Ice Road Truckers

Narrator: Now...

Narrator: Now...

art: (bleep)! (bleep)! (bleep)!

Narrator: ...On "ice road truckers"...

Darrell: Hammer down.

Time's slipping away.

Narrator: ...The race is on...

darrell: Whoa!

Narrator: ...As a cold front opens up some of the toughest...

Todd: It is slick.

narrator: ...Roughest trails in the north.

Todd: Hang on!

Narrator: And the drivers jump in...

Alex: I can hear the ice cracking and popping.

Narrator: ...Feet first.

Alex: Whoa!

art: Whoa!

Narrator: It's the season the ice road truckers

have always feared.

holy (bleep)!

Narrator: Right from the start...

- It's a race against time right now.

Narrator: ...It's been a mad dash to get loads delivered...

Art: Get the (bleep) out of here!

Get the (bleep) away from me!

Narrator: ...As the record short winter has created chaos.

whoa!

narrator: El nino's warm temperatures have created havoc

on trials and crossings.

- So far I'd say this is the worst road yet.

Alex: This is a nightmare.

Narrator: And some roads...

Alex: Whoa!

Narrator: ...Haven't even survived.

I guess we can't go anywhere.

Narrator: But now...

A 24 hour cold front has descended on the north

providing a brief window to deliver supplies to villages

yet to receive a single haul.

So the drivers are gearing up for the big push.

And first out of the gate...

Is darrell ward.

Darrell: All right, I'm loaded for cat lake.

They just opened this road.

I definitely got a tight window

to get to cat lake and back.

I need to get in there and get offloaded

and get the hell out of there.

Narrator: Darrell's hauling the first load

to cat lake all season;

an urgent 18 ton haul of insulation.

on the road to cat lake.

Narrator: But the 300 mile route's no ordinary trail.

It's an obstacle course of narrow passageways and bridges,

tight corners and steep hills.

- I'm lucky that this road's opened.

Closed road means no loads.

little rough and nasty.

time's slipping away.

Hammer down.

Narrator: But darrell's not the only driver battling the clock.

100 miles to the northwest in manitoba,

polar's nabbed a monster haul with a tight deadline

and they've entrusted it to ice road's legend,

alex debogorski.

- I'm over dimension on big, tall and wide.

Narrator: Through the years...

Lisa: North bound long pipe out of cold foot.

Narrator: ...The truckers have been tasked

with hauling plenty of unusual cargo.

Trucker: We're 22 feet wide.

Even things on the side of the road you gotta watch out for.

Narrator: This 16 ton oversized fuel tank

is no exception.

And it's giving the old pro all he can handle.

Presents a few challenges.

it's high, so it tends to rock.

it's round so it wants to, it wants to roll back and forth.

I guess you can call it an unstable oversize load.

Narrator: The tank is due in the town of norway house

by nightfall.

An 300 mile trail that just opened just hours earlier.

- Of course this road's not flat so it's back and forth.

Narrator: With warm temperatures

expected to shut down the path by morning

this is the only chance to deliver the tank.

oh, oh, oh, oh.

Narrator: But keeping the huge cylinder secure

ain't gonna be easy.

Oopsy daisy.

We got a hill.

Ahhhh. Oh!

oh, oh.

oh-oh.

the one chain is slack.

I mean, I can see the chains bouncing around here and all.

This load might be trying to fall off.

Narrator: With 100 miles still to go

and every bump pushing the chains to the limit,

the veteran will have his hands full.

Alex: It's gonna be about ten hours of bumping up and down.

That causes another element of potential disaster.

If I spend all my time watching the load,

I can't watch the road.

This is a time when I need eyes in the back of my head

so I can be looking forward and backward at the same time.

good lord hates a coward.

Help me, lord, to have a good constructive trip,

and we get home in one piece. Amen.

narrator: 100 miles to the southeast...

yeah, this road's gone right to (bleep) down here, man.

This is the beginning of the end for this road, buddy.

Narrator: Fellow polar driver, t burke,

is also battling a newly opened trail.

- I'd like to pull it off as quick as I can, right.

Before everything melts.

Narrator: Art's looking to deliver 20 tons of building supplies

bound for distant pauingassi,

a 200 mile trail across northern manitoba.

we gotta get it in here, man.

Narrator: The cold front

may have allowed the road to be opened,

but with each passing minute...

narrator: ...Its expiration date is rapidly approaching.

- this road certainly took a turn for the worst

pretty (bleep) fast.

I gotta be on the ball here now.

oh dear, (bleep) look at this.

Look at this, look at this, look at this, look at this.

I can't get stuck here, b'y.

If we get stuck here we're (bleep).

he needs to be pulled front ways, b'y.

I don't know if I can handle this one.

Let's get out and have a look.

- I'm art, b'y. What's your name?

Cliff?

Art: How long you been at this, b'y?

I'm not leaving you here, b'y.

We'll get you out.

Narrator: It's truckers code:

"never leave a driver stranded."

art: He has to get out of here.

Narrator: So art will lend a hand

even with another 100 miles ahead of him.

art: I'm gonna go around him and pull him frontwards.

art: See if I can drag him up this (bleep) hill

or at least out of there.

Narrator: Art rigs up a makeshift tow line

out of a strap and chain

hoping it'll be strong enough to pull the derailed truck

out of the ditch.

Art: We'll get him.

Okay.

Okay.

keep-- hey!

Turn your wheels this way.

narrator: The stuck rig ain't going without a fight.

So art will back up try to gain extra pulling power.

Okay, let's go this time.

(bleep)! (bleep)! (bleep)!

Narrator: Fighting through the long road to pauingassi...

Narrator: Attempting to rescue a stranded trucker from the ditch...

Art: Chain broke, eh.

Narrator: ...Art's makeshift tow strap couldn't hold on.

Art: (bleep) sake.

It broke, buddy.