Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Tonight on "Ice Road Truckers."

RICK YEMM: I've been in a third world country truck.

This is fourth world trucking.

NARRATOR: Rick reaches his breaking point.

I'm stuck.

NARRATOR: Lisa's career hits the skids.

LANE KEATOR: Heavy haul's not for everybody.

I'm really, really, really mad.

NARRATOR: And the biggest storm of the season--

This is the worst weather I've driven in yet.

NARRATOR: --pummels the Dalton.

This wind is just sucking the breath right out of you.

You're trying to not drive your truck off the road.

[rock music playing]

NARRATOR: In Fairbanks, Alaska--

MICHAEL DUKES: Morning Fairbanks.

Welcome back to it.

What do we say here?

Well the National Weather Service says, you

should have stayed home in bed.

It's going to be ugly here in Fairbanks.

We got cold winds and temperatures down into the 40

below mark.

Up on the haul road, yeah, it's going

to be even worse for those folks.

Blowing winds, drifting snows, wind chills up to 60 below.

You might as well pull over, slow down right now

and chain up, because it's going to be bad up there.

So be careful.

NARRATOR: At the Carlile truck yard--

DAVE REDMON: It's minus 40.

Damn is it cold.

NARRATOR: Dave Redmon's up early, hoping to beat the storm

and get a jump on the competition.

DAVE REDMON: [grunting] Jesus, so cold you can't even

push the clutch in.

Not wanting to [bleep] start.

Everything's so cold.

Nothing wants to work.

I don't even think the block heater was working on this.

Come on.

There we go.

We'll get the brakes released and see

if we can get it to move.

NARRATOR: All season--

DAVE REDMON: Here it is.

NARRATOR: --Dave's been struggling just

to get his truck out of the yard.

I just can't seem to get a break.

NARRATOR: And with a storm closing in, there's

no time to lose.

DAVE REDMON: I got a load of pipe.

Fixing to go to Prudhoe with it, if I could get anything

on this truck to move today.

Why is my damn fuel cap missing?

I don't know why it was off.

The son of a bitch was on there this morning.

Somebody better not have taken that thing off.

It's time to hit the road.

It's cold out here.

Got a wheel locked up back here.

I got to beat on the damn brake drum.

It's one thing after another.

[hammer] I think that did it.

Hopefully that's the last thing this morning, but I don't know.

NARRATOR: Finally, Dave's ready to roll.

DAVE REDMON: The storm is moving this way, actually.

I ain't got time to sit around here.

NARRATOR: But his trailer isn't.

Oh, I hate my job.

Knew [bleep] like this was going to [bleep]

happen already this morning.

[bleep] fifth wheel wasn't locked.

Now I got too much going on this morning.

I can't think.

It's too [bleep] cold.

I should have actually crawled under and looked.

It's my fault this happened.

It's a mistake.

So now my punishment is I gotta to crank

this thing for the next hour to get it up enough to where I get

the tractor back up underneath it.

It ain't going to be fun.

It's times like these I just want to give up and go home.

It's like trying to jack up a house.

NARRATOR: Just across the yard--

TONY MOLESKY: We're about to pin on to you some blasting agents.

Makes things go bang.

NARRATOR: Tony Molesky has no room for rookie mistakes.

I definitely don't want to lose this load.

This is a-- it's something where if we

drop this trailer somewhere in the road,

it would be a bad thing.

NARRATOR: Today, Tony's hauling 20 tons of explosives.

TONY MOLESKY: We haul a lot of different kinds of explosives.

It's usually for road construction, mining,

things like that to blast bedrock.

[explosion]

Let's roll.

Unfortunately, when you're dealing with explosives,

they're pretty volatile.

And for crying out loud, terrorists

could have a ball with it, you know.

NARRATOR: The icy road will force Tony to take it slow.

But with this load, riding his brakes could mean disaster.

TONY MOLESKY: Tire fires can be a major deal up here.

I want to make sure I'm not generating any heat

from a tight brake, or a low hub, or a wheel bearing,

or even a tire.

I've seen a lot of trailers burned to the ground because

of tires.

NARRATOR: Even in subzero temperatures,

friction from the braking system heats up the tires,

sometimes causing a fire.

It's dangerous under normal conditions,

but devastating with a van full of explosives.

TONY MOLESKY: Knowing that I've got explosives back there,

we'll just take it a little easy in a lot of spots here

and then drive to Prudhoe Bay without crashing the truck

or making anything go boom.

NARRATOR: In Lac Brochet, Manitoba--

Well, people say I've had it up to here.

I ain't [bleep] tall enough to where I've had it to.

Like these last three days felt like three months.

NARRATOR: A brutal 800 mile run--

We're in a bad spot for getting stuck or spun out here.

NARRATOR: --has left Hugh stranded in the wilderness.

I'm done.

NARRATOR: And Rick at the end of his rope.

RICK YEMM: I've seen some pretty [bleep] up places.

I've been in a lot of places.

I've been to [bleep] India, a third world country.

This place is [bleep] worse.

There's been nothing but frustration from the time

this happened to now, where we're finally

getting it unloaded.

We got a gleaming light at the end of the tunnel.

We're getting out of here, and that's all I'm saying.

Empty, finally.

NARRATOR: Rick heads south to meet up with Hugh

and hightail it back to Winnipeg.

RICK YEMM: Hopefully nature's no problem here.

I don't need any more incidents on the way.

Going to be a sketchy ride.

She's slippery today because of the fresh snow.

Tear her up man.

OK.

We're rolling up to a nasty little hill here.

Time this just right, so I don't pound the truck.

But I've got to have enough speed to make it up the hill.

Ooh.

Oh, come on.

I can't spin out.

You've got to be [bleep] me.

I'm [bleep] stuck.

Hey Hugh, can you hear me?

HUGH ROWLAND [ON RADIO]: Yeah.

That S-curve one.

I got chains on and still can't make her.

HUGH ROWLAND [ON RADIO]: No [bleep]..

HUGH ROWLAND: Rick's stuck up there, and he's spun out.

What the hell.

Ricky, Ricky, Ricky.

RICK YEMM: This is like just unbelievable, what this thing

just turned right into.

Well it's-- I think it's a Bates Motel.

You know, if you check in you ain't checking out

for [bleep] sakes.

Get me out of here.

NARRATOR: 20 miles south of Lac Brochet,

Manitoba, Rick is going nowhere.

RICK YEMM: Oh what the [bleep].

Guess we didn't have enough drama for this [bleep] road.

It's like trying to tie your boot.

You can't reach the shoelace.

It's right there, but you can't [bleep] get it.

It's-- [laughter].

When you get into situations like this,

most people say it's not worth it.

Pretty much isolate yourself in the worst environment

you can possibly think of, and that's what we're at.

[bird caw]

When you're trucking in these parts, when [bleep] goes wrong,

like, it could be deadly.

You get stuck in the bush, you can die and plain and simple.

You run out of water.

You run out of food, exposure.

Well that'd be a pretty [bleep] gift for my wife,

to find out my corpse is getting airlifted out of here to--

to go back home.

[horn honking]

HUGH ROWLAND [ON RADIO]: There you are.

There's my rescue right there.

NARRATOR: The Manitoba DOT leaves heavy equipment

along the roads for situations just like this.

HUGH ROWLAND: Make sure I'm on your bumper.

Come on baby.

RICK YEMM: OK.

I'm out.

We'll get on our way here.

Happy day.

Well thank you.

Well at least we're going the same way now.

NARRATOR: But after three brutal days in the bush--

What a [bleep] show man.

NARRATOR: --Rick's not ready to look on the bright side.

[sigh] At least there was a Cat here.

RICK YEMM: I've had enough.

HUGH ROWLAND: What an ordeal.

I've had enough.

Beginning of the end of this [bleep] nightmare run.

Finally getting the hell out of here.

Emptied out and trucking.

NARRATOR: Back in Alaska at the offices

of Carlile Transportation--

LANE KEATOR: And when you get to a point

where you're on heavy haul and you're doing these bigger

loads, any-- any incident, any accident is a huge deal.

It's literally inches from being a catastrophe.

OK.

NARRATOR: Lisa Kelly's last run ended in disaster.

[yelling]

And now, it's time to face the music.

I guess the other thing I was thinking

was that, one of the biggest and best traits

of a successful heavy hauler is patience.

OK.

You and I have talked, that's a huge deal.

Heavy haul's not for everybody.

OK.

OK.

Thank you very much. LANE KEATOR: All right.

Thanks Lisa. Have a good trip.

Thank you. LANE KEATOR: See you.

After the incident here, what we'll do is I'm going to--

I'm going to take Lisa back down a little bit.

We're going to give her a couple of easier loads,

let her get back into it, make sure her mind's

in the right place while she's out there trucking.

Well, we got you a van.

Guess you can give that a try.

OK.

I'll hustle.

All right.

See you later.

See you.

NARRATOR: A trailer full of office supplies

is as far from heavy haul as a driver can get.

How am I?

I'm pissed off.

I'm trying to get exciting loads, and I'm getting vans.

That's making me mad, really, really, really mad.

I would love to say I love heavy haul.

But as soon as I get into it, then I can't do it anymore.

That's just so stupid.

I'm being held back from it, when

there's tons of loads to go.

And I'm stuck under a van.

It's very sad.

This is [bleep].

NARRATOR: While Lisa drags her van-load out of the yard--

Well, I got a nice heavy load of pipe, something

to keep me grounded while I go up there in the wind.

NARRATOR: --rookie Maya Sieber has a spring in her step.

Have to make it up there safe and sound and no messing

around on the way.

NARRATOR: For the first time, Maya's

hitting the road on her own, with no trainer and no safety

net.

Yeah, this is a hot load, this is load of pipe

and it has to get up there.

First load of pipe that I took didn't make it because they

had truck problems.

So I hope to make it up there with this one.

[honking]

NARRATOR: The oil company is counting on this 60,000-pound

pipe load by the end of the day.

MAYA SIEBER: Supposed to be pretty bad weather.

It's very hard to see the edge of the road right now,

especially when a truck drives by me and I get like a whole--

it's like whiteout right in front of me.

And I-- I lose the road for a little bit.

Oh my god.

NARRATOR: But with every passing mile,

the Arctic storm closes in.

Right now, I'm just focusing on staying on the road

and not going off the sides.

Because I can't see them.

MAYA SIEBER: It sounds really bad up there.

They're saying that the-- it's blowing wind like crazy.

And you can't see.

So the advice is do not continue to Prudhoe right now.

[honking]

[bleep]

NARRATOR: On Alaska's north slope,

40-mile-an-hour winds and blowing snow threaten

to swallow the haul road.

350 miles north of Fairbanks--

TONY MOLESKY: We're headed north.

And hopefully our visibility won't be too bad,

but you never know, man.

This is the haul road and anything can happen.

NARRATOR: --Tony's loaded up with 20 tons of explosives

and headed right for the heart of this storm.

TONY MOLESKY: You're trying to push

through the nasty conditions and still go slow enough to not

drive your truck off the road.

MAN [ON RADIO]: Coming up to Galbraith, you got a copy?

TONY MOLESKY: Yeah, this is Tony.

MAN [ON RADIO]: I'm at the top of Galbraith

and the visibility's bad.

You got a truck there off the road.

TONY MOLESKY: Sounds like we've got a 20-wide up here

on Galbraith that might be having some trouble.

I got to listen here for a minute.

MAN [ON RADIO]: I'm looking out the windshield, looking out

the side window. I couldn't see nothing.

All of a sudden, it just sucked me right in.

TONY MOLESKY: There's Galbraith right there.

Holy [bleep].

No, there's no way I could do anything with you,

I don't believe.

MAN [ON RADIO]: All right.

You guys need me to make any calls?

MAN [ON RADIO]: Nope.

Might see if I can get out of here.

I'd latch onto you and try to pull you,

but I got a load of explosives here.

I don't want to do that.

MAN [ON RADIO]: [chuckles] Yeah.

TONY MOLESKY: I don't want to put my load in danger

to help another guy out.

It's just not-- it's not feasible.

I would but-- it's kind of like, all right,

do you stay or do you go?

I mean, this is where it's tough up here.

These are the times when you gotta make decisions.

It could get really nasty all the way to Prudhoe.

So I don't know.

I don't know.

NARRATOR: Just 30 miles behind Tony--

RICK YEMM: Supposed to blow like this until Saturday.

50 mile an hour in Prudhoe I just heard.

HUGH ROWLAND: You got to be kidding me.

RICK YEMM: I'm ready to turn around and head south.

Guy here, there's a 20-wide off the road, totally,

load and all.

DAVE REDMON: You know everybody's already yelling

back on the radio don't come.

Yeah, the guys up front of me have dropped their trailers.

And they're going to bobtail all the way back to Fairbanks.

NARRATOR: Playing it safe will cost him

a paycheck for this load.

DAVE REDMON: I just need to make a decision.

We'll probably just head back to Coldfoot, start over tomorrow.

But that's life.

Dropping this trailer so we can head back to Coldfoot.

Because the weather's just getting so bad

here, that it's just making no sense to stay.

And it's just steadily going downhill quick.

[sigh] [grunting] I can't breathe in it.

This wind is just sucking the breath right out of you.

Ah, let's go.

Ah.

Plagued with problems every day, why we couldn't get going.

And it's just always one setback or another.

NARRATOR: In Manitoba, Canada--

[honking]

just a few hours from civilization--

Felt that one in my fillings.

[laughs]

NARRATOR: --Rick's truck is hanging by a thread.

Yes sir.

RICK YEMM: Well, it's a death trap right now man.

NARRATOR: It's the same problem that cost Hugh three tires

and left him stranded.

What a bunch of garbage.

HUGH ROWLAND: The springs are broke.

Tires is right down to the steel belts

on it, just a hazard on the roads.

Well, them two trailers that we got there,

they're spring suspension trailers.

You don't drove on the [bleep] winter roads

and expect them to make them roads.

NARRATOR: 150 miles south--

It's a reasonably long day, yes.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: 30-year vet Alex is near the end

of his own marathon run.

Well, I could be like a whole bunch of other people,

just sitting by a pool somewhere down south,

drinking with my feet up, waiting for my coffin

to get built. Going to die soon enough,

might as well be doing something.

Hey Frank, how's it going up there?

What?

OK.

I'm going to come over and have a look.

HUGH ROWLAND [ON RADIO]: OK.

Well, rumor is that Hugh's trailer is falling apart.

NARRATOR: The First Nations' mechanic

has hauled Hugh's busted trailer back to the yard.

ALEX DEBORGORSKI: Horbas' always got a lot on the line.

We've got to keep these trucks running

and keep the trailers in one piece.

Because that's his bread or butter for the whole year.

NARRATOR: And owner Dave Horbas is getting his first look

at the carnage.

Holy [bleep].

The springs are right through--

They got the chain up on there.

These sills here, this one here's

chewed right up from the tires.

NARRATOR: The trailer's taken over $5,000 worth of damage.

Both back axles, the springs are gone, eh?

That's pretty bad.

That's pretty rough.

DAVE HORBAS: That's amazing.

See if you go too fast and then something breaks

and then you keep going, this is what happens, just

smashes everything to hell.

Yeah, I think those guys are finished.

I don't think they're much winter road truckers.

They're not driving here.

They're not hauling here anymore.

It's over.

NARRATOR: 250 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska.

LISA KELLY: All I want to do is the big stuff.

And I'm hooked to a van.

And I'm hating life.

When I see oversized loads and I'm not with it, or helping it,

or under it, I get a sick feeling in my stomach.

Because I'd rather be doing that and not this.

How bad can you possibly want something,

you're being held back.

You know what I mean?

This makes me want to like, oh my gosh,

you don't even understand.

Nobody stands between me and what I want.

Now here's your choices.

You can either get in my way, or you can help me.

But either way, I'm doing it.

NARRATOR: Up ahead, the raging storm

has traffic at a standstill.

LISA KELLY: [yawning] [bleep] lot is full of trucks.

All northbound.

Is this Dave?

DAVE REDMON: Where are you headed?

LISA KELLY: North.

You ain't going north, not today.

Well, I'm headed that way.

Not today.

We just came from the other side of Atigun, about 20 miles.

I think you're going to be stuck here.

Tony and them are up in it.

Oh, are they in it right now?

Yeah, they're in it right now.

But they're not going nowhere.

I'm just going to hang out in the truck

stop for a little while or the restaurant.

Ain't no sense sitting on the side of the road.

Well, all right.

I'm going inside. LISA KELLY: See you.

Come inside and be social later.

NARRATOR: But Lisa's in no mood to be social.

Waiting out the storm so I can go.

Trying to stay positive, because, you know,

cooped up in this tiny little cab,

insanity gets you pretty quick.

NARRATOR: 150 miles north, the haul road has disappeared.

TONY MOLESKY: Might be a little nasty,

but I think I'd rather get through it now than sit here

for two days.

I can't see in front of me, so I'm watching this side marker

or side edge of the road here, and that's kind of we're

just crawling through here.

Using the force.

This is it right here.

I can't see a damn thing.

Would you mind putting that thing down and helping me

out a little bit?

See anything on that side?

TONY MOLESKY: Really?

Are you sure?

Definitely want-- don't want to be over there.

That's bushes, man.

NARRATOR: 50 miles south of Tony--

Pretty dangerous right now.

I can't see very much.

NARRATOR: --Maya's also driving into the whiteout.

MAYA SIEBER: It's tough when you have freight that has to get up

there as soon as possible.

You try and wonder if you should leave it and head back,

or it's like all these decisions you have to make,

wondering what's the best decision.

Sometimes the best one at the moment can be the worst.

NARRATOR: While the weather has Dave and Lisa stuck

at Coldfoot, the rookie has no intention

of letting her first hot load get there late.

MAYA SIEBER: This storm seemed to pick up.

Now it's blowing a lot.

Oh [bleep].

Sometimes you can't see the edge of the road at all.

And that's when it gets pretty damn scary.

I don't want to get stuck on the side of the road in this stuff.

That's what I don't want to happen.

Probably get buried if you stop.

NARRATOR: Stopping in a blizzard can cause blowing snow

to clog the air filters.

Without airflow, the engine will shut down,

leaving the driver stranded.

MAYA SIEBER: OK.

Now I can't see.

It's hard to focus when everything's just completely

white.

I can't see which way the road turns

or if it's uphill or downhill.

This is the worst weather I've driven in yet.

Holy [bleep].

NARRATOR: On Alaska's north slope--

TONY MOLESKY: Yeah, we're going to need to get through this.

NARRATOR: -- Tony Molesky has spent half a day battling

through the last 20 miles of a blinding snowstorm.

TONY MOLESKY: You never know, man, this

is the north slope of Alaska.

Things are going to be happening really, really fast.

NARRATOR: 12 hours after leaving the Fairbanks yard,

Tony has hauled the most dangerous load of the season

safely into Prudhoe Bay.

Today was like an adrenaline rush for me.

It was pretty intense tonight, pretty intense.

Whether it's explosives or fuel or freight or pipe,

it doesn't matter.

I mean, I'm just glad we made it through.

Damn, that was gnarly.

NARRATOR: Back down the road--

No [bleep] way.

NARRATOR: -- the rookie's still in over her head.

[bleep] I can't, like, get focused.

It's blowing even harder now.

And really hazy, can't really see.

Looks like staring into a white wall.

I mean this is crazy.

Can't see anything.

Oh, [bleep].

Well, we're finally getting into Prudhoe Bay right now.

NARRATOR: After weeks of training and 12 hours fighting

the Arctic blizzard--

So we're going to drop this load here.

And hopefully it clears up in the morning.

NARRATOR: --Maya's first solo run of the season

is in the books.

And the rookie from New York is one step closer

to earning her place as an ice road trucker.

MAYA SIEBER: That was one hell of a drive.

Drop this and then I'm going to call it a night.

I like hauling the heavier loads.

It's fun.

I mean, it's a step up from what I've done.

It's a great accomplishment to have driven this far

and to do it all by myself.

NARRATOR: After battling the storm,

Maya chalks up load number two, while Tony pulls

within a load of the lead.

In Winnipeg, Canada--

HUGH ROWLAND: I kind of roll with the punches

my whole life, eh.

Yeah, it's not too many-- you know.

Get at her.

NARRATOR: Rick and Hugh limp their busted rigs back to town.

HUGH ROWLAND: My trailer busted springs.

His trailer busted springs.

He pulled me up the hill.

I pulled him up the hill.

[bleep]

You know, I pushed him out of the--

out of the holes, took a lot of teamwork that whole [bleep]

trip.

RICK YEMM: Pretty good carnage on that road.

I took some damage.

The truck took some damage.

The trailer took some damage.

Let's just say it was a baptismal by fire on that one.

HUGH ROWLAND: We just took the loads,

and we made the best of it.

And we're not going to cry over spilled milk.

We made-- we made some money here.

We'll-- we dealt with it.

We overcome it.

And we're on our way home.

It's a good thing.

NARRATOR: After four days, 1,600 miles, and two

destroyed trailers, the run to Lac Brochet

is finally at an end.

HUGH ROWLAND: Another load, another dollar.

End of the back haul.

Be glad to get rid of this [bleep] junk.

Ready to get the [bleep] out of dodge.

I'm out of here.

Hey, [bleep].

I've got to go out and run them papers out to Horbas there.

You know, I'm just about there now.

And I'll drop them off.

And I'll tell you how it went down.

[laughs]

Hey Dave, how's it going?

DAVE HORBAS: Was a trip from hell, eh?

Yeah. Trip from hell.

Yep.

Yeah.

[bleep] pretty good there.

Yep.

It's a--

You got some tires on there anyway.

Yeah.

What I can't figure out is, I sent five trucks in.

And out of the five, you and Rick

come back with two broken trailers.

You know, what's the problem?

That's the way it goes down man.

Who the hell is going to fix all this?

Maybe you guys should come here and fix it all, you know.

We did her.

The way it turned out is the way it turned out.

Got the papers, the end of the load, you got her.

I'm finished with you guys.

I don't need you coming here and wrecking everything.

Adios.

[bleep] you.

DAVE HARBOS: It didn't work out.

It didn't work out.

That's all.

How all these guys can go in there

and wreck this stuff like this and then say, it's junk.

It's junk now, after they're finished with it I guess.

Had enough with these guys, they're not coming back here.

They can go back to Alaska.

NARRATOR: Next on "Ice Road Truckers".

Wish I was back in Alabama right now.

NARRATOR: The Arctic blizzard rages on.

And Dave is left out in the cold.

DAVE REDMON: I'm going to die slow, cold and alone.

NARRATOR: Lisa--

LISA KELLY: Can you see anything at all?

NARRATOR: --hits the road to redemption.

And it's Alex to the rescue.