Ice Road Truckers (2007) s06e07 Episode Script
Hard Road Ahead
Tonight on Ice Road Truckers Jack's not here, so I'm gonna take the load today.
The haul road ace is missing Watch out, Jack Jessee I've got your number.
And everyone is out to claim the top spot.
Dig, bitch! Get off my ass! My nice guy level is running out.
- On the Dempster - 15,000 pounds overweight.
Alex pushes the limit.
There is always the possibility of breaking the ice and going through.
- And on the winter roads - They stopped us, they threatened to arrest us.
Somebody pissed somebody off.
Fucking munch of fucking bullshit.
At the Carlile yard in Fairbanks, Alaska Uh, been a little while since I've done this.
Terminal manager Lane Keator has been forced out of the office.
Jack's not here, so I'm gonna take a load today.
- Last night - If you guys can't even take care of me around here like this, don't bother.
And you can tell that to Lane.
Haul road ace Jack Jessee walked off the job.
I don't even know why I showed up.
And now I don't know what's up with Jack right now, we haven't heard from him so I don't know if he's ticked off a little bit, if he's just blowing off some steam or maybe he's trying to prove a point.
The boss has to step in to keep freight moving.
We'll see what happens if he decides to come back to work, but until then, I'll be on the road.
Today's load is a batch of explosives so dangerous it's gotta be hauled in two separate trucks.
It's kind of a split shipment deal.
One of the shipments is the dets and boosters and the other one is the powder.
You know, you don't keep your bullets and your guns together And sharing the risk with Lane Is Carlile owner Harry McDonald.
How you doing? How are you? Ready to go? Yeah.
My brother and I started this company in 1980, and both of us drove for, you know, a number of years before that and, uh, most of my driving experience is running the haul road.
We'll see if Lane's driving skills are as good as his management.
We don't want anything to go "boom.
" As Lane and Harry hit the road, halfway up the - Dalton at Coldfoot - Oh, check out my load and get outta here.
I'm already running later than I wanted to be.
Montana log hauler Darrell Ward is pushing through an endless trip.
Fuck, it's my third day out here, you know, it kinda sucks.
I don't like running with anybody else.
I kinda like to run by myself.
That's the best way I roll.
- For the past two days - Gotta run a little convoy with Porkchop.
Darrell's been stuck convoying with Porkchop.
Can I go now? And the South Carolina native's slow pace has Darrell's season at a crawl.
Feels like this trip's taking forever, which it almost has.
I want to get out of here and make it back to Fairbanks today.
Time to roll outta here.
But as Darrell mounts up Inside Slow and steady wins the race.
It's not about speed, it's about consistency.
Porkchop's barely stirring.
He wants to lead, let him lead.
I don't need him.
He can be in it for the load count all he wants.
It tells me he's on a mission.
You're on a mission, you're gonna end up in a ditch.
I'm here for my family.
I want to go home safe.
Ahh, beautiful sunny Alaska.
Fucker.
You ready to roll, Porkchop? Waiting on y'all.
It's time to rock on.
All right.
On the road, finally.
I'm gonna take charge of this fucking circus.
But just a few miles South of Coldfoot Darrell is forced to slow down again.
I hit these rough frost heave stretches, Porkchop, I run about 40 miles an hour.
40 miles an hour.
Do your thing.
The road is covered in frost heaves, which are caused by freezing water beneath the surface, and they blanket the road like speed bumps made of ice.
Get off my ass, Porkchop.
It is too rough for me to go any faster.
- But Porkchop - I have no idea what we're doing.
Isn't slowing down.
Don't wanna see you that close, Porkchop.
And he's riding dangerously close to Darrell's trailer.
Here's the deal-- He's up here to do his job, I'm here to do my job.
You know, I can't tell him enough times to get off my ass.
Come on, Porkchop, back off.
You're cramping my style, yo.
Porkchop, back off.
God! I come out here to drive this truck my way.
And obviously my way is working pretty well, because we haven't had any fucked-ups, we haven't had any screw-ups, and I'm doing it the right way.
Get off my ass! Shut the hell up.
You can tell him, and he'll get it for a second, but then it's all gone again.
I need to put one earplug in him.
Plug one side, so it'll stay in there.
Guess what.
I'm Porkchop and I'm gonna be myself.
2,400 miles to the southeast Hugh Rowland and Rick Yemm are rolling into Winnipeg.
It's just one thing after another after another.
My throat feels like I've fucking been swallowing razorblades for entertainment.
Eyes are burning and itchy and eyelids are all raw.
Filling up this morning, I actually coughed up some blood, which is a new one.
Two years in a row I've been sick as hell in this truck.
It's definitely coming from this truck.
- Last year - Hard to breathe.
Hard to swallow.
Rick got sick after a couple weeks behind the wheel of his truck.
And now that it's happened again As good as a truck may be, if it's making you sick, it's not good.
He's thinking the truck might be to blame.
I'm gonna get back to Winnipeg here and go see the doc and hopefully it's just a lung infection or something that's not too bad.
While Rick worries about the investment in his truck Hugh's worried about his investment in the company.
We're heading back to Winnipeg.
See if we can't get fucking straightened out.
Stop doing this fucking bullshit not getting to our destination.
- This trip - It's gonna be tricky getting these cement trucks into Red Sucker Lake.
Not sure what some of the weight restrictions are quite yet.
Polar owner Mark Kohaykewych rolled the dice First big load.
Hope the ice holds us.
Sending Hugh and Rick up the road with an overweight load.
This is fucked up.
And Mark's call nearly landed them behind bars.
We're getting a fucking police escort out of town here.
Now they're looking for answers from Mark and dispatcher Vlad.
Let's see what's going on.
Well, how was it? We went in too heavy.
What? And they are pissed off.
They said you guys know the weights and you guys are definitely over.
Definitely over.
And the paperwork that Mark sent, that's not legitimate papers.
That's not true.
That's not true at all.
Somebody pissed somebody off because-- I talked to him myself.
I don't even want to do this.
I am dying of fucking black lung.
They stopped us, they threatened to arrest us, and that's all that's fucking done.
We had to leave the loads and we got escorted out of fucking town.
They told us to leave the loads there.
We were stuck there.
Something's going on up there, somebody pissed somebody off.
The report that I got said that those trucks said that they were - stopped them, so somebody-- - That's not true, and that's not what we were doing.
Well, I don't care who-- What weights, or whatever the fuck-- Whatever the fuck happened, someone's pissed and we were stopped.
Period.
We can't do nothing.
What do you want me to do? Start a fight? No job's worth being sent to the fucking clink.
It's a fucking bunch of fucking bullshit.
2,000 miles to the northwest Curious to see what Mike's got for me today.
Alex Debogorski is at Manitoulin dispatch.
Oh, good morning, Alex.
Morning, sir.
How are you doing this morning? Good, thanks.
Do you have something today for a change? - Uh, I do.
- Perfect.
You're gonna take an excavator to Aklavik.
Uh, the road is only good for really close to 30 with that excavator.
Very good.
So once your loaded, make sure you go to the scale.
I will.
Thank you.
Very good.
Have a safe ride.
Thank you, sir.
I got an excavator to haul to Aklavik.
That should make for an interesting trip.
Today, Alex's load is headed across the frozen Mackenzie River.
Okay, I guess that's that, though.
But before he hits the ice, he'll have to hit the scales.
My concern is that I'll be pretty well at maximum weight for the ice.
It's probably one of the heaviest loads going to Aklavik this year.
Tight on that side there.
Load's too heavy.
I'm about 15,000 pounds overweight, which may be too heavy for this to go down the road.
Which means that we won't be able to go.
Getting shut down at the scales means missing out on the load and the paycheck that goes with it.
But the veteran's not giving up.
When a challenge presents itself, a person has to look for another way to keep running.
- Coming up - There's always the possibility of going through.
Alex goes for it.
- And later - Oh, God.
A deadly diagnosis.
It's, like, a 2% survival rate.
- In northern Canada - You're going to Aklavik.
Yes.
Alex Debogorski has just learned his load is over - the ice road weight limit - Don't worry about it.
See you later.
All right.
And officials are issuing a special permit for the veteran to attempt the crossing at his own risk.
But a piece of paper isn't gonna help him out on the ice.
I'm on my way to Aklavik.
This is the heaviest load I've hauled on ice.
Well, the roads are both open.
The winter ice road maximum weight-- 30,000.
Ease her on in.
Alex crossed this water at the start of the season.
Holy smokes! But this time his load is over ten times heavier.
Since our weight is over the limit, we gotta be careful about coming on the ice, coming off the ice.
It's the number one danger.
Because the load's this heavy, I gotta stick to the center of the road and drive with more caution.
Alex hammers down to keep his load from sinking in the unpredictable river ice.
Come on.
There is always a possibility of breaking the ice and going through if I'm not careful enough.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
What do you mean, "a spike brake is on"? A spike brake is a hand brake.
And generally it's for the trailer.
If I apply the foot brake, the brakes on the trailer and the truck come on.
When I apply the spike, it's only the trailer brakes that come on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Malfunctioning brakes are a serious problem.
But stopping is even worse.
Stopping on the ice increases a driver's chance of breaking through.
And with this overweight excavator, Alex has 15,000 extra reasons to keep moving.
This is on, this is off.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
- 430 miles to the southwest - I'm fueled and ready to rock.
Austin Wheeler is just starting his day.
Just starting his day.
I'm gonna give you those pickups out there that are on that 53-foot flatbed-- Those F550s.
No problem.
However, I would like you to move 'em steady, not fast.
Okay.
Since I've got drivers coming down here and walking in and going, "hey, that kid Austin is driving awful fast up there," maybe you oughta slow down just a little bit.
Okay.
All season Hammer down, boys.
Austin's been flying up the Dalton every chance he gets.
Just gonna be like a rocket ship to Prudhoe.
But the haul road rookie's eager attitude hasn't won him many friends.
I don't get much respect on the job.
I'm not gonna get mad about it.
I don't really care.
I'm just gonna do a good job and show them that I have what it takes and not make mistakes and get the product and me up there safely and me back safely so I can take another load up.
Let's roll.
- After an earful at dispatch - Is there anything coming, so I can just blast around you? Uh, if you want around, it's clear.
The rookie is taking it slow.
All right, stretch it out there, short stuff.
This is bullshit.
It kind of really chaps my butt that he's gotta say something stupid over the radio like that, but whatever.
Come on now.
Come on now.
Ford pickups, come on, now.
This is really stupid.
You can go ahead and go on around if you're gonna be like that.
Go ahead.
Don't be catching an attitude now.
I was just joking a little bit.
What do you want me to say? So come on.
We don't need that here.
Whatever.
Fine, I ain't bugging you.
Don't be like that.
I'm just tired of catching it, dude.
I've been catching it all week, all day.
It's not cool.
Just kidding with you a little bit.
Sorry you're getting a hard time, you know.
Why do people have to make fun of me? "Come on, pickups, let's go, blah, blah.
" Whatever.
My nice guy level is running out.
Or if there's a truck stuck on the side of the road, I'll-- Fuck it, I ain't even stopping to help anymore.
- 80 miles up the road - Boy, the old snow's coming down, man.
Darrell and Porkchop roll south toward Fairbanks.
I've backed off.
Let him do his thing.
I'll do my thing.
And free of the frost heaves, Porkchop's finally keeping a safe distance.
Got one coming at you, Chop.
Porkchop, you got one coming at you.
- But a few miles away - Darrell and Porkchop.
I can hear them, uh, off in the distance here not too far.
Distance here not too far.
So maybe we'll do a little surprise visit.
Lane Keator is filling in for Jack Jessee, convoying a load of explosives with Carlile owner Harry McDonald.
Hey, boys, how's it going out there? Oh, hey, Lane, I didn't know you were up here.
What's happening? Ah, you know, the next truck was just sitting in the yard.
So, uh, it's not making any money there, so we had to get out and exercise a little bit.
- We're all getting off here and-- and-- - Come check on the boys, huh? We'll do whatever y'all want.
Naw, just up here at the top hill.
Ready to go check on the boys? See what our new guys are doing here.
Yeah.
At the start of this run, Lane asked Darrell to - keep an eye on Porkchop - Hey, Darrell.
Hoping some of the long hauler's skill would rub off.
I just wanted to get you off to the side for a minute.
Okay.
I know we talked before you left and putting you-- Grouping you with Porkchop.
Right.
You know, I'm good with it, Lane.
You know, I get a little frustrated sometimes, just dragging my feet and dragging my feet.
Yeah.
You know, I can run up north, drop my load, make it back to Fairbanks the next day.
I could do these rounds in two days.
I'm three days into this.
Yeah.
And I'm rolling out late on my fourth day with my next round.
Finish this trip up, keep working with him, and then we'll talk again and see where we need to go with this.
Right, perfect.
Have a good trip.
All right.
Thanks, Darrell.
Sounds like if Porkchop doesn't get his shit together and kinda get it figured out-- Like Lane says, you know, we'll help him out for a while and if it don't work, we'll cut ties.
Sounds like I'm golden and Porkchop's kinda riding the fence.
Darrell's doing a real good job for us.
I'm real glad to have him aboard and, uh, I look forward to a long future with him.
Porkchop on the other hand is gonna have to-- He's got some work to do.
He's gotta get his head in the right spot.
He's gotta, you know, keep learning the ways of the road and hopefully we can, uh, be successful and make this whole thing work.
Hey, it's like I said when I began this trip.
I'm doing it by the book.
I ain't done nothing wrong.
I ain't gotta worry about it.
Am I in front? Nah.
Am I safe? Yeah.
Is it all good? Oh, hell, yeah.
On the good side, at least I ain't gotta have a meeting with Lane when I get back this time.
He'll be in Prudhoe.
Rick's on his way to the hospital with an unknown illness.
I just feel like I been playing the game of swallowing barbed wire and ripping it out of my throat.
I just thought I had a cold I can't get rid of.
And worse yet, there's a chance that something in his truck is to blame.
Hugh found a company that'll come in and clean it all out and disinfect everything and All I can do is get checked out and hopefully the nurse is cute.
Urgent care, that's what I need.
- Coming up - Rick could be really sick.
A lethal outbreak.
Why can't it be fucking Hughie down here with-- Why the fuck did it have to happen to me? - At Polar Industries in Winnipeg - This is a really dirty truck.
A team's been brought in to check out Rick's truck.
We gotta do the roof.
We gotta do all the instrumentation.
Have to do the cab, everything.
They're searching the rig for anything that could cause a major infection.
Gotta get in here too.
All the cupboards.
Just throw it out.
- And the search - Deer mice, yeah.
Takes a deadly turn.
There's some serious evidence of mouse feces.
There's definitely been some mice in here for some time.
Mice in here for some time.
They've been hoarding in here.
It's a really good chance that they could have hantavirus, and if that mouse has hantavirus, then Rick could be really sick.
All season, Rick's been living and breathing with a deer mouse infestation.
Deer mice can carry the hantavirus, a life-threatening disease with flu-like symptoms and high mortality rates.
Everything's gotta go because you can't clean it and it's got, you know, potential of being-- of having hantavirus bacteria on there.
Everything that is touching his face like this has gotta be thrown out for sure.
While the clean-out crew digs deeper at the hospital It is a deer mouse.
How do they figure that? They got the guy down there right now.
Right now.
Oh, motherfucker.
So I'm-- I could have hantavirus or whatever the fuck it is.
Oh, God.
It is a deer mouse, so It's not good 'cause they say it's, like, a 2% survival rate if you get hantavirus.
If you get hantavirus.
Thought that ice road trucking would take my life by going through the ice, not a fucking stupid mouse.
I don't want to do this, really.
Now I'm kind of freaked out about this.
Why the fuck did it have to happen to me? Why can't it be fucking Hughie down here with the fucking deer mouse bullshit? - In the far reaches of northwest Canada - Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Alex Debogorski is in trouble.
What do you mean, "a spike brake is on"? He's driving a malfunctioning truck over thin river ice With a load that's 15,000 pounds over the safe limit.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Why does it think it's on? I don't know.
I don't know.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Normally, failing brakes would cause a driver to pull over immediately.
But on thin ice with an overweight load, stopping is not an option.
The computer keeps telling me the spike's on, that the brakes are on on the trailer, but the trailer brakes aren't on.
Spike brake is on.
Truck thinks one thing and I think something different, so I'm just ignoring it the best I can.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Whoa, baby.
Whoa! Come on, baby, we're almost there.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
- After three white-knuckled hours - Warning.
Spike brake is on.
I am off the ice.
Well, despite whatever the silly computer's talking about, I am finally here in Aklavik.
Alex makes it to Aklavik and delivers the excavator.
Hey, Alex.
How are you, Bill? Good, glad you made it here.
Thank you very much.
The truck has a few ghosts in the computer, I guess you can call it, but I brought the excavator here.
I'm ready to head back to Inuvik and see if they've got something else for me to do.
- 400 miles to the southwest - 27 degrees and the road is slick today.
Darrell and Porkchop hit a stretch of bad weather.
So we're down to one lane.
Snowdrifts on both sides of the road.
And news of Jack's departure has Darrell racing to pick up another load.
You know, Lane running Jack's truck, this is perfect for me to pull the lead in load count.
Jack may be the ace of the haul road up here, but, uh, sometimes the new guy takes down the ace.
That's the way it's gonna be here.
Watch out, Jack Jessee.
I've got your number.
And we're starting up the Beaver Slide.
Hopefully it won't be too terrible bad.
Only 200 miles from grabbing another load in Fairbanks, Darrell doesn't waste time chaining up.
I can feel that it's slick.
You know, you got the feel of the road anyway and you kind of know what it's doing, so just drive accordingly.
He's betting that his skill alone will get him up the mile-long Beaver Slide incline.
I came up the Beaver Slide, never slipped a wheel.
Well, you know, Darrell, I'm gonna drag my feet so I can get a good run at her.
And to keep up with his convoy partner Fixin' to wind her up, see what we got.
Hope we'll make it to the top of the Beaver.
Porkchop also hits the steep grade without chains.
Well, I decided not to chain up, but this road sure is greasy looking.
We're gonna have to slow it down.
I don't know whether this was a good idea or not.
I'm already losing traction.
Shit! Fuck.
Come on, baby girl.
Dig, bitch! All right, I'm spun.
That's it.
Son of a bitch.
- Coming up - It is complete darkness.
An explosive delivery.
Hello! I don't want to get shot.
Hello? Hello! - On the Dalton - I don't know whether this was a good idea or not.
I'm already losing traction.
Porkchop's spinning out on the Beaver Slide.
Dig, bitch! All right, I'm spun.
That's it.
Son of a bitch.
Yeah, I'm stopped.
We're gonna have to sling chains.
Yeah, copy that.
I'll just pull out at the top.
Now I got another delay.
You know, it's a three-day trip already and Porkchop wipes his feet in the middle of the Beaver Slide.
His only option is to chain up in the middle of the steep incline.
Darrell was blazing the trail.
He took all the traction.
It's not whether he's a better driver or not.
He had better traction.
And we're good.
Come on, come on, Porkchop.
Where are you? Chained up, Porkchop grinds his way up the slope and finally reaches the top.
Aggravating.
I don't think there's any hope for Porkchop.
He's out of his element here.
Oh, I'll be glad to land this thing in Fairbanks and get rid of this convoy.
- 50 miles to the north - We're making really good time 'cause I don't want to get an earful of bullshit.
Austin Wheeler is licking his wounds after a day of being teased for moving too slow.
I just thought it was kind of BS, but it is what it is, so Well, Austin, we got a guy spun out on Koyukuk.
Okay.
But up ahead, a truck's blocking the road and Dalton traffic comes to a halt.
Looks like there's a tanker that's spun out.
Sounds like he just missed a gear going up the hill.
So there's three trucks including me sitting here waiting for him to chain up.
What is this guy doing? How's it going, bud? Good.
How's it going? Good.
My name is Fred.
Hello, I am Austin.
Austin? Nice to meet you.
Come on, now.
Come on, now.
Ford pickups.
Come on, now.
Giving you a little hard time about the pickup thing there.
Ah.
You seemed a little frustrated.
I just wanted to come and talk to you.
Yeah.
Put a face to it.
No, I'm sorry.
It's all right.
I had a rough morning, this morning.
I know, I understand.
I know how it goes.
Everybody is probably picking on you and you got a lot of stuff going on.
Yeah, it sucks.
I'm sorry I came off wrong.
That's all right.
I'm usually not like that.
I just-- It sucks when you work this hard to be a heavy hauler at 23 years old and you know everybody hates you.
Well, don't worry about it.
Yeah.
I mean, I started this deal when I was 18.
Right.
Got my first truck when I was 18.
Oh, right on.
I was the youngest man-- youngest one hired at a couple different places.
Right, right.
So I know how it is to be sitting in your shoes.
Yeah, it sucks.
Just don't get your feathers ruffled up 'cause we're just kinda picking on you a little bit.
Well, you can never tell.
Well, looks like we're moving.
All right, bud.
All right, nice meeting you.
It was good meeting you.
I'm sure I'll see you again.
Everybody that's driven the road started out at the bottom like I have and has to work their way up from there to get other people's respect.
You know, I'm the new guy up here, but, um, I think once people get to know me, I think, uh, they'll warm up to me also.
While Austin puts the past behind him, 40 miles to the north Looks like we're getting close right now, so we'll get this delivery made.
Lane and Harry approach the end of their explosive haul A gold mining operation with an unusual drop site on the side of the Dalton.
Made contact with the, uh, customer yesterday and he asked us just to pull in and give a couple honks on the horn and he'd come out and meet us at the road.
Well, we'll see if he comes now.
That was the phone call he asked for.
But no one's there.
Ah, we'll give him one more for good measure here.
You want to go ahead and untie yours? Trail right there.
They can't leave explosives on the side of the road.
If they can't find the owner, they'll have to haul this load all the way back to Fairbanks and call this trip a bust.
Well, we're just gonna walk back in here see if we can find the customer maybe.
Carlile, we always go the extra mile.
Charge overtime for this frickin' operation.
Lane and Harry head into the dark wilderness, hoping to find the mining team.
I'm gonna wait here while Lane jogs up to the top of the hill to see what's on the other side.
Hello! Just gonna walk back in here a little further.
It is complete darkness.
"Area closed beyond this point Turn around here.
" Lane just went up there.
I'll go back in here a little bit further and see if we can't see something.
Hello! - Coming up - We gotta make sure nobody goes in there.
Biological warfare.
This is fucked up.
We're in lockdown.
Somewhere in the Alaskan wilderness Hello! Well, we're 20 miles north of Coldfoot and, uh, we're about-- I don't know, a 1/2 mile off the Dalton highway right now walking back into the woods.
Lane's searching for the miners that ordered a load of explosives.
Well, we left Harry back there a little ways.
I think he's gonna walk back up to the truck and I told him we'd continue on here and make a little effort to get back in here a little further and see if we can't find this gentleman and get him his product.
Well, I see some lights up here around the corner, so I think we're coming into a camp here, so I'm just gonna yell.
Hello! I don't wanna get shot.
These are true Alaskans here.
Oh, there's someone in there.
Hello! Oh, yeah, I see some of the guys now.
How are you? Good.
Lane Keator, Carlile, nice to meet you.
Okay.
Yeah, we got your delivery down at the road.
We'll meet you out there and we'll get this stuff moved out.
Yeah, good.
With contact made, the miners gear up to offload the cargo.
Well, this is how we get all our supply out here.
This is quite the operation.
You can't see it from the road.
It's kinda neat.
Yeah, there's not too many underground placer deposits that are being mined anywhere.
Gold mining in Alaska dates back to the Yukon gold rush in the 1890s.
That's the entrance to the mine.
Since then, over precious metal has been extracted from the region.
This is pay dirt, you guys.
This is what we haul out from underground.
Oh, really? Yeah.
That's what the explosives are for.
We drill it and shoot it.
Okay.
What we're doing is following the ancestral course of gold creek underneath this bench.
So we got a mile to go.
And that mile will take the rest of my life.
Back at the trucks, the offload begins.
This is truly an Alaskan deal here, uh, unique Alaska.
I mean, just-- Really it's a couple people out here chasing their dream in the middle of nowhere and we get to be a part of that tonight.
That's pretty special.
Okay? And we're set.
Now we have a delivery successfully made.
Be careful back there.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
The Carlile brass rack up a delivery and head back to Fairbanks.
We still got a couple hundred miles to go tonight, so we're gonna make good work of this.
This.
- 275 miles to the South - I'm gonna back this trailer in.
I'm gonna drop it off.
Be done with him.
Darrell and Porkchop pull into the Carlile yard after a frustrating round trip on the Dalton.
Just one delay after another again, you know, running in this convoy.
Of all the trips I've made, this one's not something that I want to repeat.
Well, let's undo these lines.
Convoy with Darrell was what it was.
Wasn't a good experience.
Darrell's here for the money.
He's here to win the load count.
I'm here for my wife and family.
I did what I had to do.
I proved what I know I can do.
I showed 'em.
We're safe and everybody's alive.
That's all that matters.
On the opposite end of the road, Austin's also pulling in for the night.
Today has just been the longest day.
There's just been a lot of frickin' things today that have stacked up.
I think I get enough shit to, you know, last a while up here.
You know, last a while up here.
But, oh, well, I just keep doing what I'm doing.
With Jack out of the race The bosses get on the board.
And Darrell regains the lead.
- At Polar Industries in Winnipeg, Canada - All right, we are gonna have to lay some traps in.
All right.
Cleanup continues on Rick Yemm's infested truck.
Get it all set up so we can get her in one shot.
We'll line them up pretty much wherever we saw that they were hoarding food before.
They'll have a little big surprise waiting for them.
- While the traps are set - All right, thanks.
Rick's returning from the hospital.
They're doing the blood work and now I'm waiting for results, so We thought maybe I was just, like, allergic to fucking trucking or something, but it turns out just the truck wanting to kill me.
While he waits on test results, Rick checks in on his truck.
Hey, how is it going? - Are you the, uh-- - Yeah, I'm the exterminator.
Sean.
How you doing? So where do we stand now? We haven't got any in the truck? We definitely have to take the truck apart, you know, you can't be getting on the road until the truck's totally cleaned out.
We don't wanna have that risk of you getting any sick further.
You getting any sick further.
Well, like I said, I'm sick enough now.
I don't want to take any more chances with the truck.
So whatever it's got to do to be done.
This is fucked up.
I got too much money in this truck to just walk away from it and get it written off.
So now I'm going deeper in the hole.
I'm fucking sick as hell.
The truck's sick as hell.
And they don't know for sure if I've got the hantavirus or not.
It's serious, you know, so I'm, uh-- That's where I stand right now.
We gotta make sure nobody goes in there.
Very important.
We're in lockdown.
Next time on Ice Road Truckers This ain't gonna be pretty.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
- As the season nears the halfway point - Hold on! - Drivers up the ante - Well, we're basically going from one floating chunk of ice over to the other.
- With bigger loads - That's good push-truck material.
- Deadlier roads - Ain't nobody else ever been where I'm going.
You know, this could happen to anybody out here.
And thinner ice.
You hear the ice, just, crack, crack, crack And Jack's back! I thought you were gone.
Get back to work.
But the ace gets the cold shoulder.
Do you want my seat? I have seaten yours while you were gone.
The haul road ace is missing Watch out, Jack Jessee I've got your number.
And everyone is out to claim the top spot.
Dig, bitch! Get off my ass! My nice guy level is running out.
- On the Dempster - 15,000 pounds overweight.
Alex pushes the limit.
There is always the possibility of breaking the ice and going through.
- And on the winter roads - They stopped us, they threatened to arrest us.
Somebody pissed somebody off.
Fucking munch of fucking bullshit.
At the Carlile yard in Fairbanks, Alaska Uh, been a little while since I've done this.
Terminal manager Lane Keator has been forced out of the office.
Jack's not here, so I'm gonna take a load today.
- Last night - If you guys can't even take care of me around here like this, don't bother.
And you can tell that to Lane.
Haul road ace Jack Jessee walked off the job.
I don't even know why I showed up.
And now I don't know what's up with Jack right now, we haven't heard from him so I don't know if he's ticked off a little bit, if he's just blowing off some steam or maybe he's trying to prove a point.
The boss has to step in to keep freight moving.
We'll see what happens if he decides to come back to work, but until then, I'll be on the road.
Today's load is a batch of explosives so dangerous it's gotta be hauled in two separate trucks.
It's kind of a split shipment deal.
One of the shipments is the dets and boosters and the other one is the powder.
You know, you don't keep your bullets and your guns together And sharing the risk with Lane Is Carlile owner Harry McDonald.
How you doing? How are you? Ready to go? Yeah.
My brother and I started this company in 1980, and both of us drove for, you know, a number of years before that and, uh, most of my driving experience is running the haul road.
We'll see if Lane's driving skills are as good as his management.
We don't want anything to go "boom.
" As Lane and Harry hit the road, halfway up the - Dalton at Coldfoot - Oh, check out my load and get outta here.
I'm already running later than I wanted to be.
Montana log hauler Darrell Ward is pushing through an endless trip.
Fuck, it's my third day out here, you know, it kinda sucks.
I don't like running with anybody else.
I kinda like to run by myself.
That's the best way I roll.
- For the past two days - Gotta run a little convoy with Porkchop.
Darrell's been stuck convoying with Porkchop.
Can I go now? And the South Carolina native's slow pace has Darrell's season at a crawl.
Feels like this trip's taking forever, which it almost has.
I want to get out of here and make it back to Fairbanks today.
Time to roll outta here.
But as Darrell mounts up Inside Slow and steady wins the race.
It's not about speed, it's about consistency.
Porkchop's barely stirring.
He wants to lead, let him lead.
I don't need him.
He can be in it for the load count all he wants.
It tells me he's on a mission.
You're on a mission, you're gonna end up in a ditch.
I'm here for my family.
I want to go home safe.
Ahh, beautiful sunny Alaska.
Fucker.
You ready to roll, Porkchop? Waiting on y'all.
It's time to rock on.
All right.
On the road, finally.
I'm gonna take charge of this fucking circus.
But just a few miles South of Coldfoot Darrell is forced to slow down again.
I hit these rough frost heave stretches, Porkchop, I run about 40 miles an hour.
40 miles an hour.
Do your thing.
The road is covered in frost heaves, which are caused by freezing water beneath the surface, and they blanket the road like speed bumps made of ice.
Get off my ass, Porkchop.
It is too rough for me to go any faster.
- But Porkchop - I have no idea what we're doing.
Isn't slowing down.
Don't wanna see you that close, Porkchop.
And he's riding dangerously close to Darrell's trailer.
Here's the deal-- He's up here to do his job, I'm here to do my job.
You know, I can't tell him enough times to get off my ass.
Come on, Porkchop, back off.
You're cramping my style, yo.
Porkchop, back off.
God! I come out here to drive this truck my way.
And obviously my way is working pretty well, because we haven't had any fucked-ups, we haven't had any screw-ups, and I'm doing it the right way.
Get off my ass! Shut the hell up.
You can tell him, and he'll get it for a second, but then it's all gone again.
I need to put one earplug in him.
Plug one side, so it'll stay in there.
Guess what.
I'm Porkchop and I'm gonna be myself.
2,400 miles to the southeast Hugh Rowland and Rick Yemm are rolling into Winnipeg.
It's just one thing after another after another.
My throat feels like I've fucking been swallowing razorblades for entertainment.
Eyes are burning and itchy and eyelids are all raw.
Filling up this morning, I actually coughed up some blood, which is a new one.
Two years in a row I've been sick as hell in this truck.
It's definitely coming from this truck.
- Last year - Hard to breathe.
Hard to swallow.
Rick got sick after a couple weeks behind the wheel of his truck.
And now that it's happened again As good as a truck may be, if it's making you sick, it's not good.
He's thinking the truck might be to blame.
I'm gonna get back to Winnipeg here and go see the doc and hopefully it's just a lung infection or something that's not too bad.
While Rick worries about the investment in his truck Hugh's worried about his investment in the company.
We're heading back to Winnipeg.
See if we can't get fucking straightened out.
Stop doing this fucking bullshit not getting to our destination.
- This trip - It's gonna be tricky getting these cement trucks into Red Sucker Lake.
Not sure what some of the weight restrictions are quite yet.
Polar owner Mark Kohaykewych rolled the dice First big load.
Hope the ice holds us.
Sending Hugh and Rick up the road with an overweight load.
This is fucked up.
And Mark's call nearly landed them behind bars.
We're getting a fucking police escort out of town here.
Now they're looking for answers from Mark and dispatcher Vlad.
Let's see what's going on.
Well, how was it? We went in too heavy.
What? And they are pissed off.
They said you guys know the weights and you guys are definitely over.
Definitely over.
And the paperwork that Mark sent, that's not legitimate papers.
That's not true.
That's not true at all.
Somebody pissed somebody off because-- I talked to him myself.
I don't even want to do this.
I am dying of fucking black lung.
They stopped us, they threatened to arrest us, and that's all that's fucking done.
We had to leave the loads and we got escorted out of fucking town.
They told us to leave the loads there.
We were stuck there.
Something's going on up there, somebody pissed somebody off.
The report that I got said that those trucks said that they were - stopped them, so somebody-- - That's not true, and that's not what we were doing.
Well, I don't care who-- What weights, or whatever the fuck-- Whatever the fuck happened, someone's pissed and we were stopped.
Period.
We can't do nothing.
What do you want me to do? Start a fight? No job's worth being sent to the fucking clink.
It's a fucking bunch of fucking bullshit.
2,000 miles to the northwest Curious to see what Mike's got for me today.
Alex Debogorski is at Manitoulin dispatch.
Oh, good morning, Alex.
Morning, sir.
How are you doing this morning? Good, thanks.
Do you have something today for a change? - Uh, I do.
- Perfect.
You're gonna take an excavator to Aklavik.
Uh, the road is only good for really close to 30 with that excavator.
Very good.
So once your loaded, make sure you go to the scale.
I will.
Thank you.
Very good.
Have a safe ride.
Thank you, sir.
I got an excavator to haul to Aklavik.
That should make for an interesting trip.
Today, Alex's load is headed across the frozen Mackenzie River.
Okay, I guess that's that, though.
But before he hits the ice, he'll have to hit the scales.
My concern is that I'll be pretty well at maximum weight for the ice.
It's probably one of the heaviest loads going to Aklavik this year.
Tight on that side there.
Load's too heavy.
I'm about 15,000 pounds overweight, which may be too heavy for this to go down the road.
Which means that we won't be able to go.
Getting shut down at the scales means missing out on the load and the paycheck that goes with it.
But the veteran's not giving up.
When a challenge presents itself, a person has to look for another way to keep running.
- Coming up - There's always the possibility of going through.
Alex goes for it.
- And later - Oh, God.
A deadly diagnosis.
It's, like, a 2% survival rate.
- In northern Canada - You're going to Aklavik.
Yes.
Alex Debogorski has just learned his load is over - the ice road weight limit - Don't worry about it.
See you later.
All right.
And officials are issuing a special permit for the veteran to attempt the crossing at his own risk.
But a piece of paper isn't gonna help him out on the ice.
I'm on my way to Aklavik.
This is the heaviest load I've hauled on ice.
Well, the roads are both open.
The winter ice road maximum weight-- 30,000.
Ease her on in.
Alex crossed this water at the start of the season.
Holy smokes! But this time his load is over ten times heavier.
Since our weight is over the limit, we gotta be careful about coming on the ice, coming off the ice.
It's the number one danger.
Because the load's this heavy, I gotta stick to the center of the road and drive with more caution.
Alex hammers down to keep his load from sinking in the unpredictable river ice.
Come on.
There is always a possibility of breaking the ice and going through if I'm not careful enough.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
What do you mean, "a spike brake is on"? A spike brake is a hand brake.
And generally it's for the trailer.
If I apply the foot brake, the brakes on the trailer and the truck come on.
When I apply the spike, it's only the trailer brakes that come on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Malfunctioning brakes are a serious problem.
But stopping is even worse.
Stopping on the ice increases a driver's chance of breaking through.
And with this overweight excavator, Alex has 15,000 extra reasons to keep moving.
This is on, this is off.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
- 430 miles to the southwest - I'm fueled and ready to rock.
Austin Wheeler is just starting his day.
Just starting his day.
I'm gonna give you those pickups out there that are on that 53-foot flatbed-- Those F550s.
No problem.
However, I would like you to move 'em steady, not fast.
Okay.
Since I've got drivers coming down here and walking in and going, "hey, that kid Austin is driving awful fast up there," maybe you oughta slow down just a little bit.
Okay.
All season Hammer down, boys.
Austin's been flying up the Dalton every chance he gets.
Just gonna be like a rocket ship to Prudhoe.
But the haul road rookie's eager attitude hasn't won him many friends.
I don't get much respect on the job.
I'm not gonna get mad about it.
I don't really care.
I'm just gonna do a good job and show them that I have what it takes and not make mistakes and get the product and me up there safely and me back safely so I can take another load up.
Let's roll.
- After an earful at dispatch - Is there anything coming, so I can just blast around you? Uh, if you want around, it's clear.
The rookie is taking it slow.
All right, stretch it out there, short stuff.
This is bullshit.
It kind of really chaps my butt that he's gotta say something stupid over the radio like that, but whatever.
Come on now.
Come on now.
Ford pickups, come on, now.
This is really stupid.
You can go ahead and go on around if you're gonna be like that.
Go ahead.
Don't be catching an attitude now.
I was just joking a little bit.
What do you want me to say? So come on.
We don't need that here.
Whatever.
Fine, I ain't bugging you.
Don't be like that.
I'm just tired of catching it, dude.
I've been catching it all week, all day.
It's not cool.
Just kidding with you a little bit.
Sorry you're getting a hard time, you know.
Why do people have to make fun of me? "Come on, pickups, let's go, blah, blah.
" Whatever.
My nice guy level is running out.
Or if there's a truck stuck on the side of the road, I'll-- Fuck it, I ain't even stopping to help anymore.
- 80 miles up the road - Boy, the old snow's coming down, man.
Darrell and Porkchop roll south toward Fairbanks.
I've backed off.
Let him do his thing.
I'll do my thing.
And free of the frost heaves, Porkchop's finally keeping a safe distance.
Got one coming at you, Chop.
Porkchop, you got one coming at you.
- But a few miles away - Darrell and Porkchop.
I can hear them, uh, off in the distance here not too far.
Distance here not too far.
So maybe we'll do a little surprise visit.
Lane Keator is filling in for Jack Jessee, convoying a load of explosives with Carlile owner Harry McDonald.
Hey, boys, how's it going out there? Oh, hey, Lane, I didn't know you were up here.
What's happening? Ah, you know, the next truck was just sitting in the yard.
So, uh, it's not making any money there, so we had to get out and exercise a little bit.
- We're all getting off here and-- and-- - Come check on the boys, huh? We'll do whatever y'all want.
Naw, just up here at the top hill.
Ready to go check on the boys? See what our new guys are doing here.
Yeah.
At the start of this run, Lane asked Darrell to - keep an eye on Porkchop - Hey, Darrell.
Hoping some of the long hauler's skill would rub off.
I just wanted to get you off to the side for a minute.
Okay.
I know we talked before you left and putting you-- Grouping you with Porkchop.
Right.
You know, I'm good with it, Lane.
You know, I get a little frustrated sometimes, just dragging my feet and dragging my feet.
Yeah.
You know, I can run up north, drop my load, make it back to Fairbanks the next day.
I could do these rounds in two days.
I'm three days into this.
Yeah.
And I'm rolling out late on my fourth day with my next round.
Finish this trip up, keep working with him, and then we'll talk again and see where we need to go with this.
Right, perfect.
Have a good trip.
All right.
Thanks, Darrell.
Sounds like if Porkchop doesn't get his shit together and kinda get it figured out-- Like Lane says, you know, we'll help him out for a while and if it don't work, we'll cut ties.
Sounds like I'm golden and Porkchop's kinda riding the fence.
Darrell's doing a real good job for us.
I'm real glad to have him aboard and, uh, I look forward to a long future with him.
Porkchop on the other hand is gonna have to-- He's got some work to do.
He's gotta get his head in the right spot.
He's gotta, you know, keep learning the ways of the road and hopefully we can, uh, be successful and make this whole thing work.
Hey, it's like I said when I began this trip.
I'm doing it by the book.
I ain't done nothing wrong.
I ain't gotta worry about it.
Am I in front? Nah.
Am I safe? Yeah.
Is it all good? Oh, hell, yeah.
On the good side, at least I ain't gotta have a meeting with Lane when I get back this time.
He'll be in Prudhoe.
Rick's on his way to the hospital with an unknown illness.
I just feel like I been playing the game of swallowing barbed wire and ripping it out of my throat.
I just thought I had a cold I can't get rid of.
And worse yet, there's a chance that something in his truck is to blame.
Hugh found a company that'll come in and clean it all out and disinfect everything and All I can do is get checked out and hopefully the nurse is cute.
Urgent care, that's what I need.
- Coming up - Rick could be really sick.
A lethal outbreak.
Why can't it be fucking Hughie down here with-- Why the fuck did it have to happen to me? - At Polar Industries in Winnipeg - This is a really dirty truck.
A team's been brought in to check out Rick's truck.
We gotta do the roof.
We gotta do all the instrumentation.
Have to do the cab, everything.
They're searching the rig for anything that could cause a major infection.
Gotta get in here too.
All the cupboards.
Just throw it out.
- And the search - Deer mice, yeah.
Takes a deadly turn.
There's some serious evidence of mouse feces.
There's definitely been some mice in here for some time.
Mice in here for some time.
They've been hoarding in here.
It's a really good chance that they could have hantavirus, and if that mouse has hantavirus, then Rick could be really sick.
All season, Rick's been living and breathing with a deer mouse infestation.
Deer mice can carry the hantavirus, a life-threatening disease with flu-like symptoms and high mortality rates.
Everything's gotta go because you can't clean it and it's got, you know, potential of being-- of having hantavirus bacteria on there.
Everything that is touching his face like this has gotta be thrown out for sure.
While the clean-out crew digs deeper at the hospital It is a deer mouse.
How do they figure that? They got the guy down there right now.
Right now.
Oh, motherfucker.
So I'm-- I could have hantavirus or whatever the fuck it is.
Oh, God.
It is a deer mouse, so It's not good 'cause they say it's, like, a 2% survival rate if you get hantavirus.
If you get hantavirus.
Thought that ice road trucking would take my life by going through the ice, not a fucking stupid mouse.
I don't want to do this, really.
Now I'm kind of freaked out about this.
Why the fuck did it have to happen to me? Why can't it be fucking Hughie down here with the fucking deer mouse bullshit? - In the far reaches of northwest Canada - Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Alex Debogorski is in trouble.
What do you mean, "a spike brake is on"? He's driving a malfunctioning truck over thin river ice With a load that's 15,000 pounds over the safe limit.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Why does it think it's on? I don't know.
I don't know.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Normally, failing brakes would cause a driver to pull over immediately.
But on thin ice with an overweight load, stopping is not an option.
The computer keeps telling me the spike's on, that the brakes are on on the trailer, but the trailer brakes aren't on.
Spike brake is on.
Truck thinks one thing and I think something different, so I'm just ignoring it the best I can.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Whoa, baby.
Whoa! Come on, baby, we're almost there.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
Warning.
Spike brake is on.
- After three white-knuckled hours - Warning.
Spike brake is on.
I am off the ice.
Well, despite whatever the silly computer's talking about, I am finally here in Aklavik.
Alex makes it to Aklavik and delivers the excavator.
Hey, Alex.
How are you, Bill? Good, glad you made it here.
Thank you very much.
The truck has a few ghosts in the computer, I guess you can call it, but I brought the excavator here.
I'm ready to head back to Inuvik and see if they've got something else for me to do.
- 400 miles to the southwest - 27 degrees and the road is slick today.
Darrell and Porkchop hit a stretch of bad weather.
So we're down to one lane.
Snowdrifts on both sides of the road.
And news of Jack's departure has Darrell racing to pick up another load.
You know, Lane running Jack's truck, this is perfect for me to pull the lead in load count.
Jack may be the ace of the haul road up here, but, uh, sometimes the new guy takes down the ace.
That's the way it's gonna be here.
Watch out, Jack Jessee.
I've got your number.
And we're starting up the Beaver Slide.
Hopefully it won't be too terrible bad.
Only 200 miles from grabbing another load in Fairbanks, Darrell doesn't waste time chaining up.
I can feel that it's slick.
You know, you got the feel of the road anyway and you kind of know what it's doing, so just drive accordingly.
He's betting that his skill alone will get him up the mile-long Beaver Slide incline.
I came up the Beaver Slide, never slipped a wheel.
Well, you know, Darrell, I'm gonna drag my feet so I can get a good run at her.
And to keep up with his convoy partner Fixin' to wind her up, see what we got.
Hope we'll make it to the top of the Beaver.
Porkchop also hits the steep grade without chains.
Well, I decided not to chain up, but this road sure is greasy looking.
We're gonna have to slow it down.
I don't know whether this was a good idea or not.
I'm already losing traction.
Shit! Fuck.
Come on, baby girl.
Dig, bitch! All right, I'm spun.
That's it.
Son of a bitch.
- Coming up - It is complete darkness.
An explosive delivery.
Hello! I don't want to get shot.
Hello? Hello! - On the Dalton - I don't know whether this was a good idea or not.
I'm already losing traction.
Porkchop's spinning out on the Beaver Slide.
Dig, bitch! All right, I'm spun.
That's it.
Son of a bitch.
Yeah, I'm stopped.
We're gonna have to sling chains.
Yeah, copy that.
I'll just pull out at the top.
Now I got another delay.
You know, it's a three-day trip already and Porkchop wipes his feet in the middle of the Beaver Slide.
His only option is to chain up in the middle of the steep incline.
Darrell was blazing the trail.
He took all the traction.
It's not whether he's a better driver or not.
He had better traction.
And we're good.
Come on, come on, Porkchop.
Where are you? Chained up, Porkchop grinds his way up the slope and finally reaches the top.
Aggravating.
I don't think there's any hope for Porkchop.
He's out of his element here.
Oh, I'll be glad to land this thing in Fairbanks and get rid of this convoy.
- 50 miles to the north - We're making really good time 'cause I don't want to get an earful of bullshit.
Austin Wheeler is licking his wounds after a day of being teased for moving too slow.
I just thought it was kind of BS, but it is what it is, so Well, Austin, we got a guy spun out on Koyukuk.
Okay.
But up ahead, a truck's blocking the road and Dalton traffic comes to a halt.
Looks like there's a tanker that's spun out.
Sounds like he just missed a gear going up the hill.
So there's three trucks including me sitting here waiting for him to chain up.
What is this guy doing? How's it going, bud? Good.
How's it going? Good.
My name is Fred.
Hello, I am Austin.
Austin? Nice to meet you.
Come on, now.
Come on, now.
Ford pickups.
Come on, now.
Giving you a little hard time about the pickup thing there.
Ah.
You seemed a little frustrated.
I just wanted to come and talk to you.
Yeah.
Put a face to it.
No, I'm sorry.
It's all right.
I had a rough morning, this morning.
I know, I understand.
I know how it goes.
Everybody is probably picking on you and you got a lot of stuff going on.
Yeah, it sucks.
I'm sorry I came off wrong.
That's all right.
I'm usually not like that.
I just-- It sucks when you work this hard to be a heavy hauler at 23 years old and you know everybody hates you.
Well, don't worry about it.
Yeah.
I mean, I started this deal when I was 18.
Right.
Got my first truck when I was 18.
Oh, right on.
I was the youngest man-- youngest one hired at a couple different places.
Right, right.
So I know how it is to be sitting in your shoes.
Yeah, it sucks.
Just don't get your feathers ruffled up 'cause we're just kinda picking on you a little bit.
Well, you can never tell.
Well, looks like we're moving.
All right, bud.
All right, nice meeting you.
It was good meeting you.
I'm sure I'll see you again.
Everybody that's driven the road started out at the bottom like I have and has to work their way up from there to get other people's respect.
You know, I'm the new guy up here, but, um, I think once people get to know me, I think, uh, they'll warm up to me also.
While Austin puts the past behind him, 40 miles to the north Looks like we're getting close right now, so we'll get this delivery made.
Lane and Harry approach the end of their explosive haul A gold mining operation with an unusual drop site on the side of the Dalton.
Made contact with the, uh, customer yesterday and he asked us just to pull in and give a couple honks on the horn and he'd come out and meet us at the road.
Well, we'll see if he comes now.
That was the phone call he asked for.
But no one's there.
Ah, we'll give him one more for good measure here.
You want to go ahead and untie yours? Trail right there.
They can't leave explosives on the side of the road.
If they can't find the owner, they'll have to haul this load all the way back to Fairbanks and call this trip a bust.
Well, we're just gonna walk back in here see if we can find the customer maybe.
Carlile, we always go the extra mile.
Charge overtime for this frickin' operation.
Lane and Harry head into the dark wilderness, hoping to find the mining team.
I'm gonna wait here while Lane jogs up to the top of the hill to see what's on the other side.
Hello! Just gonna walk back in here a little further.
It is complete darkness.
"Area closed beyond this point Turn around here.
" Lane just went up there.
I'll go back in here a little bit further and see if we can't see something.
Hello! - Coming up - We gotta make sure nobody goes in there.
Biological warfare.
This is fucked up.
We're in lockdown.
Somewhere in the Alaskan wilderness Hello! Well, we're 20 miles north of Coldfoot and, uh, we're about-- I don't know, a 1/2 mile off the Dalton highway right now walking back into the woods.
Lane's searching for the miners that ordered a load of explosives.
Well, we left Harry back there a little ways.
I think he's gonna walk back up to the truck and I told him we'd continue on here and make a little effort to get back in here a little further and see if we can't find this gentleman and get him his product.
Well, I see some lights up here around the corner, so I think we're coming into a camp here, so I'm just gonna yell.
Hello! I don't wanna get shot.
These are true Alaskans here.
Oh, there's someone in there.
Hello! Oh, yeah, I see some of the guys now.
How are you? Good.
Lane Keator, Carlile, nice to meet you.
Okay.
Yeah, we got your delivery down at the road.
We'll meet you out there and we'll get this stuff moved out.
Yeah, good.
With contact made, the miners gear up to offload the cargo.
Well, this is how we get all our supply out here.
This is quite the operation.
You can't see it from the road.
It's kinda neat.
Yeah, there's not too many underground placer deposits that are being mined anywhere.
Gold mining in Alaska dates back to the Yukon gold rush in the 1890s.
That's the entrance to the mine.
Since then, over precious metal has been extracted from the region.
This is pay dirt, you guys.
This is what we haul out from underground.
Oh, really? Yeah.
That's what the explosives are for.
We drill it and shoot it.
Okay.
What we're doing is following the ancestral course of gold creek underneath this bench.
So we got a mile to go.
And that mile will take the rest of my life.
Back at the trucks, the offload begins.
This is truly an Alaskan deal here, uh, unique Alaska.
I mean, just-- Really it's a couple people out here chasing their dream in the middle of nowhere and we get to be a part of that tonight.
That's pretty special.
Okay? And we're set.
Now we have a delivery successfully made.
Be careful back there.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
The Carlile brass rack up a delivery and head back to Fairbanks.
We still got a couple hundred miles to go tonight, so we're gonna make good work of this.
This.
- 275 miles to the South - I'm gonna back this trailer in.
I'm gonna drop it off.
Be done with him.
Darrell and Porkchop pull into the Carlile yard after a frustrating round trip on the Dalton.
Just one delay after another again, you know, running in this convoy.
Of all the trips I've made, this one's not something that I want to repeat.
Well, let's undo these lines.
Convoy with Darrell was what it was.
Wasn't a good experience.
Darrell's here for the money.
He's here to win the load count.
I'm here for my wife and family.
I did what I had to do.
I proved what I know I can do.
I showed 'em.
We're safe and everybody's alive.
That's all that matters.
On the opposite end of the road, Austin's also pulling in for the night.
Today has just been the longest day.
There's just been a lot of frickin' things today that have stacked up.
I think I get enough shit to, you know, last a while up here.
You know, last a while up here.
But, oh, well, I just keep doing what I'm doing.
With Jack out of the race The bosses get on the board.
And Darrell regains the lead.
- At Polar Industries in Winnipeg, Canada - All right, we are gonna have to lay some traps in.
All right.
Cleanup continues on Rick Yemm's infested truck.
Get it all set up so we can get her in one shot.
We'll line them up pretty much wherever we saw that they were hoarding food before.
They'll have a little big surprise waiting for them.
- While the traps are set - All right, thanks.
Rick's returning from the hospital.
They're doing the blood work and now I'm waiting for results, so We thought maybe I was just, like, allergic to fucking trucking or something, but it turns out just the truck wanting to kill me.
While he waits on test results, Rick checks in on his truck.
Hey, how is it going? - Are you the, uh-- - Yeah, I'm the exterminator.
Sean.
How you doing? So where do we stand now? We haven't got any in the truck? We definitely have to take the truck apart, you know, you can't be getting on the road until the truck's totally cleaned out.
We don't wanna have that risk of you getting any sick further.
You getting any sick further.
Well, like I said, I'm sick enough now.
I don't want to take any more chances with the truck.
So whatever it's got to do to be done.
This is fucked up.
I got too much money in this truck to just walk away from it and get it written off.
So now I'm going deeper in the hole.
I'm fucking sick as hell.
The truck's sick as hell.
And they don't know for sure if I've got the hantavirus or not.
It's serious, you know, so I'm, uh-- That's where I stand right now.
We gotta make sure nobody goes in there.
Very important.
We're in lockdown.
Next time on Ice Road Truckers This ain't gonna be pretty.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
- As the season nears the halfway point - Hold on! - Drivers up the ante - Well, we're basically going from one floating chunk of ice over to the other.
- With bigger loads - That's good push-truck material.
- Deadlier roads - Ain't nobody else ever been where I'm going.
You know, this could happen to anybody out here.
And thinner ice.
You hear the ice, just, crack, crack, crack And Jack's back! I thought you were gone.
Get back to work.
But the ace gets the cold shoulder.
Do you want my seat? I have seaten yours while you were gone.