All language subtitles for Ice.Road.Truckers.S03E05.Accident.Alley.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-NTb_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: On this episode
of "Ice Road Truckers,"

a massive rollover
nearly takes a life.

And he was laying right here.

I'd run him over.

NARRATOR: Lisa's brake failure
causes a runaway truck.

I'm trying to stop.

NARRATOR: And new dangers emerge
from the darkness of night.

Hitting a moose, it was
like hitting a brick wall.

There he goes right now.

NARRATOR: At the top of the
world, there's a job only a few

would dare.

Just when you thought extreme
trucking couldn't get more

dangerous, ice road
truckers take on Alaska.

It's four weeks into Alaska's
brutal ice road season.

Truckers have already faced
an onslaught of breakdowns--

This sucks.

NARRATOR: --whiteouts--

Can't see at all.

NARRATOR: And rollovers.

This is the worst season
that I've been through as far

as that many blows.

The roads are just getting
really exciting and dangerous

at the same time.

NARRATOR: Carlile truckers
have hauled more than 500 loads

to the oil fields
of Prudhoe Bay,

but there's still
1,500 more to go.

Last night, a fierce snowstorm
left dozens of truckers

stranded in Coldfoot, the
halfway point and only truck

stop on the ice road.

Eight inches of fresh
powder has buried the road.

OK, we're going
to head off here.

NARRATOR: But ice road
trucker Jack Jessee

is on a mission to go south,
even if it means hitting

the ice before the snow plows.

We're going to shoe out--
go out and give it a try this

morning.

NARRATOR: He's back
hauling an empty trailer,

but there's a heavy haul
waiting for him in Fairbanks

with a weighty
paycheck to go with it.

There's about eight inches
of fresh snow on the ground,

so we'll be dealing with
a lot of one-lane roads.

Gonna be hard to see the edges.

NARRATOR: Jack's a pro and has
driven in conditions far worse

than this, but right behind
him is young gun Lisa Kelly.

RADIO: Having fun yet?

I'm having a blast, are you?

RADIO: [laughing] Yeah.

NARRATOR: She's hauling
two stacked empty trailers

and is eager to get
her next big load.

I saw Jack this morning
at the breakfast table.

I'm like, Jack, which
way are you going?

South.

I'm going with you.

Yeah, Lisa wanted to follow
me on this on the way home.

And safety in numbers, actually.

It's a really good thing.

NARRATOR: This is only Lisa's
second season on the Dalton.

She's already delivered
her first heavy haul

and made it through a blinding
whiteout over Atigun Pass.

I already can't hardly see,
and I'm barely moving here.

NARRATOR: But she's never
driven through snow drifts

like this where you can't
see the edge of the road

and could drive
off at any moment.

I wasn't brave
to do it by myself.

Jack's the one in front.

He's our fearless leader.

Any new driver, we
don't send them out here

to cut their own
throats, you know?

We try to give
advice when needed,

and they try to stick her
with experienced drivers.

Just want to go to Fairbanks.

Just wanna get to Fairbanks.

Fairbanks.

And I'm not guaranteeing
I won't go in the ditch.

In the eight years
I've been up here,

this is probably so far the
worst start of the winter.

So far this winter's
been pretty intense.

Right now the snow
is what the problem is.

I still just can't
see the road, though.

Between these two
berms somewhere.

NARRATOR: As Lisa
strains to see the road,

she slows down and then
loses sight of Jack.

I can kind of see Jack's
tracks in front of me.

That's it.

Looks like one lane.

NARRATOR: After all
the effort to team up,

Lisa now finds
herself all alone.

100 miles from
Deadhorse at a place

called Slope Mountain,
last night's storm

nearly proved fatal.

A truck traveling
at 50 miles per hour

with a full load of drill pipe
caught the edge of the road.

The rig flipped over twice and
rolled down the icy embankment.

The driver was thrown from the
cab into the frozen tundra.

He managed to drag himself up
onto the road, where ice road

trucker Richard Merrill
was the first to spot him.

Just glad he had a
flashlight in his hand.

Because it was snowing, it was
dark, you couldn't see nothing.

And when you're coming
on a hill like this,

you're not in the left lane,
you're on your side of the road

because you don't know
what's coming at you.

And he was laying right here.
I'd run him over.

I just got him up
off the ground,

load him up in the truck,
tried to comfort him and get

him to pump three.

So you know, I knew
he was hurting.

NARRATOR: With the nearest
hospital more than 400 miles

away, Richard drove the injured
trucker to a pipeline service

unit.

From there he was
medevaced to Anchorage.

Looks pretty violent.

This makes me sick
to my stomach.

I bet you he come
right out that window.

That makes me sick.

I can't even look at it anymore.

NARRATOR: Even veterans never
get used to the deadly forces

of this road.

Southbound on the
ice, Lisa Kelly

is alone, pushing through
eight inches of deep snow.

Think he's up there.

NARRATOR: Finally, she
spots Jack's tail lights.

I think so.

Our radios are important
because that is our lifeline.

Because we don't get phone
service, we don't get anything.

And the radios are
how the truckers

tell other truckers that the
road's good, or not good,

or somebody's coming,
and somebody spun out,

don't come over the
hill and kill us.

OK, I just met the one
way coming back at you.

It's coming north?

NARRATOR: Snowplows
are now on the move,

racing to open up the road
for truckers headed north.

LISA KELLY: Oh
gosh, he's hauling.

Look at the trees falling.

It's awesome.

Hey, Lisa?

LISA KELLY: What's--
what's up, Jack?

Got a northbound that's
dropping into the [inaudible]

out there, he just came
from the chain up area.

So hold up here for him.

LISA KELLY: All right.

NARRATOR: On the ice, northbound
trucks have the right of way.

Southbounders must often pull
over to allow more wide loads

to pass safely.

Lisa strains to find
the next pull-out,

but the heavy snow blankets
the edge of the road.

LISA KELLY: Cannot not
fall off the road here?

Wait, is this it?

NARRATOR: She misses
it completely.

I don't know how I'm
going to move over here.

NARRATOR: As the other
truck barrels toward her,

she tries to slow down.

[radio chatter]

[truck horn]

150 miles from
Fairbanks and headed

southbound, the
Dalton ace Jack Jessee

leads the less experienced
Lisa Kelly through eight inches

of fresh snow.

Got a northbound that's
dropping into the [inaudible]

out there.

NARRATOR: And if that's
not dangerous enough,

Lisa discovers she has no
brakes as an 18-wheeler barrels

straight towards her.

I'm trying to stop, I promise.

[truck horn]

NARRATOR: She bears
down on the brake

pedal with all her weight.

Good gosh, that
took everything I had.

I'm sorry, I didn't know
I was at [inaudible]

because I didn't see the pull
out, and then I can't stop, so.

RADIO: Not a problem.

RADIO: [inaudible] Kim's
coming out of the guard

rail [inaudible] right now.

NARRATOR: Jack Jessee
has seen it all

and knows this mistake well.

She-- she actually just
forgot to dry her brakes off.

NARRATOR: When driving in
fresh powder, snow and ice

accumulate in this space between
the brake pad and the drum,

rendering the brakes useless.

Truckers must pump the
brakes periodically

to build up heat
and dry them out.

If you never touch
your brakes driving

through lot of loose snow
like this, you will--

you will never have any brakes.

LISA KELLY: Good gosh.

NARRATOR: Just outside
of Deadhorse, the road

has been cleared, and Hugh
Rowland is southbound.

HUGH ROWLAND: Loading
up, take the southbound.

Headed for Coldfoot first,
then on into Fairbanks.

NARRATOR: On this trip, Hugh
hauls what may be the smallest

load of the season.

This here is my load,
three pounds of paperwork.

It says right here,
three pounds paperwork.

And I got an empty van.

This is all we got to haul back.

Getting paid regardless.

NARRATOR: But a bigger load
would mean a bigger paycheck.

Hugh's mission is to get back
to Fairbanks in a single day

to pick up some real freight.

So far, the polar bear
is holding his own

on America's most
dangerous road.

HUGH ROWLAND: It's it
a lot of fun to drive,

I'll tell you that.

No I ain't been scared, nope.

NARRATOR: He's
confident as ever,

but still requires the
supervision of haul road

veteran Phil Kromm.

RADIO: What are you doing, Phil?

Just motoring along.

How about you?

HUGH ROWLAND: It's
been a good ride.

Probably so.

All in all, Phil's a good guy.

We're basically on the
same page with everything.

I might be a little bit
more risk-taking than Phil,

but Phil's been on this road
a lot longer than I have.

NARRATOR: Hugh's only been here
a few weeks yet he's already

living up to his reputation.

He's got kind of a-- a
pretty colorful personality.

Maybe-- maybe a little wild.

Yeehaw!

Woohoo!

[laughter]

NARRATOR: 100 miles south of
Deadhorse, north slope police

officer Steve Lee is on
the scene to investigate

last night's crash.

This may be where he
rolled the first time.

Now, the truck
rolled, and this--

all this debris right
here may be the--

where the first
rollover occurred.

You can tell by looking at the
cab that it's been on the cab.

It broke off the exhaust.

NARRATOR: When the massive
cab came to a violent halt,

it ejected the driver
across the tundra.

This is where he
went down in the snow.

This is where he ended up,
so I'd say it's probably

25 feet from the truck.

Let's go up and look inside.

Well, here's his other shoe.

Something here.

Let's see.

Oh, a bible.

I guess those are good
things to carry with you.

NARRATOR: Fortunately,
the trucker

missed a high-pressure
gas line by mere inches.

He's lucky, you know.

If he'd have rolled, and
it would have dug up the--

the-- the pipeline here, we
could've had a natural gas

explosion.

And the guy that was
driving most likely

would not be around.

When they move this thing out,
gonna have to be awful careful.

NARRATOR: 250 miles
south in Coldfoot.

I could use a nice
neck massage right now.

NARRATOR: Alex
Debogorski is just

getting started on the day.

We had a good night's sleep,
so can head for Prudhoe Bay

now, do most of our
drive in the daytime.

NARRATOR: He's
still headed north

to complete his second trip.

Yesterday a broken
trailer spring

put him half a run behind
Hugh in the dash for the cash.

Well I've always--

I've always got a-- a
few more loads than Alex.

He-- he gets out there
pretty hard, but I--

I know he's starting to
slow down here a little bit.

NARRATOR: Alex is hauling a
stack load of drill pipe bound

for the oilfields.

He's traveling with Dalton
veteran Jack McCann, who

carries a fleet
of pickup trucks.

Alex, you gonna
call me back there?

All right, by golly.

NARRATOR: They convoy
towards the shelf,

a treacherous incline cut
into the mountainside.

One wrong move here and
it's several hundred feet

to the bottom.

We're just
approaching the shelf,

and I think we're going
to be chaining up.

Because they had the fresh
snow the night before,

they had somebody blocking the
road because they spun out.

NARRATOR: Tire chains on
this stretch are essential.

So we're going to have
the chaining experience.

We're going to be
on the chain gang.

A good time will be had by all.

NARRATOR: It's a new
experience for Alex,

since chains are not used
on the Canadian ice roads.

Pretty hard to do that when
you're huffing and puffing.

All right, we're just
going to roll this ahead,

see if we can hook them up.

How's that look?

Does that look OK over there?

Next we'll be embarrassing
myself and my--

my chaining capabilities here.

This is supposed
to be the easy one.

How's that look, Jack?

That looks good.

Is the other one OK too?

Yeah, I got it.

OK.

NARRATOR: Alex begins
the great ascent.

Well, we're northbound
up the shelf, which

is the last challenge
before Atigun Pass.

Stay over to my side of the
road just in case I spin out,

and then if I do, then there'll
be room for everybody to drive

up and down and laugh at me.

NARRATOR: The goal-- pick the
right gear that will get him

to the top, because
downshifting in the middle

could end in disaster.

I can't remember what gear
I need to go up on this one.

I guess we're gonna
find out really quick.

NARRATOR: Alex hits a
gear that's too high

and doesn't give
him enough traction.

He quickly downshifts.

Let's get down, let's
hold here and stay here.

NARRATOR: But mistakenly
drops two whole gears.

That was not my plan there.

NARRATOR: The truck slows
to a frightening crawl

and then comes to
a complete stop.

This is the last place an
ice road trucker wants to be.

Getting started
again on this hill

could send Alex sliding
backwards down the mountain

side.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: Oh Lord, Lord,
what did I get myself in for?

NARRATOR: 60 miles north of
Coldfoot, Alex Debogorski

missed a gear and is now
stopped dead in his tracks

on the icy slope
known as the shelf.

Getting going again means
fighting the force of gravity.

One slip on the ice could
send Alex sliding backwards

to the bottom.

He eases into first gear.

The tires hold.

He pushes into second.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: Going on
a pretty low gear here.

I'm in second gear, so I
gotta put a lot of power

to the road, which is, you know,
not real good if it's really

slippery because that'll
make you slip through.

NARRATOR: As Alex creeps
along, the road narrows.

The cliffs become more steep.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: Over
there, 500,000 feet down.

So what makes it treacherous
is if a guy spins out,

the concern is sounds like
he's going backwards down

these hills, and a
lot of trucks have

been lost by going
backwards down the hill

and then over the guardrail.

If a person goes over that
edge, lose their truck,

and lose the driver, too.

NARRATOR: His tires barely
gripping the ice, Alex rounds

the top of the shelf.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: Look at
that, made it to the top.

NARRATOR: But he still has 75
miles of treacherous terrain

to go.

I ended up having
to start over.

I get to start over
on the shelf now.

Add that to the list.

NARRATOR: 127 miles from
Fairbanks, Jack and Lisa

are racing back to
get their next loads

and the northbound traffic is
out in force, trying to make up

for lost time.

[radio chatter]

You wanna move over at all?

Guess not.

NARRATOR: With increased
speed comes an increased risk

of going into the ditch.

Two kinds of
drivers on the road--

ones that have been in a ditch
and the ones that are gonna go

in a ditch.

But the funny part is that the
ones that actually say that

have usually already
been in a ditch.

I can say that.

NARRATOR: As word of the road's
most recent crash spreads

along the Dalton, it's a grim
reminder of just how many lives

have been lost.

Right here's where John died.

He was heading north and just
got close, just kind of rolled

over.

Wasn't a pretty sight.

Kind of messed the guys up that
showed up on the scene first.

NARRATOR: More
than 35 steel white

crosses honor the dead on
this side of the haul road.

None of this--

none of this freight we're
moving is worth anybody's life.

NARRATOR: 100 miles south
of Deadhorse, a big rig

ran off the road and
flipped over twice.

Recovery specialist
Ben Krakowski

races to the scene to retrieve
the truck and its load of drill

pipe.

The 42 pieces of pipe are
worth half a million dollars.

Ben has to work quickly to
prevent a logjam of trucks

from backing up on the ice.

All the pressure is on me.

You don't wanna-- you don't
want to keep them guys tied up.

You do what you gotta do,
but you do it kind of quick

so they can get going, you
open it up as much as you

can so they can get through.

NARRATOR: He begins by hooking
two heavy duty steel cables

to the front of the truck.

BEN KRAKOWSKI: These
inner brackets inside here

are bolted directly
to the frame,

so we got something solid
we can really pull on.

Because we're going to do
some heavy pulling here.

NARRATOR: The
cables are connected

to two high-powered
winches on the tow truck.

Slowly, the cab inches
up the snow bank.

BEN KRAKOWSKI: OK.

Now we got the tractor
up on the road,

we'll bring the trailer
up out of there.

Well, there is a pile of
snow down here, isn't there?

Yeah, there is.

NARRATOR: Ben and his
team attach two cables

to the underside of the trailer.

BEN KRAKOWSKI:
Don't get no grease

on my [bleep] damn [bleep] now.
- It's gettin' on my clothes.

BEN KRAKOWSKI: That's OK.

The landing gear, just
watch it in case it digs in.

It should slide over the top.

Just stand somewhere and
holler if it don't look right.

NARRATOR: They manage
to drag the trailer

to the top of the incline.

BEN KRAKOWSKI: Oh crap.

NARRATOR: But they can't
get enough leverage

to drag it onto the road.

Ben now has to improvise,
and he has no time to waste.

Can get that loader just
kind of across this way here,

and all he's gonna do is
hold onto that front end.

NARRATOR: He uses a loader to
help stabilize the trailer,

then he repositions
the tow truck

to pull from the back end.

BEN KRAKOWSKI: OK, here we go.

NARRATOR: Finally, the trailer
makes it back on the road.

Right now we're gonna
start hooking on some pipe,

and start dragging
that up out of there,

and see how that all goes.

With the last of the
drill pipe cleared,

the Dalton reopens for business.

BEN KRAKOWSKI: I know all these
guys that are driving up there,

and I hate to see them
wreck their trucks.

But if the traffic keep going
like it is and they don't slow

down, I will be busy.

NARRATOR: 40 miles
south of Deadhorse

is the area known as the
bluffs, a windy expanse

of barren tundra stretching
from the Brooks Range

to the Arctic Ocean.

Hugh Rowland is
southbound, doing battle

to stay on the road.

It's got wind on it
shining [inaudible]..

You could skate on it today.

NARRATOR: And with Hugh's
cab shackled to an empty van,

he's getting tossed
all over the road.

It's way better to
have a load in your van

or a load on the back of your
truck than having an empty van.

It just slides all
over the place.

So you gotta keep on your toes.

There's quite a bit
more snow on the road.

Been-- been breezy
all night, and some--

most of the drifts are
clear across the road.

You gotta drive through them.

We got snow all over, and
snow dust you can't see.

NARRATOR: Suddenly the
winds churn up the snow

into a blinding whiteout.

It's-- I know we can't stop
on the ice here, she's pretty--

pretty slick.

NARRATOR: 50 miles from
Deadhorse, Hugh Rowland

is southbound.

Blowing snow makes the road
nearly impossible to see.

Woohoo, that wind
got cold right there.

Keep our wits about her today.

NARRATOR: Fortunately, he's got
23 years of experience driving

on ice.

I don't use my
brakes on the ice.

Very much stick to the gear.

NARRATOR: On the ice, brakes
can cause a deadly skid.

If something happens and
the truck breaks loose,

you're already out of control.

NARRATOR: Gearing down
reduces the truck speed

but still keeps power
to the drive axles.

Gear down and gear
up, away you go.

NARRATOR: As Hugh approaches the
steep mountains of the Brooks

Range, he leaves the
destructive winds behind.

Load doing OK.

It ain't fell on the floor
and got all dirty yet.

[laughter] And the trailer's
tagging along behind us,

so we're doing good.

NARRATOR: But he still has 300
miles of extreme terrain to go.

Still trailing Hugh
is Alex Debogorski.

He's only just now
pulling into Deadhorse,

completing his third
trip up the ice.

I guess if you look
at the map and then go

the northernmost part of Alaska,
and you'll find right there

on the sea shore Prudhoe Bay.

That's where we are.

NARRATOR: Alex's plan is to turn
and burn to catch up with Hugh.

Fantastic.

NARRATOR: But when he
arrives at the Carlile yard,

he discovers a big problem.

That a flat tire?

NARRATOR: Alex
can't catch a break.

Yesterday he had a broken
trailer spring, now this.

My left front
outside tire's flat.

Came off the beat.

Must have just happened,
because it's not full of snow.

That thing looks pretty
fresh, maybe gonna

be able to save it cause these
guys had one of them things

that blows air in there,
you know what I mean?

NARRATOR: Alex must
wait for repair,

putting him even further behind
in the dash for the cash.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: There
was another delay.

I didn't want it, but
that's what I got.

Don't always get what you want.

I think they wrote a
song about that once.

[laughter]

NARRATOR: Deadhorse, Alaska,
sits at the northern end

of the Dalton.

The discovery of the Prudhoe
Bay oil field in 1968

put Deadhorse on the map, and
it now serves as a company town

housing oilfield workers.

It has a general store, a post
office, and even an airport.

But alcohol is forbidden,
leading to the unofficial town

motto--

"all that far and still no bar."

Turns out the name Deadhorse
is not as literal as it seems.

It's got nothing to do
with the horses actually

being dead up there on the
ice on that end because there

weren't any horses up there.

But by the time you got
there, you might as well

have been a dead horse.

So I mean, I guess it's--
it's the perfect name to be

at the end of Dalton
Highway, that's for sure.

NARRATOR: 125 miles from
Fairbanks, Hugh Rowland is

southbound, charging through
every challenge on this road.

[truck horn]

There's a road challenge me
every day coming up around them

hills around the corner.

Yeah, if you weren't
afraid of death,

then you'd be [bleep] dead.

I guess that's the challenge.

NARRATOR: Now a new obstacle.

Seen that one.

NARRATOR: Arctic speed bumps
known as frosty heaves.

Frost heave is
permafrost in the earth.

And it moves in the
spring and in the winter.

NARRATOR: Alaska's extreme
subzero temperatures

cause the earth to
buckle under the ice,

making the road
even more dangerous.

A frost heave will make a
bump or a dip in the road,

that's what--
that's what it does.

either bumps or
dips, one of the two.

Well, you get-- your
truck gets to bucking

and there's not a
comfortable feeling.

[laughter] Buck you
right out of the seat

just like being in a rodeo.

[inaudible] Frosted
right in here.

It's like a [bleep] country
fair roller coaster ride.

NARRATOR: After driving
through snow drifts all day,

Jack Jessee and Lisa Kelly
finally approach Fairbanks.

You're good for five,
Lisa, keep on trucking.

10-4.

NARRATOR: This was
a tough backhaul,

but a good run for
an ice road trucker.

But I do this particular
job because I love it.

I like jobs that you can be
proud of what you've done.

NARRATOR: They pull
into the Carlile yard,

but there's no rest for Jack.

He's ready to turn and
burn with another load.

Do more trips,
you get more cash.

I'm out there for myself to
make money for me and my family.

That's what I'm out there for.

NARRATOR: Lisa is taking a
few hours off in her home

away from home.

Welcome to my truck!

Jeez, it's where I
live most of time now.

This thing's packed,
wonderful craftsman tools.

I got tons of wrenches,
our screwdriver

for spreading prongs on
the-- on the light thing.

And then I got these
ratcheting crescent wrenches

or whatever they are,
ratcheting wrenches.

And here's all my clamps and
stuff, and air hose fittings.

I'm an oversize.

[laughter] So now
for the inside.

Come on in.

My house is back here.

NARRATOR: Surprisingly the
sleeper cab has room for most

of the necessary comforts.

LISA KELLY: I got my
refrigerator here.

I have all my clothes in
my gear bag right here.

They're all organized.

Got a couple of
movies, not very many.

And my little DVD player
when and if I ever have time.

Then I got my food.

Got it all organized, too.

Watching my calories, I don't
want no trucker physique.

That's about the
extent of it, I think.

This is my house on
wheels, so it works for me.

NARRATOR: At the end of
the road in Deadhorse,

Alex Debogorski's
truck is in the shop.

Got a flat tire came
right off the rim.

And the tire man, he's gonna
see if he can find the hole

and fix it.

Well, we've had numerous
delays this trip.

This is just another one.

NARRATOR: Carlile uses
severe service duty tires

for driving on the ice.

On average they only last six
months, and at $400 apiece,

it's worth the
time to patch them.

I'm gonna dunk the
tire and find the leak.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI:
Not a small one.

This is pretty good
hole, actually.

It's funny it made it this far.

NARRATOR: The mechanic mends
the hole with a filler plug

and reinforced rubber patch.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: Well
great, thank you very much.

Thank you.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI:
Have a good day.

NARRATOR: Good to go,
Alex heads for his load.

He's back hauling an
empty van trailer.

They want vans
back in Fairbanks.

NARRATOR: And in
the freezing cold

that Prudhoe Bay is famous for--

Oof.

Holy mackerel, that's
some snap you on the face.

NARRATOR: --he heads
south for another crack

at the Dalton and to catch
up with the competition.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: Goodness grief.

What next?

We're waiting in--
with bated breath

to see what the next
situation is going to be.

[laughter]

NARRATOR: As night falls and
the northern lights begin

to dance--

So this is the deal.

We're on a little bit of a
crunch to get this thing going.

That's why we had
to leave tonight.

NARRATOR: Jack Jessee preps for
his next run, a colossal pipe

rack 17 feet tall, 16 feet wide.

It's used to connect the oil
wells to the Trans Alaskan

Pipeline.

JACK JESSEE: Well, the
challenge for this load

is that, you know, it's so high
up that you gotta go slower

so it doesn't just flop
it over on its side.

Everything look good
back here, Mark?

RADIO: Yeah, so far so good.

NARRATOR: Tonight's
first challenge--

to get out of Fairbanks without
knocking down traffic lights.

So I-- I know I'm lower
than the stoplights,

but I still have to go really
slow so I can keep the bouncing

down.

That way I don't
actually bounce up

and actually hit a stoplight.

Mark, can you get on
the right side of me

and make sure that right
side's been cleared just fine?

Right side clear?

RADIO: Right side's clear.

NARRATOR: Light after light,
Jack crawls his way out

of town.

RADIO: Clear.

JACK JESSEE: Just
getting out of town

can be its own
special challenge.

We've got that one
licked already.

NARRATOR: 75 miles up the
road, the pavement drops off

and the ice road begins.

As Jack heads further into
the Alaskan wilderness,

another hazard of the
haul road emerges.

JACK JESSEE: A couple trucks
had said earlier today

that a lot of moose
out this evening.

So at night time, really hard
to see the black and the brown

on them.

They're really hard
to see at night

until they jump out
right in front of you.

And hitting a moose is-- is
just like hitting a brick wall.

You know, it-- it's just gonna
tear your truck all to pieces.

RADIO: I'm going down that
hill after 48 [inaudible]

a moose there.

NARRATOR: Up ahead,
Jack's pilot car

spots a dead one in
the middle of the road.

JACK JESSEE: Yeah, we just
drove by the dead moose.

It was more or less blocking
the southbound lane there.

NARRATOR: Jack asked the driver
to do some damage control.

JACK JESSEE: See if you can--

see if you can do
something, man.

NARRATOR: An Alaskan moose
can weigh up to 1,500 pounds.

Pulling this animal off the road
could save a trucker's life.

I've lived in Alaska
for 39 years now.

This is the first time I've
ever tied off to a moose

and tried to get
it off the road.

Guess there's a first for
everything, ain't there?

I'm sure somebody going into
town when his cell phone start

working will--

they'll call somebody to come
out and salvage it there.

We-- we don't let that
kind of meat go to waste.

NARRATOR: Up the road there's
another moose sighting.

Okee dokee.

Moose right side.

NARRATOR: This time
it's on the move.

Jack scans the side of the road.

Slamming into a 1,500-pound
animal could end both

their lives.

JACK JESSEE: Nope,
I didn't see it.

NARRATOR: Suddenly
without any warning--

Oh, there he goes right now.

[tires screeching]

JACK JESSEE: The pilot
car really saved my skin

on this one.

Well, I mean if I had
hit that moose, one,

I would've killed the moose, and
that would've been a bad thing.

But it would've
killed the truck, too.

That's one of the many
hazards of the Dalton Highway.

NARRATOR: After a
month of trucking,

Jack Jessee is in the
lead with eight loads.

And even with a late
start, Alex Debogorski

has overcome many challenges
to complete his first run

on American ice.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: I'm not
done conquering the road.

Conquering the Dalton Highway
is an ongoing process.

But there are girls
driving on it,

so I think maybe
I'll be able to.

[laughter]