Ice Road Truckers (2007) s06e12 Episode Script

Tonight on Ice Road Truckers The bad boy of the ice is back.
Aw, fuck.
Aw, fuck.
Ooh! - And, on the Dalton - I'm out of here.
The load count is up for grabs.
Maybe knock the ace off the throne.
- As drivers push themselves - Oh, shit.
And their trucks to the limit.
I'm sitting over here freezing my ass off.
I like him, but I can't pull his weight the whole rest of the time.
But one rookie will go too far.
You put me in a bad spot.
That's BS, man.
You know it.
At the Carlile yard in Fairbanks Hey, Mike, how's it going? Austin Wheeler rolls in, hungry for another haul.
This is what we're gonna do today, okay, I got a pipe dolly ready to go.
I need you to go and meet Jay.
Okay.
Now I know you haven't hauled a pipe dolly before.
Right.
It's not a whole lot different than having just a real long trailer, and I know you've hauled a real long - trailer before, so - For sure.
Austin's load, five pieces of long pipe Used to connect the oil fields in Prudhoe Bay to the Alaskan pipeline.
It's just like having a long trailer.
It's just that there's no trailer between your back wheels and your drive tires.
Longer than a standard flatbed, these massive pipes have to rest on a separate dolly.
I realize the last dolly you really played with was, you know, your GI Joe dolly.
Yeah, I still have those actually.
Do you really? Yeah, they're in a rubbermaid tupperware under my bed, just in case.
You're tired of me picking on you, aren't you? No, it's Because of the difficulty and chance for Carlile is handing this Maybe they trust me to do bigger and better things, so I guess I'm a little nervous, but really excited.
I think this is the opportunity I've been looking for.
Here we go.
Right out of the gate, Austin faces a winding stretch of the Dalton with one hairpin curve after another.
He's got to be on his game.
'Cause, when we go around turns, we're so long that the dolly for the pipe will be in the other person's lane if we go around a sharp corner.
It's just gonna be a pain in the ass.
If Austin meets a truck around one of these blind corners, it's a guaranteed collision.
I got a pilot car in front of me to tell me what traffic's coming.
Uh, northbound long pipe, 25 mile corner.
I'm about to hit 25 mile corner.
That is probably one of the most dangerous corners on this highway, or in Alaska, for that matter.
Here we go.
That corner there? I sure will.
All right.
No problem.
We highsided that.
That's awesome.
Highsided-- whenever a trucker says we highsided it or lowsided it, it means we stayed in the high side of our transmission.
Watch his blade.
Watch his blade.
She's hanging close.
Oh, damn it.
Holy shit.
Damn.
Just missed you there, buddy.
It was just really close to hitting there with his other blade.
'Cause that blade had a big blade on the side of it, what they call a wing, so it can swoop the corners out way off the side of the road.
But we got around him.
Just not much I can do about it.
But let's get on up the road.
Let's get her done.
southeast in Winnipeg Hugh Rowland's fighting to save his stake in Polar Industries' profits.
The roads are gonna be slick today.
Sun's out.
It's gonna be slick.
It's gonna be a short season.
We already know that.
I mean, we're in mid-season here, I'm out here in my short-sleeved shirt here.
It's melting on the road again.
With just a few weeks left in the season and loads waiting to be delivered, Hugh's got all of Polar's drivers turning and burning.
Crank her hard.
Crank it hard.
All except one.
'Cause I feel like hell.
Rick had some bad luck there.
He had a little bit of mouse infestation there.
There's some serious evidence of mouse feces.
You've got a little bit of a chest infection there and Rick Yemm has been out of commission for weeks, putting him way behind in the dash for the cash.
He's got to learn to deal with the shit, and let's get her done and get everything-- everybody wants this fucker up there.
Let's get her up there, we'll make money, everybody'll be happy.
With his load of septic tanks strapped down, Hugh checks in with owner Mark Kohaykewych before hitting the road.
Well, if you've seen him, you're-- you're-- after seeing him, you know-- Hey.
Mr.
Rowland.
What's with the hoodie on? Bad juju, man.
Oh ho ho! No, I couldn't do it, man.
Oh, there's the blue.
Hey.
What happened? Well, truck tried to kill me.
Bad luck, man.
You figure that's what it was? You gotta get the blue hair on.
When I became blonde, it didn't work did it, so - Didn't work did it, so - Can I touch it? You can touch it.
Now you gotta wash your hand.
You probably got blue on it.
I just got it done.
Yeah, it's leaking down the front of your forehead there.
Yeah, it's not raining.
So you ready to go to work? Yeah, yeah, I'm better.
They gave me the clear for the hantavirus, so - And I'm feeling better every day, so - Good.
Well, if you guys want, we can go get the dispatch sheet.
Hey, I'm back on my feet again.
I think he's on board.
He says he's on board.
I hope he's-- for what he's saying, we're gonna get right out of here and not stop now.
We should just turn and burn every trip we get.
And we just head down and ass up and just fucking get at her.
You ready there, Mr.
Rowland? Yeah, you bet.
Rick follows Hugh out with another load of septic tanks Bound for the remote outpost of Wasagamack.
Its an 300-mile trip that they should be able to make in one day.
I could still use my afternoon nap I've been getting.
- As long as Rick - Oh, fuck.
And the roads hold up.
Could be rough.
You all right? Well, that hurt.
It's clicking on pretty good here.
But it's slippery.
Yeah, as long as the guy straddles them fucking ruts, it's pretty good.
And when you get sucked into them, they toss you around pretty good.
Cute.
Fuck! Whoa.
Oh! Oh-oh.
Whoa, no, no, no, no, no, no.
The trailer swung right around there and hit the fucking ditch.
Did this the whole way.
Swung right around there all by itself.
The slippery road, frost heaves, and tight corners threaten to jackknife the rigs at every turn.
Here we go, fuck, fuck.
I keep thinking I'm gonna get squashed here, fuck.
Hugh's solution-- step on the gas Then pull his trailer back in line.
You gotta keep pulling her straight, 'cause the trailers aren't aligning.
You gotta keep pulling her straight or you'll squash your bunk.
Whoa! Fuck.
We missed her.
Four-wheeler coming.
Ah, shit, ah, shit, ah, shit.
Fuck.
Fuck! I just fucking Well, we hit a truck.
- Coming up - Come on.
Darrell's stranded at 40 below.
I need some hot chocolate.
- And later - What is that? Austin gets more than he bargained for.
Oh, shit.
Deep in the Canadian wilderness, it's Rick Yemm's first day back behind the wheel.
But he's getting no welcome from the winter roads.
Four-wheeler coming.
Ah, shit, ah, shit, ah, shit.
Fuck.
Fuck! I just fucking Well, we hit a truck.
Did you get any damage? Plastic? I couldn't get slowed down.
I was locked right up.
Trailer was traveling a little too fast, eh? Yeah, no, I just couldn't even get stopped, it's so slick.
Sorry about that, man.
- I just - Rick lucked out, just scratching the paint.
We'll get it sorted out for you.
It could have come at a bigger cost.
Where you at, Rick? But Rick's mistake is costing Hugh time.
I'll be a while here.
Of all people, I hit a superintendent for the fucking roads.
Just my luck, eh, Hugh? Well, I'm just sitting here.
Well, when I get there, let's go.
- 2,000 miles northwest in Fairbanks, Alaska - Mark! What's going on, Jack? Good.
We got something going today? The haul road ace is looking to get back on top of the load count.
How about this mixed-up load here? You got a stop at mile 339.
Live offload.
They're hot for this freight.
There is a little bit more that's gotta go all the way into Prudhoe Bay.
There you go, big boy.
All right, thanks, Mark.
All right, Jack.
We'll see you later.
All right, stay out of trouble.
Today Jack's pulling double duty with a load headed to Prudhoe Bay.
I got a lot to get done today.
And another that has to be offloaded by hand on the side of the Dalton.
It's looking good.
This ought to be a nice load.
- Back at the office - Good morning, Chop.
What's up, buddy? What have we got today? Anything good? How about this mixed-up load here? Got a little bit of everything on it.
Porkchop's also dispatched with a load bound for the oil fields.
And we're gonna make you run with Jack Jessee.
And he'll be running with Jack to help with the extra offload.
He should be over there inspecting the loads and getting ready to go right now.
It's a pleasure to run up with him and see what happens.
It's always nice to go up in a pair.
Safety in numbers, big boy.
Yup.
That's right.
All right, man.
Any questions? Uh, nope.
I'm gonna get out of here, man.
All right, see you later.
But he's not happy being slowed down.
I'm not here to drag ass.
I'm here to drive a truck.
He can go on his own.
I don't need that shit.
Porkchop.
What's going on? Let's do this.
See you out in the yard.
All right.
Going on the road with Jack.
It is what it is.
Roll with the punches.
We do the buddy system thing because its cold and you don't wanna take any chances up here.
This sucks.
Let's get out of here.
Play the game.
That's all you can do.
- 250 miles up the Dalton - I've been out here by myself.
I always want to get out of Fairbanks bright and early in the morning.
Load count leader Darrell Ward is already a step ahead of Jack Jessee.
The ace, I know he's back there somewhere.
Maybe knock the ace off the throne.
It would be priceless.
He's halfway up the road with a tanker of machine oil.
It's kind of a disappointment missing Reno's basketball season, but you gotta have a job, gotta work, to pay for his way through college.
You know, Reno understands that.
I'll try to get a hold of him when I get out into Prudhoe.
I haven't talked to him for a few days.
Get the show on the road.
But as he hits the North Slope The farther north I'm going, the colder it's getting.
The temperature plummets.
It's down to 47 below now.
It's cold out there.
It's not anyplace you want to hang out outside for very long.
All right, here we go.
What the hell? I'm getting warning lights going off and beepers.
I don't know what's going on.
Check engine.
Well, I'm gonna pull over here, make sure everything's doing all right.
I don't know what's going on.
I'll get her figured out, though.
It's damn near 50 below 0 out here.
Yep.
Alternator has gone to shit.
Belts are still running.
She ain't charging.
Darrell's best guess is that the alternator's going out.
That's all I needed to know.
- But still 30 miles from Prudhoe Bay - See if she'll make it.
Hopefully it's running good.
There's no choice but to press on.
You've got to be kidding me.
Come on.
Come on.
We're not going anywhere.
My truck's dead.
I'm the only truck here.
Whoo! Damn sure chilly.
Without any source of heat, hypothermia and frostbite can set in within minutes.
Build a campfire in here in a minute, damn it.
Darrell only has two options for survival-- - wait for a passing truck - Oh, it's cold.
Or pray his phone is in range of Prudhoe Bay.
Hello, it's Kevin.
Hey, Kevin, it's Darrell here.
My alternator's dead.
I have no power.
Oh, alternator problem, huh? So I just shut all my switches and gadgets off, and I'm sitting over here freezing my ass off.
All right, cool, send him over.
Yep, send him over and send some hot chocolate with him.
Take care of my hypothermia.
I don't have anything to drink in here.
My water's frozen.
All right, thanks, Kevin.
Yeah, bye.
Fuck.
I don't know what they're bringing or how they're doing it, but they know where I'm at and they know what my problem is and I need some hot chocolate.
I need something warm to drink 'cause my water ain't working for me.
Alaska's Dalton highway This is my longest load of the year.
We're 100 feet long, bumper to bumper.
Wheeler heads to the oil fields with a load of long pipe.
I've never hauled pipe on a pipe dolly.
This is my first time.
Man, this looks a little hairy.
I am a tad nervous.
Hopefully everything goes well.
Long pipe southbound.
Pilot driver Carl Reynolds is out ahead, warning other drivers to stay clear of the extra long load.
It's just more difficult all around.
You've got to know where that tail end of that dolly is all the time.
It's been a struggle to keep the rear dolly from hitting on-coming traffic.
Whenever we pass trucks like, this I just wanna be able to see how close we are to the ditch line.
What is that? But now Austin faces a new threat.
Looks like his dolly is a little off.
Hey, Austin.
Go ahead.
Do you know it looks like your dolly is a little off to the right? Oh, shit! Oh my, God, please, no.
The pipe dolly is drifting to the right, dangerously close to the ditch.
When you load the long pipe on the dollies, the truck and the dolly has to be in perfect alignment.
If it tracks too much to the right, you risk the chance of the truck getting pulled off the road by it.
Inexperience doesn't help either.
We're going to have to stop at the bakers knob and see if Carl can help me fix it.
Hey, Carl, how much do you think that truck of yours weighs? It scales out at 10,000.
About 5 tons? That's perfect.
I'm gonna pull over.
Move on along the back.
- So - What's up? What I was thinking is we'll pull the pick-up behind the dolly, then I'll chain off to your front tow hooks here, and I'll ease forward.
Yeah.
And we'll hook a chain to the left to the driver's side of the dolly so it kinda uses it as an anchor.
And hopefully we can pull it this way.
Austin's plan-- anchor off to the pilot truck and pull forward to realign his load.
The thing about it is, if we pull too much, we'll pull it out of alignment.
If he gets it wrong, the dolly could be pulled further off-center, making it impossible to haul.
Okay, Carl, you ready? All right, here we go.
All right, go for it.
Okay.
There you go.
Pull nice and easy.
All right, that's probably good, huh? A little bit more.
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.
I think that might do it there.
Good right there.
- Finally - Sweet call.
That worked, man.
The dolly is straight and ready to hit the road again.
Good deal.
Yeah, I could definitely see it in my mirrors pull the front around, so that was what I wanted.
It's a good truck.
Right on.
Let's get on the road.
southeast in Manitoba This time we're gonna make it all the way to Wasagamack.
Hugh and Rick are back on the road.
Oh, shit, oh, shit.
After Rick's collision with a winter roads official cost them time and didn't help their reputation.
Yeah, you were traveling a little bit too fast, eh? I was coming down that fucking hill there, and I-- Fuck, I couldn't get slowed down or nothing.
I'm just picking up speed every time I tried to stop.
Rick needs to make a few bucks here.
I don't know what he's gonna do.
He can't blame anybody but himself.
Hugh's pushing Rick to deliver their loads by day's end.
But now standing in their way is the 11th largest freshwater lake in the world.
I just pulled into the start of Winnipeg Lake crossing here.
I brought a load up on Thursday and went across here.
I come back out, and two guys, rookies, going across the pressure ridge, blew the fucking bridge out.
They had to close her down for a couple of days to fix it, so She's open again now.
We're gonna try her again today here and get across here.
A pressure ridge is like a mountain range that forms in the middle of the lake where two massive sheets of ice collide.
For semis to cross this gap, road crews have to maintain - a fragile manmade bridge - Are you ready? Yes, sir.
Now we do what we do-- ice road trucking.
On the ice.
I'm just watching the cracks here.
There's lots of linear cracks going down here.
As I go by, as I go over top, they just open up like this and then close back up.
Pretty wild.
You can tell the ice ain't very thick.
Ah, like they say, by the time you notice what's going on, you're already underwater anyway, so That isn't even running through your mind.
At the deepest part of the lake Yeah, you can see where they blew her out right here, right down the middle of her.
Hugh reaches the pressure ridge.
That's actually open water in there.
Oh, she's gonna be rough.
Fuck.
Hold on! - In the middle of Lake Winnipeg - Now you can see where they blew her out right here.
Hugh gets ready to make the jump from one giant sheet of ice to another.
Oh, she's gonna be rough.
Fuck.
Hold on.
Easy now.
Yup.
That's the end of her.
I'm up.
I'm safe.
I'm just crossing it now.
Okay, 10-4.
Now it's Rick's turn.
Oh, boy.
Good deal.
Let's roll.
Back on dry land, Hugh and Rick push on, hoping to make it to Wasagamack without stopping.
Let's get her done.
in Alaska's frozen tundra Damn sure chilly.
Darrell Ward is stranded at 50 below with no heat.
I don't know what they're bringing or how they're doing it, but they know where I'm at, and they know what my problem is.
Help is on the way.
Ooh, and it is cold out here.
It's nasty.
But in these extreme temperatures, every second counts.
- With nothing to do but wait - I got to get a hold of Reno.
I haven't talked to him for a few days.
I know he's probably starting to wonder what happened to me.
Darrell looks to family to take his mind off the brutal cold.
Hello.
What are you doing, Reno? Nothing.
Just got on the bus after the championship double overtime game.
So now divisions are over and you're going to State? Yeah, going to state, number one team.
It's the first time we beat 'em all year.
Right time.
How much you win by? How's everything going at home? Good.
Good? Right on.
Yup.
Well, I'm gonna have to get rolling here and get on the road.
I'm hooked up to a tanker, get headed up north.
Yeah, we're just getting into Missoula anyways, and we're gonna have to go in here to eat.
Tell everybody good luck at State, and, if they lose, I'm - gonna come down and kick their ass, and - All right.
I'm proud of you, Reno.
Yeah, talk to you later.
Love you.
Okay, love you too.
Bye.
Bye.
Reminds me what I'm doing this for, you know.
Yes! Finally, a loader from Prudhoe Bay comes to Darrell's rescue.
Oh, it's cold out here! Whoo! So I'm just gonna yard you out and pick you up and then carry you back.
Okay.
Nice hat.
Thanks.
It's warm.
You want me to take a spin on that? Have at it, and I'll go get hooked up.
All right.
Are you sure? You got a straight trailer de-rigged from here.
Carlile can bring the other trucks over, snatch this trailer up, and take her to town.
There you go.
This is a good thing, you know.
I'd really be screwed.
Thank God.
As night falls on Darrell's disastrous day Porkchop, when you come around that switchback right here, stay way to the outside, you go around it a lot easier.
I'm hugging the outside wall in the groove, by God.
Porkchop and Jack Jessee reach the North Slope.
Running with Jack, coming up here.
Don't really like it.
The only problem with Jack Jesse is he's on Jack Jessee time.
But I gots to make my own.
My pockets is hungry.
My pockets is hungry.
Hey, Chop, I gotta stop here and offload.
It shouldn't take much more than an hour there.
Jack has to drop off part of his load for workers who are repairing the pipeline.
So I think we are going out to where those lights are.
That's where I'm offloading, I think.
In these frigid North Slope temperatures, Jack's relying on Porkchop to help him offload quickly and get back on the road.
Trying to make contact with the construction crew going on here.
It's been good riding with you, and I'll see you in the morning.
But Porkchop has a change of plans.
Porkchop, where are you, man? He didn't leave me out here, did he? Jack had to stop back there and unload part of his load, so it's a simple fact that we can't run together.
You know, we're truck drivers.
We're not always going to the same place, we're not always delivering the same thing.
Porkchop, where you at? Are you kidding me, he left? We are not truck drivers from down South.
You don't do that shit up here.
I'm not happy with him.
While Jack offloads alone in 50 below - 25 miles up the road - I don't see where there should be any hard feelings.
I like him, but I can't pull his weight the whole rest of the time.
If I sit around and wait on him the whole damn time, I'm not gonna make no money for myself.
Every now and then, you gotta branch off and take care of your own business.
An hour later, back at the offload sight I got a couple more things to clean up, and then I'll be out of your hair.
All right, safe travels, man.
Okay, man, thanks.
He knew I had to stop and offload right there, to help me do my job.
You got a lot to learn about real truck drivers.
By the time Jack rolls out Porkchop's already made it to Prudhoe Bay.
What a beautiful night in Prudhoe, baby! Whoo! And has his mind only on the load count.
When I pass Jack Jessee and I pass Darrell Ward, they're gonna scratch their head and say, "What the hell was that?" There's a little bit more to it than just trying to get loads.
As far as I am concerned, he's burned that bridge.
I don't give second chances.
- Coming up - You put me in a bad spot.
Jack's looking for answers.
So you want me to just sit with my finger up my rear while you get unloaded? That's what we do sometimes.
In the middle of the road? That's BS, man.
You know.
On the remote Canadian winter roads Well, we just come by the 300 kilometer sign.
So we can't have much more than about 40 clicks left.
Hugh and Rick are powering through a day of delays Lets get her done.
Fucking shit.
Hoping to reach the outpost of Wasagamack without another stop.
Big one coming.
Ho ho ho.
Easy! But on his first day back on the job, the rough roads Pretty hard on the kidneys this year, that's for sure.
Are taking a toll on Rick.
Right now I'm feeling pretty tired.
I'm still fighting this cold off.
I could use a rest, man.
They're counting on us to get it there.
They're counting on you.
And like I said, the thing's fucking-kicking me.
I'm still tired.
Time to earn your keep.
It's not my fault I'm fucking exhausted.
She's a hard old goal, but you don't see anybody else fucking doing her.
Well, now I'm not nice.
Now I'm a fucker.
This is no longer fun.
That's the way we're playing the game, truck gets parked.
I'm just not driving anymore.
Less than 10 miles from their destination There's St.
Theresa's work yard.
There's a yard that we can park at.
Rick calls it a night.
Okay, we made her to St.
Theresa.
We didn't make her to Wasagamack.
We fucked around too much today.
We'll have to see if we can line something up tomorrow to get unloaded.
Probably waste a whole day here tomorrow.
We're cool, though, right? Yep, we're cool.
Yeah, well, a shot of beer, and I'm hitting that fucking fart sack, 'cause I'm tired.
Get some sleep.
You can sleep in may.
That's what I always tell everybody.
The next morning at the Carlile yard in Prudhoe Bay Let's go see what dispatch has got for me today.
Porkchop hits dispatch looking for a backhaul, but he's not the only one.
What's going on, Jack? Hey, Kevin.
What do we got? What we got going back? I got a deck set going back.
If you wanna haul that out for me, I'd appreciate it.
Okay.
Not a problem.
I need to talk to you for a second.
Sure, let's do it.
I gotta talk to you about last night, man.
All right.
You put me in a bad spot.
Leaving me out there when we were all buddied up the whole trip, you know, what if something would have happened? So you want me to just sit with my finger up my rear while you get unloaded? That's what we do up here sometimes.
In the middle of the road? Yeah, exactly.
That's BS, man.
You know it.
No.
Not up here it's not.
Maybe in the states.
I understand you can't stop on the interstate, but this is not the interstate road, this is the haul road.
If you need to stop wherever and wait on somebody, you do that.
Everybody on this road understands.
So just pull over on the side of the road? Yeah, if you have to do that.
If it needs to be done.
We still had 70 miles to go on and get in there, you know.
If something would have happened to me and you're out of radio range, what was I supposed to do? We do things differently up here.
It's a lot more relying on everybody.
These conditions, they're just too dangerous.
Get this job.
Get this done.
We got a lot more to do.
Jack Jessee.
Hell, I feel like I'm back in high school getting called to the principal's office.
I don't know what it is with him, but you know there's no need for all that shit.
The haul road ace has now become the haul road ass, in my opinion.
Porkchop's gonna have to have a talk with Lane.
I've got to inform him on this.
Somebody's gotta straighten that out.
Jack moves into a tie for the top spot after his double delivery, while Darrell's breakdown stalled his load count lead.
- Back at Prudhoe dispatch - Hey, Kevin.
What's up, man? What's happening, Austin? Oh, just seeing-- I brought that load of long pipe in.
Sweet.
What are you doing, Austin? Hey, Darrell.
How are you, man? You know how I am.
I guess I don't know.
My truck broke down.
Oh, it is? Yeah.
Oh, man.
All my dash lights, everything was off.
Alternator.
I reached up, I hit my throttle, revved it up a little bit, you know, and it idled down, it went all the way to shut off.
Oh, dang.
The battery's totally dead.
What are you going to do? Sitting over at deadhorse.
Another dead horse at deadhorse.
I'll pull him home.
Well, that'd be better than me waiting here for two days-- Well, yeah, then you could have the shop put an alternator in, and - you wouldn't have to do it.
- Sounds like a plan.
- All right.
I'll just take the ride with Austin.
Yeah, and Darrell and I can talk about Porkchop and Jack Yeah, no doubt.
Right on.
I appreciate it.
Yeah, no problem.
Let's go.
That's what I do for our Carlile friends.
All right.
Let's get out of here.
Make sure you don't pull Porkchop's trailer sitting back there.
I think they get to Fairbanks without my truck.
Nothing stops the Chop! Except for Atigun, the Beaver Slide, not hooking to your trailer, I mean, all your shit Porkchop keep running your mouth.
He asked me the other day, he says.
.
"What's the easiest way to not miss gears on this road?" And I'm like Don't fucking miss 'em! [scoffs.]
I heard he was running with Jack, the ace.
The ace of the haul road.
Come on Coldfoot, I found Jack Jesse sitting in there.
- Yeah.
- All the time.
parking lot with his name, Jack's spot.
I can talk all day about those guys.
Next time on Ice Road Truckers Plummeting temperatures threaten to shut down North America's ice roads.
It's getting colder the norther I go.
Looks like the apocalypse right here.
In the Yukon Alex fights to keep supplies moving up the Dempster.
The road has been closed as much as has been open.
But in Manitoba, Canada temperatures and tempers are on a season high.