Ice Road Truckers

Narrator: Now...

Art: Wow.

Narrator: on "Ice Road Truckers"...

Mark: Good to see you, man. Sorry about your dad.

Narrator: a son will rise...

Reno: Obviously I feel like I learned from the best.

Mark: Make your dad proud.

Narrator: to help with one of the toughest hauls...

Mark: Whoa-whoa-whoa! Stop-stop!

Narrator: in ice road's history.

But Mother Nature...

- This storm just came up out of nowhere.

Narrator: might shut it down.

***

***

Narrator: A season filled with volatile weather...

Art: I'm gonna go so (bleep) fast.

Narrator: has put the pressure on Art Burke...

Art: All right, b'y.

Let's see if I still got my (bleep) skills, eh.

Narrator: and the ice road truckers,

to move already delayed loads to the communities in need.

Art: Away we go, buddy.

Narrator: Today Art's racing to pick up a trailer

filled with building supplies

bound for the distant town of Pauingassi

225 miles northeast of Winnipeg.

Art: Gotta look at the positive side, b'y.

Hundred yards into it the road is perfect.

Don't get any better than this. b'y.

What the (bleep) happened there? I didn't do that.

She quit.

The (beep) sucker just quit.

Now can you (bleep) believe it?

We just broke down, b'y.

***

Well, ain't this somethin', b'y? Huh?

And they wonder why I curse.

Can you (bleep) understand it now?

Holy (bleep).

I betcha we haven't got a mile in.

I mean, this is totally outrageous.

I'm just gonna sit here and get the (bleep) mechanics over.

They can (bleep) lick my arse.

Narrator: While Art's benched till his truck gets repaired...

back in town...

Lisa: Plug her all in and make sure she's good.

Narrator: Lisa Kelly...

Mark: Big load.

Narrator: and Mark Kohaykewych,

are taking on the biggest load of the season...

Lisa: Oversize's are fun!

- I just got a contract to bring one

of the first prefab homes into one of the communities.

I'd say it's a major oversize load.

Narrator: They will have to haul the prefabricated home

400 miles to the village of North Caribou Lake.

On a road notorious for its steep hills,

tight turns...

and narrow bridges.

Mark: This is a risky move.

This is the first one built of its kind

and it'll land us a, a long term contract here

for not only for Polar but for Lisa as well.

The roads are melting away, we wanna make sure

we got lots of supplies up there just in case.

But we don't even know if this house is gonna make it in.

If we can't get this home in then um, I mean we're done.

Narrator: The job also requires a second oversize load.

Carrying the rest of the components for the house.

- It's gonna be nuts especially out on those icy roads.

It's just gonna be dragging you side to side.

Lisa: I think we should go in there prepared to the hilt.

Narrator: And that rig will require another driver.

Lisa: Hey, Reno, thanks for coming, oh my God.

Reno: Good to see you.

How are you? Mark: Good to see you, man.

Narrator: Stepping up is Reno Ward,

Son of legendary trucker, Darrell Ward.

- What do you think of my big ole fat stacks up there, Reno?

- Well, they're not that useful unless they blow smoke.

I think you blow enough smoke.

We don't need any coming out the stack.

Narrator: Three years ago Reno joined his father

on the Manitoba ice roads...

Darrell: Right on, another load delivered, Reno.

Narrator: And now...

after a tragic plane crash took Darrell's life

his son has returned.

Reno: I feel like I learned from the best and uh,

if I take everything he knew

and then what I've learned by myself

hopefully I can go up against anything.

Mark: Honestly I appreciate you coming up on short notice

and everything else.

It's basically gonna be myself in the pilot vehicle up front,

Lisa right behind me and then you're gonna be bringing up

the rear with uh, with your load.

Darrell's not here to guide him.

Can he do this on his own?

Um, he's got a lot to prove to me if he can

and I believe this is a perfect opportunity for him

to prove himself on these winter roads.

Okay, so we got you uh,

got your dad's old truck to drive.

Why don't you hop on in, man. Just take your time, dude.

***

***

***

Reno: It means a lot, I mean, to be up here,

this is like when I grew up you know what I mean.

It's home. I mean, he loved it up here

and loved being around you, guys, and...

Lisa: I loved him to death.

And I just-your dad was always non judgmental

and never cared that I was a girl... he just...

Right.

- He just expected me to do my damn job.

- Do everything he did. - Yeah.

And I really liked that about him.

- Yeah. - So thanks for coming.

I'm really glad to have you here.

Reno: No, thank you for bringing me closer to him.

You know it was pretty emotional to sit in his truck

thinking about how I have to live up to what he did.

I had to step in, you know, to his shoes,

literally step into his truck.

It just brought me closer to my dad.

- Need a minute or are you ready to hook up

and get out of here?

- I'd rather just hook up and get going and...

- All right let's go, let's go get the stuff.

Mark: Okay, buddy.

Narrator: With the clock ticking on a wild season...

Can you hear me, Lisa?

Lisa: (radio) Yeah, Reno, communication is good.

Narrator: the convoy has no time to waste...

Reno: I'm ready to go. - 10-4. Let's roll.

***

Mark: Let's merge over now.

Lisa: (radio) Okay.

Narrator: Led by pilot car...

Mark: (radio) You're clear, yeah.

- I literally cannot see around my big fat ass.

Narrator: the prefab mega load...

Reno: Yeah, it's probably hard to tell...

it's a little nerve racking , I bet.

Hopefully we just shake it right on down the road today.

Narrator: and all the accessories hit the trail.

Mark: It's a big load.

It's a little bit of trial and error but uh,

we're gonna see if we can get this done.

Narrator: While the convoy readies to make ice roads history...

back in Winnipeg at Polar headquarters...

Art: It's 12:00 o'clock now and it's a ten hour drive.

And the truck broke three times in a half a mile.

Narrator: Art and his truck are back up and running.

Art: Away we go with my load of stuff in this.

Narrator: Behind schedule,

Art's finally hitting the road

with his load of building supplies due in Pauingassi.

Art: We're off to Pauingassi lake.

Knock on wood.

The weather has been up and down and up and down

and up and down, man.

One day it's thawing, the next day it's freezin'.

The worst year in a while for that.

Gotta kick ass to get as many in as we can here.

Narrator: The veteran truckers making up time...

Art: Look at this.

Holy (bleep), boys and girls.

Narrator: But as he makes his way into Nnorthern Manitoba...

(Bleep).

It's just lovely this is.

Narrator: Mother Nature strikes again

as a blizzard moves in over the winter roads.

Art: Snowing like a mother out now, buddy.

It went from 6 above to 6 below

in about 15 miles give or take.

The only thing to do, b'y,

is to put a little of this on me lips. (Bleep)

I like to keep me lips lookin' nice and refreshed, eh.

The cold air will (bleep) them.

Narrator: But with the snow storm worsening by the mile...

Art: I can't see a hell of a lot, I'll tell ya that.

Narrator: the state of Art's lips

are the least of his worries.

Art: I hope to (bleep) it's not like this all the way in.

It went from a sunny day to a whatever the hell this is -

a major blizzard here in about 2 hours.

Narrator: The blizzard continues to intensify.

Art: This is over for us cause I can't drive in this.

Can't see a goddamn thing.

Narrator: And the road conditions are too dangerous.

Art: I'll find a (bleep) spot right there,

I shut this down for the night.

Narrator: Once more the winter roads have become impassable

and the waiting game starts again.

Art: There's a spot right here, buddy.