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Ice Road Truckers
Ice Road Truckers (2007) S12E01
Ice Road Truckers (2007) Season 12 Episode 1
Ice Road Truckers (2007) S12E01
Ice Road Truckers (2007) Season 12 Episode 1
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FunTranscript
00:00Winter is here at the world's northern edge people and cultures cut off from civilization
00:15this is a isolated community are briefly connected by a lifeline of roads paved with ice
00:30fearless drivers risk everything out here you can freeze to death you think it's trying to have
00:39to die chasing big paydays I'll make it work if I get back hauls I get double the money to hauling
00:45crucial supplies I'm ready to roll before the opportunity melts away under their chained tires
00:53this season veterans return no hesitations no practice runs back to bumping up and down see
01:03if an old man still got what it takes to get the job done and rookies emerge there's gonna be one hell
01:08of a ride a new company reigns Muskie Creek we have a very good reputation we don't leave a load behind
01:15while another confronts legacy I started this business to pass it down to my boys that was
01:20always the plan I was introduced to trucking probably from birth the winter window is shorter
01:27than ever you gotta get going haul ass haul some ass forcing everyone to burn at both ends it's
01:33exhausting when you can't get warm I feel beat up chewed up and spit out fighting an unrelenting battle
01:41against the unforgiving wilderness I'm just so afraid that I've got frostbite somewhere out here it's me
01:54versus nature on the Western Hemisphere's northern frontier the race is on you're going into the bush it's you against
02:16mother nature mother nature is unpredictable and the most ambitious company on the ice roads is Muskie Creek
02:25my problem right now is is that we have so much forecasted right now and so many commitments I'm
02:33short on drivers we've got seven loads to load tomorrow my name is Bill Dan and I'm the operations
02:40manager here at Muskie Creek apparently there's an air leak on the air tank did anybody do anything
02:46about it our primary goal is to service northern communities via winter road access with about six
02:54weeks of winter roads we have to slam these loads in as quickly and as efficiently as possible some of
03:00the communities that we go to their only source to get food building materials is by winter roads
03:06it's crucial in that short window that we have we get as much freight up into those communities so
03:16that they can sustain for the next year Bill Todd nice to meet you buddy nice to meet you heard a lot
03:26about you I'm Todd Dewey and I come from a little town called Port Angeles Washington
03:33after spending five six years up here being on the ice road you know it becomes a part of you
03:42I got four beautiful daughters at home they were at that age where they needed dad around so I kind
03:51of took a step back from the ice roads a little bit the last nine years of my life I have really
03:56focused on family home now that I'm an empty nester and the daughters are gone it's like the ice roads
04:03have been calling me Todd Todd I'm taking on this challenge this year because I have a chance to
04:09actually make some money build a nest egg back for me and my wife now and buying my own big rig
04:15Muskie Creek we have a very good reputation whatever we commit to we fulfill we don't leave a load
04:22behind so Garden Hill is where your load is going to be going then from there you're going to cross the ice then you're going to travel down here to St. Teresa Point that's going to be where I need you to pick up the back hole
04:32okay you got it Todd's burning 800 miles to Garden Hill then he's crossing Island Lake to pick up his
04:39back hole in St. Teresa Point it's loaded it's ready secured just a load of screw piles they go into the
04:46ground you can't start the building until those are in right there's a housing shortage in Garden Hill
04:50so all loads materials it's all critical gotcha 10-4 my biggest concern is that he may have lost his
04:58edge I really can't afford any mistakes to happen you know I'm coming up here with super set of skills
05:08that not a lot of guys have I'm 51 years old I don't know if I've got what it takes anymore to do
05:16these roads but I'm going to hit it hard and I'm going to see if I can make myself some good coin am
05:20I nervous absolutely see if an old man still got what it takes to get the job done
05:25600 frozen miles to the north I am kind of nervous today to see what we what we find Sean Harris owner
05:38of Harrison son's transportation is checking the ice thickness on Wollaston Lake to see if it's safe for
05:44big rigs we're going to drill a hole or two and then check the thickness and know how long before we're
05:51going to be able to go across that crossing with large loads the Wollaston Lake community is only
05:59accessible by boat or a 25-mile ice road when the lake freezes they've had so much snow into Wollaston
06:07it ended up insulating the ice the ice would not thicken up it wouldn't form properly we were way
06:12behind on getting the roads ready to go for our heavy loads to cross them
06:21my name is Sean Harris I'm 51 years old and I own a trucking business in Prince Albert Saskatchewan
06:27when I started this business I called it Harris logging and transport years down the road when
06:34the boys got involved I changed it to Sean Harris and sons at a young age 17 18 I went and got my
06:41license and right out of trucking school within three days I was on the ice roads in northern
06:47Saskatchewan and it was trial by fire this is my 32nd winter on the ice roads at this point now we
06:55have 12 trucks my company would take jobs that other people wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole I've
07:00hauled some of the biggest recorded loads across the ice the Wollaston run is very dangerous because
07:11the water is always moving there that's generally where the thinnest ice is
07:22we're hoping today when we punch through we have over 20 inches optimum is 33 to 38 inches to haul what
07:29we haul on here first and foremost you're looking for thickness feel much ice there you want to look
07:42for the quality of the ice you want it to kind of have a nice clear look to it this doesn't look
07:48like it's it's rotten everything at the at the top right there 18 give or take we're in trouble we may
08:04not get in here this winter it's always a stress business-wise I think the biggest stress is just
08:10the communities and they can't get their stuff in there they suffer they're out of fuel right now they're
08:15fine fueling because they can't get across here when normally we'd be hauling across here weeks ago
08:19we're running out of time
08:28back at Muskie Creek another ice road veteran is joining the team hey let's be Bill Lisa finally nice
08:38to meet you you guys are like top dogs in town you got like most trucks the most loads we're at 32
08:43trucks pound in about 500 loads per year for like the last decade I've been still trucking on the ice
08:52roads but I bought my own truck and I started my own business freezing wind endless miles and jobs that
09:02no one else will take oh my gosh I got a farm in Wasilla in Alaska with two acres and 11 horses on it
09:15currently my truck is sitting broken in the shop in Fairbanks and it's not running I need like a lot
09:27of money really fast to get it going and these are the hardest ice roads so I'm gonna make more on them
09:32and that's why I'm here the worst case scenario is if I don't make the money to fix the truck I'm gonna
09:38have to start selling horses Garden Hill is where you're going to there's gonna be lots of hills to
09:45climb okay most important question what am I driving
09:49yeah Lisa's also running the 800-mile gauntlet to the remote community of Garden Hill I just can't
10:07afford to not have the wheels turning
10:09plunging deeper into the frozen wilderness Todd Dewey is battling his first winter road in almost a
10:25decade the road is a rough rough shape there's a lot of pieces on here heavy items if they fall off
10:37there's no way I'm gonna manually and physically put it back on my load get a lot worse now buddy
10:48you feel that right there yeah yeah that's that's getting rough
11:01and I have definitely got something going on with my load in the back
11:07drill bit sticking out about a foot on the passenger side this is not good
11:16see here's cold
11:21well this is screwed
11:24this wood beam has slid out of here almost a foot here's a better visual if the wood has slid this far
11:31the path the problem is is that it's so cold and the deck is so slick and these pieces of wood are just
11:36sliding right on the deck if it pushes too hard and slides with too much momentum and breath bust these
11:43straps that whole thing's just going to slide right off the side and this whole pallet of these drill
11:46bits are on the middle of the ice road that's not good well I got an idea in my head I don't know if it'll
11:54work but it sure is worth a try
12:00there it goes oh you gotta love the ice roads right
12:05okay now we can link these two together so it's double locked pull the slack out
12:22double link that those are found in theory as I'm backing the truck up that chain's going to come
12:31tight and it's going to pull that load on the trailer that's what I'm hoping will happen
12:37okay this is it but we're going to give her a hell give her a try
12:40okay I hope this worked
12:50in the frigid northern frontier
12:54at musky creek headquarters
12:59gentlemen looking for bill you must be scott yes sir it's scooter yule's first haul at a new company
13:06back home he's an ice road veteran but in these parts he's a rookie looking forward to working
13:11with you this year are you sure about that is there something that you got to tell me that i don't know
13:19i live in yellow knife northwest territories i own a couple trucks i've been in business now five years
13:26trucking was a natural calling for me for me being out on the road on a job it's a sense of accomplishment
13:32especially when you deliver to northern communities
13:37i also own harley's hard rock saloon it's a bar and yellow knife this is my bar you know it's community
13:44waterhole a lot of the ice road drivers they will come to our bar they love it they have a great time
13:52my wife kelly and my daughter morgan both work at my bar and i have two daughters in nova scotia
13:58bianca and zoe and i'm praying for the best of them all the time i really need this season to go
14:04well in order to provide the cash to do the upgrades up there at the bar you are clean and
14:10clear to go to red sucker lake you've been to red sucker lake no sir i haven't been in any of these ice
14:14routes so this is all new territory for me that's what kind of truck you're going to give me too
14:19she hauls ass yeah this international is uh is a very special truck to musky creek okay the driver
14:30that was assigned this truck he serviced musky creek for a very long time two years ago uh erwin friezen
14:38we we lost him erwin friezen was a big part of musky creek he is one of the biggest reasons why musky
14:47creek is where we're at today he passed away two years ago when he was on duty doing a load
14:54sounds like some pretty big shoes to fill well i hope to make you proud and i'll be honored a driver
14:59and i'm forward to working with you he's built a little bit of confidence in me but talk is cheap
15:07scooter's first foray on these ice roads is an 800-mile adventure to the northern community
15:13of red sucker lake oh now we're gonna check this load out see what we're working with making sure
15:19that nothing is kind of come off key thing is keep your deck clean imagine that flying that through
15:26your windshield that'll kill somebody and this here has to go each driver is responsible for securing
15:32their load confirming it's safe and legal 14.6 from about to ruin bill's day anything over 12 feet needs
15:42a pilot truck we can't haul this load he's not gonna like this and none are available anytime soon
15:49we got some problem what's the issue 14.6 is the issue 14.6 that's the width
15:5614.6 is how wide we are yes sir are you sure is that from the tracks or the blade
16:08it doesn't look 14.6 14.6
16:15i really wish you didn't to my cornflakes this morning eh you're gonna learn to hate me or love me
16:19400 miles to the northwest
16:30looking for the crews that are flooding to try and thicken the ice sean harris is meeting the ice
16:35road maintenance crew to build the road the crew spends weeks plowing snow and checking the ice thickness
16:44where the ice is thin they use lake water to thicken it the fate of sean's business depends on their
16:52progress the ice doesn't get any thicker the community they're not going to be able to get
16:59supplies like that in this road is very vital it's the only lifeline in the winter time for this community
17:04how many holes are you guys going to drill two for now so what they're doing here is they've got
17:13thin spots where it's only 17 inches so they drill holes and now we're going to fire up the generator
17:18and we're going to start flooding this section of ice that's thin here right yeah let's rock and roll
17:26there we go
17:30you can see what the boys are doing putting water on existing ice and they'll keep doing that
17:34doing that they'll build levels and that's how we grow the ice how long will you guys let this run
17:40here until she reaches the edges and that's all you'll do today or you drill another couple holes
17:46and pump some more tomorrow tomorrow we are late in the season if you went across here loaded you would
17:53absolutely go in the drink it's just not thick enough these guys are working overtime trying to get a
17:58road open so their community can get the supplies in that they need
18:10halfway through his first run and not getting any closer it's about to get real veteran driver todd
18:18dewey is gambling on an old trucker trick to slide tons of steel screw piles back on his trailer
18:25come on you son of a bitch the road pounded a pallet of foundation screws over the edge
18:31that's getting rough now the fastest fix is ice road ingenuity okay here we go boys
18:54yeah looks like it moved yeah it said right here you can see this block see how far that block is
19:03sticking out this block was sticking quite out here so this whole thing is now slid right back into
19:08position now i'm going to re-rig it and i'm going to try to do the same thing to the front and get it
19:12pulled over tell you what nothing like being in the bush and figure out that's why i love being on the ice
19:18road all right re-rig it
19:26okay round two
19:48oh hell yeah we are back on the trailer that's what the ice roads are all about baby figure out
20:05and just get it done get my load strapped to hit back on the road
20:18i'm ready to roll mission accomplished baby
20:22my load is nice and straight back there ready to put some miles on here and get this load into
20:27garden hill just another beautiful day on the ice roads
20:44i am hitting the ground running deep in the frigid wilderness
20:48no hesitations no practice runs that first road knock it out lisa kelly is one of the first drivers
20:56facing a freshly frozen river crossing nelson river east channel
21:08i'm not sure where the river begins here
21:11there's so much snow on the ice i can't tell what condition the ice is in right now
21:21if it's clear ice it's a better quality of ice and holds more weight if it's like
21:26white ice there's more air in it so it's more likely to crack
21:33first one of a while so a little nervous on it you know we'll see see how this goes
21:41all right let's do this
21:56on a frozen northern river wow that does not look good a deceptive expanse of untested ice
22:10separates lisa kelly from her offload
22:13the best strategy i have for the lake crossing is listening for the cracking
22:22i'm gonna go with slower i'd rather be safe than sorry the ice is supposed to make the cracking
22:30sounds but how much is too much cracking right because it's got a crack to fall through so there's
22:34got to be a certain limit on cracking sounds
22:39thin ice sign do you see that
22:44a blanket of fresh snow covers the road and thin ice surrounding her obscuring the border between safety
22:51and certain death danger open water good gosh it's like that whole section is like open water
23:00water
23:02what makes this any thicker here
23:13don't go fast i'm almost there don't go fast don't go fast
23:18first ice crossing of the year out of the way here we come for more
23:32it's 14 6 wide
23:45scooters stuck in the truck yard until his wide load is legal if we take the blades off we're no trouble
23:52beautiful it's why you're the pro you're talking about a wide guy with a wide load i know my way
23:58where are your flags i'm wearing them right here get the wings off boys
24:07on the road problems start to arise and then there's only so much i can do from the office
24:12it's up to the driver they have to be the solution to the problem and we're golden
24:18where's my sage i always keep a smudge kit with me with tobacco sweetgrass
24:33i'm new to smudging i've been doing it for the last few years now i've been digging into my history
24:38and i'm pretty proud of it i'm mcmach mcmaw actually said pronounced from the east coast
24:45there's a reason why they were called the first nations they were the first ones and they
24:49know how to survive off the land and i like learning from it for me it keeps me grounded
24:55keeps me centered keeps me going it gives me hope kind of hard doing a truck
25:01we're gonna pray the rest of our trips are blessed
25:09spirit urban better keep on my good side scooter we gotta get going let's get out of here call us
25:16we're rolling out copy
25:34first load finally feeling much alive i'm feeling much better feeling happy now
25:46heading into garden hill in the remote island lake region
25:58garden hill finally made it todd's racing to offload 45 000 pounds of steel so he can cross the lake
26:06and pick up another load by the end of the day i'm going to get this thing unloaded right back out on
26:11ice roads
26:14i got to turn and burn i got another load i got to get picked up delivered right away
26:20let's get this load off of here
26:24i don't know how this is going to work we're about to find out
26:27we're probably unloading this is the forklift is not big enough to move these pallets off the back of
26:31this trailer we're going to grab this whole pallet see if we just slide a whole pallet at one time
26:35right onto the ground
26:36i guess we'll try that
26:42we'll see what happens
26:46go fast
26:50in the remote northern community of garden hill
27:09veteran driver todd dewey is racing to turn and burn so he can pick up his next load a little messy but
27:16it's not at work can't damage these things due to the fact they're just solid steel we thought this
27:21is the only way we're going to be able to get it unloaded with the machines that we had
27:36let's get the hell out of here i got another ice road to do
27:38came up with a good solution for the bush didn't we nicely done
27:50450 miles to the west
27:59sean harris is strategizing with his business partners sons riley and zach my boys they've both
28:05been driving since they were five years old and at 15 probably knew more than guys who've been
28:09doing it 20 years they need a plan to salvage the season if the wollaston lake crossing doesn't open
28:17wish i could sit in mexico as much as you do riley is a mini me and that's not generally a good thing
28:24one day when you have 32 years under your belts then you can go to mexico too
28:28i had that under my belt before i was 20. oh this guy he is hot tempered but he's a hard worker and he'll
28:37do whatever he has to do to get the job done you gotta have a couple handsome capable sons for you can do
28:43that zach is the exact opposite to myself and his younger brother riley zach is probably one of the most
28:52relaxed easygoing guys you'll ever meet we've had lots of snow up north so chris piss off chris be
29:02my third son is a pot belly pig when we got him he was no bigger than a loaf of bread
29:10now he's about 250 pounds and he used to ride in the semi with me all the time he absolutely loved it
29:15he'd put his little feet up on the dash and look out the window like i don't have enough problems in my life
29:20wallston is absolutely closed right now and i'm getting extremely nervous the season is going to
29:29be a short one we've had an ungodly amount of snow this year when you get a lot of snow early it
29:36insulates the water so then those cold temperatures can absorb to freeze as fast and as hard as we need
29:43it but i think right now we're going to do some things that we don't normally do this time of year
29:47yep no we'll do what we gotta do we're gonna have a tough winter
29:56approaching island lake outside garden hill ice crossing just opened up it's only open for
30:03uh light light traffic which means it's not open for full weights yet veteran driver todd dewey is
30:08facing a 13 mile lake crossing on ice barely thick enough to hold his empty truck that's kind of spooky if you think
30:17about it
30:34they're nice means anything can happen
30:37here we go he's on a deadline to pick up a backhaul today that's going to musky creek
30:50and the fastest way to saint theresa point is across the lake the ice is not as thick as it's supposed to
30:57be we'll be on the wheel of a place set up for your family because you're most likely you ain't making
31:01her home that's what could go wrong it's life and death up here
31:13a little concerned right now i'm not hearing a lot of noise out of the ice
31:22the crack of the ice is always spooky but that's part of the ice crossing you want to hear cracking
31:26that actually means that the ice is really really strong when you can't hear any noise at all that's
31:32not a good sign i don't like that i don't like that one single bit not at all
31:41cracking sounds indicate the ice is flexing to relieve stress from the truck's weight
31:48if the ice is too thin or too weak to flex under the stress
31:52it could shatter releasing todd and his truck into the clutches of the deadly frigid depths
32:10on the ice hell yeah
32:13on the other side of the lake
32:33i'm headed to garden hill with some building supplies for the communities
32:37the hills are very abrupt because it's not a road there's no like grades like they didn't build it
32:45to be driven so when you come upon a hill it's not smooth and it's really abrupt and sharp
32:52the musky creek truck is getting a beat down as lisa faces a final series of hills standing between her
32:59and the offload a little rowdy at the moment it's supposed to get worse
33:07what was that
33:13air and noise i gotta check this out and this is a horrible place to do it sounds like it's under the hood
33:20really loud right here
33:37oh good lord
33:50the road to garden hill
34:04we were rowdy at the moment
34:07battered lisa and her truck
34:10and knocked out the hose that moves compressed air from the turbo to the engine
34:14without the turbo she doesn't have the torque or the power to pull her load over the hills
34:21thank goodness the hose clamp is still there my gosh i actually think i'm going to have to turn the
34:26truck off because there's pressure coming out of there you might not be able to get it on but turning
34:33the truck off is kind of a bush no-no because it might not start again
34:44as the engine cools in the unforgiving temperatures
34:50diesel fuel thickens like day-old thanksgiving gravy preventing the truck from restarting
34:56oh
35:00Easy, tiger.
35:06OK.
35:09And the cold.
35:10I got to get out of the way.
35:21I'm kind of in a hurry because I want to get out of the way
35:24of trucks, and I want to make sure my truck cools down too
35:26much, and that's going to really screw me.
35:30Get the truck started here.
35:37All right, love.
35:39You ready?
35:41Because it's cold.
35:50Um, all right.
35:58It's cold.
36:00Let's go get out of the way.
36:01Started!
36:07I'm gonna get out of these guys' way.
36:13OK, I feel really bad for holding my lap on that room.
36:16Skinny spot of course.
36:19All right, back to bumping up and down here.
36:37Back across the lake.
36:40So I finally made it into St. Therese Point here.
36:43It's always exciting to get a backhaul.
36:45That just means you're actually getting paid for the way back to, not just the way there.
36:48So double paycheck, I'll take that any day of the week.
36:52Todd's picking up a boat to haul back to Muskie Creek for repair.
36:56Hi.
36:57Hi, I'm Todd. Nice to meet you.
36:58Hi.
37:00This is an isolated community.
37:02We usually go from one community to another community using those boats.
37:07It's very important.
37:09The only way we get things delivered is just like Santa.
37:15The trailer is this wide.
37:18And the boat is this wide.
37:20There's no margin for error.
37:24Okay.
37:25Just go real slow and easy.
37:30Keep going.
37:31You're good.
37:33That's just making me nervous.
37:35I know, me too.
37:40Go ahead.
37:41You're okay.
37:41Come on.
37:41Keep coming.
37:44Keep coming.
37:45You want to turn as you're going on like that.
37:48Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.
37:51Just hang tight right there for a minute.
37:54Yeah.
37:55I need to get this straightened out.
38:02It's working.
38:02This is a lot of work.
38:09Who said the ice roads are easy, right?
38:12The boat pickup was a little bit more than what I expected.
38:15Up!
38:17I'm tired.
38:18Can I stop?
38:20It's been a long day.
38:22The boat is loaded.
38:23And I'm done.
38:26Gosh, that was a lot of frickin' work.
38:27I do got a lot of ice road left to go to get out of here.
38:42Let's make some tracks.
38:44After a slow start on his first run...
38:46Oh, yeah.
38:47It's going to be a fun run.
38:48Feel it already.
38:50Scooter is finally free in his natural environment.
38:57She's going to be tight.
39:02One oversized inbound.
39:04This is a road that I've never been on.
39:06All these roads I've never been on.
39:09It's going to be all kinds of fun.
39:11Here we go.
39:17Oh, yeah, baby.
39:20Springs are working hard.
39:23Oh, yeah.
39:24That felt good.
39:25Right up the stinker on that one.
39:27Holy...
39:30It's rough.
39:41It's terrible.
39:42It really...
39:43Whoa!
39:45We're just in touch of it in.
39:47And it's terrible.
39:50It's going to be interesting to see what happens here.
39:52Not much room in a narrow-ass road, and we are wide.
40:01So am I, but so is the load.
40:02As Scooter races into the bush, Todd's heading in the opposite direction.
40:13Let's get a little bit of shut-eye back up this morning, bright and early.
40:25Oh, s***.
40:29Feel that right there?
40:31This road is really beating the truck around, really beating the load around.
40:34Ah, son of a bitch.
40:43We're losing air f***ing quick.
40:46We got something broke.
40:47The brakes are completely locked.
40:52Hang on.
41:01The whole bracket that holds air lined up is completely laying on the ground.
41:06Oh, my gosh.
41:07This is broke, that's broke, this is broke, this one's broke, that's broke, and this one's broken.
41:13That's my main air supply report.
41:14The trailer just breaks.
41:16Unbelievable.
41:20It's going to take a while to fix this.
41:22We ain't going anywhere.
41:23We're f***ing.
41:24This season, the ice road truckers battle brutal roads.
41:41Any more bumps, my boobs are going to smack me in the face into the lack of my eyes.
41:46Oh!
41:48And haul massive loads.
41:51Holy crap.
41:52I don't want to tip this over.
41:55There you go.
41:56Keep going.
41:57Right there.
41:57Perfect.
41:59The main concern is the ice crossings being a maximum weight.
42:03Come on.
42:04Come on.
42:04Come on.
42:05You can do it.
42:06You can do it.
42:06You can do it.
42:09The drivers must work together.
42:12Can you not f*** around with it while I'm under here?
42:14Because if this falls, I'm dead.
42:15Don't worry, Zach.
42:16Your little brother's coming to the rescue.
42:20Hey.
42:21Now back up straight.
42:22Or fail alone.
42:25We ain't going anywhere.
42:28My God.
42:29Come on.
42:30This is their one shot.
42:34The truck's on fire.
42:35Come on.
42:35Tell me this don't get your heart pumping.
42:37Ah!
42:39Oh.
42:39Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
42:41What?
42:50Oh.
42:52Oh.
42:53Yeah.
42:54What?
42:54Oh.
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