Ice Road Truckers (2007) s06e04 Episode Script
No Way Out
Tonight on Ice Road Truckers She's cracking up big time under me here.
The Canadians battle thin ice.
We're right in her now.
And in Alaska, rookies run wild.
I'm gonna take out the top dogs.
As everyone guns for the top spot.
It's gonna be like a rocket ship to Prudhoe.
As far as I'm concerned, you're not qualified to be here.
But when mother nature strikes We're going to get into a blow, then there's going to be zero visibility.
Nobody's making it home.
We're not going to get through this.
I'm stuck here.
In Fairbanks Going into dispatch.
It's about 5:30 in the morning.
Go see what they got for me to bring to Prudhoe today.
Eager rookie, Austin Wheeler is first through the door at dispatch.
You got me some paperwork? You got me some paperwork? Hey, it's too early in the morning for this shit, Austin.
I'm ready to go, man.
Little mini-excavator for our mini-heavy-hauler.
Yes.
Hell yeah, it's only 18,000 pounds.
It's going to be like a rocket ship to Prudhoe.
All right.
Stay out of trouble.
All right, see ya.
Since the season began, Austin's been enrolled in the school of Jack Jessee.
You're Austin? Yes, sir.
But the 23-year-old hasn't been impressed with the ace.
Well, he's a douche bag for sitting in Coldfoot while I loaded up the truck by myself.
Today, Austin's running solo, getting his first taste of freedom and a chance to set his own pace.
Just keep hammering them out.
There are some more experienced people in my way of being the load count champ, but that's not gonna stop me because I know that, you know, in here I can do it.
Well, everything checks out good.
Let's, uh, let's get out of here.
My goal is to be jacking the load count.
Hauling an equipment, Austin's first out of the yard.
Who decides to show up for work? Jack Jessee.
We'll give him a honk.
Just showing up to work an hour after I do, that's the way I like it.
But this morning, Jack's got more on his mind than getting a load.
I think Austin came in a little too strong.
If he thinks he can handle this without any instructions, I mean, he should probably turn around and go back to wherever he came from.
- After struggling to rein in the rookie - Man, Austin? Hammer down, boys.
Jack's taking his concerns to the boss.
So, Austin, I think we need to talk about him a little bit.
Really? I think he's trying to do too much too fast.
He's getting in too big of a hurry.
Separated the convoy by 30 miles at one point, and he just-- He ran off and left me.
Like, it's not sinking in.
He's just getting ahead of himself.
I don't want him to learn bad habits.
I appreciate your opinion.
If I think the guy is a problem on the road, I don't have any problem pulling him off there, but I just don't believe that's the case with Austin right now.
I think he's got what it takes.
Maybe you better go out and get in your truck and take your load, and I'll worry about getting Austin up the road.
All right.
Jack and Austin didn't get along real well, didn't hit it off right away.
Not that I disagreed with Jack, but the bottom line is, Austin's got the skill to handle the big stuff.
He's proved that.
Um, maybe Jack's threatened by that, I don't know, but I have to be fair to all my drivers, give 'em all a fair shot.
With the veteran's doubts falling on deaf ears, Jack hooks up to his load of lumber and a pick-up truck.
I went in there and said my piece.
I don't know if he was listening that well or not, but Austin doesn't have near the miles that I do, and I know Lane ain't got near the miles that I do, if any.
Lane wants me to step up and lead the pack this year, but if nobody's going to listen to me, why bother? after spending the night in Coldfoot, Darrell Ward is already halfway to Prudhoe Bay with a 28,000-pound load of portable heaters.
I'm headed north.
It started snowing, and, you know, what I got to watch for is somebody else getting crossways in the road and me coming up on 'em and not seeing 'em, you know, or they could be on my side of the road because they're not as capable of doing this as I am.
Just two weeks into the season, Darrell's tied for the lead in the load count.
Farther north I go, the worse she gets.
And the Montana legend isn't about to let a mistake knock him from the top spot.
You know, this road could be a little slick today, uh, I just, uh-- and I got this load that I'm afraid is going to move around on me, so I will take it easy.
I just keep an eye on everything and make sure it's good.
Whoo-hoo, whoop-tada! I'm ready to roll.
Rock and roll.
It's a good feeling when they realize what I can do.
You know, I'm doing my job.
They're happy with it.
Awesome.
Make me feel good.
Holding a half day's lead on the rest of the pack, Darrell's approach is paying off.
I'm killing it.
I'm gonna to take out the top dog.
I'm going to be the new top dog.
southeast in Manitoba, Canada We got 16 fresh water tanks going to St.
Theresa Island.
What if I poop in one? Then we have 15 fresh water tanks and one sewage tank.
Back from their first trip and anxious to get in another run, Hugh and Rick are turning and burning.
Sir, you may want to Polar Bearize those.
Yeah? Today, they're heading 300 miles north, hauling freshwater tanks to the village of St.
Theresa.
I do 'em tight, he does 'em Polar Bear tight.
Let's roll.
Yeah, apparently they got more loads going up this year than any other year so far that need to get up the roads.
But with warm weather wreaking havoc on the winter roads, melting sections could shut down without warning.
I guess we're kind of taking a gamble, but it's just the way this game goes.
It's the risk or the gamble I took when I turned the key and headed out here.
town, Hugh and Rick reach the entrance to the St.
Theresa winter road And so far, luck is on their side.
Oh, they had a big snow bank across the front of the road here and, uh, they just opened it up, and I think we're the first two trucks on it.
It's gonna be rough in here.
But first on the road also means first on the ice.
We'll see what we hit.
This is supposed to be the roughest son of a bitch they got out here.
If they can get there in one piece.
It's pretty fucking rough.
We're down to about fucking 'cause it's that rough.
The winter road's just like the autobahn.
You can go as fast as you want if you can hang on to the fucking steering wheel.
As they clear the next rise A two-mile stretch of virgin ice appears up ahead.
Okay, we are just edging onto the lake right now.
There's a good reminder that this is a fucking dangerous, dangerous job.
There's a big excavator in the water.
Don't fuck around, respect shit.
She's a-crackin'.
In the unseasonably warm weather, ice is fragile and quick to crack.
Let me know when I'm good to come.
Got it, 10-4.
The plan is to cross one at a time to increase their chances of staying dry.
How does it look up there, Polar Bear? Very thin.
Very thin.
With me just crawling across here like this, the cracks right beside my window here are opening up at least an inch, two inches right there.
Oh, so she's thin? Yeah, 10-4.
You just watch these cracks shoot across.
There's no cracks, and then all of a sudden there's cracks.
And look at that, cracks.
Oh, fuck.
Okay, you can probably come on if you want.
Yeah, she's cracking up big time under me here, like, there's cracks shooting all over the place and they are up to about an inch wide when I'm doing it, so just go slow.
This is ice road trucking now.
It's what we do.
We're jumping into a bunch of shit this time around.
You could never stop with a load on this.
You'd go down.
Halfway across and ice under Hugh's rig is starting to fracture.
See we're just cracking the fuck out of this.
Holy fuck.
Big time, big time.
Oh, fuck, yeah.
We're right in her now.
We're sinking.
Hold on! In Manitoba, Canada See, we're just cracking the fuck out of this.
Holy fuck.
Hugh and Rick are headed to the village of St.
Theresa, hauling a load of water tanks over 100 feet of water.
Oh, fuck, yeah, we're right in her now.
Sinking.
Hold on! Holy fuck! Fell through back there a little bit.
You just respect the ice, and you'll make it through there.
Yee haw! Whoo! Well, that was kind of bad coming through there.
Well, we made it off another one there, buddy, and we're-- we're still here, sink or swim.
Still here, sink or swim.
I don't know, I'm still not there yet.
You've got it.
Stay to the right.
You see that hole that's sittin' down there.
Yeah, that's a big 10-4.
This separates the men from the boys.
I'm clear, buddy.
That's pretty fucking trippy, watching them cracks open up, eh? Yeah, you know you're, uh, you're pretty fucking green ice when you're out there doing that.
northwest in Fairbanks I hate to say it, but my life's in another man's hands right now.
South Carolina native, Ronald "Porkchop" Mangum is on his way to answer for what could be a career-ending mistake.
Last trip, porkchop failed to properly hook up his trailer Son of a bitch! Putting Carlile's 3-1/2 million pound oil rig move in jeopardy.
Trailer jaws weren't locked in place all the way and she fell to the ground.
I screwed up and I screwed up big time as far as dropping that trailer.
I hope everything works out pretty good.
We'll just have to wait and see.
I don't want to go home a failure.
I miss my wife and kids, but I don't want to go home yet.
With his dream of making big money in Alaska on the line, Porkchop reports to the boss's office.
How you doing? Mind if come in and talk to you? Have a seat.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Why don't you close that door too? The other night in Prudhoe when you were getting ready to go out on the ice, it sounds like you didn't do a complete check on your fifth wheel and ended up dropping the trailer out there in the yard, huh? Yes, sir, I'm completely guilty as charged.
I can't be there to do it for you.
I can't expect your driver/trainer to be there and do it for you.
He shouldn't have to tell you to do the basic steps of being a truck driver.
You've got to start the truck, you know, you've got get it hooked up to the trailer, you've got to make sure you're hooked up, and then you got to make sure your load is tied down, right? I mean, as far as I'm concerned, you don't do any one of those steps, then-- then you're not qualified to be here.
In 15 years, I've never had it happen, and I'm embarrassed about it.
Okay, well that doesn't fix the problem.
I guess I'm to the point where we need to take a little break here and, uh, get back together in a couple days and we'll revisit it, okay? I just got out of a meeting with Lane, got my ass-chewing like I figured I was going to get.
He probably wanted to jump across the desk and rip my head off and stomp on me, but for the most part I think he was very reserved.
Yeah, I just got done talking to Porkchop, had him back in the office again.
Pretty much a common thing these days.
I'm going to do a little thinking.
He's going to do a little thinking.
You know, I'm not sure he's got a future at Carlile, because I'm not sure it's gonna work.
We're hauling ass! Austin Wheeler, is making good time on his first solo trip.
We got a full tank of gas, a four-pack of Red Bull, and a pound of beef jerky.
We're going as fast as the law allows.
Determined to stay ahead of former mentor, Jack Jessee, Austin is setting an aggressive pace.
We're gonna pass.
It's so nice to be by myself finally.
I feel like I won't get slowed down at all today and nothing's out there to stop me.
- But as he speeds north - Hey, you know, it's pretty bad; I'm dying up here with 105,000 pounds.
The radio comes to life with a call for help.
Where's Austin at? I could use a little push here.
Don't you worry, I'll be there before you know it.
Well, there's another Carlile driver up ahead of us here that-- He's kind of heavy, and, uh, he's slowing way down on the hills.
Asked if I can give him a little push up to Gobbler's Knob.
I don't mind helping another driver out.
When push-trucking, the front truck does the steering while the back truck provides the extra power, but if either driver loses control, they'll both end up in the ditch.
There's definitely a lot of things that can go wrong when you're push-trucking.
You don't know what's in front of you.
You're trusting the driver in front of you to steer you on the road.
All right, I got you, I'll start speeding up here.
You don't want to hit him hard.
It ruins front ends on trucks and bumpers on trailers.
Hang on.
Haul road rookie Austin Wheeler is about to rear-end another big rig on purpose.
You don't want to hit him hard.
It ruins front ends of trucks and bumpers on trailers.
Hang on.
The reason why you're pushing is to help get that weight up the hill.
With the two trucks locked in, Austin's at the mercy of the 50-ton rig riding his bumper.
When you're push-trucking, you don't steer.
The front truck steers for you, you just keep your foot in it.
You want to try to be a little faster than the driver that you're pushing.
There's an art to push-trucking, they just don't let anybody do it.
All right, I'm backing off you.
I just sat back and enjoyed the ride, man.
I sure appreciate it.
I'm going to have to, you know, buy you a cup of coffee or something now.
Make it a Coke and you got it.
While Austin struts his stuff, 300 miles to the - north - A little chilly.
Darrell Ward's already reached Prudhoe Bay.
After delivering his load of heaters, he's hoping to score a backhaul and the extra pay that comes with it.
What you got for me? I got a triple stack here.
A triple stack? Yeah.
How heavy is it? Heavy enough for a backhaul.
Heavy enough for a backhaul? It's a paying backhaul.
- All right-- - Be careful there on Atigun, it's blowing.
Is it blowing? Yep.
Thanks.
Still half a day ahead of the competition All right, get her hooked up, man, get southbound towards Fairbanks.
The Dalton newcomer's lead has earned him a coveted bonus on his return trip.
I got three trailers here.
They're needing them back in Fairbanks so they can get some freight moved back up here, you know? I was the only that made it here, so I'm the one that got-- That got trailers to go back.
Right on, we're good to rock and roll.
You know, I don't think they're ever going to send me back with nothing.
I think they-- they really like what I do, you know.
They know that if-- You know, everything I take is-- It arrives in the same condition it left in, you know, and it gets there on time, so they said, "Give those flatbeds to Darrell, we need 'em here and we need 'em here now.
He's the man that'll get 'em to us.
" When you love to be out here on the road more than you want to be at home, I guess maybe I was meant just to be a single man and doing what I love to do, and this is it.
Oh, fuck! Hugh and Rick are battling their way towards St.
Theresa with two loads of much-needed water tanks.
Fuck! The first drivers on a newly-opened stretch of rough road, they are taking their worst beating of the season.
That's a bit of a rodeo over on that fucking corner, wasn't there? That's a 10-4.
It's a little bit of a rodeo on this whole fucking road.
Good thing I wore my party tie today.
Oh, jeez.
I knew it was coming.
Once you get her hoppin', you can't get her stoppin'.
Despite the rugged conditions, Hugh and Rick are finally nearing their destination.
Okay, hold on.
But as they reach the final turn You gotta be joking.
The veterans have run out of road.
Hey, motherfucker, you on here? Hello, hello, hello.
Hey, we're at-- We're at our turnoff here for fuck sakes, and the road's closed.
At a standstill, Hugh phones the buyer to figure out a plan.
Hello, this is, uh, Hugh.
We got a couple loads of water tanks here, 16 fresh water tanks.
Th-they were supposed to go to St.
Therese, but the road's not open.
Okay.
Okay, thanks, bye.
With no word of how long the melting road will remain closed, the order is Dump the load and head back to town.
Pretty unique hand bomb.
We always wanted to do it, and here's our chance.
Wait, wait, wait-- Go.
One more.
There's four.
That's good.
Oh! Yeah, baby! Yeah! We, uh, had to hand bomb these tanks off.
Uh, hopefully they're in the right spot, but, uh, at this point They're so light, they can put 'em behind a snowmobile.
Tow 'em in.
Hell of a job, Mr.
Rowland, hell of a job.
I always wanted to do it, now I've done it, now I hope I never have to do it again.
I agree.
With empty trailers, Hugh and Rick pull away from only their second loads of the season.
That's Not heard of for the truck driver-- Hey, push your load off on the side of the road.
No, that's definitely a first.
- Coming up - We're going to get into a blow that is going to be zero visibility.
Winter's wrath takes hold of the haul road.
We're not going to get through this.
of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska Yeah, she's blowing hard up here.
Darrell Ward is still leading the pack with his triple-trailer backhaul.
It started snowing.
It's snowing pretty hard.
I don't know, we've picked up a couple inches.
But with every mile, conditions are getting worse.
That's not a good sign, when they're sending that big boy up here.
You can see the wind's starting to pick up here already.
We're going to get into a blow that is going to be zero visibility.
It's going to be terrible, these roads are going to be slick.
You know, I just come up behind the biggest road grader you ever seen in your life.
Big old "V" blade on the front, winged up, and, you know, he's headed up here for a reason.
Two miles ahead of Darrell Carlile's Phil Kromm is also pushing south.
Freezing rain, blowing snow, and, uh, it's a really kind of a tough day to be leaving town with not knowing exactly what we're going to find out here.
We're liable to get our asses handed to us up there.
Yeah, copy that.
Looks like once we get up towards the top, we are gonna get in it a bit.
It's liable to be pretty bad.
Yeah, it's liable to be real bad.
We're probably going to fight it all the way over.
This stuff's really picking up and moving, so I'm gonna go and see if we can bust through it.
Up ahead, severe winter weather is taking control.
Packing 80-mile-per-hour winds and heavy drifting snow, the storm is quickly plugging up the road.
In these conditions, trucks can easily become stranded, trapping drivers for days in brutal sub-zero temperatures.
We get up the other side, and it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse.
Hey, Mike, this is bullshit-- I ain't doing this.
Everybody's turning around.
Yep, Slope Mountain camp for me.
Everybody's going back to slope mountain camp, turning around.
- After an hour fighting the weather - Darrell? Yes, sir.
We gotta back 'em in right here in this little pullout on top, drop 'em, and go down to the camp.
Both drivers decide to call it quits.
They're saying it's really, really nasty.
It's changing fast.
- Trapped in the violent storm - We're going to drop our trailers here and go back to Slope Mountain camp.
We're not going to get through this.
Darrell and Phil drop their loads and run for cover at a nearby DOT camp.
Pretty rough out there.
I'm always one to want to push through it, but sometimes you've got to throw in the towel, you know, and admit a little defeat.
- 130 miles to the South - We can only go Austin Wheeler is running into the same storm that stopped Darrell and Phil in their tracks.
The roads just really suck right now, once we got to the other side of Atigun Pass.
The roads are just fucked.
The wind's blowing really hard.
You can barely see.
The road's drifting really bad with snow, so you just got to be careful going through here.
Running solo, Austin had hoped to fly up the Dalton We've got trucks off the road here and trucks trying to pull them out.
But the winter weather has slowed him to a crawl.
There's a truck in the ditch up here, one of our own, so we'll probably stop and see if we can help him out.
A fellow Carlile driver lost track of the road and wound up buried in the ditch, backing up the Dalton.
Hey, Austin.
You and Jack think you can pull me back? I'm not with Jack, I'm by myself.
I don't know, we can try.
Okay Austin, come on up.
And with traffic at a standstill, the only way through is for Austin to quickly free the rig, before they all become hopelessly trapped on the road.
I'm going to try and help this guy get out of the ditch.
Oh, my God! Let me know when you're ready.
All right, bud.
Here we go.
Hang on.
Here we go again.
You've gotta be kidding me.
Come on! Jack Jessee is headed towards the storm with a load of timber and a pick-up truck.
That dry river slide is gonna be a bitch.
Excellent.
Need a little excitement for the night.
So I just talked to another driver, said there was a big weather front moving through, right around the Arctic Circle.
It might get very interesting tonight.
So regardless of how early or how late you get out of town, when the weather kicks up, it's definitely going to slow you down.
On top of the massive storm bearing down Hey, Jack, you got a bad tire on your rear.
Jack's got other problems.
Oh, fuck.
Uh, your rear tandem tire-- Outer is wobbling pretty bad.
Uh, thanks a lot.
That back one, it does seem a little screwed up.
The frozen Dalton's hard miles wreak havoc on equipment.
If a loose wheel goes unnoticed, it can break free, sending a 150-pound projectile into oncoming traffic at over We're blocking this part of the road here, but when you got to stop, you got to stop.
I can see where it's already lopsided.
Look at that.
That's what it's doing.
I'm not really sure what happened.
Loose lug nuts, broken stud right there, wheel's separating.
Well, right now, we're definitely at a standstill.
I can't go down the road with this thing wobbling like this.
Stuck on the side of the road with a storm bearing - down -So I'm pretty well stuck where I'm at until I get this problem fixed.
The haul road ace is stranded.
On the side of the haul road I don't know what happened.
Lug nuts got loose, shrank, came-- It doesn't matter.
Jack Jessee is at a standstill with a busted trailer and a storm on the way.
Can't have these things even free-rolling, even if I took the weight off, 'cause it's still going to break those studs, so I think what I'm going to end up doing is, I'll go down the road with no wheel.
Desperate to get back underway, Jack's plan is to remove the tires and turn his big rig into a 16-wheeler.
Okay.
I'm hoping that chain can pick the whole trailer up.
See what happens.
And the last one.
We got her.
And the cavalry arrived just as soon as I got done.
There's one.
Guys showed up right when I really needed the help the most to load these tires up.
All right guys, thanks! Yep, you're welcome.
See you later.
I say we go trucking now! People see you riding down the road with no wheels out there, then they know you've had problems.
But they also know you fixed them and you overcome them.
Jack's back on the road, but the fix cost him precious time, and with a storm raging up ahead, Jack's calling it a night in Coldfoot.
It's definitely not the way I want to end a long day.
While the veteran packs it in Austin's still determined to reach Prudhoe Bay.
Here we go again.
He's fighting to clear a 105,000-pound tanker that's blocking the road But the truck refuses to budge.
I don't know if that would work.
Damn this wind.
With every passing second, blowing snow buries the big rig deeper.
I might be able to pull it out from the front.
Worth a try.
And with a line of stuck trucks building on the - road behind him - Okay, Bill, I'm going to try to come around you here.
Austin takes one last shot at freeing them all from the crippling storm.
Let me disconnect you from me here-- Hold on.
All right.
Ready? Yup-- Yeah, I am.
Come on! Wahoo! Whoo! With the truck free and the road cleared, Austin and the rest of the drivers are once again rolling north.
Well, the Qualcomm said zero visibility out here.
That ain't stopping us.
Now I'm leading the convoy to Prudhoe, all chained up.
I ain't going to lie, I just feel like a total badass today.
Austin's back underway, but until he reaches Prudhoe Bay, Darrell Ward is all alone at the top of the load count.
- Back on the haul road - Oh, I see lights out there to the left.
Another truck is in trouble.
Yeah, I was following tracks, I'm almost in the tracks and it looks like the berm, you know, is 8 feet over, but I-I don't know what the hell it is, but I don't think that's road over there.
The stranded driver has lost track of the road See if we can help him out.
And batting a thousand, Austin decides to attempt another rescue.
Here I go.
But this time, the rookie has run out of luck.
I'm stuck here because I've been trying to play the fucking savior and help everybody.
Next time on Ice Road Truckers Get me the hell out of here.
A path of destruction in the aftermath of the storm.
Barely can see the road.
Oh, crap! There's a great possibility that I just lost my best friend.
And we're off, and running.
Alex makes a break for it And in Manitoba, the heaviest loads of the year When you're hearing ice cracking That's usually when, uh, shit go really wrong.
Have Hugh and Rick at rock bottom.
Oh, no!
The Canadians battle thin ice.
We're right in her now.
And in Alaska, rookies run wild.
I'm gonna take out the top dogs.
As everyone guns for the top spot.
It's gonna be like a rocket ship to Prudhoe.
As far as I'm concerned, you're not qualified to be here.
But when mother nature strikes We're going to get into a blow, then there's going to be zero visibility.
Nobody's making it home.
We're not going to get through this.
I'm stuck here.
In Fairbanks Going into dispatch.
It's about 5:30 in the morning.
Go see what they got for me to bring to Prudhoe today.
Eager rookie, Austin Wheeler is first through the door at dispatch.
You got me some paperwork? You got me some paperwork? Hey, it's too early in the morning for this shit, Austin.
I'm ready to go, man.
Little mini-excavator for our mini-heavy-hauler.
Yes.
Hell yeah, it's only 18,000 pounds.
It's going to be like a rocket ship to Prudhoe.
All right.
Stay out of trouble.
All right, see ya.
Since the season began, Austin's been enrolled in the school of Jack Jessee.
You're Austin? Yes, sir.
But the 23-year-old hasn't been impressed with the ace.
Well, he's a douche bag for sitting in Coldfoot while I loaded up the truck by myself.
Today, Austin's running solo, getting his first taste of freedom and a chance to set his own pace.
Just keep hammering them out.
There are some more experienced people in my way of being the load count champ, but that's not gonna stop me because I know that, you know, in here I can do it.
Well, everything checks out good.
Let's, uh, let's get out of here.
My goal is to be jacking the load count.
Hauling an equipment, Austin's first out of the yard.
Who decides to show up for work? Jack Jessee.
We'll give him a honk.
Just showing up to work an hour after I do, that's the way I like it.
But this morning, Jack's got more on his mind than getting a load.
I think Austin came in a little too strong.
If he thinks he can handle this without any instructions, I mean, he should probably turn around and go back to wherever he came from.
- After struggling to rein in the rookie - Man, Austin? Hammer down, boys.
Jack's taking his concerns to the boss.
So, Austin, I think we need to talk about him a little bit.
Really? I think he's trying to do too much too fast.
He's getting in too big of a hurry.
Separated the convoy by 30 miles at one point, and he just-- He ran off and left me.
Like, it's not sinking in.
He's just getting ahead of himself.
I don't want him to learn bad habits.
I appreciate your opinion.
If I think the guy is a problem on the road, I don't have any problem pulling him off there, but I just don't believe that's the case with Austin right now.
I think he's got what it takes.
Maybe you better go out and get in your truck and take your load, and I'll worry about getting Austin up the road.
All right.
Jack and Austin didn't get along real well, didn't hit it off right away.
Not that I disagreed with Jack, but the bottom line is, Austin's got the skill to handle the big stuff.
He's proved that.
Um, maybe Jack's threatened by that, I don't know, but I have to be fair to all my drivers, give 'em all a fair shot.
With the veteran's doubts falling on deaf ears, Jack hooks up to his load of lumber and a pick-up truck.
I went in there and said my piece.
I don't know if he was listening that well or not, but Austin doesn't have near the miles that I do, and I know Lane ain't got near the miles that I do, if any.
Lane wants me to step up and lead the pack this year, but if nobody's going to listen to me, why bother? after spending the night in Coldfoot, Darrell Ward is already halfway to Prudhoe Bay with a 28,000-pound load of portable heaters.
I'm headed north.
It started snowing, and, you know, what I got to watch for is somebody else getting crossways in the road and me coming up on 'em and not seeing 'em, you know, or they could be on my side of the road because they're not as capable of doing this as I am.
Just two weeks into the season, Darrell's tied for the lead in the load count.
Farther north I go, the worse she gets.
And the Montana legend isn't about to let a mistake knock him from the top spot.
You know, this road could be a little slick today, uh, I just, uh-- and I got this load that I'm afraid is going to move around on me, so I will take it easy.
I just keep an eye on everything and make sure it's good.
Whoo-hoo, whoop-tada! I'm ready to roll.
Rock and roll.
It's a good feeling when they realize what I can do.
You know, I'm doing my job.
They're happy with it.
Awesome.
Make me feel good.
Holding a half day's lead on the rest of the pack, Darrell's approach is paying off.
I'm killing it.
I'm gonna to take out the top dog.
I'm going to be the new top dog.
southeast in Manitoba, Canada We got 16 fresh water tanks going to St.
Theresa Island.
What if I poop in one? Then we have 15 fresh water tanks and one sewage tank.
Back from their first trip and anxious to get in another run, Hugh and Rick are turning and burning.
Sir, you may want to Polar Bearize those.
Yeah? Today, they're heading 300 miles north, hauling freshwater tanks to the village of St.
Theresa.
I do 'em tight, he does 'em Polar Bear tight.
Let's roll.
Yeah, apparently they got more loads going up this year than any other year so far that need to get up the roads.
But with warm weather wreaking havoc on the winter roads, melting sections could shut down without warning.
I guess we're kind of taking a gamble, but it's just the way this game goes.
It's the risk or the gamble I took when I turned the key and headed out here.
town, Hugh and Rick reach the entrance to the St.
Theresa winter road And so far, luck is on their side.
Oh, they had a big snow bank across the front of the road here and, uh, they just opened it up, and I think we're the first two trucks on it.
It's gonna be rough in here.
But first on the road also means first on the ice.
We'll see what we hit.
This is supposed to be the roughest son of a bitch they got out here.
If they can get there in one piece.
It's pretty fucking rough.
We're down to about fucking 'cause it's that rough.
The winter road's just like the autobahn.
You can go as fast as you want if you can hang on to the fucking steering wheel.
As they clear the next rise A two-mile stretch of virgin ice appears up ahead.
Okay, we are just edging onto the lake right now.
There's a good reminder that this is a fucking dangerous, dangerous job.
There's a big excavator in the water.
Don't fuck around, respect shit.
She's a-crackin'.
In the unseasonably warm weather, ice is fragile and quick to crack.
Let me know when I'm good to come.
Got it, 10-4.
The plan is to cross one at a time to increase their chances of staying dry.
How does it look up there, Polar Bear? Very thin.
Very thin.
With me just crawling across here like this, the cracks right beside my window here are opening up at least an inch, two inches right there.
Oh, so she's thin? Yeah, 10-4.
You just watch these cracks shoot across.
There's no cracks, and then all of a sudden there's cracks.
And look at that, cracks.
Oh, fuck.
Okay, you can probably come on if you want.
Yeah, she's cracking up big time under me here, like, there's cracks shooting all over the place and they are up to about an inch wide when I'm doing it, so just go slow.
This is ice road trucking now.
It's what we do.
We're jumping into a bunch of shit this time around.
You could never stop with a load on this.
You'd go down.
Halfway across and ice under Hugh's rig is starting to fracture.
See we're just cracking the fuck out of this.
Holy fuck.
Big time, big time.
Oh, fuck, yeah.
We're right in her now.
We're sinking.
Hold on! In Manitoba, Canada See, we're just cracking the fuck out of this.
Holy fuck.
Hugh and Rick are headed to the village of St.
Theresa, hauling a load of water tanks over 100 feet of water.
Oh, fuck, yeah, we're right in her now.
Sinking.
Hold on! Holy fuck! Fell through back there a little bit.
You just respect the ice, and you'll make it through there.
Yee haw! Whoo! Well, that was kind of bad coming through there.
Well, we made it off another one there, buddy, and we're-- we're still here, sink or swim.
Still here, sink or swim.
I don't know, I'm still not there yet.
You've got it.
Stay to the right.
You see that hole that's sittin' down there.
Yeah, that's a big 10-4.
This separates the men from the boys.
I'm clear, buddy.
That's pretty fucking trippy, watching them cracks open up, eh? Yeah, you know you're, uh, you're pretty fucking green ice when you're out there doing that.
northwest in Fairbanks I hate to say it, but my life's in another man's hands right now.
South Carolina native, Ronald "Porkchop" Mangum is on his way to answer for what could be a career-ending mistake.
Last trip, porkchop failed to properly hook up his trailer Son of a bitch! Putting Carlile's 3-1/2 million pound oil rig move in jeopardy.
Trailer jaws weren't locked in place all the way and she fell to the ground.
I screwed up and I screwed up big time as far as dropping that trailer.
I hope everything works out pretty good.
We'll just have to wait and see.
I don't want to go home a failure.
I miss my wife and kids, but I don't want to go home yet.
With his dream of making big money in Alaska on the line, Porkchop reports to the boss's office.
How you doing? Mind if come in and talk to you? Have a seat.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Why don't you close that door too? The other night in Prudhoe when you were getting ready to go out on the ice, it sounds like you didn't do a complete check on your fifth wheel and ended up dropping the trailer out there in the yard, huh? Yes, sir, I'm completely guilty as charged.
I can't be there to do it for you.
I can't expect your driver/trainer to be there and do it for you.
He shouldn't have to tell you to do the basic steps of being a truck driver.
You've got to start the truck, you know, you've got get it hooked up to the trailer, you've got to make sure you're hooked up, and then you got to make sure your load is tied down, right? I mean, as far as I'm concerned, you don't do any one of those steps, then-- then you're not qualified to be here.
In 15 years, I've never had it happen, and I'm embarrassed about it.
Okay, well that doesn't fix the problem.
I guess I'm to the point where we need to take a little break here and, uh, get back together in a couple days and we'll revisit it, okay? I just got out of a meeting with Lane, got my ass-chewing like I figured I was going to get.
He probably wanted to jump across the desk and rip my head off and stomp on me, but for the most part I think he was very reserved.
Yeah, I just got done talking to Porkchop, had him back in the office again.
Pretty much a common thing these days.
I'm going to do a little thinking.
He's going to do a little thinking.
You know, I'm not sure he's got a future at Carlile, because I'm not sure it's gonna work.
We're hauling ass! Austin Wheeler, is making good time on his first solo trip.
We got a full tank of gas, a four-pack of Red Bull, and a pound of beef jerky.
We're going as fast as the law allows.
Determined to stay ahead of former mentor, Jack Jessee, Austin is setting an aggressive pace.
We're gonna pass.
It's so nice to be by myself finally.
I feel like I won't get slowed down at all today and nothing's out there to stop me.
- But as he speeds north - Hey, you know, it's pretty bad; I'm dying up here with 105,000 pounds.
The radio comes to life with a call for help.
Where's Austin at? I could use a little push here.
Don't you worry, I'll be there before you know it.
Well, there's another Carlile driver up ahead of us here that-- He's kind of heavy, and, uh, he's slowing way down on the hills.
Asked if I can give him a little push up to Gobbler's Knob.
I don't mind helping another driver out.
When push-trucking, the front truck does the steering while the back truck provides the extra power, but if either driver loses control, they'll both end up in the ditch.
There's definitely a lot of things that can go wrong when you're push-trucking.
You don't know what's in front of you.
You're trusting the driver in front of you to steer you on the road.
All right, I got you, I'll start speeding up here.
You don't want to hit him hard.
It ruins front ends on trucks and bumpers on trailers.
Hang on.
Haul road rookie Austin Wheeler is about to rear-end another big rig on purpose.
You don't want to hit him hard.
It ruins front ends of trucks and bumpers on trailers.
Hang on.
The reason why you're pushing is to help get that weight up the hill.
With the two trucks locked in, Austin's at the mercy of the 50-ton rig riding his bumper.
When you're push-trucking, you don't steer.
The front truck steers for you, you just keep your foot in it.
You want to try to be a little faster than the driver that you're pushing.
There's an art to push-trucking, they just don't let anybody do it.
All right, I'm backing off you.
I just sat back and enjoyed the ride, man.
I sure appreciate it.
I'm going to have to, you know, buy you a cup of coffee or something now.
Make it a Coke and you got it.
While Austin struts his stuff, 300 miles to the - north - A little chilly.
Darrell Ward's already reached Prudhoe Bay.
After delivering his load of heaters, he's hoping to score a backhaul and the extra pay that comes with it.
What you got for me? I got a triple stack here.
A triple stack? Yeah.
How heavy is it? Heavy enough for a backhaul.
Heavy enough for a backhaul? It's a paying backhaul.
- All right-- - Be careful there on Atigun, it's blowing.
Is it blowing? Yep.
Thanks.
Still half a day ahead of the competition All right, get her hooked up, man, get southbound towards Fairbanks.
The Dalton newcomer's lead has earned him a coveted bonus on his return trip.
I got three trailers here.
They're needing them back in Fairbanks so they can get some freight moved back up here, you know? I was the only that made it here, so I'm the one that got-- That got trailers to go back.
Right on, we're good to rock and roll.
You know, I don't think they're ever going to send me back with nothing.
I think they-- they really like what I do, you know.
They know that if-- You know, everything I take is-- It arrives in the same condition it left in, you know, and it gets there on time, so they said, "Give those flatbeds to Darrell, we need 'em here and we need 'em here now.
He's the man that'll get 'em to us.
" When you love to be out here on the road more than you want to be at home, I guess maybe I was meant just to be a single man and doing what I love to do, and this is it.
Oh, fuck! Hugh and Rick are battling their way towards St.
Theresa with two loads of much-needed water tanks.
Fuck! The first drivers on a newly-opened stretch of rough road, they are taking their worst beating of the season.
That's a bit of a rodeo over on that fucking corner, wasn't there? That's a 10-4.
It's a little bit of a rodeo on this whole fucking road.
Good thing I wore my party tie today.
Oh, jeez.
I knew it was coming.
Once you get her hoppin', you can't get her stoppin'.
Despite the rugged conditions, Hugh and Rick are finally nearing their destination.
Okay, hold on.
But as they reach the final turn You gotta be joking.
The veterans have run out of road.
Hey, motherfucker, you on here? Hello, hello, hello.
Hey, we're at-- We're at our turnoff here for fuck sakes, and the road's closed.
At a standstill, Hugh phones the buyer to figure out a plan.
Hello, this is, uh, Hugh.
We got a couple loads of water tanks here, 16 fresh water tanks.
Th-they were supposed to go to St.
Therese, but the road's not open.
Okay.
Okay, thanks, bye.
With no word of how long the melting road will remain closed, the order is Dump the load and head back to town.
Pretty unique hand bomb.
We always wanted to do it, and here's our chance.
Wait, wait, wait-- Go.
One more.
There's four.
That's good.
Oh! Yeah, baby! Yeah! We, uh, had to hand bomb these tanks off.
Uh, hopefully they're in the right spot, but, uh, at this point They're so light, they can put 'em behind a snowmobile.
Tow 'em in.
Hell of a job, Mr.
Rowland, hell of a job.
I always wanted to do it, now I've done it, now I hope I never have to do it again.
I agree.
With empty trailers, Hugh and Rick pull away from only their second loads of the season.
That's Not heard of for the truck driver-- Hey, push your load off on the side of the road.
No, that's definitely a first.
- Coming up - We're going to get into a blow that is going to be zero visibility.
Winter's wrath takes hold of the haul road.
We're not going to get through this.
of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska Yeah, she's blowing hard up here.
Darrell Ward is still leading the pack with his triple-trailer backhaul.
It started snowing.
It's snowing pretty hard.
I don't know, we've picked up a couple inches.
But with every mile, conditions are getting worse.
That's not a good sign, when they're sending that big boy up here.
You can see the wind's starting to pick up here already.
We're going to get into a blow that is going to be zero visibility.
It's going to be terrible, these roads are going to be slick.
You know, I just come up behind the biggest road grader you ever seen in your life.
Big old "V" blade on the front, winged up, and, you know, he's headed up here for a reason.
Two miles ahead of Darrell Carlile's Phil Kromm is also pushing south.
Freezing rain, blowing snow, and, uh, it's a really kind of a tough day to be leaving town with not knowing exactly what we're going to find out here.
We're liable to get our asses handed to us up there.
Yeah, copy that.
Looks like once we get up towards the top, we are gonna get in it a bit.
It's liable to be pretty bad.
Yeah, it's liable to be real bad.
We're probably going to fight it all the way over.
This stuff's really picking up and moving, so I'm gonna go and see if we can bust through it.
Up ahead, severe winter weather is taking control.
Packing 80-mile-per-hour winds and heavy drifting snow, the storm is quickly plugging up the road.
In these conditions, trucks can easily become stranded, trapping drivers for days in brutal sub-zero temperatures.
We get up the other side, and it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse.
Hey, Mike, this is bullshit-- I ain't doing this.
Everybody's turning around.
Yep, Slope Mountain camp for me.
Everybody's going back to slope mountain camp, turning around.
- After an hour fighting the weather - Darrell? Yes, sir.
We gotta back 'em in right here in this little pullout on top, drop 'em, and go down to the camp.
Both drivers decide to call it quits.
They're saying it's really, really nasty.
It's changing fast.
- Trapped in the violent storm - We're going to drop our trailers here and go back to Slope Mountain camp.
We're not going to get through this.
Darrell and Phil drop their loads and run for cover at a nearby DOT camp.
Pretty rough out there.
I'm always one to want to push through it, but sometimes you've got to throw in the towel, you know, and admit a little defeat.
- 130 miles to the South - We can only go Austin Wheeler is running into the same storm that stopped Darrell and Phil in their tracks.
The roads just really suck right now, once we got to the other side of Atigun Pass.
The roads are just fucked.
The wind's blowing really hard.
You can barely see.
The road's drifting really bad with snow, so you just got to be careful going through here.
Running solo, Austin had hoped to fly up the Dalton We've got trucks off the road here and trucks trying to pull them out.
But the winter weather has slowed him to a crawl.
There's a truck in the ditch up here, one of our own, so we'll probably stop and see if we can help him out.
A fellow Carlile driver lost track of the road and wound up buried in the ditch, backing up the Dalton.
Hey, Austin.
You and Jack think you can pull me back? I'm not with Jack, I'm by myself.
I don't know, we can try.
Okay Austin, come on up.
And with traffic at a standstill, the only way through is for Austin to quickly free the rig, before they all become hopelessly trapped on the road.
I'm going to try and help this guy get out of the ditch.
Oh, my God! Let me know when you're ready.
All right, bud.
Here we go.
Hang on.
Here we go again.
You've gotta be kidding me.
Come on! Jack Jessee is headed towards the storm with a load of timber and a pick-up truck.
That dry river slide is gonna be a bitch.
Excellent.
Need a little excitement for the night.
So I just talked to another driver, said there was a big weather front moving through, right around the Arctic Circle.
It might get very interesting tonight.
So regardless of how early or how late you get out of town, when the weather kicks up, it's definitely going to slow you down.
On top of the massive storm bearing down Hey, Jack, you got a bad tire on your rear.
Jack's got other problems.
Oh, fuck.
Uh, your rear tandem tire-- Outer is wobbling pretty bad.
Uh, thanks a lot.
That back one, it does seem a little screwed up.
The frozen Dalton's hard miles wreak havoc on equipment.
If a loose wheel goes unnoticed, it can break free, sending a 150-pound projectile into oncoming traffic at over We're blocking this part of the road here, but when you got to stop, you got to stop.
I can see where it's already lopsided.
Look at that.
That's what it's doing.
I'm not really sure what happened.
Loose lug nuts, broken stud right there, wheel's separating.
Well, right now, we're definitely at a standstill.
I can't go down the road with this thing wobbling like this.
Stuck on the side of the road with a storm bearing - down -So I'm pretty well stuck where I'm at until I get this problem fixed.
The haul road ace is stranded.
On the side of the haul road I don't know what happened.
Lug nuts got loose, shrank, came-- It doesn't matter.
Jack Jessee is at a standstill with a busted trailer and a storm on the way.
Can't have these things even free-rolling, even if I took the weight off, 'cause it's still going to break those studs, so I think what I'm going to end up doing is, I'll go down the road with no wheel.
Desperate to get back underway, Jack's plan is to remove the tires and turn his big rig into a 16-wheeler.
Okay.
I'm hoping that chain can pick the whole trailer up.
See what happens.
And the last one.
We got her.
And the cavalry arrived just as soon as I got done.
There's one.
Guys showed up right when I really needed the help the most to load these tires up.
All right guys, thanks! Yep, you're welcome.
See you later.
I say we go trucking now! People see you riding down the road with no wheels out there, then they know you've had problems.
But they also know you fixed them and you overcome them.
Jack's back on the road, but the fix cost him precious time, and with a storm raging up ahead, Jack's calling it a night in Coldfoot.
It's definitely not the way I want to end a long day.
While the veteran packs it in Austin's still determined to reach Prudhoe Bay.
Here we go again.
He's fighting to clear a 105,000-pound tanker that's blocking the road But the truck refuses to budge.
I don't know if that would work.
Damn this wind.
With every passing second, blowing snow buries the big rig deeper.
I might be able to pull it out from the front.
Worth a try.
And with a line of stuck trucks building on the - road behind him - Okay, Bill, I'm going to try to come around you here.
Austin takes one last shot at freeing them all from the crippling storm.
Let me disconnect you from me here-- Hold on.
All right.
Ready? Yup-- Yeah, I am.
Come on! Wahoo! Whoo! With the truck free and the road cleared, Austin and the rest of the drivers are once again rolling north.
Well, the Qualcomm said zero visibility out here.
That ain't stopping us.
Now I'm leading the convoy to Prudhoe, all chained up.
I ain't going to lie, I just feel like a total badass today.
Austin's back underway, but until he reaches Prudhoe Bay, Darrell Ward is all alone at the top of the load count.
- Back on the haul road - Oh, I see lights out there to the left.
Another truck is in trouble.
Yeah, I was following tracks, I'm almost in the tracks and it looks like the berm, you know, is 8 feet over, but I-I don't know what the hell it is, but I don't think that's road over there.
The stranded driver has lost track of the road See if we can help him out.
And batting a thousand, Austin decides to attempt another rescue.
Here I go.
But this time, the rookie has run out of luck.
I'm stuck here because I've been trying to play the fucking savior and help everybody.
Next time on Ice Road Truckers Get me the hell out of here.
A path of destruction in the aftermath of the storm.
Barely can see the road.
Oh, crap! There's a great possibility that I just lost my best friend.
And we're off, and running.
Alex makes a break for it And in Manitoba, the heaviest loads of the year When you're hearing ice cracking That's usually when, uh, shit go really wrong.
Have Hugh and Rick at rock bottom.
Oh, no!