Original subtitles

[Narrator] This time on Heavy Rescue: 401...

[man] All our plans have not worked.

[Narrator] ...a bold idea...

[Kabal] Don't look this way!

Look the other way!

Go! Go!

[smashing]

[Narrator] ...comes crashing down.

[Barry] Whoo! Did you see that truck?

[Narrator] A friendly competition...

[Narrator] ...turns dangerous...

[Barry] Nobody's slowing down.

[Narrator] ...and challenging terrain...

-Whoa, whoa. -Whoa!

[Narrator] ...defies the crew.

[Collin] Well, that's not good.

[Narrator] After a week of heavy snow,

drivers in Toronto

are enjoying a hard-earned break...

[OPP officer] It is our morning rush hour.

It's 9:00 a.m.

It's a beautiful sunny day.

[Narrator] ...but on the 401

heading west toward the city,

Constable Tim Dunnah looks for signs of danger

under those beautiful skies.

[Tim] The roads are dry,

but we're in the minus teens.

There may be sections

that still have ice on the road.

We're still asking drivers to watch their speed,

maintain a good following distance,

especially in rush hour traffic

when it's stop and go.

We still need folks

to pay attention to what's happening in front of you

and around you.

Leave space.

Take your time,

and follow the speed limit on the roadway.

[Narrator] Any distraction that forces a sudden stop

could cause a chain reaction...

[Narrator] ...and just after 9:00 a.m.,

on a ramp where the 401 merges into the 409...

there's a distraction...

[dispatch, over radio] 302, if you can advise

where you locate the fire?

[MTO, over radio] It's 409 westbound

just before the Kipling exit.

[Narrator] ...on an epic scale.

[dispatch] Transport truck on the right shoulder on fire.

It's fully engulfed.

[activates siren]

We got a call for a truck fire.

I am making my way there,

fire is already en route.

Five Foxtrot Double-0 Two, I am on scene.

[sirens wailing]

How you doin', Chief?

[Tim] No injuries at this time.

The driver noticed smoke,

and immediately pulled over to the right shoulder,

where the cab became fully engulfed by fire.

[Tim] If you notice smoke,

immediately pull over to the right shoulder,

exit the vehicle safely,

and stay away from that vehicle until help arrives.

[Narrator] But even though

the driver made the safe call...

[Narrator] ...the scene is creating serious danger

for morning traffic...

[Tim] We have a backlog behind us.

Truck fires are a huge distraction

for motorists going in both directions,

so we have to be aware of secondary collisions.

[Narrator] ...and fighting the fire

is adding to the problems on the road.

[Tim] As you pass through this area,

please take your time.

There is ice on the roads from water spill.

[Tim] The water from the fire truck

is spilling out onto our live lanes,

and it's freezing cold.

So it's instantly creating a sheet of ice.

Whoo!

This is not an ideal way to start the day.

Oh, my gosh.

[♪♪♪]

[traffic news radio] The vehicle fire cleanup

still happening on the westbound 401 ramp

to the westbound 409.

The right lane is blocked.

[Narrator] The danger of a secondary crash is building

along with the backup,

unless they can open another lane...

[Narrator] ...but not until the crews can make it safe.

[Tim] So even once we get our lanes open,

we're going to have ice patches

that we can't have vehicles travel over.

We're gonna need salt 'cause this is just gonna...

-I already called. -Perfect, excellent.

[District Chief Ronald Barben] To contain the fire,

it took almost 1,500 litres of water.

Also, on cold days like today,

we have issues with the water,

the runoff, and the freezing.

So the MTO has come,

and they're salting the highway.

[Tim] So we're gonna have to lay down some salt,

some sand,

to get rid of that next hazard

that is in front of us.

Thank you.

So, right now we have our heavy tow truck at scene

ready to assist us with this operation.

[Narrator] The heavy recovery crew

can tow away the burned-out wreck.

[Tim] It's always a great feeling

to have the lanes reopened,

and having traffic start flowing again.

[traffic news radio] Eastbound 401,

new issues at Highway 25 in Milton.

[Narrator] ...but just 40 kilometres west...

Just got a call from dispatch.

[Narrator] ...En Route Towing's Kabal Litt

is heading to another urgent scene.

This thing is already blocking

two and a half lanes,

so the traffic is getting by,

but it's gonna be pretty tight.

Hey!

[Narrator] Kabal developed his skills

working around the province.

[Kabal] When I started towing 2015,

I stayed up north

in Longlac, Ontario,

but from then till now on,

I just go back and forth wherever I'm needed.

I'm gonna start doing the roll.

Just hold it right there.

[Kabal] Back then, I was up there one week a month,

but now, it's like, you know, maybe once in three months.

It comes with a bang!

Perfect!

Whoo!

Look at that.

[Kirk] There's Kabal.

[Narrator] Today,

he's taking the lead on a job

that looks ready to go wrong.

[Kabal] All right, the trailer,

if you look at the bottom in there,

it's cracked in the middle.

It's got no frame.

[Kabal] In my whole towing years,

it's the first time I've seen this kind of trailer.

This trailer is like a sheet of aluminum.

[McNeely] No cross members.

[Kabal] Yeah, no cross members on it.

[Narrator] The trailer, made of aluminum,

is cracked right in the middle...

This is not just a simple jackknife.

It's way worse.

[Narrator] The truck,

hauling a full load,

was heading eastbound

when the trailer snapped under the weight of the cargo.

The tractor then jackknifed,

grinding to a hard stop.

100%, that's aluminum.

It's gonna tear apart.

[Kabal] There's no rails

that will keep the trailer straight up.

Gurpreet!

[Kabal] Aluminum bends, it tears.

It's gonna be hard to secure this trailer,

especially to move it off the highway

if we want to do it fast.

[Narrator] Working in a narrow construction zone,

Kabal will be depending on operator Gurpreet Kang.

[Gurpreet] I love to work with Kabal.

He's very energetic,

and he has a quick, sharp mind.

Yeah, I'm going to have to be in that lane,

and it's going to be right in the middle.

Gurpreet, he's a work horse.

You know, he'll never say no, you know.

You need him, he'll be there.

I cannot come this side of the truck.

We're gonna have to shut down the highway.

[Narrator] Their first step

is to straighten the tractor,

but they'll need room to work,

and there's only one way to get it.

Yeah, eastbound past 25,

we're shutting down the highway now,

so if you can take the exit,

yeah, take it now.

[man, over radio] Thanks, guys.

[Narrator] All three lanes of the eastbound 401

must be closed.

The more traffic we can divert is better.

[Narrator] Kabal needs to make this move

fast.

[Kabal] Once it's straight,

we can move it off to the side.

Then we can work in two lanes.

This is the fastest way we can do it

without compromising the highway for a long time.

We'll hold the trailer right in the middle

so we can get the tractor released.

I'm just gonna boom up on top of it.

[Narrator] Kabal's rotator

will hold up the cracked trailer,

protecting it from splitting further.

All right, if it squeezes it, it squeezes it,

nothing we can do about it.

It's bending the bottom rail.

Okay, we hold it right there.

All right, let's go.

[Narrator] With Kabal cradling the trailer,

a second wrecker can wrench the tractor around.

Let's see if it comes out easy.

I don't want this thing to just collapse.

It's gonna be a mess.

We don't want that.

Okay.

Keep 'er rolling.

Come on.

All right, that's good!

Set it down.

[Narrator] The tractor is straight,

but the stress of the pull

was too much for the trailer.

[Kabal] Yeah, the trailer is still breaking.

Oh, man.

[Kabal] The landing legs are sitting on the ground.

There's no way we can get this thing off the highway.

The worst thing it's gonna do

is break the trailer in half,

and, you know, we end up with a lot more mess

than we're expecting.

[Narrator] Kabal needs to see

how the floor of the trailer looks from the inside...

[heavy sigh]

[Narrator] ...and he also gets a look

at the cargo itself.

There's a whole load of glass on it.

[groans]

[Gurpreet] It's transparent glass

and mirrors.

One rack is glass, and one rack is the mirrors.

[Narrator] Almost 25,000 pounds

of glass panels...

...pushing right down

on the weakest point of the trailer floor.

All right...

I've never encountered anything like this.

[traffic news radio] Unfortunately, it's going to be

a terrible drive,

an estimated hour and ten minute backup

in this area right now.

[Narrator] On the 401 in Milton...

[Narrator] ...the pressure is on for Kabal and crew.

[Narrator] To keep the trailer from splitting apart,

Kabal will have to deal with some very challenging cargo.

I've never encountered anything like this.

There's a whole load of glass on it.

[Narrator] ...and the backlog

is only growing.

All right.

[Kabal] We have so much pressure from OPP, MTO.

They want the highway clear.

I'm gonna try to drag the trailer that way.

Keep an eye on the glass.

I'm trying to move the back of the trailer

to the third lane,

and see if it works that way.

The MTO doesn't want the third lane closed.

[Kabal] The glass,

it's so fragile with the jackknife,

and the trailer broken in the middle.

We don't know what kind of pressure it is,

and what kind of condition it is in.

[Narrator] But they need to clear the back end

out of the lane

to allow traffic to flow through...

so with a strap under the belly,

Kabal will lift and swing the trailer

fully onto the shoulder,

if it can survive the trip.

Let's try it from here.

Let's see what happens.

Yeah we're worried it's gonna break in half.

Watch out!

Whoa!

Might as well keep it going if you can.

All right, let me unhook.

We didn't do much further damage to it

than it was before.

We basically moved it off to one side.

[Narrator] ...but before they can move it any farther,

they need a plan to remove the load.

[Kabal] We're still figuring out

what to do with the glass and everything.

With this kind of load, it's a first for me.

I've never done it.

Guys, push it, push it backwards.

Wherever, how far you get.

There's no manual for, you know,

recovering huge glass pieces of panels.

All right, I'm gonna have to let go here.

You can't put any strap on the glass,

you can't put any chain on the glass.

[traffic news radio] Still pretty chilly.

We are getting up to a high of minus ten

under plenty of sunshine.

[traffic news radio] The sun is shining,

no sign of any wind.

[Narrator] 500 kilometres away,

Duncan Cooper is driving east

out of Cornwall.

We're heading out to the 401 down near Summerstown.

There's two tractor-trailers in the ditch.

[Duncan] So we get called by the OPP.

We got a multi tractor-trailer accident,

and we need all hands on deck.

[Narrator] It's a job that started yesterday

in very different conditions...

Ouch!

[Narrator] ...a chain-reaction crash

in blinding snow

piled up four semis

at the eastern end of the highway.

Duncan's crew worked alongside the competition

from Herb's Towing.

So he's out, and he'll be able to drive away.

Look at that.

[Narrator] ...but with visibility getting worse,

they made the call

to put the second half of the job on hold.

These two are going to stay until tomorrow

when it clears up.

Once the weather's clear, the roads are good,

we'll set up a lane closure

and pull it out.

[Duncan] So we're heading back out to the scene.

It's a much better day today,

so we're just going to see what we can do

to get this thing home.

[grunting]

Here we are, man.

Oh, we got a mess here.

Sunny, beautiful day.

The skies are blue,

and we're gonna pull this beast out of here.

[Narrator] ...and just a few minutes later,

the Herb's crew rolls up to the scene,

led by Andrew Vink.

How's she going, Mister Andrew?

-Hey, buddy. -Good.

Oh, and is this your son?

This is James, and this is Andrew.

How you doing, Andrew?

Yup, and that's James.

Got the same rogue voice as Dad.

[laughing]

Good to meet ya, buddy, nice to meet ya.

[laughs] Nice to meet you.

[Andrew] Duncan and I

both come from the same type of background.

These are both family-owned, family-run businesses.

At the end of the day, we all do the same job.

[Narrator] Today,

the two crews will be working on separate recoveries.

Should be a good tug to get 'er out of that ice.

His was a tractor-trailer in the median.

I mean, it's down in there deep.

It's loaded, it's heavy,

but it's sort of in one piece,

where mine is, like, demolished.

Ah, well...

Yeah, that'll be you

because we're gonna be here a while.

Yeah, well, yours is quite the mess.

Okay.

Ours was pretty straightforward.

[Bill] This one here should be a pretty easy pull.

It's straight in,

there's minimal damage to the bumper.

We're gonna use the two trucks to strong-arm it out

and get the hell out of here.

Duncan, on the other hand,

I'm not even sure if he can find a place

to put a tow pin on the front end of that thing.

We caught us another lucky driver.

He didn't get hurt in an accident, right?

Yeah.

We're gonna pull some lines out,

and we're gonna get hooked up to the chain on the front.

Oh, good thing the sun's out. That's still fresh, whew!

Okay, let's start pulling here, boys,

see how she's gonna go.

I'd say that tractor's seen better days.

Oh, I think you're right, sunshine.

Watch out, boys,

'cause now the pull's gonna get hard.

I'm just about out of pull.

Whoo!

[Narrator] Unable to pull any further,

Duncan needs to change up the plan.

You know what we'll do?

We'll get TJ right up here,

and we'll get him to drag the ass end of the trailer

sideways up the road.

[Narrator] To move the other wrecker,

they'll need to make some room on the highway.

He's gonna have to back up.

-Move over. -Get over.

Yup.

[Narrator] But before operator Barry Wagner

can even shift the cones to open up the space...

Whoo!

Did you see that truck?

[Narrator] ...drivers are speeding up.

[Barry] Just the noise alone keeps you awake.

You know they're not paying attention.

[Duncan] Slow down!

Nobody's slowing down.

Nobody's slowing down today.

We need more cops over here!

[traffic news radio] A jam-packed drive

on the eastbound side of the 401.

[Narrator] It's been three hours

since a trailer collapsed on the highway in Milton...

[traffic news radio] Only the left lane

has been squeezing by.

[Narrator] ...and drivers are still fighting their way

past the scene...

Yeah, just right there.

[Narrator] ...but before more lanes can open up,

Kabal and crew need to somehow

remove 12 tonnes of oversized glass.

All right.

[Kabal] This load itself is different

from any kind of loads that we've removed.

It's so fragile.

It's gonna be tricky to remove it.

[Narrator] After the impact of the crash,

the load is beyond saving...

We're gonna take these six bolts off.

[Narrator] ...so Kabal wants to move

as many panels as possible at once

right into a disposal bin...

[Kabal] There's a frame

that those glass panels are sitting on.

Initial plan is to just unbolt the whole frame.

But we gotta be safe, right?

Watch out for this one.

[Kabal] We're going to unbolt the whole frame,

and then we're gonna pick up the whole thing

with the rotator

and drop it in the bin.

We're trying our best to keep it simple,

but also do it faster.

[Narrator] ...but they need to be sure

that both glass and frame

will fit into the bin.

Let's measure it so we don't have no surprises.

Yeah.

The bin's 89.

These brackets from end to end is 101,

so it's not gonna fit in.

[sighs]

[Kabal] It's not gonna work.

Let's just do the glass.

[Narrator] They'll need to strap and lift the panels

out of the frame.

[Kabal] The biggest part of this whole job

is removing the glass itself.

You got nowhere to hold on.

There's no hooks to it.

There's no way you can secure a piece of glass.

This is gonna be fun.

There's no proper way to do it

unless we are in a warehouse,

when they have special equipment

to remove this kind of panels.

We're on the middle of the highway,

and we gotta improvise.

Here's what's gonna happen.

As soon as I lift it, it's gonna swing.

A slight wrong pressure, you know, it can break.

Watch it don't shatter, eh?

Everybody's clear?

[glass breaking]

The glass is shattering.

[smashing]

Wait, wait, wait!

[Gurpreet] As soon as the loops tightened up,

the mirrors start cracking.

The shaft is through the glass.

[Kabal] I kept on thinking,

maybe at a point it will just stop cracking,

and, you know, it will start lifting.

It just didn't.

[glass breaking]

All our plans have not worked.

Nobody's slowing down.

Nobody's slowing down today.

[Narrator] Back at the eastern end of the highway,

speeding traffic is only getting worse.

[Duncan] The roads are bare and dry after a snowstorm.

Now they're driving twice as fast.

We need more cops over here!

[Narrator] The Cornwall crew is rigged up

for the second attempt at the pull.

[Barry] Look at these guys.

Watch it, watch it, watch it.

[Narrator] Just up the highway,

Bill Fell from the competition

sees Barry's struggle,

and tries to help divert the traffic...

[Bill] We are competitors,

but we're all the same family.

[Barry] Come on, guys, watch the road.

Two miles back you can see the light.

[Narrator] ...and the OPP has arrived

to crack down on drivers speeding up.

There he goes! Yes, sir.

[siren wailing]

[Barry laughs]

Yeah, he's after the trucks.

-That's who it was. -Oh, yeah.

Whoo-hoo!

[Duncan] Boom up.

See if you can't pull this up to the road, TJ.

[TJ] Yes, sir.

[Narrator] With his crew feeling more secure

on the road,

Duncan is ready to try the pull again.

[Duncan] Both lines tight, TJ.

It's a form of art.

[Narrator] Despite the heavy damage,

the Cornwall crew is making progress,

and gaining ground in the friendly race

with Herb's...

[Andrew] I'm focusing with Bill.

We're getting this trailer rigged up,

and I turn around,

and Duncan's got his tractor on the highway.

I'm like, "Yeah, okay," you know,

"I might get my ass handed to me on this one."

I might just get that coffee after all.

There we go.

Okay, good there!

[Narrator] ...but Duncan needs to stop and rerig

to pull the rest of the semi onto the road.

We're gonna move my tow truck ahead.

We're gonna switch the chain over to the other side,

and we're gonna continue pulling this puppy

up onto the road.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

No, it's coming out.

Oh, watch your leg, watch your leg.

Someone's in a hurry.

[laughs]

Should be pretty close.

Watch out, it's a tight pull.

She's crispy.

Now she's coming up on the road.

I was nervous there for a second.

Once we got it all rigged up,

ours went pretty quick, so yeah.

[Duncan] Don't tell me Herb is already done.

You all done?

That means you owe me a coffee,

'cause you said first guy done buys the coffee.

[laughing]

We're just about finished here.

[Duncan] It's not even a competition thing.

You try and work together,

because the goal is to get the highway rolling

as quickly as you can.

What do you drink at Timmy's?

-Double-double. -Okay.

A big one!

[Narrator] Andrew might owe a round of coffee,

but getting off this road safely

is a win for both crews.

[Andrew] At the end of the day,

we both work the same dangerous highways,

so having each other's back

is a key feature to making it home at night.

Got it!

-Got it. -Whoo!

Yeah!

[honks horn]

[celebratory honking]

[glass breaking]

[Narrator] 500 kilometres west...

[Kabal] Dark and getting cold.

[Narrator] ...night is falling outside Toronto.

Mark!

[Narrator] With the glass cracked and shattering,

Kabal has decided

the crew's only option

is to hand-bomb the sheets

one by one.

[Kabal] There's only so many moments

the recovery you plan goes according to the plan,

especially a load like this.

It never goes according to plan.

Okay, watch your back, guys, your eyes.

Okay. All right.

It's gonna drop right there.

We can't rush on this load

because we don't wanna hurt ourselves.

Hold up.

[Narrator] They can't guarantee their own safety,

but they won't let passing cars share in that risk.

[Kabal] Once they stop the traffic,

that's all we're gonna do.

We're gonna see how it reacts.

Stop the traffic!

Don't look this way! Look the other way!

Go!

[smashing]

Another one, another one!

Oh, careful, guys.

[Kabal] It's bad...

[crash]

It's way worse than, you know, we expected...

[crash]

...but there's no other way.

Watch out!

[crash]

It's just, you know, push and drop,

push and drop into the bin.

[crashing]

Oh, yeah!

Watch that piece!

[crash]

Hey, the whole thing's coming!

[crashing]

[Narrator] On Highway 402,

in the southwestern corner of the province...

[Gary] This highway's a sheet of ice,

and we got about 30 minutes of freezing rain.

[Narrator] ...Gary Vandenheuvel

is braving slippery conditions.

[Gary] Looks like he might be on a guardrail.

[Aaron] Oh, yeah.

[Narrator] He's tackling a jackknife,

and he won't be working alone.

Well, that's pretty exciting,

your first big one with us.

Absolutely.

All right.

[Narrator] Aaron Gregory joined the Preferred team

just a few months ago.

I am super excited to work for Preferred Towing

and work with Collin and Gary and the crew.

[Narrator] Aaron's first heavy recovery

is on some challenging geography.

[Gary] The trailer's full of empty water bottles.

Not a lot of weight,

about 20,000 pounds,

but the biggest deal we're dealing with

is the steep, steep ditch,

and the fact that this trailer is straddling it.

It's a good little job for Aaron.

Pretty steep incline on the way up here.

Just hooking up some tow pins here.

-Come on, get your Wheaties on. -[laughs]

There we go.

[Gary] Okay.

So I'm gonna set you up a little bit different

on this one. -Okay.

You've got a pretty good steep angle here,

and if you pull there

what's gonna happen is you're gonna come up,

and you're gonna start bringing this unit up,

and that trailer is gonna turn sideways on you.

[Narrator] Using just one wrecker,

Aaron will first have to straighten the tractor,

and then pull it onto the road.

[Gary] We've got a fairly new crew this year,

and it takes a while

to really become a good operator,

so we realize that.

This is gonna be a season of learning

for these guys like Aaron.

Okay.

You're a little too far over.

We gotta get you over this way a bit.

Keep going that way.

Turn, turn, turn.

You remember the hookup I showed you there?

Yeah.

-There you go. -Yes, sir.

To have somebody like Gary and Collin

that are willing to help us out,

you wanna know the proper way of doing things

'cause you don't wanna damage anything,

and that's where it's nice to have somebody like Gary.

I'll watch from here, I'll take a look.

Perfect.

[Gary] So far, so good. Looking good.

[Aaron] It's terrifying to know the capabilities of that truck.

To see it,

and to hear the things that it does

is totally different,

compared to actually being there, running it.

[Gary] You know, jobs like this

is a great job for a guy like Aaron to start with.

It builds their confidence.

It comes out nice and easy.

Wow, this is pretty impressive.

You don't get to walk under a tractor-trailer

too often.

Looks like Collin's on scene now.

[Narrator] Just as Aaron pulls the tractor level

onto the road,

Gary's son Collin joins the recovery.

[Gary] What are you thinking, Coll?

[Collin] Just concerned that

as it's starting to come back down,

it's gonna take off on us,

'cause that rear axle's gonna get to the downslope.

This will be on the flat ground.

I just don't want the weight of the trailer

pushing this thing up and out,

and taking off on us uncontrolled.

[Collin] We've got a very steep ditch.

The wheels are actually going to be floating

for a lot of this recovery.

This thing could actually take off on us

if we're not careful.

So, you wanna sit in there and hold the brake?

-I'll hop in, yeah. -Okay.

Looking all right, Coll?

Keep it turned a little bit that way.

[Narrator] ...but as the wheels leave the ground...

Whoa!

-Whoa! -Whoa, whoa.

[Narrator] ...the rear bumper catches the ice.

[Collin] That's not good.

[Gary] Well, that was interesting.

[Collin] Okay! Keep 'er going!

[Gary] You called that one right, Collin.

[traffic news radio] If you're eastbound on the 401,

it is a terrible drive, unfortunately,

heading through the Milton area.

Still quite jammed from Highway 6 north

to east of Highway 25,

where only that left lane is squeezing by.

[Narrator] Back on the 401,

one lane of traffic is moving again,

just barely.

[traffic news radio] It's estimated

at least an hour and ten minute backup in this area.

[Narrator] The crew has cleared one side

of the rack of glass panels.

[Gurpreet] We threw almost like 40 sheets

by hand to the bin.

[Kabal] After we cleared one side of the rack,

12,000 pounds is still sitting on the other side of the rack.

[Narrator] ...but with traffic backing up

for over 20 kilometres...

It's gonna be a long night!

[Narrator] ...Kabal needs a faster plan

to empty the second half of the load.

[sawing]

[Kabal] The racks itself,

they're locked into the trailer,

so we're cutting the rack

so we can release it from the lock,

and then we're gonna lift it up and tip it over.

[sawing]

[Kabal] This side of the rack is clear,

so it'd be pretty easy to pull it sideways

and try to tip it.

Go on the other side of the bar,

the round bar, go on the...

...for more strength.

Okay.

Now we loop everything together with the rack

and the glass,

and we can handle it with a couple straps.

We're gonna stop traffic.

-Okay. -Okay?

All right, go ahead and get us a lane.

[Narrator] If the plan works,

it could save hours...

All right, are we clear?

[Narrator] ...but they'll need to move

and smash

12,000 pounds of glass

all at once.

All right, give it a shot, right?

[cracking]

A little more, a little more,

little more!

I hope this doesn't try to swing it.

There you go, yeah.

Keep coming, keep coming.

Go on, go on.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

[glass breaking]

Keep coming, it's all on this side here.

Hold that corner!

Okay.

Now line up that side.

[Kabal] At this point,

all that was left to do

is drop it in the bin.

Careful, careful, careful.

Watch your back, guys, watch your back.

Watch out, watch out!

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Everybody good?

[Collin] Nice and slow.

[Narrator] On the 402 just east of Sarnia...

[Gary] Okay, hang tight for a second.

[Narrator] ...the Preferred crew

has wrangled the semi's rear wheels

back onto solid ground.

[Collin] So it's slid down

into the bottom of the ditch now.

It can't slide any further,

so we're just going to continue the pull,

and get this thing up on the road.

[Narrator] ...but now

there's a new obstacle blocking the way.

Just starting to dig in with some landing gear here.

Yeah.

[Collin] The biggest concern now

is the landing gear

catching on the edge of the asphalt.

If it does that,

it will wedge itself right in.

[Narrator] ...but Gary and Collin

are quick with a plan.

Just put one block of wood there

'cause you're already starting to come up

on this back axle here.

[Narrator] The wood,

inserted under the wheels,

will lift the tractor just enough

so the landing legs clear the road...

quick thinking

that's a welcome lesson for the rookie.

[Collin] You're good.

[Aaron] For me, it's exciting,

the feeling like,

we actually get to help this guy out of the ditch.

Got it over it?

Well, it's over the lip.

Back end's coming along nicely.

It's starting to come up, which is a good sign.

The landing gear is not digging into the roadway anymore,

and it's not leaning as hard, so...

Good, we've almost got 'er.

[Gary] Good.

[Collin] Do one long pull, and she's out.

[Gary] Okay, sounds good.

One more, and you're done.

[Aaron] Perfect!

[Narrator] ...and now,

Preferred's newest heavy op

can finish the job.

[Collin] You're pretty well up.

[Gary] Yeah, it's moving almost on its own.

[Collin] Yeah.

It should be, you're going downhill now.

[Gary] Okay.

[Aaron] There's something about

just pulling a truck out of the ditch...

-All right, last wheel's up. -Okay.

[Aaron] ...and you can feel it through the truck,

and just that excitement of, "you can actually do this."

[Gary] All right, you can probably let 'er go there.

It just makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I think it went good. I liked it.

It was a nice, good pull,

and, uh, it's a good learning experience.

This is a great job for Aaron.

Great experience for him,

gives him that confidence,

onto the next one.

It was a little nerve-racking

when the trailer started going around there, but...

Well, they don't do that every time,

just so you know. -[laughing]

I'll be here,

and I'll be still learning, that's for sure.

[♪♪♪]

[honks twice]

[Kabal] Ton of glass to clean up.

[Narrator] Back on the 401 in Milton...

[smashing]

-You all right, Kabal? -Yeah.

Good job, buddy.

[Narrator] Kabal and crew are cleaning up

after the glass hit the bin...

...more suddenly than planned.

-[Kabal] It made it to the bin. -Yeah, yeah.

Exactly, exactly.

[Kabal] The glass is shattered

because when it touched the bin,

it just popped the whole thing up,

and it just exploded.

Luckily, everybody is safe.

That blast was scary.

If one of those little pieces gets into your eye, it's bad.

Hopefully everything goes as planned from now on.

[Narrator] ...and that plan now shifts

to the cracked trailer.

[Kabal] If we are able to get that little,

two inches up?

Let's see if we can do that.

Yeah, yeah, we will secure it.

[Narrator] They'll run chains criss-cross under the trailer

for stability.

[Kabal] The chains will support the break and the belly,

and then hopefully we get a few inches

that we can just tow the tractor and trailer

off the highway.

Obviously the highway has to open.

That's the main concern at this point.

We've been here too long.

[Narrator] ...but to get access

under the sagging trailer,

they first need to risk lifting it.

[Kabal] Just grab another chain and hold it.

I'm just gonna get it up two, three feet.

It's light.

[Narrator] Even that could be too much strain.

[wind gusting]

That is definitely not good.

[Narrator] With wind building,

and the dangling trailer barely holding together...

[Kabal] Pull it!

-Pull it? -Yeah.

[Narrator] ...the only way to tighten the chains

is to crawl underneath,

a job Kabal will take on himself.

[Kabal] Somebody has to lay down.

Let me go and lay down and lift the chain up

so they have slack.

Watch out.

I don't want none of my crew members down there.

This one up here, we'll do this one first.

It's a risky situation

when you go under a compromised trailer.

I rather it be myself

because I know I'm gonna be extra cautious,

'cause I know what can happen.

Somebody hook it fast.

I don't wanna be under the belly of this

for a long time!

Somebody hook it fast.

I don't wanna be under the belly of this

for a long time!

[Narrator] On the 401,

wind is battering the broken trailer.

[wind gusting]

Holy sh... giggles!

[Narrator] ...and Kabal is rushing

to tighten the chains

before it can collapse.

[Kabal] It's bent so bad,

it's not gonna go up all the way.

[Narrator] ...but he's expecting

that the chains still won't be tight enough to hold.

[Kabal] When we secure a trailer

by doing a cross chain under it,

when you release the rigging on the top

that's holding the top of the trailer,

it will slack.

[grunting] Come on!

Let's go.

All right, this is tight.

Hold on, I'm gonna lower this thing slowly.

Clear! Clear!

Clear!

[Narrator] ...and as they release the tension...

[snapping]

[Kabal] It's not gonna work.

Oh... no.

[Narrator] ...his prediction is proven right.

[Kabal] I have hardwood.

[Narrator] So they lift again...

to insert wooden blocks

between the trailer and the slack chains.

All right.

[Kabal] Is it going?

Now it's tight.

It's good enough for exiting the highway.

If the belly sticks together with the help of the chain,

we should be able to get it off the highway.

Whoo!

Classic work.

We'll work on that off the highway.

[Narrator] It's been a long, messy fight,

but the crew's dedication never cracked.

All right, good job.

All right, till next time.

-Yeah, buddy. -Yeah.

It was a long-ass job, but we did good.

We got 'er.

Yeah.

[Kabal] It was great teamwork.

Nobody was hurt.

Even with a lot of variables,

not even one person was hurt, no scratch.

Everybody's safe, secure.

Everybody's happy to go home.

[blaring horn]

[trucker radio] Have they opened the highway?

It's all open.

[Narrator] Next time on Heavy Rescue: 401...

[Narrator] ...chain reaction...

[Tim] This is wild.

[Narrator] ...on the busiest stretch of the highway...

[Eric] Turn your wheel!

[Narrator] ...a quick pull-out...

[Narrator] ...turns ugly.

So what's the plan, boys?

-Trailer's starting to slide. -Uh-oh.

[Narrator] ...and the McCaffrey's crew...

Whoa! Hold up.

All right, we're done.

[Narrator] ...hits the breaking point.

[Kim groans]

[♪♪♪]