Ice Road Truckers

Ice Road Truckers
Ice Road Truckers Title Card
Genre	Documentary, Reality show
Starring	Rick Yemm Hugh Rowland Alex Debogorski T.J. Tilcox Drew Sherwood Jay Westgard
Narrated by	Thom Beers
Theme music composer	Aerosmith
Opening theme	Livin' on the Edge
Country of origin	Canada
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	29
Production
Producers	David McKillop Dolores Gavin Thom Beers Philip Segal Dawn Fitzgerald Adam Martin Aron Plucinski
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	History
Release	June 17, 2007 – Present

Ice Road Truckers is an American documentary-style reality television series that debuted on The History Channel US on June 17, 2007 (first season). The second season started June 8, 2008 in the US and 9th October 2008 in the UK.

History

In 1999, The History Channel as part of the Suicide Missions series, aired a 46-minute episode titled Ice Road Truckers. Based on the book Denison's Ice Road by Edith Iglauer, the episode detailed the treacherous job of driving trucks over frozen lakes, also known as ice roads, in Canada's Northwest Territories. After 2000, reruns of the documentary were aired as an episode of the series Modern Marvels instead. Under this banner, the Ice Road Truckers show garnered very good ratings.

In 2006, The History Channel hired Thom Beers, owner of Original Productions and executive producer of Deadliest Catch, to create a series based on the Ice Road by Beers. Shot in high definition (although the season ended before History HD was launched in the US), the show "charts two months in the lives of six extraordinary men who haul vital supplies to diamond mines and other remote locations over frozen lakes that double as roads". During the finale of the show's first season of 10 episodes, The History Channel aired a promo for season 2 which began airing on June 8, 2008. Season 1 of Ice Road Truckers was shown on the British national commercial channel Five in February/March 2008. It will also be shown in Australia on Network Ten from 18th of June.

Reception

The series' premiere was seen by 3.4 million viewers to become the most-watched original telecast in the History Channel's 12-year history at that time. Among critics, Adam Buckman of The New York Post said, "Everything about 'Ice Road Truckers' is astonishing". Virginia Heffernan of The New York Times said, "Watching these guys ... make their runs, it’s hard not to share in their cold, fatigue and horrible highway hypnosis, that existential recognition behind the wheel late at night that the pull of sleep and the pull of death are one and the same. ... [I]t gets right exactly what Deadliest Catch got right, namely that the leave-nothing-but-your-footprints, green kind of eco-travelers are too mellow and conscientious to be interesting to watch. Instead, the burly, bearded, swearing men who blow methyl hydrate into their own transmissions and welcome storms as breaks from boredom ... are much better television.". During 2007 the series was shown in the UK, Australia and various countries in Africa.

By series completion it was clear that the truck falling through the ice was only a special effect, a fact that caused some grumbling among the truckers. Still, the series is a rare occasion in reality television where the cast seem pleased with the outcome.

Cast

Season 1 Drivers

Hugh Rowland

A very rough-around-the-edges 20-year veteran of ice-road trucking, Hugh is 50 years old and is based in Kelowna in southern British Columbia. He is known by the Ice Road trucking community as "The Polar Bear," which is a reference to his strong personality, bearish attitude, stamina and consistently high number of loads delivered per season. Hugh owns four trucks and drives one while the other three are manned by ice road rookies Drew Sherwood and Todd White, as well as friend and year-round employee Rick Yemm. Hugh's trucks all have the emblem R&R Hoe Service on the doors - the company Hugh owns in Kelowna (actually Winfield, BC).

During the course of Season 1, all three of Hugh's hired drivers end up prematurely leaving the ice road for reasons such as banishment for excessive speeding in Todd's case, to heated disagreements as to the working condition of Hugh's trucks in Rick's case. In Drew's case it was several break downs. Hugh's truck is called "The Crow's Nest" and is kept in good condition. On the other hand, Rick's truck has ongoing problems with its heater, and the trucks driven by Drew Sherwood and Todd White have a multitude of mechanical problems. After Drew's departure, Hugh hires a 4th driver named Danny Reese to drive the truck originally driven by Drew to finish the season. In the final episode of the first season, Hugh's luck finally runs out when his truck is sideswiped by another trucker on the ice road, knocking a driving axle off the chassis. He ends up finishing the season in the truck originally driven by Rick.

Rick Yemm

One of Hugh Rowland's employees, this brash, tattooed trucker, also from Kelowna, was in his second year as an Ice Road trucker during Season 1. In 2006, Rick was one of the first truckers onto the Ice Road after it opened, when the sound of cracking ice was loudest. This stressful experience almost caused him to quit driving the Ice Road right then and there. He decided to continue, however, remarking, "I was too stupid and too stubborn to quit."

During Season 1, the floor heater in his truck was malfunctioning. This was a major source of tension between Hugh, the truck's owner, and Rick, who expected Hugh to take care of the problem so that he could continue hauling loads without risking severe frostbite. Rick ultimately quit and returned home, feeling that his friend was not fulfilling his responsibilities to maintain the trucks.

Alex Debogorski

A legend in the Ice Road trucking community, 2007 marked Debogorski's 26th year as an Ice Road trucker. Debogorski is the father of eleven children, has seven grandchildren, and is a year-round resident of Yellowknife. As stated in Season 1, being that he has been a staple driving the ice roads, it is something of a good-luck charm for Alex to pull the first load over the ice roads at the beginning of every season.

Jay Westgard

Jay is also a year round resident of Yellowknife. Despite his relative youth, Westgard is considered by the Ice Road community as the most talented driver of his generation. Westgard is currently 25 years old. He began driving trucks at age 16, and owned his first truck by age 18; at the time of his introduction, Westgard had acquired a reputation as a driver who excels in hauling oversized loads. Because of his experience, he is entrusted with delivering some of the more demanding loads, such as a huge 48-ton ore scrubber. He also agrees to drive in a convoy (led by Mike Kimball) hauling vital jet fuel to remote Deline—a job most veterans would turn down because the trip is very risky.

T.J. Tilcox

A 21-year-old ice road rookie, Tilcox is vocal about how he hates the cold and ice, and explains that he is driving on the ice road for the experience, not the money. Tilcox has been trucking since age 16, and decided to try ice road trucking after seeing an advertisement in the paper. Early on he struggles with an older truck with no heat, but another driver grants Tilcox the use of his brand new Volvo truck leased to Trinity Transport. On his first run in the new truck, Tilcox gets in an accident before ever hitting the ice road due to the brake service line disconnecting from his trailer. Tilcox is ultimately cleared of responsibility and, after a delay, allowed back on the road.

After the accident Tilcox is injured while tying down a load, and several days later experiences severe abdominal pain which becomes so bad that he has to be flown out to receive medical care. Tilcox is able to return to the ice roads after being treated for his injuries. The expense of his treatment is highlighted on the show as a cause of concern for Tilcox. Ultimately, his insurance covers the twelve thousand dollar medical bill, although this is not mentioned in the show. Despite his ordeals, Tilcox gains respect for the job and the people who do it, as well as self-satisfaction for having completed the entire season—a rare feat for a rookie. He leaves with the respect and admiration of his fellow ice road veterans.

Drew Sherwood

Drew is a veteran trucker, but an Ice Road rookie. He joined Hugh Rowland’s team after answering an advertisement in the local newspaper. Early on, Drew expresses a high degree of confidence that he will have no problems adjusting from highway to ice driving. Hugh considers Drew an arrogant rookie and a "one year driver". In the series premiere, Drew states "I have no intention of going into a ditch, bro", which is soon followed by getting stuck in a ditch, giving him a humbling lesson in how much respect the ice road demands.

Drew's hard luck unfortunately did not stop here, and was plagued with a frustrating amount of mechanical problems. For starters, he loses his battery box and batteries (resulting in two days lost while a replacement box is fabricated on the spot), suffers a flat tire, and then experiences problems with his truck’s on-board computer that forces him to abandon a load on the roadside. Drew ends up driving the truck of expelled driver Todd White just to pick up where he left off, yet ends up suffering through problems in that truck as well. Hugh Rowland, the truck's owner, and Lee Parkenson, Hugh's mechanic, blamed many of these mechanical problems squarely on Drew himself. Drew ultimately decides enough is enough and leaves the ice roads to return home.

Season 1 Support Personnel

Tom Tweed

Tom is a dispatcher for Tli Cho Landtran in Yellowknife.

Rick Fitch

Rick is a projects manager for Tli Cho Landtran, and is responsible for scheduling client loads. He is seen responding to several accidents in the series. Rick has been working on the ice road for over 20 years.

Ken Murray

Ken is an officer for Secure Check, the organization responsible for security and rules enforcement on the ice road. A first-time speeding ticket can result in a five-day suspension, while severe infractions (including excessive speed) can lead to a driver being banned for the rest of the season. Truck weights are also checked to make sure they will not over-stress the ice; a driver with an overweight truck can be fined several hundred dollars.

Lee Parkinson

Lee operates a garage in Yellowknife, and is often seen fixing Hugh Rowland's trucks. The busiest mechanic in the north with his partner Mark.

Todd White

Todd (aka Chains) worked for Hugh Rowland, comes from the eastern coast Canada and is a self proclaimed trucker and singer. He responded to an ad that Hugh placed, and was hired as part of his crew after a seven year absence from ice road trucking. One of the main reasons Todd returned to ice road trucking was the need for $20,000 to repair his own truck. Todd was banned from ice road trucking after a speeding violation where he was clocked at 63 km/h (39 mph) in a 40 km/h (25 mph) zone. Todd appealed, claiming that he missed a speed limit sign, but his appeal was denied. After Todd left, Drew drove his truck.

Danny Reese

Shortly after Drew's departure, Hugh hired Danny to take over the truck vacated by Drew after it had finally received a new ECM. Danny quickly noticed that the truck "had its quirks," which included problems with the truck's turbo similar to those experienced with this truck by Drew.

Neil McDougall

Safety and Compliance Supervisor with Tli Cho Landtran. His job is to set up and hire all the drivers and trucks for the winter road and also to monitor and police the drivers on the road so that rules are not violated and that the truckers are not kicked off the road.

Season 2 Drivers

Alex, Hugh, Drew, and Rick take part in this season as "highway maggots"--rookies on the ice road from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk. The following experienced truckers are also profiled.

Eric Dufresne

A 46-year-old native of Montreal, now a resident of Faro, Yukon, with 26 years of experience on this ice road. As a result, he is often entrusted with loads that are heavy or hard to handle, such as a derrick in the season premiere. He also does much of his own maintenance and repair work and is used to the cold weather, stating that he can be comfortable in a denim jacket even at −30 °F (−34 °C).

Bear Swensen

Born in Saskatchewan, Bear is a 59-year-old resident of British Columbia and a six-year ice road veteran. He has worked most of his life as a truck driver in the logging industry, with some actual logging experience as well. When not working on the ice roads, he works as a professional bear hunting guide. Like Eric, he frequently pulls heavier-than-average loads.

Season 2 Support Personnel

Kurt Wainman

The owner of Northwind Industries, he hires Hugh and Drew to drive for him in the season premiere. He speaks candidly of his preference for signing up local truckers and makes it clear that the two newcomers will have to prove that they can handle the harsh conditions on this ice road. During periods of severe weather, he occasionally drives portions of the road and keeps an eye out for stranded truckers.

Doug Saunders

Doug is the operations manager for E. Gruben's Transport, the company that hires Alex and Rick. He considers Rick to be one of his more "high-maintenance" drivers, in terms of Rick's frequent visits to the repair shop and complaints about the work environment.

Shaun Lundrigan

The chief mechanic at the Gruben's freight yard in Tuktoyaktuk, he finds himself repairing Rick's trucks several times during the season. As a result, his opinion of Rick as a trucker steadily deteriorates from week to week.

Jerry Dusdal

The "truck push" for Mullen Transportation, he takes responsibility for the truckers' safety and delivery of their loads. He states in the season premiere that he will never send someone else to do a job that he is not willing to do himself. When an entire drilling operation must be moved from one site to another, he deals with the logistics and equipment dismantling, as well as the delay caused by a winter storm that strikes the area.

Davey Lennie

A foreman on the Northwind ice road construction crew, he looks after the trucks when the road is closed, and also stands ready to respond to any distress calls that come in. In the season premiere, he describes an incident from the previous year in which his truck broke through the ice. Oversized loads, such as a survival shack hauled by Eric, sometimes require his help to get from the edge of town to the freight yard. His cousin Isaac drives with Hugh to get some road experience before taking the written exam for his truck driver's license.

Episodes

At the top of the world, there's an outpost like no other…and a job only a few would dare. The mission: To haul critical supplies across 350 miles of frozen lakes to Canada's remote billion-dollar diamond mines. The challenge: to transport 10,000 loads in 60 days—before the road disappears. The rewards are great; the risks even greater. These are the men who make their living on thin ice.

— Thom Beers, opening of the show, season 1

Season 1

Ready to Roll

The series premiere, which aired June 17, 2007. Six ice road truckers are introduced, and ice road truckers are described as men driving eighteen wheelers who haul equipment and supplies from Yellowknife, Canada, across a temporary road comprised of portages and frozen lakes, the destination being one of three diamond mines northeast of Yellowknife. Nuna Logistics construction crews began by defining and strengthening a 350-mile (560 km) highway that crosses permafrost and frozen lakes. When the ice over the frozen lakes reaches a thickness considered to be safe, the road is officially opened, and the truckers (beginning with Alex, who as stated above hauls the first load as a "good-luck charm") begin carrying loads across what is considered to be the most dangerous road in the world. Highlights include: Drew going into a ditch (although that was not his truck pictured and he did not, in fact, go into a ditch; rather he put a tire off in a snowbank), Alex having to nurse his truck to its destination due to brake trouble, and T.J. making his first ice road run in whiteout conditions. At the end of the episode, the load count was as follows:

Ice Road Load Count

The Count	Rick	Alex	Hugh	T.J.	Jay	Drew
Loads	1	1	1	1	1	1

Destination: Diamond Mine

This episode premiered June 24, 2007. The road is stopped due to a traffic jam. Jay hauls a 17-ton water tank, while Hugh and Rick begin a season-long competition to see who can achieve the highest load count. Hugh and Rick deal with mechanical issues and T.J. loses the heat in his truck. At the end of the episode, the load count was shown, now with a tally of cash earned. The load count was as follows:

Ice Road Load Count

The Count	Alex	Rick	Hugh	T.J.	Jay	Drew
Tons	103	82	51	67	66	53
Estimated Cash	11.2K	8.6K	7.5K	9.2K	9.4K	7.8K

Dash for the Cash

This episode first aired July 1, 2007. The road is closed due to a strong Arctic storm. Also, Alex transports a desperately-needed piece of equipment to the mine; a 44,000-pound (20,000 kg) diamond-ore crusher.

Ice Road Load Count

The Count	Alex	Rick	Hugh	Drew	T.J.	Jay
Tons	125	110	87	86	65	60
Estimated Cash	13K	11.8K	10.2K	9.2K	10K	10K

The Big Chill

This episode premiered July 8, 2007. On the 18th day of the season a 50-ton fuel tanker flips over at the start of the ice road. Jay hauls three giant water purifiers to the De Beers diamond mine. Drew gets back out from the garage, while fellow rookie T.J. weatherproofs his truck with duct tape.

Ice Road Load Count

The Count	Alex	Hugh	Rick	T.J.	Drew	Jay
Tons	176	163	140	122	60	97
Estimated Cash	16.2K	15.6K	14.4K	12.2K	10.2K	10K

Midseason Mayhem

The fifth episode premiered on July 15, 2007. The season is half way over, with 4,000 loads taken but with 6,000 to go. Reckless speeding has led to blowouts on the ice road. More than one driver faces harsh repercussions after being caught speeding - Todd is banned from the ice road after he is clocked going 23 km/h (about 14 mph) over the speed limit. A fuel tanker flip on the Ingraham Trail not only blocks traffic but also threatens the Yellowknife River with fuel spillage. T.J. leaves the yard with a new rig, and almost immediately has an accident when, after he left the yard, his trailer service line (blue) gladhand was knocked off by a loose box on the catwalk, leaving him with no trailer brakes. Drew ends up in the shop again, due to breakdowns.

Ice Road Load Count

The Count	Alex	Hugh	Jay	Rick	Drew	T.J.
Tons	262	214	202	177	173	127
Estimated Cash	21.2K	20.4K	17.2K	16.8K	15.4K	13.4K

Driving on Thin Ice

This episode premiered on July 22, 2007 and was the sixth episode this season. Jay takes a 95,000-pound (43,000 kg) diamond ore scrubber to the De Beers mine, the scrubber had to be delivered or else the mine couldn't go into operation in the fall. T.J.'s accident from the last episode was investigated, and emergency crews responded to a truck that partially went through the ice.

Ice Road Load Count

The Count	Alex	Hugh	Rick	Jay	Drew	T.J.
Tons	346	254	249	242	216	198
Estimated Cash	26.0K	23.6K	22.8K	20.2K	16.2K	15.4K

The Rookie Challenge

This episode premiered on July 29, 2007. Alex makes a run over a new road to return a mobile housing unit to Yellowknife, and is temporarily stranded when his truck loses traction on loose snow while trying to climb a hill. Drew faces more challenges when his truck runs out of diesel fuel. Despite being refueled, the lines freeze and Drew is forced to wait in his hotel room while they thaw in the garage. After being convinced by his wife to keep trying, he attempts to make another run, but the brakes on his trailer lock up. Drew switches to another trailer, but the brakes on the new one fail too, costing him another day. The final straw is a coolant leak from the radiator. After being told it would take 1-2 days for repairs due to no room in the shop, Drew makes the decision to return home. He receives his pay from Hugh and turns in his driver number. Hugh, on the other hand, nearly misses a run due to a flat tire discovered during an oil change, but is able to get a replacement and hits the road. T.J. requests medical assistance when a previous on-the-job injury flares up, requiring him to be flown from the Dome Lake Camp back to Yellowknife for treatment. Following his release from the hospital, T.J. passes a physical to allow him back on the roads.

Ice Road Load Count

The Count	Alex	Hugh	Jay	Rick	T.J.	Drew
Tons	412	376	333	329	220	313
Estimated Cash	31.0K	29.4K	28.0K	25.0K	19.0K	18.4K

Into the Whiteout

This episode premiered on August 5, 2007. There are still thousands of loads to be delivered to the various mines, but the end of the season is in sight. Complicating matters is the fact that an Arctic storm is bearing down on northwestern Canada. Because of storm, special permission is granted allowing five trucks to head to the mines instead of the usual four. Drivers Alex, Jay, Rick, T.J., and newcomer Cody form up in this special convoy. At a rest stop, T.J. oversleeps and the convoy continues on without him. T.J. later leaves with another driver from the company he was driving for. The four remaining drivers head north to the mines, arriving just as the storm comes in, and are forced to stay at the mines because the ice roads have been closed down. During the storm, three drivers - including T.J. - go missing. It is later learned that T.J. had stopped at a portage and waited out the storm there. Meanwhile, Hugh brings his friend Danny to drive Drew's truck after Drew quit. Danny does not get very far before the truck has further problems, including very little turbo power and an overheating engine. Although Drew made the decision to leave, Hugh claims repeatedly that he was fired.

Ice Road Load Count

The Count	Alex	Hugh	Rick	Jay	T.J.	Drew (Resigned)
Tons	440	418	368	344	233	363
Estimated Cash	32.6K	30.8K	30.5K	26.6K	20.0K	19.0K

The Big Melt

This episode premiered on August 12, 2007. In The Big Melt, the season is starting to wind down as spring inches nearer and the ice covering the lakes begins to melt. There is a push to get vital loads up to the mines before the ice roads melt. Alex takes a housing unit over an ice road to a closed mine in the process of being cleaned up. Jay participates in a special convoy, lead by Mike Kimball, to the remote village of Deline with vital supplies - facing a number of challenges throughout the trip. After the first trailer he takes causes him to be overweight, he switches loads with another driver (Kimball) with a lighter truck. Then one of the trucks in the convoy has a fuel tank that comes loose, gets stuck underneath the truck, and is punctured when it hits the ground. This forces the convoy to stop to clean up the spill as best they can, and to remove the tank from underneath his truck. Rick confronts Hugh about the issues he is having with his rig - specifically the non-functional heaters, and decides that the time has come for him to leave the ice road as well. Rick hopes that he can continue being friends with Hugh, but states that he would never work for the man again. A new leader in the "dash for the cash" appears, Hugh has overtaken Alex in the money count.

Ice Road Load Count

The Count	Hugh	Alex	Jay	T.J.	Rick (Resigned)	Drew (Resigned)
Tons	572	498	440	288	369	363
Estimated Cash	42.8K	41.4K	39.5K	29.0K	28.0K	19.0K

The Final Run

This episode, which is the final episode in season one, premiered on August 19, 2007. The ice covering the lakes continues to melt as warmer weather finally arrives, and the ice road season winds down. Hugh is involved in an accident when he is sideswiped by another truck. Not only is his truck crippled by the accident, but one of the bags of ammonium nitrate he was carrying begins leaking on to the ice - which melts the ice at an even faster rate. Hugh and ice road maintenance crews work to contain the spill and clean the ammonium nitrate off the road. Another truck takes the load north while Hugh returns to Yellowknife (Hugh got credit for this load although he failed to take it all the way to its destination). Jay takes an underground rock truck north to the Fortune mine. Trying to climb a steep hill, he becomes stuck, due to the way the load sits on his truck, but fortunately there is a bulldozer on site to pull him the rest of the way. After reaching the mine and unloading the rock truck, Jay heads home for the season. Hugh manages to get one of his other trucks working, and takes a final load north. Alex convinces officials to allow him to take a light load north on his own; it turns out to be his final load of the season, as the road is closed soon afterwards. And a raven, sacred to the north, flies by T.J. for a second time as he takes his final load north, capping a remarkable rookie season. The season turns out to be one of the most successful seasons so far, with 10,922 loads totaling 331,000 tonnes (730 million pounds, or 365,000 U.S. tons) delivered. (Note: The total shown on screen is 662,000,000 pounds, corresponding to 331,000 US tons.)

Ice Road Load Count

The Count	Hugh	Alex	Jay	T.J.	Rick (Resigned)	Drew (Resigned)
Tons	722	648	542	374	369	363
Estimated Cash	58.4K	57.0K	57.5K	37.0K	28.0K	19.0K
Loads	37	36	35	23	19	13

Specials

Three additional one-hour specials ran in the weeks following "The Final Run." Then and Now premiered on August 26, 2007 and provided a look into the development and future of Canada's ice roads. Clips from season 1 were featured, as well as further commentary from Hugh, Alex, and road pioneer John Denison. Off the Ice premiered on September 2, 2007, bringing all six truckers together for a chance to express their thoughts about the job and each other. On the Edge premiered on September 9, 2007, continuing the discussion and exploring the truckers' lives during the off season.

A fourth special, The Road to Season 2, aired on June 1, 2008. This hour presented highlights from the first season and gave a preview of things to come in the second one.

Season 2

Season 2 premieres in the UK on Thursday 9th October 2008.

At the top of the world, there's an outpost like no other…and a job only a few would dare. The ice men return: two titans of the southern ice roads, and two contenders. Last season they drove loaded semis on frozen lakes…this year, the Arctic Ocean. Deeper into the deep freeze. Further out on thinner ice. The new mission: to haul the heavy metal of natural gas drilling rigs up a frozen river and across ice-choked seas. Ice road truckers have come to the edge of the earth. These are the men who make their living on thin ice.

— Thom Beers, opening of the show, season 2

Edge of the Earth

The season premiere, which aired June 8, 2008. As the ice road from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk is completed, drivers converge on Inuvik for the start of the year's transport season. Alex, Hugh, Rick, and Drew find themselves lumped in with the other "highway maggots" - the local drivers' term for rookies on this road - and must adapt to new rules and conditions. The road takes them up the Mackenzie River and over parts of the Arctic Ocean, with long stretches in which drivers are out of radio contact. Alex is delayed by the late arrival of Rick, who gets into an accident on his way up the Dempster Highway while bringing a truck to Alex. They are both dispatched to Mallik, a site of ongoing research into gas hydrate fields. As they take their first loads out (a boiler house and a drilling mud tank), Alex gets used to this ice road's higher speed limits (50 kilometres per hour (31 mph) and up), while Rick keeps driving at 25 kilometres per hour (16 mph) as he did in Yellowknife.

Eric Dufresne, a 26-year veteran of the road, is unable to start work right away because his truck needs transmission fluid and he must wait for the repair shop's supply to thaw out. His load (a shelter building) instead goes to Hugh, who makes his first delivery to Mallik while coping with malfunctioning brakes. Once Eric gets his truck back in service, he transports a derrick to the site. Meanwhile, Drew's departure is repeatedly delayed - first because he did not bring the proper cold-weather gear, then because there are no working trucks available. He ultimately quits without taking a single load onto the ice, but soon he is wondering aloud if that decision was a mistake.

Mechanical Mayhem

Premiered on June 15, 2008. Word of Drew’s quitting spreads rapidly among the other truckers, but instead of going home, he finds work at a local moving company - driving a forklift at first, then a box truck. Eric is assigned the job of hauling a much-needed vacuum truck to Mallik; emergency repairs on its suspension and a frozen bolt threaten to ruin this plan, but he does eventually leave in time. Hugh takes a boiler to Mallik as Rick returns to Inuvik with a load of classified equipment from a Cold War-era military post. Six-year veteran Bear Swensen takes a load of rig mats to Mallik as Alex hauls a load to Tuktoyaktuk. On the way back to Inuvik, transporting contaminated soil, Alex spots emergency personnel attending to a flipped-over box truck whose driver is nowhere in sight. (Word later comes that this person made it back to Inuvik safely, while the truck is towed in.)

Both Drew and Rick become ill; Drew calls in sick while Rick keeps driving. The ice-locked barge Wurmlinger, a base for ice road crews and research work, needs a vacuum tanker to offload its wastewater. Called on to repair a mothballed rig in the freight yard, Hugh gets it running after a night’s work and takes it up. Meanwhile, Rick suddenly stops on the ice road while taking some truck parts to Tuktoyaktuk. The problem is revealed to be a loss of engine oil, caused by hitting a bump that tore the oil pan open. He explains to Bear that the structure of his truck leaves the pan vulnerable to accidents such as this. The hole cannot be repaired, according to Tuktoyaktuk mechanic Shaun Lundrigan, and Rick will have to wait for a new pan to be flown in before he can get back to work.

The Big Blizzard

Premiered on June 22, 2008. As the season’s first major blizzard closes in on the region, drivers scramble to deliver their loads before the ice road becomes impassable. With the help of a student trucker, Hugh takes his refurbished vacuum tanker to Aput, a natural gas exploration site, to haul away a load of wastewater. Drew makes his first ice road run of the year, bound for Tuktoyaktuk with a load of construction materials for a hockey rink, but his illness flares up and the senior trucker riding with him has to finish the run. Rick is still off the road, waiting for a new oil pan to be flown in, as Bear hauls a drilling mud tank to Mallik. A snowplow gets stuck on the ice, but a repair crew quickly takes care of it.

In Tuktoyaktuk, Alex discovers a flat tire (low on air) and must reinflate it quickly so he can drive to Aput for his next load – a pump house that must be taken back to Tuktoyaktuk. However, its size and weight force him to drive at low speeds as the storm moves closer. He is still on the road when the call comes in to close it, and he reaches his destination with minutes to spare before visibility drops to zero. In Inuvik, crew foreman Davey Lennie looks after the fleet and responds to a call of a truck that has run into a ditch, digging it out so it can be driven safely back. Trucking company owner Kurt Wainman assists by patrolling the area to watch for any other stranded vehicles. Once the storm breaks, the snowplows get to work clearing the road; as soon as they finish, Hugh is first to move out, taking the vacuum tanker back to Aput and spotting a pickup truck abandoned in the drifts. Rick borrows a truck to haul a load of industrial waste to Inuvik, but has to stop on the still-rough road to re-secure the cargo, as Drew is again out sick.

Arctic Whiteout

Premiered on June 29, 2008. The gas drilling wells at Aput have come up dry [1], so the entire operation is to be shut down and moved 50 miles (80 km) to a new site at Langley. Nearly seven million pounds of equipment must be hauled along the ice road as quickly as possible, in order to keep the company from losing any more money than necessary. Eric hauls a heat exchanger and a generator for the new site’s truck shop, while Hugh brings a load of rig mats up from Inuvik and later takes his vacuum tanker to Aput. Meanwhile, Alex takes a water tank and some boards from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk and Drew completes his first solo run over the ocean, hauling groceries to the same destination. Rick is once again off the ice, waiting on both an oil pan for his original truck and assorted repairs to the one he borrowed; Shaun and the other mechanics blame these problems on his rough handling of the trucks.

Once Eric has unloaded his cargo at Langley, he picks up a survival shack bound for Inuvik. When he reaches the edge of town at nightfall, though, he finds that the load will not fit underneath the power lines, so he finds a safe spot to park and spends the night in his truck. The next morning, he and Davey unload the shack and deliver it to the freight yard. In Aput, the truck shop and an expensive derrick drive unit are taken to Langley in one trip, after which the 135-foot (41 m) derrick itself is pulled down and prepared for transport. The weather begins to worsen as a storm closes in on the area, and supervisor Jerry Dusdal has a discussion with the senior truckers concerning the safety of both loads and personnel. Ultimately, the move is called off for the day and the road from Aput to Langley is closed until the storm passes.

Lost on the Ice

Premiered on July 6, 2008. With the storm over and the road cleared and reopened, the truckers are ready to get back to work hauling equipment from Aput to Langley. To save time, rather than break the derrick down into pieces, Jerry loads the entire unit onto two trucks, hooked back to back with the derrick's ends resting on their trailers. Oncoming traffic is warned to yield the right of way to these two truckers; one convoy barely gets off the road in time, but the derrick still arrives safely. Eric hauls a cherry picker to the new site, once he and a supervisor get its frozen engine running again so he can drive it onto his trailer. Bear picks up an electric power station and carefully drives it to Langley due to its weight distribution.

In Inuvik, Drew spends the day driving a box truck around town and a forklift at his employer’s loading dock, but he gets the latter’s wheels stuck in a rut and has to be pulled out. Meanwhile, Hugh finds himself without a load since the senior truckers have taken them all for the moment; he is put onto miscellaneous work in the freight yard. In Tuktoyaktuk, Rick has begun to believe that load supervisor Doug Saunders and the other truckers are singling him out to treat him disrespectfully, and he calls Hugh for advice before getting word that his borrowed truck has been repaired. He takes a load of garbage to Inuvik but is not happy about it, refusing to get out of his truck and help clear a problem with the dumping. Alex is dispatched from Inuvik to Aput, a route unfamiliar to him, and he takes a wrong turn without realizing it. Long after nightfall, six hours overdue, he finally discovers his mistake and backtracks to Aput.

Hundred Ton Haul

Premiered on July 13, 2008. Even though the derrick has been successfully moved from Aput to Langley, the crews cannot erect it until its 80-ton substructure is put in place. This equipment is split into two 40-ton loads and assigned to Alex and Bear. Alex has been battling problems with his health – hemorrhoids, shortness of breath, general fatigue – and Jerry holds him back for a while, sending Bear out first. The two loaded trucks have a combined weight of over 100 tons; Alex's load is the heaviest of his career. Both truckers stay below 25 km/h to avoid over-stressing the ice, and once they reach Langley, they must maneuver very carefully in order to unload the substructure halves in exactly the right position. Alex's half gets briefly tangled in the lines of one of the auxiliary trucks helping with the operation, but it is set down safely and the derrick goes up. Returning to Aput late in the day, he picks up a load of rig mats and crates, but Jerry keeps him there for the night out of concern for his welfare.

Eric begins his day driving to Aput, ready to work on the rig move, but he is diverted to pick up a broken-down bulldozer stuck on the ice. With the help of nearby mechanics, he loads the machine onto his trailer, drives it to the Wurmlinger for repairs, then heads for Aput again. Both Hugh and Rick draw waste-hauling jobs; Hugh takes his vacuum tanker up from Inuvik to offload sewage at Langley, while Rick brings another load of garbage from Tuktoyaktuk to Inuvik. After Rick finishes his round trip, he pays a visit to his company’s safety officer and voices his frustrations about the perceived lack of respect from Doug and his coworkers.

Man Down

Premiered on July 20, 2008. As the rig move enters its third day, there are still many loads to haul from Aput to Langley. While pulling a gas flare stack, Eric hears of a polar bear sighting near the road and makes plans to stay clear of the area, since several people have died in bear attacks over the years. The news quickly spreads among the truckers, and local wildlife experts equipped with snowmobiles and rifles are dispatched to ward off the threat. Bear takes a boiler onto the ice road, whose surface is now so rough that he makes a risky stop to check that his load is secure before proceeding to Langley.

In Tuktoyaktuk, Rick is scheduled to make a run to Fort Nelson, British Columbia – a five-day round trip, most of it on highways. Making it clear that he would rather quit, he is reassigned to haul garbage to Inuvik; before he can leave, though, his truck’s alternator has to be replaced. Once he has dumped the load, he stops at a bar in Inuvik and voices his displeasure to other truckers. Hugh takes his vacuum tanker from Inuvik to Langley for another sewage haul-away, during which he is surprised to learn of Alex’s deteriorating health. Alex has taken some pipes and a storage container from Aput to Langley, but his breathing has gotten worse and he is now suffering from severe coughing fits that sometimes bring up blood. After delivering the load and driving to Inuvik in preparation the next one, he checks himself into the hospital and is diagnosed with a possible pulmonary embolism. In order to confirm this, he must be flown to Yellowknife for a CT scan. Alex calls his wife to break the news and gets a visit from Hugh before boarding the plane.

A Trucker's Farewell

Premiered on July 27, 2008. With only a few loads left in the rig move, the pressure is on Jerry to finish the whole operation by the end of the day. He sends Eric out with a drilling mud pump and gives the last load to Bear—a tank for isolating and measuring the gas brought up from the drilling wells. Both truckers have to handle their loads carefully, and Eric’s low speed briefly causes a traffic jam that puts extra stress on the road. Once Bear pulls in at Langley, the rig move is complete and the crews hurry to get all the equipment assembled so they can start drilling.

Elsewhere, Hugh takes his vacuum tanker from Inuvik to Langley so he can drain the sewage tank again, while Rick hauls garbage from Tuktoyaktuk to Inuvik. Hugh has to be careful on the return trip; the battered road is becoming slippery due to the lengthening days, and the liquid in his tanker threatens to slosh around and cause him to lose control of the truck. Rick complains about both his truck’s condition and his own aches and pains, planning to see a chiropractor in Inuvik even though Doug wants him back in Tuktoyaktuk that night. He instead returns to the freight yard, intent on confronting Doug, and is surprised to be given time off for a checkup. In Yellowknife, Alex’s wife visits him in the hospital, accompanied by his priest and two of the couple’s sons, to pray for his recovery. His test results show a blood clot in his left lung, as well as evidence that he may have had a clot in his right lung that has broken loose. Warned that he could have a heart attack if he goes back to work, Alex reluctantly makes the decision to end his ice road season early.

A Rookie Fumbles

Premiered on August 3, 2008. The time has come to dismantle the Mallik site, even as crews are close to a breakthrough on harnessing the region’s gas hydrate fields. When springtime comes, there must be no traces of any human presence on the site. Eric picks up a camp shack bound for Inuvik, with the goal of completing two hauls in one day. In Tuktoyaktuk, Rick and second-year trucker Bill Thorbourne are sent to Mallik together. Bill’s truck soon develops problems with its heater, and the two men have to nurse their trucks along so he does not suffer hypothermia or frostbite. Upon reaching the site, Rick picks up a load of dirty snow and Bill takes on an electrical generator and three lighting plants. They reach Tuktoyaktuk safely; before Rick can clock out for the night, though, he is put on loader duty and must unload Bill’s cargo. At Mallik, the crews succeed in extracting natural gas from the fields.

Elsewhere, Drew makes a run from Inuvik to the hamlet of Aklavik to deliver groceries. He briefly loses traction on the slick ice when his wheels lock up, but he is able to regain control with some careful maneuvering. Rookie Mike Flynn takes a load of diesel fuel from Tuktoyaktuk to Mallik and has to deal with his own road hazards along the way. Hugh and another rookie, Davey's cousin Isaac Lennie, set out from Inuvik for the Wurmlinger, taking the vacuum tanker to drain the wastewater tank. As he tries his hand at driving an ice road truck, Isaac has a rough beginning but soon improves under Hugh’s encouragement. Eric transports two shacks to Inuvik by day’s end, topping Hugh’s load count. Hugh, Rick, Bear, and Drew gather in the local bar to talk about Alex's absence, and Hugh calls him in the Yellowknife hospital to get the latest news. Alex tells everyone that he is off the ice for the rest of the season and will probably be out of work for at least six months. The next morning, Isaac takes the written exam for his truck driver’s license but does not pass – a failure Hugh takes personally.

Highway Maggots

Premiered on August 10, 2008. With less than two weeks to go in the season, the ice road is badly worn and getting thinner by the day, and every available trucker is called in to move loads. Eric and Hugh drive up from Inuvik, the former headed for the Wurmlinger to pick up a load of drill casings, the latter to Langley with his vacuum tanker to pump out the wastewater. As they return to Inuvik, Kurt climbs into an available truck and drives up to help in the effort, hauling back a snowcat and a survival shack used by the road crews. At the ice-locked Arctic Star barge, a headquarters for natural gas exploration crews, veteran trucker Jim Gattie picks up a three-trailer load to save time: two pairs of full fuel tanks and related supplies, all on sleigh runners. The strategy makes his drive especially hazardous, but he reaches the edge of Inuvik safely and stops to unload the sleighs so they can be dragged in one by one.

In Tuktoyaktuk, Rick starts out for Mallik to collect a load of dirty snow. Bill heads for Langley with a generator whose fuel tank begins to leak onto the ice, forcing him to turn around; Rick doubles back and helps plug the hole so that the environment will not be further damaged. As Bill goes to the shop, Rick speeds to Mallik in order to make up for lost time. He picks up the snow and dumps it in Tuktoyaktuk, but shortly into his second run, he hits a bump that damages his truck's hydraulics. The incident puts him back in the shop, fuming over this turn of events. Meanwhile, Bear is sent to help a snowplow truck that has broken through the ice, but another trucker takes care of the emergency even before he can get moving. A convoy of gravel trucks comes north — temporary southern drivers, unfamiliar with the ice roads, who have to be escorted to Aput so they can haul off drilling debris. Kurt makes his disdain for these drivers quite clear as they pass him and take their loads down toward Fort Nelson. At Langley, the crews’ testing confirms the presence of a sizable natural gas deposit.

Man vs. Ice

Premiered on August 17, 2008. Now that natural gas deposits have been found at Langley, the top priority is to cap the well and move all the equipment out before the ice melts. However, the truckers must contend with both the thinning road and the water that has begun to flow up through the cracks. Rookie Devon Neff, making his first ice road run, and Hugh are dispatched from Inuvik to help with the job. Hugh picks up a load of rig mats and several large spools of cable, an unstable load whose weight distribution makes it difficult for him to keep traction on the wet, slick road. Meanwhile, just after Devon takes on two diesel fuel tanks and starts back, he is alerted to a severe water flow on the road directly ahead of him; he stops to re-secure his load, then proceeds slowly through the hazard. He and Hugh both make it back to Inuvik safely.

Elsewhere, Bear and Eric each pick up a camp shack and haul them back to Inuvik – Bear’s from the Arctic Star, Eric’s from Langley. Just outside town, Rick gets the most expensive load of his season, a million-dollar off-road vehicle that must be taken 30 miles up the road to the 2D natural gas exploration site. Once he returns to Tuktoyaktuk, his truck has to go into the shop for repairs, idling him for the rest of the day; after he tells Doug about the problem and leaves, Doug expresses his displeasure at Rick’s rough driving and truck-handling habits. At Langley, Jerry coordinates the dismantling of the derrick and its associated equipment as Hugh brings his vacuum tanker up to offload the wastewater, completing two runs in one day and tying Eric for the lead in the load count.

The Big Thaw

Premiered on August 24, 2008. As daily temperatures continue to rise and the ice road keeps melting, Jerry works at full speed to clear all the equipment from the Langley site. Every available trucker reports in for the job, including Devon and Hugh; the former gets a camp shack, the latter a load of crates and pallets, and both start out for Inuvik. The site’s derrick is loaded onto two trucks, just as in the move from Aput, but the drivers encounter a serious break in the road and must wait for a pilot car to escort them around the hazard. They reach Inuvik safely, as does Devon, who runs across some severe overflows of his own.

Eric and Hugh are still battling for the highest load count. While Hugh hauls his load at full speed, Eric has taken one half of the Langley derrick’s substructure, whose 40-ton weight forces him to stay below 15 mph. Meanwhile, Bear picks up two large tanks whose weight and physical size pose a threat to both the road and his own safety. Reaching the outskirts of Inuvik, he loses traction and has to be pulled up the last hill, after which the tanks are unloaded so that they can fit under the power lines. Rick hauls a load of dirty snow from Mallik to Tuktoyaktuk, speeding ahead even though the rough road makes driving difficult. By the time Hugh and Eric finish for the day, they are once again tied for the most loads.

Road to the Finale

Premiered on August 31, 2008. This episode provides a recap of key events from the season, with additional commentary from the truckers and previously unaired footage, and a look ahead at the finale. Added material includes:

• While cleaning out the truck Rick brought to him in "Edge of the Earth," Alex finds a poem written by Rick. After reading it, he muses on the tendency of some truckers to wax poetic and philosophic while on the job.
• Shaun lists the major repairs to trucks driven by Rick and blames them on his rough driving habits.
• During a few off-hours in Inuvik, Rick gets an impromptu chiropractic adjustment from Drew.

The World Crumbles

Premiered on September 7 2008. On the final day of the season, there are still hundreds of tons of equipment to move within 12 hours. However, the road is now awash in water and literally crumbling away beneath the truckers’ wheels. In Inuvik, Rick seizes a chance to take one last load, a loader that is to be stored at Tuktoyaktuk until next year. Since he does not know how to run a winch, he builds an improvised ramp out of boards and tries to drive the loader up it and onto his trailer, without success. Rick’s supervisor, irritated by what he sees as Rick’s season-long lack of professionalism, fires him and threatens to have him arrested if he shows up again.

At Langley, Bear picks up a camp shack and takes it to Inuvik as his last load. Drew delivers a load of groceries and a couch to Aklavik, then heads home for the year, while Devon brings a camp shack back to Inuvik. He leaves with a measure of respect from the senior truckers for successfully navigating the late-season hazards.

The rivalry between Hugh and Eric continues as both roll toward Langley. Eric is slowed down by a surprise whiteout and a lull in the action on site, but eventually picks up some rig mats and storage containers and heads back to Inuvik. Meanwhile, Hugh brings his vacuum tanker up to offload some wastewater; once he has emptied the load in Inuvik, he sets out again to drain the last full tank. Both he and Eric had planned to pull two loads today, but the road is officially closed before Eric can pick up his second, leaving Hugh at the top of the load count. Jerry confirms that Langley is completely clear and clean, and Hugh — the last driver to come in off the road — goes home with Kurt’s respect for a season of hard work.

Final load counts for the season were:

• Drew — 9; spent most of the season driving on pavement in Inuvik
• Alex — 22 as stated in "A Trucker's Farewell"; left early for medical reasons
• Rick — 51; fired on the last day of the season
• Bear — 63; hauled a total of 4 million pounds, probably the most of any driver this season
• Eric — 67
• Hugh — 68

Off the Ice

Premiered on September 21, 2008. This episode provides a look back at the events of the season, with additional commentary from the truckers and support personnel. Topics covered include:

• Development of Canada's ice roads in general, and of commerce along the Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road in particular
• Building the road and outfitting trucks to drive along it
• The truckers' personal motivations for working in the Arctic and comparisons between there and Yellowknife
• Each group's opinions about the other (northern and southern drivers)
• Truckers' comments about key events of the season: Drew quitting after one day, Alex leaving due to health problems, Rick's personnel disagreements and firing, Hugh hauling sewage for most of his runs

Ice road route, stops and destinations

Season 1 (Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road)

• Yellowknife, Northwest Territories - Loads are assigned here.

• Dome Lake Camp - A maintenance camp, 22 miles (35 km) past the start of the ice road. T.J. is forced to stop here when his injury flares up; he is then airlifted back to Yellowknife for treatment.

• Lockhart Lake Rest Stop - Provides catering and other services for truckers.

• De Beers Snap Lake Diamond Mine ~200 km Northeast of Yellowknife.

• Diavik Diamond Mine ~200 miles (300 km) North of Yellowknife.

• BHP Ekati Diamond Mine ~200 miles (300 km) Northeast of Yellowknife - The northernmost stop seen on camera during this season. The road continues roughly 125 miles (200 km) past here, serving two additional mines and stopping at the north end of Contwoyto Lake.

• Colomac Mine - A closed gold mine that was recently cleaned up due to the risk the mine’s toxic materials presented to the environment. Now that the cleanup is finished, truckers (including Alex) are being called in to haul away equipment.

• Tundra Mine - A gold mine that stopped production in 1968 and is now undergoing environmental cleanup. Equipment from the Colomac Mine is being transferred here to assist workers with the cleanup.

• Deline, Northwest Territories - A small village, on the shore of the Great Bear Lake, that depends on jet fuel shipments over the ice road to keep its airport operating.

Season 2 (Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road)

• Inuvik, Northwest Territories - Loads are assigned here to be transported north.

• Mallik - An exploration site that encompasses fields of natural gas hydrates. By the end of the season, the crews working here succeed in extracting gas from these formations.

• Aput - A natural gas exploration site set up by MGM Energy; later found to contain no significant deposits, whereupon the entire camp is moved 50 miles to Langley (see below).

• Langley - MGM's second and last exploration site of the year; proves to hold sizable deposits.

• Aklavik, Northwest Territories - A small hamlet, on the Mackenzie River delta, that depends on the ice road for delivery of needed supplies.

• Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories - Loads are assigned here to be transported south.

• Wurmlinger and Arctic Star - Two ice-locked barges that serve as headquarters for crews in the field.

Season 2

At the end of "The Final Run," it was announced that the show would return for a second season. No specific time frame was given at that point other than "Coming Soon."

The mining companies that owned the road where the first season was filmed felt that the show portrayed the road in a negative fashion. They felt that the show depicted drivers as cowboys making a mad dash for money and taking excessive risks to do so. Also the companies felt that the cameras and filming created distractions for the drivers ( Drew walking to the back of the truck to get a coffee cup without stopping on Camera). As a result, the owners decided not to participate in future seasons of the show. A new rule for the Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Roads was enacted for the 2008 season, prohibiting commercial, media, video or rolling film cameras either inside or attached to the outside of vehicles. The show's producers located an alternate ice road for the second season of the show.

Season 2 premiered on June 8, 2008, following the drivers on the Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk in Canada's Northwest Territories. Hugh, Alex, Drew, and Rick take part as "highway maggots" (rookies on this road), working alongside the more experienced drivers.

Feature film

In 2008, Twentieth Century Fox acquired rights from the History Channel to create a scripted, theatrical action film based on the series.

See also

• Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road
• Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road
• Ice road

References

• Official US Site
• Official UK site
• Ice Road Truckers Press Release

External links

• Ice Road Truckers 2000 Documentary at IMDb
• Ice Road Truckers at TV.com
• Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road Joint Venture
• Nuna Logistics: Ice Road Division
• Tli Cho Landtran Website
• Episode Guide