Ice Road Truckers

Narrator: Now... on "Ice Road Truckers"...

Oh baby.

Narrator: with an ever growing back log of loads...

Todd: Here we go.

Behind the eight ball.

I gotta get the hammer down.

Narrator: the drivers aim to deliver.

Art: There's a lot of weight on the ice.

Narrator: But with too much snow...

- No one in their right (bleep) mind would be out here.

Narrator: and too much ice...

- Still trying to spin even with the chains on.

Narrator: they'll have to fight...

Todd: Come on... dig!

Narrator: for every mile.

(Bleep) dammit!

***

***

Narrator: In a season plagued with the most chaotic weather

to ever hit the winter roads...

Mark: The storm just came up out of nowhere.

We're sitting and we can't afford to sit.

Narrator: Polar owner, Mark Kohaykewych,

went all out on a game changing load.

Mark: I got a contract to bring one of the first prefab homes

into one of the communities.

It's the first one built of its kind

and it'll land us a long term contract for not only Polar,

but for Lisa as well.

Narrator: And to get the job done...

- Thank you for trusting me with it.

Narrator: he recruited the competition...

Lisa Kelly...

Lisa: (radio) How you doing Reno?

Doing good.

Truckin' along.

Narrator: And took a chance on Reno Ward,

son of the late, legendary trucker, Darrell Ward....

but now...

You think she's got this?

Reno: I think coming into the bridge is pretty hairy

with that front wind.

Mark: I just wanna see smokestacks

coming around that corner.

Reno: Yeah, 100%.

Narrator: There is a multimillion dollar contract

on the line.

And Lisa's about to attempt what few drivers would dare;

crossing a narrow bridge at high speed

with only inches to spare.

if that wasn't enough,

she also must pull the 40 ton load

up an icy 18% grade.

Mark: She's threading a needle at 65 miles an hour.

My biggest fear is that she smokes the bridge.

***

Moment of truth.

Come on, girl.

Oh my God.

I don't want to hit I want to go slower...

Oh my God. I just have to go.

Oh my gosh-oh my gosh.

***

Holy (bleep)!

Lisa: (radio) Oh my God.

Mark: What-what-what?!

Lisa: (radio) I did it.

Oh yeah!

Nice.

That was scary.

I'm gettin' out.

(Laughs)

Mark: That's (bleep) awesome!

(Laughs) Oh my gosh.

Mark: (Inaudiable)

- Nice. - That was so narrow.

- And I'm like yeah, and I didn't wanna get on the radio

and tell you how narrow it was.

I think I closed my eyes.

Mark: Proud of you. Great job.

Thank you. See ya.

That was genuinely scary out there.

I had some room to work with but just not much.

Mark: (radio) Nice job, Lisa.

You handled it like a champ. I'm super proud of you.

Thank you, sir.

Narrator: Having conquered the bridges,

the convoy presses on to tackle the remaining 120 miles...

Mark: (radio) So there's one challenge gone.

All bridges, check.

Narrator: Looking to deliver the one of a kind prefab house

by the end of the night...

- Now with all the bridges gone my minds gotta go

to the next problem.

Narrator: Hopefully in one piece.

Meanwhile, 350 miles to the northwest

in Thompson, Manitoba...

Todd: Everything froze up.

Narrator: After a brutal blizzard blocked all roads

in this area for three days...

- Oh, we're getting somewhere here.

Narrator: Todd Dewey, digs his way to freedom.

Todd: There's been a lot of snow fall.

Anywhere from three to six feet.

All truckers have been parked.

Every road was closed. Highways were closed.

Trucks were buried. Cars were buried.

Nobody was moving so now it's a big hard push.

Here we go!

They actually got the road opened up

and it's time to go make some money.

Oh yeah.

I'm just excited that I'm actually finally rolling,

cause I need to make some money.

Narrator: Todd's hauling the first load

into the village of Shamattawa

since the remote trail reopened.

Shamattawa bound, boys.

It's what I've been waiting for right here.

Narrator: With his 30 ton load already late

and a weather ravaged route ahead,

this is gonna be a long and brutal road.

Todd: There's a lot of steep hills going down

and a lot of steep hills going up.

Ooh, it's starting to get more narrow, more bumpy.

Hang on.

Holy (bleep), that was rough.

This road's gonna be like this all the way out.

She's gonna be a long trip, boys.

Narrator: While Todd takes the bumps and lumps...

300 miles away...

Ah, running out of daylight.

And I was hoping I could get in there and get unloaded.

Narrator: Alex Debagorski's also got an overdue load,

this one bound for Little Grand Rapids.

Alex: As soon as I can I'm gonna try to get there

so I can get back because I really have got a lot of loads.

Narrator: If the grizzled veteran can make it by 7:00pm

he can turn and burn for another load

and another pay day.

- So hopefully I can finally get in the swing of things.

***

What the heck is going on here?

Narrator: But even though time is money

this old pro will always stop

if another driver might need help.

Alex: What's the matter with your truck?

- I'll come give you a hand. - Okay, thanks.

Narrator: And this guy needs all the help he can get.

Alex: So what you've been here since last night?

Trucker: Since 9:30pm last night.

Alex: You're kidding.

Them brakes had it? - Yeah, I think so.

- Well, let's see what's wrong and have a look.

Narrator: While Alex trades valuable time

for trucker good karma...

250 miles away...

- I gotta get the hammer down on this one

because I'm behind here.

I'm behind the eight ball.

Narrator: Art Burke's battling his way into northern Ontario.

Art: I'm off to Sachigo Lake

with a load of building supplies.

A lot of building supplies.

Narrator: After weeks of unpredictable weather

the trucking daredevil's looking to make up time.

Art: There's a big lake up here that's really long, eh.

Once I get across that I'll be in Sachigo

and we can get this off.

Narrator: Big lake is an understatement.

It's the longest ice crossing

in the Ontario winter road system.

The vast Sachigo Lake ice crossing

winds past land masses.

Before opening up over the middle

of an 300 feet deep body of water.

Stretching a full 21 miles

before reaching the tiny community.

Art: There's the ice crossing right down here.

I guess we should get out.

did it ever snow, eh.

I betcha they got three or four feet of snow here

in this last storm, b'y.

There's a lot of weight on the ice

and no one in their right mind

would be out here checking it out like this.

Narrator: But with the load urgently needed in Sachigo...

Art: So let's get this (bleep) done.

Narrator: Art's gotta brave the treacherous passage

with a rig that's pushing the weight limit.