Ice Road Truckers

Narrator: Now...

Lisa: Woo!

Narrator: on "Ice Road Truckers"...

Lisa: (Bleep)! I can't stop or I will be stuck.

Darrell: Whoa!

Narrator: As the season races towards the finish line...

Darrell: This ain't gonna last long.

Narrator: the trails fall to pieces...

Todd: What in the hell?

That sucks.

Steph: Oh my God!

Narrator: and the drivers...

This is (bleep)!

Narrator: are feeling the heat.

Lisa: Oh (bleep)!

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Narrator: Throughout the winter road system,

an early spring is looming.

Opportunities for the drivers are quickly becoming scarce...

horn blasts)

Narrator: ...and at Polar headquarters in Winnipeg...

Mark: Hey, guys. Yeah, just checking on that road.

Do you know when we're going to be able to get up in that area?

Narrator: ...owner Mark Kohaykewych is scrambling.

Mark: When you're faced with an El Nino year,

I mean the challenges are exponential.

Drivers need to step up,

you know, we can't afford an, an extra minute

never mind an extra day.

I'm hooked in, baby.

Narrator: The boss has gotta capitalize

on every open route he can find.

It's good to go.

Narrator: So, today, he's taking a chance

on the greenest driver he's got.

- It's my first, uh, my first solo trip.

Mark: I got loads stacking up, I got roads closing.

Steph's gotta step up and get out there on her own.

Narrator: On her first mission...

Holy (bleep)!

That knocked me right out of gear.

Narrator: ...Steph Custance was mentored by Todd Dewey.

- Welcome to the ice road, baby!

Narrator: But even with the company top dog at her side...

- You can hear the ice flexing. Now I wanna get off.

Narrator: ...driving on ice

was like nothing she'd experienced before.

Yeah, I'm nervous.

I got lights here.

Narrator: But now,

with time running out and loads piling up,

Mark's sending the 22-year-old out on her own.

So I think it's really cool

that Mark trusts me enough already and...

and that he's letting me go out

and giving me another opportunity

to prove myself even more.

Yeah, my biggest concern is just lack of knowledge.

I mean, it's, I'm still new, I'm still a green horn,

so I have to be on my game.

So let's hope I learned enough from Todd.

Narrator: With only one training run under her belt,

it's time for the rookie to earn her stripes.

(Door shuts, engine rumbles)

Narrator: But this one won't be easy.

Steph: We're wheels up.

Narrator: Steph will have to haul

a heavy 28-ton load of building materials

200 hundred miles to Pikangikum.

But to get there she'll have to battle

one of the longest ice crossings in Ontario,

stretching nearly ten miles.

Steph: Finally on my way, so we're gonna...

pray the good Lord's with us

and that we're good to go.

Hammer down.

Narrator: While Polar hits the trail with a newcomer,

600 miles to the north...

Darrell: All right, I am in South Indian Lake.

Narrator: ...the competition's already banking a delivery.

Darrell Ward isn't backing away

from the challenge of a short winter.

Darrell: You know, with the way the weather is this year,

I gotta get in as fast as I can and get back out of there.

I don't know when the road will close.

It's pretty heavy.

Narrator: And today he's attempting a mission unlike any before

by trying to complete three deliveries in a single day.

- I got one load going to three destinations.

This could be huge for me.

One piece down.

All right.

Narrator: The epic journey starts in South Indian Lake

then moves northwest a hundred miles to Lac Brochet,

and if successful,

caps off with a 50 mile sprint to Brochet.

(Truck rumbles, chains clink)

- I've got school supplies for three different communities.

I've got two left to deliver,

and I have another drop in Brochet

and another drop in Lac Brochet.

So hopefully,

by the time I'm done up here in northern Manitoba,

I've scored three loads -

got three more loads under my belt.

Narrator: For the small company it's an ambitious undertaking,

but it could be the best way to utilize their two-man fleet.

- Could be a new adventure or a new disaster.

As of tomorrow, they're gonna start closing a lot of roads.

It's a long ways in and a long ways out,

so no room for error today.

Narrator: 400 miles to the southeast,

Darrell's business partner's got a big-money haul.

- My truck's been taking quite a beating.

Narrator: Lisa Kelly's nabbed the last load

into Sandy Lake for the season:

a lucrative contract that could be a windfall for the company.

Lisa: I've got a vanload of trap supplies

and it's the last one that's gonna be able to get into Sandy Lake.

So it needs to get there

because this road is falling apart.

Narrator: But there's a good reason for that high price tag.

Warm weather's destroying the road,

turning it into a 300 mile trail

of nothing but mud and slush.

Lisa: I need to get out before they close down for good,

so I'm gonna have to keep the pace up.

It's gonna be trying not to get stuck in mud

and trying not to get stuck in snow and slush

because there's no one else out here to pull me out.

It's really warm out,

Tundra showing through, it's really slippery.

We'll be mud-road trucking.

Narrator: The muskeg's almost completely melted down...

- The farther I go the softer it's getting.

Narrator: ...and it's taking everything Lisa's got

just to keep the big rig plowing forward.

Lisa: Ugh! This is just rough.

It's rough on your body, it's rough on your freight,

it breaks your truck.

Woo!

See how wide this road is?

I gotta be dead center to not go in the ditch.

This thing is going so out of control everywhere.

This road is just muck and tundra and rocks and slush.

There's not much ice left.

Pretty much a nightmare road.

I don't even think this road's gonna last another day.

(Truck rumbles, water splashes)

Narrator: As the sun breaks from the clouds...

Lisa: Agh! Woo!

I'm gonna feel like I've been through a war when I get there.

Narrator: ...the road goes from bad to worse.

Lisa: Woo! Ow!

This is why I look older than I am.

Oh man, oh man.

Ah! (Bleep)!

I gotta keep going.

I can't stop or I will be stuck.

Pretty hard going.

Something smells really hot.

Narrator: But the temperature's not the only thing

starting to heat up.

Lisa: Okay. Yeah, something smells really hot.

I don't know what it is.

I see like-- oh, I see like tons of smoke in my mirrors.

I can't stop.

See that?

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh!

Holy crap.

Oh (bleep).

the winter roads season is entering the home stretch,

so both companies are trying to squeeze in

as many loads as they can.

For Polar, that means sending out rookie Steph Custance

on her very first solo mission...

- This is the iciest, the most dangerous

I have been on yet.

Narrator: In Manitoba,

Darrell Ward's trying to give his small company a leg up

by delivering three loads in a single day.

Darrell: I've got two left to deliver.

So moving out, expanding the company.

Narrator: And deep in northern Ontario...

Lisa: I gotta keep going.

I can't stop or I will be stuck.

Ah! (Bleep)!

Narrator: Darrell's business partner Lisa Kelly's trying

to get her haul across the mud-filled trail to Sandy Lake.

Lisa: Okay. Yeah, something smells really hot.

I don't know what it is.

Narrator: But her plan may be going up in smoke.

- I see like-- Oh, I see like tons of smoke in my mirrors.

I can't stop.

See that?

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh!

Holy crap!

Oh (bleep)!

Oh (bleep)!