tearing it loose from the truck and ripping out the air lines and electrical cables.
What the hell? Dang it.
Fifth wheel wasn't hooked up right, so the trailer come off.
Oh, well, guess we're gonna jack 'er up.
With the convoy once again waiting Trailer jaws wasn't locked in place all the way, and she fell to the ground.
Porkchop's got no choice but to call trainer Phil Kromm and tell him the bad news.
Got a call from Porkchop.
He's over hooking up his load.
Apparently he dropped his trailer.
Of course he said he did all his connection checks.
But, uh, they all say that.
This mistake can happen to anybody, but it definitely happens to the rookies.
Some companies, it could end your career.
It could end your career at this company.
There's just hours until the deadline and both the rig move and Porkchop's job are now in jeopardy.
With a guy like Porkchop, if you're taking a step that far backwards, I've gotta pull him out of the driver's seat.
With no time for rookie mistakes, Phil puts Porkchop on ice.
When we get to Fairbanks, then you can handle this with Lane.
You're gonna have to sit down in front of him and talk to him about it, obviously.
He's gonna wanna know, you know, what happened, uh, what'd you do to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Yes, sir.
I have to report back to Lane and tell him that I'm not sure this guy's gonna make it.
This driver just doesn't have it.
Nobody really wants to ever go in the boss man's office and get his ass chewed, but you gotta do your part.
And my part's going in and getting my ass chewed.
I'm pretty sure Lane's gonna let me go.
I think it's the end of the road for me.
As Porkchop heads south, the rest of the Carlile drivers have less than three hours to deliver the final pieces of the rig.
This is what I'm talking about.
This is the fun stuff.
And three, two, one.
Well, close enough.
With Porkchop out, there's one load without a driver.
That's what I'm here for.
But not for long.
To complete the rig move on time, Jack will step up and haul both loads across the ice.
I want more loads.
If I could put another third one back here behind me, hell, I'd do that too.
All right.
Okay, boys, let's get this show on the road and get these pieces delivered.
I'm over 115 feet long right now.
Now hauling double the weight, Jack leads the convoy back onto the ice.
You got the other guys behind us there.
They're heavy.
We're putting a lot of weight on this ice.
Probably some stress cracks.
But we're all bunched up together.
That's not good.
Too much weight, too centralized a location.
With over 120,000 pounds pressuring the Arctic ice any mistake could be his last.
So we all gotta be careful.
We gotta be spaced out properly.
Because you know how a truck makes the ice sag? We got all of us out here.
So we got all kinds of ripples going along.
We got the ocean.
The ocean is moving underneath it by itself.
This ice is already flexing to begin with, whether we're on it or not.
Time's running out.
We gotta get this done.
Dawn breaks as the deadline closes in.
Good.
Just got here to the pad.
Got 'er parked.
And the ice road truckers pull into the rig site with the last pieces of the oil rig.
All right, let's do this.
Over the last ten days, Carlile drivers have beaten the odds, hauling 70 loads up the Dalton and across the Arctic ice to the oil rig site.
Takes a lot of pieces to put one of these oil rigs together out here, you know? We got it all.
We got it all delivered on time.
You know, it, uh, makes you feel pretty good.
It ended up being a super-ass-long day.
We worked all day and all night and into the next day.
But sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do to get the job done.
And voila.
Free and clear.
All right.
Let's get out of here.
Next time on Ice Road Truckers She's cracking up big time under me here.
The veterans are on thin ice Do we radio it or no? While rookies run wild.
I'm gonna take out the top dogs.
I feel like I won't get slowed down at all today and nothing's out there to stop me.
And no one is safe We're gonna get in the blow and it's gonna be from Mother Nature's fury.
We are not gonna get through this.
I'm stuck here.