Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Tonight on "Ice Road Truckers."

I don't really feel like swimming in this water.

NARRATOR: The spring melt is on.

This is when the ice is most dangerous.

Something's wrong.

NARRATOR: And the final loads--

Give me as many loads as you can.

NARRATOR: --push ice to the limit.

The ice is going to be going out soon.

It's a hard pull.

Could be bad news.

NARRATOR: On the Dempster--

Hold it, hold it.

Whoa.

NARRATOR: Alex's final showdown with Hurricane Alley.

ALEX: Come on.

NARRATOR: And it's the end of the line for Hugh and Rick.

You can tell the ice is very, very soft.

At any given time, you can sink.

[theme music]

I got water right there.

Look at that.

What this is roughly saying is spring's a coming.

I'm in like two inches of water right here.

It means the ice isn't gonna last long.

I hope it'll fall through.

So you got to listen, listen really closely how hollow this

sounds.

Yeah.

We're sitting on a little ice dome under here.

The water will come up through those cracks,

and now we have our overflows.

It's kind of an eerie sound.

NARRATOR: Alaska's ice road truckers

have braved the deadly haul road.

Got her here on time.

Arctic express.

NARRATOR: Bringing critical supplies to Alaska's largest

oilfield.

But with spring approaching, there's

only a few days before the ice roads are gone.

And dozens of loads are still waiting in the yard.

Right now we're up against it, and you know,

we have to pull those extra loads to get this done.

NARRATOR: To get everything delivered,

the ice road truckers are in a race against the melt.

[truck horn]

In Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's north slope--

All right, I'm headed in.

NARRATOR: Darrell Ward's looking to keep the load count

lead over rival Jack Jessee.

Hey, Matt. MATT: Hey, Darrell.

How are you doing today? - Not too bad.

All right, I'm looking for another load.

Yeah.

Actually, we're getting to be the end of the ice road season,

and I need you to get some groceries out to Nuiqsut.

DARRELL: Anything out there coming back?

MATT: I'm going to have you pick up a couple of vehicles that

are out there and bring them back.

OK.

I've got a flatbed and a dolly available.

The guys in the yard will get you taken care of.

- Right on. - There you go.

- All right, thanks, Matt. - Thanks, man.

Give me as many loads as you can.

It's almost the end, and I want to win this load count.

Hey, Jack, what's going on?

JACK: Just looking for something to go back to Fairbanks with.

I can use your help getting some stuff out to Nuiqsut

before the ice road closes.

That's where I'm headed too.

You're going to Nuiqsut?

Yeah.

What do you got?

How about some fuel?

JACK: We can do that.

MATT: Right on.

All right.

We'll head out there together then.

JACK: Yeah.

Might as well.

NARRATOR: Jack and Darrell are headed 70 miles west of Prudhoe

Bay to the native village of Nuiqsut.

[truck horn]

But the ice road is melting and will be closed

to big rigs at sundown tonight.

So the two haul road heavyweights

have to make it there and back before their trucks are trapped

on the wrong side of the water.

I'm headed out across the ice roads again

and running a convoy with Jack Jessee.

Not really what I wanted to do today.

NARRATOR: Darrell's hauling two trailers to Nuiqsut--

a van full of supplies and an empty

flatbed they'll load with cargo to haul out of the village.

Get on our way.

OK.

We're going out to the village of Nuiqsut.

I got the last load of gasoline for the season for them.

They want their fuel, and I got to get it to them.

The sun's eating the ice up, and this ice road will be gone.

DARRELL: They're really counting on this cargo getting there,

their groceries, you know, their gasoline.

They've gotta have it, you know?

So they rely on Carlile.

Carlile relies on Jack and Darrell.

NARRATOR: 2,100 miles to the southeast in Winnipeg, Canada.

We're hauling a load of construction material up

to [inaudible].

NARRATOR: Hugh Roland and Rick Yemm

are battling mother nature's clock,

and they're just plain out of time.

Don't let up a [bleep].

This is the last trip here.

It's crazy.

When she starts to melt, you know it's time to go home.

NARRATOR: All season the brutal conditions forced Hugh to work

harder than ever before.

Drag her hard.

Drag it hard.

NARRATOR: Pushed Rick past the breaking point.

Make sure Hughie's happy.

But [bleep] Rick.

NARRATOR: And strained their 18-year friendship.

RICK: [bleep],, it's a polar bear.

NARRATOR: But with the season ending, every delivery counts.

[music playing]

A lot of stuff happened this year, but it's not an easy job.

It's not easy on the truck.

It's not easy on you.

It's never the same, but it's always a fight to get through.

NARRATOR: And now they've got to work together to make it

through one last trip.

It said it was 11 degrees here today.

Hopefully we can make it.

NARRATOR: If the roads hold out.

It's still not over yet.

Still got one more load to get into.

We know the roads are closed.

So let's get going.

Don't let up a [bleep].

This is the last trip here.

10-4-ski.

[brakes squealing]

It's really slushy right here.

We come out here, we do what we do,

and everything will be just fine.

If not, I'm going for an awfully [bleep] cold swim.

HUGH: Definitely the end of the year.

That's for sure.

NARRATOR: The soft ice isn't the only challenge

on Lake Winnipeg.

They have to cross the pressure ridge,

where two massive sheets of ice collide.

It's the weakest spot on the lake on the already sunbathed

ice.

HUGH: You can tell the ice is very, very soft.

Coming in there, Rick.

RICK: Let's roll.

NARRATOR: Their two 30,000-pound trailers of construction

supplies are right at the weight limit.

I can see the softness of the ice here.

HUGH [ON RADIO]: Yeah, you got to be pretty careful.

He's coming in quick.

If it gets too much above zero here,

she's going to be closed up.

[music playing]

[ice cracking]

HUGH: Look out, Rick.

Are you kidding me?

Slow the [bleep] down, you [bleep]..

NARRATOR: An oncoming truck is speeding

toward Rick and pressure ridge.

RICK: I'm going as slow as I possibly could,

and he's racing me to the [bleep] pressure ridge.

And he's [bleep] running right up

on the pressure ridge with me.

That's what I mean.

Most of these guys don't have a clue

what they're [bleep] doing.

NARRATOR: The weight of a truck creates a wave under the ice.

The faster that truck, the bigger the wave.

If two waves meet at a weak spot,

the combined force will cause a blowout,

and it'll send both trucks to the bottom.

I'm fully [bleep] loaded, and he's an empty [bleep] box

truck.

[bleep]

[bleep] moron.

Rick's coming up there, and this guy's empty,

and he just burns where he wants to beat Rick to the pressure

ridge. Well, Rick can't stop.

He's [bleep] loaded.

NARRATOR: The ice isn't rated for stop wait.

So Rick has no choice but to keep

moving and pray the other truck doesn't blow out the ice.

[music intensifies]

RICK: Get out of my way.

NARRATOR: On Manitoba's frozen Lake Winnipeg.

RICK: [bleep] running right up on his pressure ridge with me.

NARRATOR: A truck's racing toward Rick Yemm.

[bleep] moron.

NARRATOR: And on the fragile ice, anything could happen.

RICK: Get out of my way.

NARRATOR: The other truck beat Rick over the pressure ridge,

but what damage it may have done is unknown.

Those are the guys that risk your [bleep] life.

They race to that pressure ridge, which is the worst

part of the whole lake.

They end up blowing the [bleep] road up.

NARRATOR: Rick makes it across, but now he

has to face the east side of the lake,

and it's covered in water.

HUGH: Yeah, this is going to go.

This is going to be your approach is going to be gone

here [bleep],, especially if somebody comes off her way too

fast.

Another nice day in this end is this here

is going to be finished.

Yeah.

She's pretty mucked up.

[music playing]

I made her.

NARRATOR: Rick's back on solid ground.

I survived.

NARRATOR: But the winter roads are melting fast.

1,600 miles to the Northwest.

ALEX: This doesn't look good.

NARRATOR: Alex Debogorski's also facing the end of the season.

ALEX: I thought you'd have it all put together

by the time I got here.

Let's get her opened up.

OK.

NARRATOR: At Manitoulin's Whitehorse Terminal,

there are still hundreds of items headed north.

Because it's a last load, we gotta get it in there.

You also got to take extra good care of this trailer,

because it's going to be the first time one of these

has been up there in the wintertime.

NARRATOR: And since they may have only one more shot,

they're packing their biggest trailer.

We've get some duct work.

A little bit of everything.

Yeah.

Next stop, Inuvik.

NARRATOR: But the plywood trailer

is only used for highway travel in summer months.

It's a risky move to see if it can handle the brutal Dempster.

We've had bad luck with the weather for getting stuff

delivered north.

So hopefully I'll get the load to them in one piece.

NARRATOR: With temperatures rising,

Alex has 760 miles to go, if the ice and trailer can hold out.

ALEX: This load is special because this is probably

my last load.

Ice roads are shutting down.

It's like things are conspiring to make this a very memorable

run.

NARRATOR: 750 miles to the Northwest outside

of Prudhoe Bay.

We're on the ice road right now.

We're going out to the village of Nuiqsut.

NARRATOR: Jack Jessee and load count rival Darrell Ward

are on the last run to the native village.

This is the only time of the year we can actually drive out

to Nuiqsut.

There is no paved road.

NARRATOR: And at sundown, the road

will be closed to big rigs.

We're definitely getting close to the end of the season.

This is when the ice is most dangerous.

The sun is literally eating the ice on the top.

The water's eating the ice from the bottom.

Damn, this thing's cracking.

This is going out faster than I thought it was going to.

NARRATOR: If they can't make their deliveries before the sun

sets.

It makes me a little nervous knowing I got 9,000 gallons

of gas laying out there.

NARRATOR: Their trucks will be trapped in the village

until next season's ice road is built.

Darrell's just right behind me, but he has two trailers.

Even though they don't weigh as much as my single trailer,

with this ice cracking, it's not good for Darrell.

Darrell, watch out there.

We got a little bit of ice cracking.

You want to try to go around it or straddle it or something.

DARRELL: Yeah, I hear you.

Cracks in the ice in the river,

and I got a lot of weight on here,

you know, with this extra trailer

behind me and everything.

So I'm just taking my time.

You can go too fast, and the ice will break on you.

I don't really feel like swimming in this water.

Just about there.

Just hold together a little longer.

NARRATOR: While Jack and Darrell pray the ice holds,

on the Dalton, everyone's racing the melt to deliver

the final loads of the season.

And former load count champion Ray Veilleux

is trying to prove he can still handle the haul road.

Right now there's a big push.

I'm here to make sure the loads get where they got

to go before that road's gone.

NARRATOR: He was brought in to help close out the season.

I'm out of power.

NARRATOR: But his first trip was a bust when a breakdown sent

him to the shop.

Now we're screwed.

Everything looks pretty good here.

Pretty nice load, nice and tight.

Time to hit the road.

We're ready to roll.

[music playing]

I gave Lane my word I'd get all these loads out for him.

I don't want to screw up.

I don't want to do nothing wrong.

NARRATOR: While Ray gets moving, 50 miles to the north--

We're on the road to Prudhoe Bay.

We're carrying a 25,000-pound truck.

NARRATOR: Austin Wheeler is keeping pace with Jack

and Darrell in the load count.

And the 23-year-old's got a real shot at winning at all.

It should be a pretty easy ride if the road stays

in decent condition.

Can you hear that?

The [bleep] is that, man?

Something's wrong.

I don't know what's wrong.

I've never heard a sound like that before.

All I know is I don't want to get on top

and just completely shut off.

I'm over this.

I'm so frustrated right now.

I'm going to get out and see if I can see what's

wrong with my engine.

I'm not a mechanic, but I'll do my best.

Hey, Gary.

It's Austin.

Something's wrong with my truck.

I got a bad ticking noise under the hood and engine reduction.

I'm only getting like 10-15 pounds of boost out of it.

Do you want me to bring it there?

OK, sounds good.

All right.

Bye.

I'm totally bummed.

I hate when it [bleep] breaks.

I hate it.

NARRATOR: Austin heads back to town

hoping a quick fix will save his chance for a load count

victory.

Drop this trailer off at the main yards,

and they can do whatever they need to do to it.

Hopefully they can diagnose the problem quickly

so I can get back out on the road.

This isn't what I wanted at the end of the season

with the loads coming to a crunch.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: On the Arctic Ocean--

JACK: The village itself has cars and roads,

but they can't leave.

Once they're there and the ice road's gone,

they're stuck there.

NARRATOR: Jack Jessee and Darrell Ward

are crossing the ice with fuel and personal goods

for the village of Nuiqsut.

It's an ice road for sure.

There's cracks in the ice.

Only way you can get here is in the wintertime on this road.

JACK: We got it here.

We made it just in time.

NARRATOR: They made it across the water,

but this ice road will be closed to big rig traffic at sundown.

JACK: Darrell.

DARRELL: Yeah?

I have to go off-road right now.

Yeah, copy that.

I'll drop my trailer, and then go [bleep]..

OK.

NARRATOR: Now it's a race to one load

before their trucks are trapped in the village.

Let's see if we can get this stuff off loaded

if we got time to get back out of here.

NARRATOR: For Jack it's a one-stop offload.

We got the internals open.

It means I'm off loading my fuel.

That's a good sign.

It means everything's working.

NARRATOR: But back at the edge of town,

Darrell Ward's in for a longer day.

DARRELL: Let's set it down.

NARRATOR: He's got to make deliveries

all over the village.

DARRELL: All right.

NARRATOR: Then come back to the flatbed

and load it up with cargo leaving Nuiqsut.

We'll cruise the town of Nuiqsut.

It's quite a village, I'm telling you.

This isn't a place that everybody gets to see.

We'll get her done.

I'm going to slide it right on out the back.

Pretty [bleep] handy, ain't I?

[music intensifies]

NARRATOR: With a truckload of food and supplies

left to deliver, Darrell is already running out of time.

We've got to get this done.

It's the end of the season.

It's a big rush, you know?

It's going to be a close call.

This road will be closed.

I'm sure of it.

NARRATOR: 530 miles to the south at the Fairbanks Carlile shop--

Try again.

OK.

NARRATOR: Austin's shot at winning the load count is

slipping away.

AUSTIN: The end the season's coming up.

You know, the ice is melting.

There's still a lot of words to get up the road.

So it's frustrating when your truck breaks down

in the middle of a trip.

Something majorly bad now?

That could cause less turbo, right?

Yeah.

It's a [bleep] broke down truck.

It sucks because my loads have been sometimes 70,000 pounds

heavier than the other guys' load.

The heavy stuff is just harder on trucks.

NARRATOR: The fuel injection system needs

to be completely replaced.

It's a repair that will take at least a day.

And with the roads melting, Austin's season could be over.

AUSTIN: It's too bad my truck couldn't wait till it was

the end of the season.

Hopefully they can get it fixed soon,

and I can at least maybe get one or two more loads.

It's been a good season for me, and I don't want to quit.

NARRATOR: 400 miles to the northeast.

ALEX: The Dempster Highway, going northbound to Inuvik.

NARRATOR: Alex Debogorski's miles from civilization,

hauling an extra large trailer of goods for the Arctic

communities.

I'm hauling a mixed load of freight LTL, everything

from firewood, to bicycles, computer parts,

a little bit of everything.

NARRATOR: But this specialized trailer

wasn't built to handle the rough winter

conditions of the Dempster.

Whistling Dixie out there today.

NARRATOR: And now, as he hits Hurricane Alley,

the plywood trailer will be put to the test.

ALEX: I'm headed into the legendary windy pass

with a trailer that's plywood and tarp with tons

of important freight in there.

Really see how the wind's blowing the snow off the ground

in some places here.

The spirits are restless.

Starting to build a few snow drifts.

We're shaking the freight up.

More wind here.

Here you can feel it.

But I'll get the load delivered.

As long as the trailer doesn't blow apart, we'll be happy.

NARRATOR: The 70 mile an hour winds are stressing

the fragile trailer.

Sliding sideways a little bit there.

I don't like that.

Might flip us over the bank.

NARRATOR: In Hurricane Alley--

Whoa.

Hopefully my convertible trailer,

which is plywood sides, it'll hold together in the wind.

We're shaking the freight.

Sliding sideways a little bit there.

Might flip us over the bank.

Whoa.

We're getting pushed across the road.

This is the 57 hardest kilometers I've gone through.

NARRATOR: After battling through--

Our fancy trailer's holding together.

NARRATOR: Alex rolls into down.

Here we are, Inuvik.

I'm looking forward to cooling this trainer down, dolling it

off, and parking it.

Is that going to be too tight?

Blew the dust off the road, set a speed record

for myself getting up here.

And things are kind of rocking and rolling, you know?

OK.

NARRATOR: Despite the rough haul--

How's it looking, Alex?

A little bit of snow on that one.

NARRATOR: The trailer and freight arrive undamaged.

This is the first trip this type of trailer's

ever made up the Dempster in the wintertime.

It held together perfectly.

Load delivered.

Thank god we're here in one piece.

NARRATOR: 440 miles to the west in the native Alaskan village

of Nuiqsut--

DARRELL: Watch out!

NARRATOR: Darrell Ward's on a one-man delivery mission,

racing to get out of town before the road closes at sundown.

I'll hand them down to you.

Just jump down there.

I still gotta go get my pick ups loaded,

swap my trailers out, change everything around,

and then I'll be back going the other way.

NARRATOR: But with the clock ticking--

DARRELL: There you go.

NARRATOR: Darrell's chances of making it out

are fading with the sunset.

[truck horn]

Across town, Jack Jessee's already off-loaded his fuel

and is heading back to Prudhoe Bay.

We're putting gasoline in these guys' tanks,

and hopefully that'll be enough to get them through the season.

But we need to speed things up.

The ice is going to be going out soon.

Darrell? You out there, Darrell?

Can you hear me?

Can't get in touch with Darrell.

NARRATOR: But as Jack leaves town,

he finds the unloaded flatbed and no sign of Darrell.

If he leaves now, the load count is his.

JACK: Ah, crap.

I'm not going to leave Darrell.

I don't need him stuck out here, just like I don't want

to be stuck out here.

NARRATOR: The haul road ace puts his trip on hold

to help his biggest rival get another load.

JACK: I'm an old man out here.

I do it the way I want to do it.

Right now I want to help Darrell to get him out of here.

We can get going together.

We just got to get the job done.

NARRATOR: As the sun sets, Jack's got to work fast

to load the flatbed, or he could also

end up stranded in Nuiqsut.

Sure, I can get out and get ahead of him,

maybe even get one on the load count.

That's not who I am.

That's not what I do.

All that with two-wheel drive.

NARRATOR: Across town--

Get this [bleep] done and get out of here.

NARRATOR: Darrell's out of time.

DARRELL: What the hell?

Man, you saved my [bleep] ass.

Thanks, Jack.

NARRATOR: Darrell hooks up to the loaded flatbed

and to his empty trailer.

DARRELL: OK, we're on our way.

Jack got his fuel off.

He came down here, got these pickups loaded

on my trailer for me so I can get out of here.

I got everything done, and it's time to head back to Prudhoe.

NARRATOR: Thanks to Jack, they both make it out of town

before the ice road is shut down.

Oh, it's been a day, a great Darrell day actually.

NARRATOR: But Jack's sacrifice may have cost him the load

count title.

I'm all for winning the load count,

but I'm not going to throw Darrell under the bus.

NARRATOR: 100 miles to the south--

It's been a good day today, making good time.

NARRATOR: Ray Veilleux's trying to prove he still has what it

takes to run the haul road.

I'm coming up the ice cut.

NARRATOR: And he's reached one of his toughest challenges.

It's really steep.

It's a hard pull.

Two years ago Ice Cut bit me in the butt.

NARRATOR: Last time Ray was here--

Ice Cut southbound.

NARRATOR: He took his eyes off the road for a second.

[bleep]

And it almost cost him his life.

RAY: I'm in the ditch.

And it's important that I make it up Ice Cut.

And if I screw it up, it could be bad news.

Here we go.

NARRATOR: Ice Cut's 12% grade is one

of the steepest on the Dalton.

It requires expert shifting and full concentration.

I got to make this hill.

I just got to make this hill.

I can't screw up.

I'm going to hit it hard.

It ain't gonna beat me.

Coming around the bend.

God, I gotta hit this.

Come on, baby.

[music intensifies]

Come on, baby.

Come on.

Got it.

Made it up on top.

I have redeemed myself from Ice Cut.

Ice Cut's done.

The hard part's done.

Short run to Prudhoe.

NARRATOR: On Alaska's north slope--

Got it.

Made it up on top.

NARRATOR: Ray Veilleux's just conquered the steep incline

that put him in that ditch two years ago.

I have redeemed myself from Ice Cut.

Hard part's done.

Short run to Prudhoe.

Whoa!

That was close.

Hey, buddy.

How about calling that out next time?

MAN [ON RADIO]: Sorry about that one.

Oof.

We could have met down here head on.

That's not good.

Maybe from now on that guy's going to start calling out.

Who knows?

NARRATOR: His return to the haul road started out rocky,

but he's finally made it to Prudhoe Bay.

Feels great to finally get that first trip done.

This morning when I started out, I was just

hoping I could make it through.

I just proved it to myself I still got what it takes.

That's one load.

Gonna head back tomorrow, grab another one,

and burn right back on up here.

This is what I came here to do, gonna get some loads.

I think I'm back in the saddle again.

NARRATOR: 2,000 miles to the southeast--

We're at the [inaudible].

NARRATOR: Hugh and Rick are hauling

what could be their final loads of the season.

We're watching for bumps.

We're watching for everything that's going down, right?

Family Lake.

NARRATOR: The road has already turned to slush.

And now a short but melting 100-yard ice crossing

is all that stands in their way.

It's starting to flood.

She's just about finished here.

We got blotter on the ice crossing here.

At any given time, you can sink.

I'll give her a shot, see what happens.

This is definitely the last load now.

She's over.

HUGH: We made her, not too much trouble.

Just a little thin ice.

RICK: This [bleep] ice is cracking.

NARRATOR: Now Rick's got to plow through what's

left of the road.

RICK: Whoa!

[music playing]

Oh yeah.

Smooth sailing now.

Now that we made her here, we're at [inaudible]..

RICK: I'm putting gas in now and just dropping his trailer

and getting the [bleep] out of here.

NARRATOR: After barely making it across the ice,

this will be their last delivery.

But Rick can't get his trailer unhooked.

RICK: Come on.

Thanks for bailing me out again, dad.

NARRATOR: With a little help from Hugh,

the veteran pair is back on the road.

[truck horn]

Got her unloaded.

So we're going to head her back.

NARRATOR: And they've got to escape the winter roads

before they're gone.

While Hugh and Rick's season may be at an end,

Jack and Darrell are tied for the top spot going

into the home stretch.

Just three days remain in the ice road season,

and the dash for the cash heats up

as drivers take on their final loads.

I'm hunting for Jack today.

Coming down to the last load, and I want to win this thing.

I'm happy to be carrying a heavy haul load

for my last load of the season.

Time is running out up here.

Final load of the season, that's the end.

NARRATOR: And on the season finale of "Ice Road Truckers--"

Pretty sure I get the load count my pocket already.

NARRATOR: The drivers that have survived test

the limits of thinning ice.

It's time to cash out.

There's plenty of work.

Going to make some money.

That's what it's all about.

Pay up.

Record short season.

I mean, this is what it is.

It's a bad deal I think.

NARRATOR: And find out who will be crowned this year's load

count king.

The load count champ this year is--