Original subtitles

[Kory] It is, by far, the craziest place to work.

[Charlie] This is one of

the most dangerous jobs in the world.

-Come help me. -Holy cow!

Pretty hard to get 'em to slow down here.

[Cory] When you get into these sub-zero conditions,

it can turn to life or death.

That must have been one heck of a ride here.

[Charlie] Colorado, Wyoming, Utah,

it is the gut of the United States of America.

[Jesse] Holy moly!

[crashing]

[Charlie] Crazy weather conditions,

tough roads,

12,000 feet in the air.

There's more accidents here per interstate mile

than any other interstate in North America.

He hit the wall hard.

[Austin] It can turn ugly very quick.

[news report] And here's the latest weather update

from up on Vail Pass.

There are now reports

of likely another three to five inches

in the next couple of hours,

and crews are working hard to keep I-70 open.

[Narrator] On the southern edge

of the Rocky Mountains...

[Narrator] ...January is starting out rough

on Interstate 70.

[Charlie] 10-4.

It's coming our way.

[Narrator] Charlie Stubblefield

is ready for the worst.

[Charlie] We've got some pretty low temps coming up.

I believe it's gonna be 7 below tonight and snowing,

and then 2 for the high tomorrow,

and those roads are gonna stay snow packed,

and stay dangerous, and stay slippery.

Five years ago, I started this company,

and it has taken off,

and we're now one of the largest towing and recovery companies

in the state of Colorado.

We cover I-70,

it's a stretch through the Rocky Mountains

between Denver and Glenwood Springs.

We're at 12,000 feet in elevation...

...and it's a whole 'nother ball game

in terms of weather systems.

[Narrator] When storms hit...

they patrol the mountain passes

in a fleet of top-line

light and heavy-duty tow trucks

all along I-70.

[Big Jon] That long, skinny pedal on the right side,

just bury it to the floor board.

Yeah, 09, I got a Smart car spinning out a little bit.

[laughing]

I could just, like, pull up next to him,

one arm, pick it up...

[chuckling] ...hold it out the window...

[Bad Grandpa] Yeah, I am getting ready

to go into the tunnel, heading right at ya.

[Kory] All right, I'll give it a few more minutes,

then head down, make a lap.

The roads today have just been super icy.

Negative-degree weather, got snow blowing...

Only takes one guy

to really mess it all up for everybody.

[Charlie] Crazy roads,

crazy weather conditions...

we have all the ingredients for a disaster here.

[Charlie] All right, here we go!

[Charlie] Wolcott Corners is an S-curve on I-70,

and this is a place

where we've seen multiple vehicle accidents.

This area is definitely a trouble spot on I-70.

Yeah, 04-01.

...and then we'll kind of formulate a plan from there.

Does that make sense?

[Charlie] Here it is right here.

This semi went through a set of curves too fast,

and ended up jackknifing,

turning the whole truck all the way around,

on the shoulder side of the road

facing the opposite direction.

[Kory] I know he was supposed to turn,

but he turned a little too much.

Closing I-70 is just not an option.

We can't do that.

It's gonna create a huge risk for secondary crashes.

What are we thinking for plan here?

The quickest way to get this done

and keep the roadway open while we do it

is to use two rotators at the same time...

[Narrator] They'll use

one of their brand-new rotators on each end

to lift and swing the semi back around.

[Charlie] This is the exact scenario

we bought these trucks for,

so that we could reach over the side

without blocking the entire roadway,

and get this job done.

What's going on, guys?

03 just coming out of the tunnel eastbound.

All right, 10-4.

This turn is notorious for jackknifes,

and slide-offs, and rollovers.

We get something pretty much every storm here.

[Charlie] They're not doing a great job

of slowing down today.

[Kory] The longer we're out there,

the more at risk the public is,

driving by,

the more risk we are working on the roadway,

so getting it done quick,

it's definitely an important thing.

[honking horn]

[air hissing]

[Kory] Are we good if I start setting up?

[Charlie] Yeah, go ahead.

-Yeah. -Okay.

[Kory] There's a reason why we're here

cleaning up an accident to begin with.

It's only a matter of time

before there's a second one here.

Everything is frozen!

[Big Jon] We're definitely working on a blind corner,

so don't really want to cause any more accidents.

Sometimes all the flashing lights and everything,

people get drawn right to it.

Try to do it as fast as we can.

If you hear a horn, run for cover.

[horn blaring]

[news report] Quiet night out on I-15.

Traffic is looking good all around.

Calling for clear skies overnight,

and hovering just above freezing.

[Narrator] 560 kilometres west,

in Utah,

traffic is moving smoothly,

but just a single driver can change that in an instant.

[crashing]

[sirens wailing]

[Jesse Stauffer] I'm headed to this truck fire

in Springville.

Don't know a whole lot about it,

but Highway Patrol is saying

that the driver fell asleep,

and the truck's on fire now.

My name is Jesse Stauffer.

I work for Stauffer's Towing.

It's a business that my grandpa started

almost 70 years ago.

Like, how cool is that, you know,

that you get to continue on that legacy?

[Chuck] Night and day runs together always.

The story of my life.

H'yah! [laughing]

[Jesse] Chuck is on his way already.

He'll beat us.

[Chuck] Just got the freeway shut down,

so not sure exactly on how bad it is,

but usually if the freeway's shut down,

it's pretty bad.

[Chuck] All's I was thinking, was, you know,

I mean, "I wonder if the driver's okay?"

[sirens wailing]

[Jesse] Whenever something comes in

at 2:00, 3:00 a.m. in the morning,

adrenaline goes through your veins.

[tire exploding]

Oh, [bleep]!

[sirens wailing]

[sirens wailing]

I-15 is the biggest interstate in Utah.

It stretches from the Idaho border

all the way down to the southern border

by Arizona and Nevada,

I mean, and so for us, it's everything,

and where this truck fire is in Springville,

it's in a part that if you close it,

there's no way around it.

[Narrator] Miraculously,

the driver survived,

but Jesse and crew are facing a long, difficult night.

[Jesse] Crazy!

Nothing left of it.

[Narrator] The trailer is loaded full

with mixed courier packages.

[Chris Whetton] We have melted plastics

and melted products.

We're all just trying to get it out,

and no one get hurt,

and go home.

[Narrator] ...but the fire

keeps finding new fuel

and flaring back up.

[Jesse] It's going to be tough to get this off the road.

[Chuck] Yeah.

Yeah, see that front axle?

Should be up there!

It's clear back here.

He hit the wall hard.

[Chuck] The driver made it out, which is good,

but then you got to look and see, okay,

now what kind of job do I got to do?

Man...

I got a tractor to clean up.

I got a trailer that's got to be cleaned up,

plus all the debris that's melted to the ground,

and all over the place,

and, I mean, you've got a lot of moving parts.

[Narrator] Local rush hour starts at 6:00 a.m.,

and this road needs to be open.

[Chuck] It's the main get-through.

I-15 shuts down, it shuts down.

I mean, it shuts down... everywhere.

[Narrator] Morning rush is less than four hours away,

and the freight is still burning,

but the crew needs to get a head start.

[Kevan] You guys have an issue

with us disconnecting the tractor right now

to get that forward?

Get that out of your guys' way?

Okay.

[Jesse] We're going to pull the tractor out

from underneath the trailer,

so that way, we can be working on something

as the fire department is working on another thing.

[Chuck] I wanna go right around here,

so it's around the frame around,

because if we try pulling anywhere else,

it's going to probably rip it in half.

[Narrator] The plan is to first pull the tractor

away from the trailer,

and then Jesse's rotator will lift it

onto a flatbed trailer.

Good?

I'm gonna pull them apart...

Okay.

The steer axle on the tractor

was broke off the frame,

then one of the drive axles was broke

and twisted into the other one.

The tires on the trailer were blown out and twisted.

I wouldn't lie to you.

[laughing]

Yeah, it was... it was a pretty good wreck.

[Jesse] Yeah, this is gonna be...

figuring out this truck on the fly, huh?

[Jesse] Everything's falling out

underneath the tractor.

Is this thing going to hold up as I try to lift it up?

So go around the axle, hook it back to itself.

Pass that over to Chuck, okay?

[dispatch] Do you have an estimated finish time

for that jackknife at the 150-mile marker?

[Charlie] Look at this idiot.

[Charlie] I think drivers

coming through the Wolcott Corners,

headed eastbound,

and then all of a sudden seeing a semi facing west

on the shoulder,

there's some hard braking,

and some good chance for secondary incidents to happen.

Don't stop there.

We want out of this situation.

We want to get this thing done,

and we don't want to be out here

any longer than we have to be.

[Narrator] So Charlie's banking

on Jon and Kory's 50-ton capacity rotators.

[Charlie] Let's make this quick.

[Charlie] Using these two rotators

is invaluable to us here in the mountains.

Without them,

we would be blocking the whole road

with straight stick wreckers.

[Narrator] A straight stick wrecker

can only pull straight,

off the back.

A rotator, with outriggers providing stability,

can lift from the side.

[♪♪♪]

Right now, I'm gonna get my outriggers out.

[Big Jon] Just trying to get around

all the hydraulics and stuff.

Lot of stuff in the way.

[Narrator] A new storm is blowing in.

The crew can't afford any delay...

but Big Jon has hit some trouble.

[Big Jon] Kory, you want to hold that chain?

Just go right around the edge there.

There's just a lot of cheesy little metal brackets and stuff.

I can't really find a clear place

to run these chains and route 'em.

I don't know how sturdy these are, either.

Yeah, we're going to just break that.

[Big Jon] The lift gate doesn't have enough space for us

to get, like, a good lift point.

That plan's not gonna work exactly. [chuckling]

[Charlie] This is a vulnerable position for us to be in.

We need to get out of here.

[passing horn blaring]

[Kory] You didn't want to use the spreader bar?

[Big Jon] I did not, no. [laughing]

Mine's pretty iced in there right now.

Is yours pretty easy to get to?

[Kory] I'm sure I could pull it out of there.

Yeah, we gotta spreader-bar it.

[Narrator] In Wolcott, Colorado...

[Charlie] A little change in plans.

[Narrator] ...the Mountain Recovery crew

has had to scrap their first plan.

We weren't too confident

in where we were picking from that trailer,

and didn't want to break something.

There was very little damage to this truck,

and we want to keep it that way.

[Narrator] But time is not on their side.

[Big Jon] Snatch blocks are over here.

[Charlie] Okay.

[Charlie] Middle of the night,

traffic's coming by, snow's falling.

This is a dangerous spot to be.

[Big Jon] So, we'll get the ladder

and just climb up and hook it up.

If somebody is listening out there,

they need to make a big hard hat for this big-headed guy.

[chuckling]

[Big Jon] The new plan now

is to get the spreader bar

and get it set up over the top of the trailer,

and we'll just lift off the frame,

and we can pick and swing it that way.

We should've done this in the first place.

We got to get as much reach

and get out there as far as we can.

[Charlie] Yeah.

I'm telling you right now, it's just super busy.

We got more stuff

than I even probably know about at this point.

[Bad Grandpa] It's pretty nasty,

it's super, super icy.

There's definitely some accidents up here.

[Narrator] 100 kilometres west,

other members of Charlie's crew

are heading up the steepest grade on I-70,

toward the Eisenhower-Johnson tunnel.

[Charlie] Our model is patrol,

and everybody's out there always working, moving,

making things happen on their own,

so tonight, we've got all hands on deck.

[Bad Grandpa] This is when it's game on, right now.

[Narrator] 35,000 vehicles a day

move through this three-kilometre passage

under the mountains,

and at over 3,300 metres,

it's the highest point in the entire interstate system.

[Charlie] The tunnel grade?

Man, in a snowstorm,

it's completely disorienting.

It's the tallest, steepest,

longest grades in North America.

It's like a skating rink, but we got wheels.

[Seth] People are driving pretty timid,

and it's for good reason.

All it takes is a little bit.

Ooh, ooh...

He's locked up and sliding, man, not good.

We're just gonna kinda

guardian angel back here for him.

Yeah, real slow, my dude.

[Dean] Rippin' and dippin' out here in Colorado.

This last snow storm that we've been working

has been killer.

[Narrator] Heavy operator Dean

is fighting to make it to a semi

stuck on a slick section of the steep incline...

[Dean] Okay, buddy, back it up.

Come on, I know you don't know where to go either.

[Narrator] ...but he can't get through the backlog.

Right now, traffic is stopped,

and 'cause nobody else knows where to go,

westbound 221,

traffic is stopped.

[Charlie] Just moving around and being in this environment

is risky.

Every single day,

we see vehicles crash, and roll over,

and do all this kind of stuff.

I might get out to have people move,

'cause there's nowhere for them to go.

I'm going to get these cars to move

when they do pull off.

Hey, come on, come on, come on,

come on, come on, come on.

Hey, come on.

Pull over to the side here.

[news report] Coming up on 4:00 a.m.,

and the section of northbound I-15 near Springville

is still closed.

Crews are working to open up the road before rush hour,

but still no idea when things will get moving.

[Narrator] On I-15,

the fire crew is still battling a fire

that keeps finding new fuel in the trailer...

-[Jesse] Good? -[Chuck] Good.

[Jesse] Okay.

[Narrator] ...so with less than three hours

until the rush,

Jesse and crew are targeting the tractor...

[Jesse] I'll just lift that tractor up off the ground.

[Narrator] ...but it's so destroyed,

it might not survive the lift onto their trailer.

[Chuck] You ready for me to let go?

[Jesse] Yep, I'm ready.

There was no state of the tractor.

It was burnt.

There was a shell

that represented what used to be a tractor.

It's all burnt into ashes,

and just a big glob of... melted...

I don't know, [bleep]. [laughing]

[Jesse] Okay, it's gonna spin on us when I lift it.

[Chuck] Set 'er down.

Okay.

[Narrator] The tractor made it

in one piece.

[Chuck] It's a beautiful thing.

[flatbed honking]

[Jesse] We'll go check on them, see where they're at.

[Narrator] But the fire in the trailer

is still fighting back.

Yes, sir.

Yeah.

So right now,

the fire's snuck in between all the packages

and the palleting,

where it gets into the little pockets,

and then we just have to chase it

and try and extinguish it and find it,

and so it's time-consuming and labor-intensive

and not really an easy way to do it.

[Narrator] The more they cut away at the trailer,

the more time it will take Jesse

to clear it off this highway.

Hey, Captain, would you be okay

if we open up some lanes of traffic?

But I'm just telling you,

as soon as you guys get done,

they're gonna be like, "Hey, Jesse,

why aren't the lanes open?"

[Narrator] The flood of traffic

is now just two hours away.

[Chuck] We still gotta get all that picked up,

in the dumpsters,

and then deal with the trailer,

and then clean it all up still.

[Jesse] Yeah, we'll be watching the sun come up.

[Big Jon] We're just about ready.

Make sure everyone is clear.

Charlie, you wanna watch that chain on that side

as I tighten up?

[Charlie] Yup.

[Narrator] On I-70 in Colorado...

Kory, just a heads up,

I'm gonna start moving the trailer.

[Narrator] ...Big Jon has the spreader bar prepped

to lift the back of the jackknife.

Yeah, buddy, looking good on this side.

Jon's going to pick it up

and slowly swing it out away from the roadway

so we can get that cab turned around.

[Big Jon] Just found the center.

Just trying to keep the angles right...

[Big Jon] You just got to be worried

about the stability of your truck.

You don't want to be reached way out there

and have too much weight.

All right, I think we got it where we need it.

[Charlie] Looks good.

[Big Jon] We can go to the front now,

and we'll bring the tractor around.

[Narrator] He needs to make up the lost time

before the conditions and blind corner

cause another crash.

We're gonna pick it up and kind of pull it forward

and shift it over,

and start it into that initial turn...

That's where it went bad.

Whoa...

Something bad just happened.

[Kory] Huh...

It's broken.

The reason the rotator has these outriggers

is to stabilize the entire truck

so you're not tipping to one side.

They're very crucial.

Damn it!

We busted that whole thing.

That is very broken.

That's not good.

Yeah, it's this plate right here that's on the ground

that is not supposed to be like that.

Worst nightmare...

[Charlie] Something stopped

the second stage of this outrigger

from coming out properly,

and it fully extended too far,

and then when we put weight on it,

that outrigger was too far out of its pocket,

and just popped it.

I don't know why that happened.

[Kory] I've never seen an outrigger break like that.

I mean, especially on a new truck.

[Charlie] I'm not really sure why that took place,

but it did.

[Charlie] It's a multi-million-dollar truck.

It's brand new.

For this to happen right now,

with this storm coming in,

this job that we need to do,

ah... it's frustrating.

And now we have a limp truck here...

Unfortunately.

[Big Jon] Hopefully it'll suck it in.

It should.

[Kory] Now I got a lame truck,

and, you know, I can't help with the recovery.

I don't even get the credit of, like, doing something cool.

Like, what the hell?

I guess plan B is, you know,

we're going to reposition Jon's truck

and keep swinging this thing around.

Can't stop now. We're in the middle of it.

[Kory] Yeah.

Plan B, C, D...

as long as... as many plans as we gotta do.

We'll get it done.

Okay, what are we doing now?

[Charlie] 14-01.

01, go ahead.

[Narrator] Over on the tunnel grade...

10-4.

[Narrator] ...Dean has reached the driver,

who's unable to get enough traction

to climb the mountain on his own.

All right.

[Narrator] Just a few weeks ago...

[Charlie] What do you think, Dean?

All right, let's have a look at this thing.

[Narrator] ...Dean saw firsthand

how dangerous a stop in traffic can be on I-70.

When traffic stopped in one lane,

a driver's bad decision

sent Dean for a ride.

[crashing]

[Charlie] We're thankful

that you're still here, man.

This... this truck is wrecked.

[Dean] I feel, looking at this truck,

I shouldn't be here right now.

No. No, you should be dead.

[Dean] I do feel lucky.

That one spot where I was sitting,

it's crumpled like a can,

but it protected me enough for me to climb out.

[Narrator] Amazingly,

no one in the six vehicles involved

was seriously hurt.

After rolling three times,

Dean escaped with just a broken finger.

[Charlie] All very minor

compared to what is a really major ordeal right here,

that's for sure.

It was a good truck.

It served its purpose for us, that's for sure.

[Charlie] Every second, every minute,

every hour that that lane's closed

is a higher and higher percentage

of a secondary incident.

[Dean] All right, going in the truck.

[Charlie] I want to see that traffic flowing,

and say that this road is open

because of Mountain Recovery.

The highway is reopened at this location right now.

All right, I gotta free-spool these.

[Narrator] On I-70 at Wolcott...

Where are we going?

[Big Jon] To the trailer.

[Narrator] ...Kory's rotator is out of commission,

so the Mountain Recovery crew

needs to improvise.

[Charlie] What do you want,

you want it right in front of the fifth wheel,

just on the frame?

[Big Jon] If you go up onto the apron,

there's going to be a big thick half-inch...

We think that we can just pull this tractor out and around

with Big Jon's truck

in the position that it's in already.

[Narrator] If Big Jon can make the pull

without repositioning,

they can shave crucial time off the job.

[Big Jon] Yeah, just smack that around a little bit.

Yeah, we got to get you dirty every once in a while.

We're going to get this thing rigged up

to the front of my truck,

and we'll winch it out of a jackknife

and get it turned around.

[phone ringing]

[Charlie] What's happening, man?

[Charlie] That's not good. Where is it at?

CDOT is the Colorado Department of Transportation,

and when they call, we get the work done.

I will send Kory right now.

Cool, thanks.

Now that Kory's truck is no longer a rotator,

and it's just a straight stick wrecker,

there's nothing else he can do.

[Charlie] Hey, Kory, did you catch that?

[Kory] I guess I'll just clear here.

[Charlie] Yeah.

Don't suck!

[Kory] 10-4.

[Kory] I'm glad I got something to go do,

because standing around

watching Jon do the rest of the job,

it's just... it's a little heart... heartbreaking.

I can't operate as a rotator,

but I could definitely winch off the back of this thing.

[honking horn]

All right, so we got this rigged up.

We're going to pull on the apron of the trailer.

[Narrator] Big Jon will need to pull

on both tractor and trailer to swing the semi around.

[Big Jon] All right, I'm going to start moving it.

[Charlie] Yeah, go ahead.

[Big Jon] We lost Kory's truck at this point,

so I just got to make sure I'm careful

and get it done with my truck

and nothing else goes wrong.

We need to get this out of here

and get this highway open.

Definitely worry about some ice today.

[Narrator] With the brunt of the storm

bearing down in Colorado,

Mountain Recovery is fighting to finish the job.

[Big Jon] There's never a perfect plan with this job.

You got to roll with the punches,

and just figure stuff out as it goes.

[Charlie] You just need to maintain your focus,

stay on track,

keep up with your recovery plan,

make changes as needed,

and see it all the way through.

[Big Jon] All right, Charlie,

we gotta move that chain

to the trailer.

[Narrator] Working solo,

Big Jon's options for the final pull are limited.

[Big Jon] We're going to rig up to the landing gear,

but it's not the best spot to hook up for a side pull.

There we go.

Landing gear is kind of weak

at the angle we're pushing.

It's got a lot of strength up and down,

but pulling from the side's hard,

so just try not to break it.

[♪♪♪]

[Charlie] You might want to lower this side,

lower this side.

[chuckling]

Come on, are you getting scared?

[Big Jon] We got the truck out.

We did it on plan B, but...

we got it, we're hooking it up,

and onto the next one.

I'm going to have Charlie jump in the truck,

and I'm going to get him pulled up to the next exit.

[Charlie] Yeah, do it.

[honking horn]

[♪♪♪]

[Charlie] This is bittersweet because we got the truck out,

there's no more additional damage,

but it took a lot longer than what we wanted,

and we have now a broken multi-million-dollar rotator

because of it.

[news report] Traffic is starting

to build up this morning.

Still a major headache on the I-15 northbound,

where crews are cleaning up that overnight semi-trailer fire.

All right, we'll see you guys later.

[Narrator] On I-15 outside Provo,

the fire is finally out,

but not in time to beat the morning rush.

[Jesse] When we don't hit our goals

of getting it cleaned up before rush hour,

there's a lot of pressure there.

[Narrator] After seven long hours on scene,

Jesse, Chuck, and crew

are facing the hardest part of the job

with their deadline behind them.

Oh, man, I'm tired. [laughing]

Is it time to go home yet?

[laughing]

[Jesse] It's gonna be tough to get that trailer out of here.

[Jesse] The fire department cut a big old hole

in the side of it.

There's not much left on the back of it

where the flames were going through.

I'm not really sure

if this is going to hold together

as I lift it up.

[Chuck] Where are you wanting to hook up?

So go up over the frame, out through here,

and then we can hook back onto itself.

Okay?

[Chuck] When it gets compromised like that,

the frame, the sides, the roof,

it's hard to get 'em lifted up and to move 'em,

because then they buckle, then they fall apart.

I'm around the axle, up through the floor.

I think we're good there?

[Jesse] Yup.

There's just nothing left of this trailer.

It's just going to fold in half.

[Narrator] And that will add hours to the recovery,

and kilometres to the backup.

I think we should just try to pick it up

and see if it stays together.

[Jesse] With this kind of stuff,

you just have to lift and try,

see how the trailer reacts, you know?

[Jesse] The big moment of the truth

is, if I lift up on the back of this,

is it going to fold in two,

or is it going to stay intact?

[Jesse] Okay, I'm gonna lift.

[Chuck] It's coming,

slowly but surely.

[metal creaking]

[metal clanging]

[Jesse] No way.

So, yeah...

...it was broken.

[Jesse] Okay, I'm gonna lift.

[Narrator] After a seven-hour battle on I-15,

the burned-out trailer...

No way!

[Narrator] ...has failed the test lift.

[Chuck] That's the challenge, is when they burn up like that,

they melt apart and crumble.

I hate burn-ups.

I mean, did I mention that?

I hate burn-ups.

[Narrator] So Jesse needs to change the plan.

[Jesse] Yeah, I think

if we just get it on a little bit.

He's got that axle rolled up, so...

I wanna just leave the landing gear on the ground...

-Okay. -...and then you back up

to where we hit the landing gear,

and then you'll lift the front of the trailer.

Okay.

[Narrator] His trailer, called a landoll,

has sliding axles

that allow it to tilt like a ramp.

We're gonna have the landoll tilted down

at about a 45-degree angle,

so I can set this down on the landoll,

and then we'll roll the wheels back on the landoll,

and it'll lift the front of the trailer.

Okay, let's have him come back a little bit.

Okay. Hold it.

Is that as far as we can go?

[Chuck] Yeah, it's right on the landing gear.

Let's let it down and see what it does.

[Jesse] Okay, see what it does.

[Chuck] As you come down,

bring it to you just slightly.

Let's bring the nose up before you let it off.

[Jesse] I'm loose.

[Chuck] You're loose?

[Jesse] I'm loose.

[Chuck] Whoo!

That's what we hoped for. [chuckling]

Okay, let's unhook it.

Let's chain it down.

[Jesse] It held together a little better

than we thought it was going to.

I think what saved us

was them not cutting the passenger sidewall.

I think it's going to make it to the yard.

[Chuck, laughing] One way or another.

[both laughing]

[Jesse] Open up traffic!

[♪♪♪]

There's your traffic.

[Jesse] It was a long night,

and we're glad that this thing is finally cleaned up.

Great job.

Nice job. Proud of you.

I feel like everybody did an amazing job.

[Chuck] Yeah, another wreck in the bag.

Onto the next one.

[Chuck] Time to go home?

It's freedom? [laughing]

No, it makes me feel like, you know, all right, cool,

we, you know, got our job done.

[honking horn]

Helped out everybody

to be able to get where they need to go.

I'm proud of the way that we handled ourselves.

I'm really proud of the way that we performed tonight,

to open the freeway.

[Narrator] After a tough night,

Charlie is assessing the damage to his rotator

and wrestling with a hard decision.

[Charlie] Just thinking about

how we can possibly still keep this truck in service

and making sure that it's safe.

We've made a commitment to the State Patrol,

we've made a commitment to CDOT

that with these two rotators, we're going to be able

to keep the roads open during recoveries,

and not do a full shut-down of the road.

It's just a frustrating spot to be in.

If we send this away, it's going to Iowa,

and that's a 16-hour drive from here.

That's going to keep Kory out of service,

it's going to keep the truck out of service,

there's no revenue coming in,

and now, it's winter. It's on.

It's... we don't have time for down time.

It's... it's on.

We gotta keep these trucks up and running,

and when you have a million-dollar truck,

it has to be making money every single day,

and when it's down like that, and you're not making revenue,

it's hurting.

So I've got a big decision to make.

Do we limp this thing through the winter

and try to make revenue on it,

or do we take it out of service for an extended period of time?

[Jim] Here outside of Elk Mountain,

and this area is notorious

for having plenty of weather for us.

-It's a disaster up here. -[honking horn]

The storm kind of caught people off guard.

[Bad Grandpa] We call it Deadman's Curve

because of the amount of accidents

that happen right here.

[Jim] I would avoid going across that,

because the wind could blow you over.

[Bad Grandpa] Oh no!

Time's ticking.

I cannot afford for this to go wrong.

[Dean] Watch it!