Original subtitles

TREVOR: He definitely hit hard.

NARRATOR: This time on Heavy Rescue 401...

I don't wanna stick my head in there.

That's where the chain is.

..a pair of tangled trucks...

It's still going?

..ties up Chatham.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

(TYRES SCREETCHING AND CRASH)

An icy night...

A very dangerous spot right now.

..puts Sonny in the firing line...

Everything going wrong.

..and Gary unveils...

Let's see what we can do.

..his newest weapon.

Hold it. Whoa.

Near the western end of the 401,

a calm day on the roads is winding down...

..but with a blast of Arctic weather on the way,

drivers are in a hurry to make it home...

..and on a dry road, impatient drivers can take bad chances.

I will say, probably,

the worst accidents we get are on clear days.

On the 401 in Chatham-Kent,

constable Shawn Eagan is seeing some troubling signs.

These trucks here were just right up tight.

They see us coming, now they backed up.

They're supposed to be three truck lengths apart.

It's a necessary buffer to prevent rear-end collisions.

These are professional drivers.

Just as the sun starts to set...

Yeah, we're getting off here, Jay. Looks like they're shutting it down.

..Chatham Towing heavy op Trevor Girard

responds to a call on the eastern edge of Chatham-Kent.

We're headed out to the 160-mile marker,

pretty serious crash.

This has been the third one today in the same area.

There's actually people turning around in the middle of the 401.

Turning around and coming the opposite way in traffic,

not a very smart move.

We're running out of daylight quick now.

Sometimes these recoveries,

when you get that kind of build-up of volume of traffic,

the hardest part is getting to the accident safely.

Oh, it's a pretty huge scene.

They got the OPP command post out.

You usually don't see that out here.

Yeah, I don't know what's going on here.

Doesn't look like anything's even started yet.

There's been a collision between two tractor-trailers,

one running into the back of the other.

Unfortunately, one party has been deceased.

Oh, my god.

He definitely hit hard.

There's nothing left of the compartment at all.

Just stand back, you know, out of respect for the family, right?

It's somebody's dad, or, you know,

brother, or, you know, somebody's husband, right? So...

For Trevor, facing a death on the road hits especially hard.

My wife is a professional truck driver.

She's been driving around 20 years now.

Him and I met one day when I broke down on the 401.

I needed a rescue.

He was my hero, he was my rescue that day.

Fixed her up, got her off the road.

Best call I ever did.

Being married to somebody

who is a heavy rescue tow truck driver,

we both set out for work first thing in the morning,

and the ideal is that we come home at the same time,

at a reasonable time, but on a day when it's bad,

that doesn't happen.

Well, it makes you think, right?

It could happen to anybody.

It, uh, it's hard.

You can't let it bother you.

You gotta get the job done, you gotta get the road open.

So while they wait for the police to finish their investigation,

the crew surveys the damage.

She's jammed in here so tight, eh?

Trevor's boss, John Verkaik, sees the first challenge right away.

It's gonna be ridiculously hard for the two units to be separated.

Everything's twisted and locked up.

We're just trying to figure out what we can hook to, right?

When the garbage hauler hit the back of the dunnage trailer,

it literally intertwined everything.

Trevor and John's son Jason are in for a fight.

Everything is just like a big pretzel under there.

It's hooked right in there.

On North America's busiest highway,

closure...

..is not an option.

We're good.

It's just before 8pm

when the police finally give the go-ahead.

Keep 'er going.

The highway has now been shut for over five hours.

The pressure is on the Chatham crew to open the road fast.

This happened at 2:26pm.

It's now close to 8:00 at night,

so it's our priority to get it open as fast as we can.

There's probably 30,000 pounds in that trailer.

Oh, it's steel. I thought it was dunnage.

No.

It's gonna be tough to pull 'em apart.

They're basically welded together.

So they'll need some help.

Actually, Kori, you're good there. Once he moves, I'll sneak by.

KORI: OK.

Kori Wright will lead the crew

from Wright's Towing to recover the trailer in front.

Find the chain I want.

Chatham will work to clear the garbage hauler in behind,

but first, they need to pry the two transports apart.

If you pull ahead, swing over, and just grab it,

take some pressure off it. Lift a little bit.

I'm gonna get my truck a little closer,

and they're gonna lift with the rotator at the back.

Hey, Moses? Can you grab that other chain?

Trevor will lift on two lines to the back of the trailer,

while Kori lifts on the front,

and uses the underlift to slowly coax the semi forward.

OK, you're tight.

We good, Kori? Yeah.

You gotta get it off the ground.

You gotta pick it up, Kori.

But the two semis are holding tight.

Hang on, hang on, hang on.

I'm not liking what I'm seeing here.

We gotta cut this ICC bumper, I think.

It's digging into the ground.

Somebody bring the saw over?

Get those axles so they're at least a little movable.

Stand back.

The guys have gotta see exactly

what is jammed and where it is jammed,

and, of course, it's night-time.

It is very difficult.

The guys have got a challenge on their hands.

She's free now. She is.

That didn't work.

I've seen a lot of wrecks, but this one here,

they're just holding together just like glue.

Can we see where it's caught?

I don't want to stick my head in there.

That's where the chain is. Yeah, I know.

It's just unbelievable, actually.

You can see how high they lifted it, over six feet,

and still nothing is coming loose.

We gotta figure out something quick.

We gotta get this road open.

200 miles east, the Arctic front has already slammed into Toronto.

The sharp drop in temperature is icing up roads across the city.

Sonny Subra is heading to clear a stall

on Highway 409 just east of the airport.

Freakin' cold.

The truck is straddling the edge of the icy live lane.

A police cruiser will give Sonny some protection from the traffic,

but without a blocker truck...

..he wants another set of eyes.

What's going on?

I know if I tell Deric, "Go there", he will go.

He won't ask any questions.

10-4, 10-4.

That's the kind of co-worker, colleague you need.

He's like my big brother.

He helped me big time in the beginning.

Deric, come on, let's go.

Just like Sonny...

We're gonna lift with the tractor.

..Deric fled civil war in Sri Lanka,

and worked his way to a job at Steve's Towing.

So we're gonna see how things gonna go, Deric, OK?

Sonny took on the role of his mentor.

In the towing industry, I learned most parts from Sonny.

I want to grow up one day like Sonny.

That's good, Deric.

How are you, buddy?

This is a very bad spot to stay here.

Now they've both found a place at Prompt Towing,

and tonight, Deric will be watching Sonny's back.

Half in the live lane, half in the shoulder.

It is a very dangerous spot.

Yeah, go, go now.

Sonny will have to pull out the drive shaft

to save the automatic transmission...

That's it.

..spending more time in this bad spot.

This is a very dangerous part right now, yeah?

But what we gotta do, we gotta do, right?

We gotta disconnect the drive shaft.

We gotta get it done.

I gotta go down...

Oh, my god.

Go, go, go.

Really cold, man.

You want me to give you a small one? Yeah.

In the frigid air, the bolts are frozen hard in place.

(GRUNTING)

Sonny.

If this doesn't come out, you are screwed.

You cannot move.

REPORTER: We have a stalled tractor-trailer in a live lane,

a little tough to see,

so please slow down if you are heading towards that area.

On the edge of Highway 409...

(GROANING)

..Sonny is still fighting with the stubborn drive shaft...

Ooh...

Yeah, go.

..and traffic on the icy road is not letting up.

It's not about my safety now.

Deric's safety, too.

Yeah, it's coming. OK, that's good.

That's good, that's good. Yeah, it came out.

(BLEEP).

Even as Sonny loosens the bolts,

the drive shaft stays frozen in place.

(GRUNTING) Oh, my god.

Sonny needs a second pair of hands.

OK, lift it up.

Deric come underneath and give me a hand.

It's coming out?

Is it good?

OK.

When we get that drive shaft out, we are so happy.

That's it.

Good to go? We're good to go.

We put our hard work in the cold, he get the tractor-trailer out.

That was a really happy moment, you know?

He come and give me a hand.

I feel like it's everything gonna come along

is really good in this year.

Me and Sonny did this.

Back at the western end of the 401...

TREVOR: Easy.

..the Chatham crew has made multiple attempts

to wrangle apart the two semis.

JOHN: We've tried to pull it and everything else,

and it's just impossible.

Keep it going.

The boys have got a job on their hands

trying to figure out where to pull, and when to release it.

JASON: Hey, Trev? TREVOR: Yeah?

Can you use your auxiliary a little more?

Yeah.

We got to figure out something quick,

because the 401's been shut down all day already.

Jason finally gets a look at just what's hanging on so hard.

JASON: It's the entire radiator that's up in there.

Can we cut it?

No, because I think we're going to get caught

on this back rail here.

Like, it's up and in.

It's difficult to see. There's so much junk in there.

Trevor will have to change up his rigging.

So If I take the auxiliary to the back leg and under...

Let's try that.

Can we hook it to that piece over there?

It's going to pull it over, right?

It's just like holding them together.

One way or another, we've got to get them apart.

Hey, Kori? Try to go ahead a little bit, Kori.

KORI: OK.

TREVOR: Easy. KORI: Be real easy.

Trevor's banking on the new line to add some lift in the right spot.

JOHN: Watch it, she's moving, eh?

Trevor's running the rotator,

and he's lifting the back of the trailer.

TREVOR: Can you keep pulling, Kori?

JASON: At the same time,

Kori's pulling the dunnage trailer forward.

Inch it forward, inch it up, inch it forward, inch it up.

TREVOR: Easy.

OK.

JOHN: You still going?

TREVOR: Don't stop.

JASON: There she goes.

TREVOR: Keep going.

Good, stop.

It's their first success of the night...

JOHN: Man, that was jammed underneath that, man.

TREVOR: She's all yours.

..but as Kori Wright pulls the semi forward...

CREW: Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

TREVOR: Hey.

Good. We got to get hooks.

The axles on the dunnage trailer were hit so hard

that they broke right out of their perches,

and now the tires are jammed right into each other.

She's right touching there, eh?

Yeah, yeah, it's back up against it now.

JASON: I really wish that wouldn't have happened.

We're going to have to do something else

so the wheels can roll.

With the axles torn free, the brakes are locked.

There's no possible way we can get cage bolts in here,

and the air lines are all ripped off.

The two crews need to find some way to limp the semi off the highway...

You know, the pressure's on. Everybody wants this road open now.

OK, well, I'm going to grab my mini torches here, so...

Yeah. ..and Kori has an idea.

Now we got to cut the brake rods

so we can hopefully free up some tires.

It will free up the brakes...

but the trailer is still sitting on the wheels,

weighing them down.

It's definitely going to be a drag.

(TRUCK ENGINE REVVING)

DYLAN: You've only got one out of the four turning.

Still, it's enough to clear a path for the next phase of the recovery...

..the garbage hauler.

Is there anything good to hook to?

Yeah. Oh, OK.

The front end suffered such massive damage,

just rigging is a challenge.

JASON: OK.

Is it going to pull it straight, or should we do two?

We'll find out. We're on an angle, so...

Alright. ..she might be all right.

CREW MEMBER: Last one.

Watch yourself.

(ELECTRIFYING SOUND) Whoa, whoa, hey.

Big old spark show.

Something has shorted out.

There's fuel all over.

It's a recipe for disaster.

(GROANS)

Not going home yet. Holy.

We got to find where the cables are hooked up to the battery.

Come on...

Hydro's disconnected.

TREVOR: Do you want to flip that cab now?

JASON: Yeah, we can do it. We got a flatbed here.

It can't be towed. There's no strength left to it.

The motor's out of it, the transmission's out of it.

So, we're just going to pick it up and get it out of here.

Can you steer it this way?

Now it's just up to us to hurry up and get it done.

The real problem will be the chassis.

Try to make them the same length.

Like, run it right back if you can.

JASON: The frame rails aren't straight...

TREVOR: This here.

Nothing's where it should be.

Hoping we can find the perfect balance point,

and things stay together.

I went around the spring and all that,

hoping it's going to hold the axle, or most of it, together,

but in reality, stuff's probably still going to fall.

Want to cut those lines?

TREVOR: Yeah, I'd rather cut it than jar it.

Fred, there's bolt cutters, right there.

Yeah, in here.

There...

Aluminium...

It's always a big deal when you're cutting stuff off

of something that's hanging in the air.

Come on.

Yo.

You don't know if it's going to throw

what's above you out of kilter,

and, could it come down?

There she goes.

You're going to have to drop the back.

TREVOR: Yeah...

JASON: Ain't that nice?

We've got the chassis itself loaded.

Probably within an hour, the whole road will be open.

The victory...

Hold it a sec.

We got the fuel pouring out.

..is short-lived.

JASON: Is it still a line?

TREVOR: Nope.

For (BLEEP) sakes.

(GRUNTING)

Right there.

(GROANS) Next thing you know, we got fuel.

On a scale of one to ten

on how much I want to get out of here,

we're looking at a 15.

(GRUNTING)

Right there.

On the eastbound 401 in Chatham-Kent...

You got any wood or anything?

Uh...

I feel like the Dutch kid with his hand in the dike.

..the Chatham Towing crew is scrambling

to plug a major diesel leak.

The pressure's huge.

Every county road is blocked.

Every main two-lane highway is blocked.

I'll get you a hammer.

So the crew improvises with the materials on hand.

Just going to jam some wood in it.

Got some...

Whatever you call it, cattails, or whatever they are.

We don't have time to do anything else,

so we're going to do what we can to stop the leak

and get it off the road.

There's one.

You just jam it full,

and it soaks up some diesel fuel, and it seals.

Remember what I said about you just have to think outside the box?

Almost ten hours after the crash,

the crew is ready to clear out so the road can reopen.

It gave us a little bit of troubles here and there,

but all in all, I chalk it up to a win.

Grab me a couple wire ties out of the tool box?

Feels pretty good. It's a pretty big job.

Just get her open, and make everybody happy.

It's only second time we've actually worked with Wright's.

For not knowing each other and how they operate,

I think things went very good.

It's a success, but for Trevor, not a celebration.

Somebody lost their life.

You know the ride home,

you're going to be thinking about it.

Thank god you don't come across these jobs every day,

but, you know, when you do,

you'll always remember it, right?

You'll never forget it.

(RADIO CHATTER)

150 miles northeast,

the cold front has taken hold of Toronto.

I find this time of night,

there's a lot of small trucks who are out there...

On the 401 just west of the city,

Sergeant Tim Sturgeon is on the move.

Well, I'm going to be doing quick truck stops

looking for basically documentation.

We're not really doing any inspections,

unless I find something really badly wrong.

Now the weather's getting worse,

if I get involved in something which is prolonged,

and another call comes in which is a priority,

I am now stuck on doing an inspection

instead of answering calls for crashes.

Sergeant Sturgeon quickly finds

the kind of problem he was hoping to avoid.

Nope, no lights.

(SIRENS WAILING)

TIM: No lights. DRIVER: Huh?

Oh.

Can I see your licence and trip insurance, please?

..and the registration, insurance.

It should be in the vehicle.

If the tail lights weren't bad enough,

the driver has none of the critical paperwork.

We're going to get off the highway,

and we're going to do an inspection on your truck.

Getting him off the highway is safety for everyone, myself,

the people I'm doing the test for,

and for the other public.

Put your brakes on.

Brake.

OK, left indicator, left turn.

Brake lights and turn signals are working...

Right. ..but the tail lights are dead.

So, what you need to do now, you get onto the phone to your boss,

and let him know you need a mechanic here

to put the lights on,

and get them fixed before you can drive,

because your lights are not working.

He has no paperwork with the vehicle,

so that's an offense itself.

So, I've got three tickets here.

OK. Only one for you.

I've given some tickets to the owner of the vehicle.

For the driver, I just give him a straightforward ticket

for driving with a major defect.

He got off very lightly.

They know the rules.

They know they have to carry the paperwork.

They know they have to do the inspections,

and also word gets around to other companies

that the police are actually giving out tickets.

It might make them think before they do something wrong.

As the night pushes on, the weather pushes westward...

(RADIO CHATTER)

..moving in on Highway 402...

..and as westbound traffic approaches Mount Brydges,

it comes to a hard stop.

The semi lost control in a heavy squall,

spun right around, and slammed into the guardrail...

..blocking both westbound lanes.

Preferred Towing's Kyle Pewtress is already on scene,

assessing the damage and the work ahead.

Definitely beat up.

The tractor's parked on top of a guardrail.

Split the fuel tank, did a whole bunch of damage.

This is a little bigger job than what we had thought.

If it's on the guardrail,

we risk splitting another fuel tank,

putting more oil on the ground.

So, help is on the way,

the newest addition to Preferred's fleet.

I'm bringing the rotator out.

Got to get in there, get this cleared up,

so these guys can get moving.

It will be Gary Vandenheuvel's first job with a truck

that took years to plan and build.

This is the new 65-tonne rotator.

It's quite the machine.

Wow.

After working out the custom design...

It is a beauty.

I'm pumped, I'm stoked.

Yeah, it's exciting.

..Gary finally got a chance to see his new baby on display

in December at the Towman's Expo in Atlantic City...

You only need one finger to run it.

(LAUGHS)

This is nice.

(SIGHS)

Now I got to get a wreck to play with this thing.

(LAUGHS)

Looking forward to getting it home and trying it out.

(HORN HONKING)

GARY: Here she comes.

..and just a week ago, the big day finally came.

She's home. (CHUCKLES)

First big truck in our fleet that we've ordered to spec,

so it's kind of special, it's kind of neat.

Just got to get it out on the road and make some money with it.

Well, what do you think?

It's like a trophy going down the road.

It's beautiful. (LAUGHS)

GARY: Got a lot of traffic backed up.

Got to get this highway open.

After just a few days of practice in the yard,

tonight is a test for the new rotator and its new operator.

It's pretty technical.

It's a whole new, you know, piece of equipment to learn.

Let's see what we can do.

On the 402 in Strathroy...

..Kyle Pewtress has opened up a path for trapped drivers...

KYLE: We can move these guys outta here now.

MAN: OK.

KYLE: OK, we're sending traffic through.

GARY: Just coming up on Kyle there.

..and his boss, Gary, has just rolled up

to join the battle.

GARY: OK, let's see what we got.

Here's this length of guardrail. Right.

Maybe I can just reach across, pick it over.

Why don't you spin around, then?

Come around to the front of it... Yep.

..and I'll just lift and rotate it over a little bit.

Let's get it off the highway, let's get it open.

Gary will use the new rotator

to carefully lift the trailer up and over the guardrail

while Kyle pulls it forward.

Too many damn controls on this truck.

Gary's working with a new truck that he's not familiar with.

There's a little element of cautiousness.

I've been working the kinks out of it,

but she's been working OK.

I'm sure I'm still gonna have a few hiccups with it.

I'm just booming out right now,

getting the rotator into position here.

Kyle's just kind of guiding me into place.

Pretty close to centre there.

Finessing is everything, getting this swung over.

GARY: I gotta boom it up a little bit.

We need it to stay straight,

just pick it up, move it over, set it down.

It's delicate work,

and Gary is still getting a feel for the new controls and winches.

It's a nervous feeling being the operator.

I don't want to rupture the other fuel tank.

A lot of sharp metal back there.

It could open it up pretty easy.

OK, let's give that a little pull, Kyle.

Just gonna boom it in a bit.

There she comes.

There she comes.

We off there, Kyle?

OK, looks like we got it clear of that guardrail.

This new rotator, nice to have along for this job.

But the night isn't over.

He hit the bridge? He didn't hit the bridge.

He stopped, but he can't back it up.

They've just gotten word

the OPP needs them to tackle another job.

We've got a fuel tanker,

he's gone down one of the side roads.

He was diverted from this accident, and he's stuck.

Kyle's going to pull it a little bit further forward,

and then I'll go get this guy from the bridge.

OK, you do what you gotta do to get this highway open.

It's gonna be a busy night.

We'll just keep up with the pace if we can.

Back in Toronto,

weather and roads have been getting worse for hours.

REPORTER: OPP actually suggesting if you don't have to travel,

it might be a good idea not to.

The conditions right now is very dangerous.

Sonny's heading to answer an urgent call...

SONNY: Whoa.

..a customer trapped in his truck on a side road northwest of the city.

..but there's no other choice for us.

We have to go.

Everything whiteout!

The roads are iced,

but I'm slowly driving, going, going...

The quickest route is straight down this back road,

but as Sonny approaches the next intersection...

Boom.

There's a police car blocking the roadway.

This is the last thing I need.

Officer said, "Listen, we are not allowing nobody

"into this area."

Police, tow service, nobody going there.

Everything shut down.

I don't know, man. I don't know...

This is going to take a while.

Northwest of Toronto,

Sonny's mapped out a roundabout route to reach his stranded client.

We are here to help them out.

But navigating an unploughed side road

in this whiteout is a risk.

It's not about me anymore,

it's my family, my son.

I see you guys. I see you guys.

I am coming.

The box truck is stuck off-road in a field,

unable to gain traction.

That's my customer, I had to get them out.

Snow is piled up, oh, my god.

Freezing, windy!

With traffic just a few feet away on the slippery road,

Sonny doesn't want to take a minute more than necessary.

He'll have to reposition for a better angle.

And now, he'll have to move right into the path of traffic

to finish the pull.

When you drive down on the road, you cannot see 5m in front of you,

and then, like, blowing snow and freezing.

The road are iced up.

You have to be really careful.

Keep the steering straight!

But tonight, cautious drivers are giving him room to work.

Traffic, everything stop. That's a really good help for me.

Oh, come on, now.

OK, neutral, neutral!

After everything done, you feel so proud yourself.

MAN: You take care, man. OK.

MAN: This is bad weather, right? Yeah.

They are so happy. They really wanted to go home.

But after almost a full day on the job,

Sonny's trip home will have to wait.

Back on the 402...

..westbound traffic is crawling toward a detour route...

We'll get this moving and open real quick for you.

..and just down that detour route, Gary is sizing up a new job.

GARY: Getting around on the road shouldn't be too bad.

The tanker B-train diverted off the highway,

and got stuck on the side road.

How you doing?

Good, you empty, or you full?

Highway gets shut down, these guys get diverted.

Now they're dealing with the weather and unfamiliar roads.

Leave it in neutral, and you're gonna steer back.

Don't worry about the back one, I'll take care of that.

OK?

Gary must ease the two pivoting trailers

back off the side road, with the driver steering in reverse.

We'll work together kind of in unison,

but I'm not sure if he can steer it or not.

Most people have a hard time backing their car

out of a parking spot,

now add on a truck, a trailer, and an additional trailer.

It's pretty complicated.

It's just a sheet of ice out here.

Just gotta make sure we roll nice and easy,

and keep him out of the ditch.

Straighten your wheel.

(GROANING)

This guy's now going in the ditch on his own.

Hold it, whoa!

You need to start getting this trailer this way a bit.

On an icy side road off the 402...

DRIVER: Me not back.

Yeah, you don't know how to back up? DRIVER: Yeah.

..Gary's efforts to back the B-train off the road have gone off-side.

(GARY GROANS)

Gary must unhook to let the driver pull forward

back onto level ground,

but he's losing faith in the driver's ability to reverse.

I think this driver hasn't been at this very long.

His inexperience at this

really isn't helping me get this off this road.

Yeah, a little frustrating.

It's tough, these guys... some of these guys can't back up,

but, you know, they're in a truck like this

instead of trains, you gotta know how to do it.

OK, pull her forward. Straighten your wheel.

Good.

Good. Whoa, stop.

Now, I'm gonna just back this up myself.

With no other option,

Gary will put himself in the driver's seat.

I'm gonna have to be the rotator operator

and the driver of the truck,

and I'm gonna have to get this thing up onto the roadway.

He'll have to back up as far as he can,

and then switch over to the winches...

GARY: And find reverse in this puppy.

..keeping the tractor and both trailers straight,

and on the narrow road.

It's a tough job to get this thing to back up straight.

You turn one way, it goes another.

I can literally see the end of the road.

Pull him one more time, get him straight.

Time to let his new pride and joy take over for the final stretch.

I'm getting a feel for the new truck,

so it's kinda nice.

It's a nice machine. (CHUCKLES) I really like it, so...

..getting comfortable.

Reaching the home stretch.

Perfect.

He's free. He should be able to drive her forward now.

As long as he doesn't go down another road like that,

he'll be alright.

Victory!

Finally, it's done.

It's been a long night, ready to go home.

It wasn't the biggest job of the winter,

but it's a sign that Gary and the new rotator

are headed in the right direction.

It's pretty exciting to have this truck

come into the fleet.

Really handles the job well, right? It's a beast.

(HORN HONKS)

Gonna call it a night, or a morning, I guess,

it's about 4am.

Another three hours, sun will come up, and who knows?

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