Ice Road Truckers (2007) s06e15 Episode Script

Tonight on Ice Road Truckers I don't really feel like swimmin' in this water.
The spring melt is on This is when the ice road's most dangerous.
Something's wrong.
And the final loads Get me as many loads as you can.
Push ice to the limit.
The ice is gonna be goin' out soon.
It's a hard call.
Could be bad news.
- On the Dempster - Hold it, hold it.
Whoa! Alex's final - showdown with Hurricane Alley - Come on.
And it's the end of the line for Hugh and Rick.
You can tell the ice is very, very soft.
At any given time, you can sink.
I got water right there.
Look at that.
What this is roughly saying is spring's a-comin'.
I'm in, like, 2 inches of water right here.
It means the ice isn't gonna last long.
Hope we don't fall through.
So you gotta listen.
Listen really close, see how hollow this sounds.
You hear that? We're sittin' on a little ice dome under here.
The water will come up through those cracks, and now we have our overflows.
It's kind of an eerie sound.
- All season - Holy shit! Alaska's ice road truckers have braved the deadly - haul road - We got her here on time.
Arctic express.
Bringing critical supplies to Alaska's largest oil field.
But with spring approaching there's only a few days before the ice roads are gone, and dozens of loads are still waiting in the yard.
Right now, we're up against it, and, uh, you know, we have are in a race against the melt.
In Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's north slope All right, I'm headed in.
Darrell Ward's looking to keep the load count lead over rival Jack Jessee.
Hey, Matt.
Hey, Darrell, how you doin' today? Not too bad.
I'm lookin' for another load.
Yep, actually, we're gettin' to be the end of the ice road season, and I need you to get some groceries out to Nuiqsut.
Anything out there coming back? I'm gonna have you pick up a couple of vehicles that are out there and bring them back.
Okay.
I've got a flatbed and a dolly available.
The guys in the yard will get you taken care of.
Right on.
Here you go.
All right, thanks, man.
Thanks, man.
Give me as many loads as you can.
It's almost the end, and I wanna win this load count.
Hey, Jack, what's goin' on? Just lookin' for somethin' to go back to Fairbanks with.
I could use your help gettin' some stuff out to Nuiqsut before the ice road closes.
That's where I'm headed too.
You goin' to, eh, Nuiqsut? Yep.
What do you got? Um, how about some fuel? We can do that.
Right on.
All right, we'll head out there together then.
Yeah, might as well.
Jack and Darrell are headed 70 miles west of Prudhoe Bay to the native village of Nuiqsut.
But the ice road is melting, and will be closed to big rigs at sundown tonight.
So the two haul road heavyweights have to make it there and back before their trucks are trapped on the wrong side of the water.
Oh, I'm headed out across the ice roads again, and, uh, runnin' a convoy with Jack Jessee.
It's not really what I wanted to do today.
Darrell's hauling two trailers to Nuiqsut, a van full of supplies, and an empty flatbed that he'll load with cargo to haul out of the village.
Get on our way.
Okay.
We're goin' out to the village of Nuiqsut.
I got the last load of gasoline for the season for 'em.
They want their fuel, and I gotta get it to 'em.
You know, the sun's eating the ice up, and then this ice road will be gone.
Man, they're really countin' on this cargo gettin' there.
Their groceries, you know? Their gasoline.
I mean, they-- they've gotta have it, you know? And, uh, so they rely on Carlile.
Carlile relies on Jack and Darrell.
in Winnipeg, Canada We're haulin' a load of construction material up to Pauingassi.
Hugh Rowland and Rick Yemm are battling mother nature's clock, and they're just plain out of time.
She's meltin' like a son of a bitch.
This is the last trip here.
Crazy.
When she starts to melt, you know it's time to go home.
All season the brutal conditions forced - Hugh to work harder than ever before - Crank her hard! Crank it hard! Pushed Rick past the breaking point Make sure Hughey's happy, but fuck Rick.
And strained their 18-year friendship.
Fuck the Polar Bear.
But with the season ending, every delivery counts.
A lot of stuff happened this year, but it's-- it's not an easy job.
It's not easy on the trucks.
It's not easy on you.
It's never the same, but it's always a fight to get through.
And now they gotta work together to make it through one last trip.
They said it was 11 degrees here today.
So, hopefully, we can make her.
If the roads hold out.
Still not over yet.
Still got one more load to get in there.
You know the roads are closing, so let's get across Winnipeg Lake.
It's melting like a son of a bitch, so this is the last trip here.
It's really slushy right here.
Well, we come out here, we do what we do, and everything will be just fine.
If not, I'm going for an awfully fucking cold swim.
She's soft ice today.
Definitely the end of the year.
That's for sure.
The soft ice isn't the only challenge on Lake Winnipeg.
They have to cross the pressure ridge, where two massive sheets of ice collide.
It's the weakest spot on the lake on the already sun-baked ice.
You can tell the ice is very, very soft.
You'll be good there, Rick.
Let's roll.
Their two construction supplies are right at the weight limit.
Well, you see the softness of the ice here.
Yeah, you gotta be pretty careful.
She's comin' in quick.
She gets too much above zero here, she's gonna be closed up.
Look out, Rick.
Are you kidding me? Slow the fuck down, you motherfucker.
An oncoming truck is speeding toward Rick and the pressure ridge.
I'm goin' as slow as I possibly could, and he's still racing me to the fucking pressure ridge.
And this fucker running right up on the pressure ridge with me.
That's what I mean.
Most of these guys don't have a clue what they're fucking even doing.
The weight of a truck creates a wave under the ice.
The faster the truck, the bigger the wave.
If two waves meet at a weak spot, the combined force will cause a blowout that'll send both trucks to the bottom.
This guy--I'm fully fucking loaded, and he's an empty fucking box truck.
He can fucking wait.
Fucking moron.
And Rick's comin' up there, and this guy's empty, and he just burns where he wants to be and wreck through the pressure ridge.
Well, Rick can't stop.
He's fucking loaded.
The ice isn't rated for stopped weight, so Rick has no choice but to keep moving and pray the other truck doesn't blow out the ice.
Get out of my way! - Coming up - Did you hear that? Austin's make-or-break run.
What the fuck is that, man? - And later - Whistlin' Dixie out there today.
Alex collides with Hurricane Alley.
Hold it, hold it.
Whoa! On Manitoba's frozen Lake Winnipeg Fucking runnin' right up on this pressure ridge with me.
A truck's racing toward Rick Yemm.
Fucking moron.
And on the fragile ice, anything could happen.
Get out of my way! Oh, fuck, oh, fuck, oh, fuck, oh, fuck.
Fucking idiots, man.
The other truck beat Rick over the pressure ridge, but what damage it may have done is unknown.
Those are guys that risk your fucking life.
Then they race to that pressure ridge, which is the worst part of the fucking whole lake, and usually ends up blowin' the fucking road out.
Rick makes it across, but now he has to face the east side of the lake that's covered in water.
Yeah, this is goin' to go.
This is gonna be-- Your approach is gonna be gone here, right fucking smartly, especially if somebody comes off here way too fast.
Another nice day and this end is-- uh, this portage here is gonna be finished.
Aah, she's pretty mucked up.
I made 'er.
Rick's back on solid ground.
I survived.
But the winter roads are melting fast.
- 1,600 miles to the northwest - This doesn't look good.
Alex Debogorski's also facing the end of the season.
I thought you'd have it all put together by the time I got here.
Let's get her opened up.
Okay.
At Manitoulin's Whitehorse terminal, there's still hundreds of items headed north.
Because it's the last load, you gotta get it in there.
You're also gonna take extra to carry this trailer, 'cause this is gonna be the first time one of these has been up there in the wintertime.
And since they may only have one more shot, they're packing their biggest trailer.
We got some duct work.
Kitchen sink.
A little bit of everything.
Yup.
Next stop, Inuvik.
But the plywood trailer is only used for highway travel in summer months.
It's a risky move to see if it can handle the brutal Dempster.
We've had bad luck with the weather for getting stuff delivered north, so hopefully we'll get the load to them in one piece.
With temperatures rising, Alex has 760 miles to go if the ice and the trailer can hold out.
This load is special, because this is probably my last load.
Ice roads are shutting down.
It's like things are conspiring to make this a very memorable run.
outside of Prudhoe Bay We're on the ice road right now.
We're goin' out to village of Nuiqsut.
Jack Jessee and load count rival Darrell Ward are on the last run to the native village.
This is the only time of the year we can actually drive out to Nuiqsut.
There is no paved road.
And at sundown, the road will be closed to big rigs.
We are definitely getting close to the end of the season, you know? This is when the ice road's most dangerous.
The sun is literally eating the ice on the top.
Water's eating the ice from the bottom.
Damn, this thing is cracking.
This is goin' out faster than I thought it was goin' to.
If they can't make their deliveries before the sun sets It's making me a little nervous, knowing I got 9,000 gallons of gasoline on here.
Their trucks will be trapped in the village until next season's ice road is built.
Darrell, he's just right behind me, but he has two trailers.
Even though they don't weigh as much as my single trailer, with this ice cracking, it's not good for Darrell.
Darrell, watch out there.
You got a little bit of ice cracking.
Might wanna try to go around it, or straddle it.
Yeah, I hear you.
Cracks in the ice and the river, and I got a lot-- a lot of weight on here, you know, with this extra trailer behind me and everything, so I'm just takin' my time.
You get going too fast, and the ice will break on you.
I don't really feel like swimming in this water.
Just about there.
Just hold it together a little longer.
While Jack and Darrell pray the ice holds On the Dalton, everyone's racing the melt to deliver the final loads of the season.
Perfect.
And former load count champion Ray Veilleux is trying to prove he can still handle the haul road.
Right now, there's a big push.
I'm here to make sure the loads get where they gotta go before that road's gone.
He was brought in to help close out the season I'm out of power.
But his first trip was a bust when a breakdown sent him to the shop.
Now, we're screwed.
Well, everything looks pretty good here.
Pretty nice load, nice and tight.
Time to hit the road.
I'm ready to roll.
I gave Lane my word I'd get all these loads out for him.
I don't wanna screw up.
I don't wanna do nothin' wrong.
While Ray gets moving, We're on the road to Prudhoe Bay.
We're carrying a Austin Wheeler's keeping pace with Jack and Darrell in the load count, and the 23-year-old's got a real shot at winning it all.
It should be a pretty easy ride, if the road stays in decent condition.
Can you hear that? What the fuck is that, man? Something's wrong.
I don't know what's wrong with that.
I've never heard a sound like that before.
All I know is that I don't wanna get on top of Atigun Pass, and it just completely shut off.
I'm over this.
I'm so frustrated right now.
I'm gonna get out, and see if I can see what's wrong with my engine.
I'm not a mechanic, but I'll do my best.
I don't know what it is.
But I can call the shop and see what he wants me to do.
Hey, Gary, it's Austin.
Something's wrong with my truck.
I got a bad ticking noise under the hood, and engine reduction.
I'm only gettin', like, 10, Do you want me to bring it there? Okay, sounds good.
All right, bye.
I'm totally bummed.
I hate when shit breaks.
I hate it.
Austin heads back to town, hoping a quick fix will save his chance for a load count victory.
Gonna drop this trailer off at the main yard, so they can do whatever they need to do to it, and hopefully, they can diagnose the problem quickly so I can get back out on the road.
This isn't what I wanted at the end of the season, with the loads coming to a crunch.
- Coming up - Cracks in the ice and the river, and The race against the melt.
This road will be closed, I'm sure of it.
- On the Arctic Ocean - The village itself has cars and roads, but they can't leave.
Once they're there, and the ice road's gone, they're stuck there.
Jack Jessee and Darrell Ward are crossing the ice with fuel and personal goods for the village of Nuiqsut.
It's an ice road, for sure.
It's a-- You know, there's tracks in the ice.
The only way you can get here is in the wintertime, when it's frozen.
We got it here.
We made it just in time.
They made it across the water, but this ice road will be closed to big rig traffic at sundown.
Darrell.
Yep.
Um, I have to go off-load right now.
Yeah, copy that.
I'll drop my trailer, and then go off-load this shit.
Okay.
Now, it's a race to unload before their trucks are trapped in the village.
Oh, let's see if we get this stuff off-loaded, if we got time to get back outta here.
For Jack, it's a one-stop off-load.
Okay, we got the internals open.
It means that I'm off-loadin' my fuel.
That's a good sign.
It means everything's workin'.
But back at the edge of town, Darrell Ward's in for a longer day.
Let's put it down.
He's gotta make deliveries all over the village All right.
Then come back to the flatbed and load it up with cargo leaving Nuiqsut.
We're gonna cruise the town of Nuiqsut.
It's quite a village, I'm tellin' you.
This isn't a place that everybody gets to see.
Go get 'er done.
I'm gonna slide it right on out the back.
Your new couch.
Pretty fucking handy, ain't I? All right, thank you.
Sure.
With a truckload of food and supplies left to deliver, Darrell's already running out of time.
Man, we gotta get this done, and it's the end of the season.
It's a big rush, you know? It's gonna be a close call.
This road will be closed, I'm sure of it.
- 530 miles south at the Fairbanks Carlile shop - Try again.
Okay.
Austin's shot at winning the load count is slipping away.
The end of the season's coming up.
You know, the ice is melting.
There's still a lot of loads to get up the road, so, uh, it's frustrating when your truck breaks down in the middle of a trip.
Shut it off.
Somethin' majorly bad, now? It's all weakened down there.
You can tell just right there.
Yeah.
This pipe right here is leaking on the face of the turbo.
Oh? With that part, it's blowing out all the way around it.
That could cause tur-- less turbo, right? Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a fucking broke down truck.
It sucks, because my loads have been, sometimes, 70,000 pounds heavier than the other guys' loads.
The heavy stuff is just harder on trucks.
The fuel injection system needs to be completely replaced.
It's a repair that'll take at least a day, and with the roads melting, Austin's season could be over.
It's too bad my truck couldn't wait till it was the end of the season.
Hopefully, they can get it fixed soon, and I can, at least, maybe get one or two more loads.
It's been a good season for me, and I don't wanna quit.
Dempster highway, going northbound to Inuvik.
Alex Debogorski is miles from civilization, hauling an extra-large trailer of goods for the Arctic communities.
I'm hauling a mixed load of freight, LTL, everything from firewood to bicycles, computer parts, a little bit of everything.
But this specialized trailer wasn't built to handle the rough winter conditions of the Dempster.
She's whistlin' Dixie out there today.
And now, as he hits Hurricane Alley, the plywood trailer will be put to the test.
I'm headin' into a legendary windy pass, with a trailer that's plywood and tarp, with a bunch of important freight in there.
You can really see how the wind's blowin' the snow off the ground in some places here.
The spirits are restless.
Startin' to build a few snowdrifts.
We're shakin' the freight.
It's gettin' a little more wind here.
I can hear it.
I can feel it.
But I'll get the load delivered.
As long as the trailer doesn't blow apart, we'll be happy.
The 70-mile-an-hour winds are stressing the fragile trailer.
Slidin' sideways a little bit, there.
I don't like that.
Goodness grief It'll flip us over the bank.
Whoa! - Coming up - It's starting to flood.
We should finish here.
Hugh and Rick's last stand.
Whoa! In Hurricane Alley Whoa.
Hopefully, my convertible trailer, which is plywood sides, it'll hold together in the wind.
We're shakin' the freight.
Ooh.
Slidin' sideways a little bit, there.
Heh.
Goodness grief.
It'll flip us over the bank.
Whoa! Gettin' pushed across the road.
This is the 57 hardest kilometers I've gone through.
- After battling through - Our fancy trailer's holdin' together.
Alex rolls into town.
Here we are, Inuvik.
I'm lookin' forward to, uh, coolin' this trailer down, dollying it off, and parkin' it.
Oh, man, is that gonna be too tight? Blew the dust off the road.
Set a speed record for myself gettin' up here.
And, uh, things are kind of rockin' and rollin', you know? Okay.
- Despite the rough haul - How's it lookin', Alex? A little bit of snow on that one.
The trailer and freight arrive undamaged.
This is the first trip this type of trailer has ever made up the Dempster in the wintertime.
It held together perfectly.
Load delivered.
Thank God we're here in one piece.
west, in the native Alaskan - village of Nuiqsut - Watch out! Darrell Ward's on a one-man delivery mission, racing to get out of town before the road closes at sundown.
All right, I'll hand them down to you, if you wanna jump down there.
I still gotta go get my pickups loaded, swap my trailers out, change everything around, and just get my backhaul goin' the other way.
- But with the clock ticking - There you go.
Darrell's chances of making it out are fading with the sunset.
Across town, Jack Jessee's already off-loaded his fuel and is heading back to Prudhoe Bay.
We're puttin' gasoline in these guys' tanks, and, hopefully, that'll be enough to get 'em through the season, but we need to speed things up.
The ice is gonna be goin' out soon.
Darrell? You out there, Darrell? Can you hear me? Can't get in touch with Darrell.
But as Jack leaves town, he finds the unloaded flatbed and no sign of Darrell.
If he leaves now The load count is his.
Aw, crap.
But I am not gonna leave Darrell.
I don't need him stuck out here, just like I don't wanna be stuck out here.
The haul road ace puts his trip on hold to help his biggest rival get another load.
I'm an old man out here.
I do it the way I wanna do it, and, right now, I wanna help Darrell, to get him out of here, and we can get goin' together.
We just gotta get the job done.
As the sun sets, Jack's gotta work fast to load the flatbed, or he could also end up stranded in Nuiqsut.
Sure, I can get out and get ahead of him, maybe, and get one on the load count, but it's not who I am, it's not what I do.
Over there with two-wheel drive! - Across town - Get this shit done and get outta here.
Darrell's out of time.
What the hell? Man, you saved my fucking ass.
Thanks, Jack.
Ohh.
Darrell hooks up to the loaded flatbed, and to his empty trailer.
Okay, we're on our way.
Jack got his fuel off.
He come down here, got these pickups loaded on my trailer for me, so I can get outta here.
I got everything done, and it's, uh, time to head back to Prudhoe.
Thanks to Jack, they both make it out of town before the ice road is shut down.
Oh, it's been a day.
Great Darrell day, actually.
But Jack's sacrifice may have cost him the load count title.
I'm all for winning the load count, but I'm not gonna throw Darrell under the bus.
- 100 miles to the south - Been a good day today.
Making good time.
Ray Veilleux's trying to prove he still has what it takes to run the haul road.
I'm comin' up the Ice Cut.
And he's reached one of his toughest challenges.
It's really steep.
It's a hard pull.
Two years ago, Ice Cut bit me in the butt.
- Last time Ray was here - Ice Cut, southbound.
He took his eyes off the road for a second Whoa! Oh, fuck, oh, fuck.
And it almost cost him his life.
I'm in the ditch.
And it's important that I make it up Ice Cut, and if I screw it up, it could be bad news.
Here we go.
Ice Cut's 12% grade is one of the steepest on the Dalton.
It requires expert shifting and full concentration.
I gotta make this hill.
I just gotta make this hill.
I can't screw up.
I'm gonna hit it hard.
It ain't gonna beat me.
Comin' around the bend God, I gotta get this.
Come on, baby, come on.
Come on, baby.
Come on.
Got it.
Made it up on top.
I have redeemed myself from Ice Cut.
Ice Cut's done.
Hard part's done.
Short run to Prudhoe.
Whoa! Whoa! - On Alaska's North Slope - Got it.
Made it up on top.
Ray Veilleux's just conquered the steep incline that put him in the ditch two years ago.
I have redeemed myself from Ice Cut.
Hard part's done.
Short run to Prudhoe.
Whoa! Whoa! That was close.
Hey, buddy, how 'bout callin' that out next time? Sorry about that one.
Oof.
We could've met down here with a head-on.
And that's not good.
Maybe, from now on, that guy's gonna start callin' out.
Who knows? His return to the haul road started out rocky, but he's finally made it to Prudhoe Bay.
Feels great to finally get that first trip done.
This morning, when I started out, I was just hoping I could make it through.
I just proved it to myself I still got what it takes.
So that's one load.
Gonna head back tomorrow, grab another one, and burn right back on up here.
This is what I came here to do.
Gonna get some loads.
I think I'm back in the saddle again.
- 2,000 miles to the southeast - We're headed to Pauingassi.
Hugh and Rick are hauling what could be their final loads of the season.
You're watching for bumps.
You're watching for everything that's going down, right? Family Lake.
The road has already turned to slush And now a short but melting is all that stands in their way.
It's startin' to flood.
She's just about finished here.
We got water on the ice crossing here.
At any given time you can sink.
I'll give 'er a shot, see what happens.
This is definitely the last load now.
She's over.
They said it was 11 degrees here today You can tell, the ice is very, very soft.
We made 'er.
Not too much trouble.
Just a little thin ice.
This fucking ice is crackin'.
Now, Rick's got to plow through what's left of the road.
Whoa! Come on! Oh, yeah.
Smooth sailin' now.
Yeah, we made her here, and we're at Pauingassi.
We're in Pauingassi now, and, uh, just droppin' this trailer, and getting the fuck outta here.
After barely making it across the ice, this will be their last delivery.
But Rick can't get his trailer unhooked.
Come on.
There you go.
Thanks for bailin' me out again, dad.
With a little help from Hugh, the veteran pair is back on the road.
Got her unloaded.
Now we're gonna head her back.
And they've got to escape the winter roads before they're gone.
While Hugh and Rick's season may be at an end, Jack and Darrell are tied for the top spot going into the home stretch.
Just three days remain in the ice road season.
And the dash for the cash heats up as drivers take on their final loads.
I'm huntin' for Jack today.
Comin' down to the last load.
I wanna win this thing.
Happy to be carryin' a-- a heavy haul load for my last load of the season.
Time is runnin' out out here.
Final run of the season, headin' south of the Dempster.
And on the season finale of Ice Road Truckers Pretty sure I got the load count in my pocket already.
The drivers that have survived test the limits of thinning ice.
Whoa! It's time to cash out There's plenty of work.
Gonna make some money That's what it's all about.
- Pay up - Record short season.
- I mean, it is what it is.
- Well, it's a bad deal I think.
And find out who will be crowned this year's - load count king.
- Load count champ this year is