The documentary series examining the lucrative but highly dangerous job of driving trucks on Canada’s ice highways continues. In this episode, the rig move is finally completed. Hugh continues to ply the highways while Rick complains of poor health. Alex faces the end of his season.
The rig move from Aput to Langley enters its last stages this week. Bear Swenson is tasked with one of the final loads when he is ordered to transport a P-tank to the new site. The P-tank is an important piece of kit used to separate gas from liquid – but if the wrong gases are present, it can explode. Setting off on his journey, Bear is conscious of the fact that the ice road is getting worn down from so many heavy loads. “[It’s] a world of extremes in winter,” he muses. “Extreme everything. Extreme dead... You just can’t piss around.”
The busiest trucker on the highway is Hugh Rowland, who has become something of a specialist in hauling sewage. “I don’t give a f*** what I haul,” he says. “I picked the best f****** job going. Maybe not the cleanest, maybe not the nicest, but the most regular.” Hugh is now an expert in handling frozen nozzles and hoses, using a propane torch to unfreeze his equipment. “A little fire goes a long way,” he says.
One trucker who is less than happy with his lot is Rick Yemm. Hugh may be content with the sewage run, but Rick is fed up of hauling garbage. He is annoyed that his boss, Doug Saunders, insists that he return to Tuk every night. “I guess he needs me to f****** tuck him in or something,” he says. Rick also complains that the bumpy ride of his truck is causing him aches and pains. “My neck’s really bothering me. I got a bad back!” he cries. Rick says he needs to see a doctor, but the day before, on his afternoon off, he chose to spend his free time in the bar.
The young trucker is the subject of much discussion up and the down the highway, particularly for his moaning ways and his eye-catching blue hair. “They all think Rick is a disgrace to the trucking world!” laughs Hugh. Having completed another trip to the tip, Rick returns to Tuk to remonstrate with his boss. Rick swears he is not a “flunkey”, but his rage falters a little once inside Doug’s office. Doug eventually recommends that Rick head back to Inuvik to see the doctor. A philosophical Doug reflects wryly that some truckers need more attention than others – but is Rick’s constant whining starting to annoy him?
In the middle of one of his runs, Hugh runs into Jerry Dusdal, who wants to know if there is any news of Alex. The 26-year trucking veteran was airlifted to hospital in Yellowknife after coughing up blood. Hugh is sure his pal – and sometime rival – will make a full recovery. “Alex is a go-getter. He might be back,” he says.
A thousand miles away, Alex anxiously awaits the results of medical tests. His wife, Louise, faces up to her own fears. “Alex is sort of the rock,” she says. “I want him around for a good few years yet.” Louise and her two eldest sons join the local priest in prayer at Alex’s bedside. A short time later, the results of the tests show that Alex has a clot in his left lung and a dangerously high heart rate. “The doctor says I’m not to go back to work driving,” he says. For this titan of the ice road, the season is over.
