Ice Road Truckers Season 3 - Turn and Burn Recap
“Turn and Burn”
Summary
Even clear weather and sunshine doesn’t mean easy trips for the Ice Road Truckers this week. From mechanical problems on the truck, to run-ins with the law, the drivers faced a number of delays during their mission to “turn and burn” and keep the money coming in. After nine weeks into the season, the Carlile drivers only have three or four weeks left before the end of the season and the closure of the highway. Phil and Hugh are backhauling this week to Fairbanks, with Hugh still maintaining a small lead over his rival, Alex, and Phil engaging in a friendly rivalry it out over the radio with Drew. For Lisa and Jack, the weather is deceptive. It’s bright and sunny, but it’s a mere -28 degrees (F) as they cross “The Taps”, 70 miles of icy turns and hills. Tim and Lisa are both plagued with taillight problems on their trucks, which luckily they are able to remedy on the road with some quick fixes; otherwise both would’ve had to stop driving in the name of safety. Hugh is delayed as he crosses a way station and gets stopped because of inconsistent charting of his hours and time on the road and off (a major requirement for drivers to ensure safety for all). He’s forced to pay over $200 in fines and assessed three points on his driver license, requiring a trip to the local courthouse to pay up before he can haul out again. Delays aside, the drivers make it on their way and end the episode with Jack at fifteen (15) loads for the season, George with eleven (11), Lisa completing eleven (11), Hugh at eight (8), Alex at seven (7), and Tim at six (6).
Review
· Episode starts with George and Tim (6th trip on the Dalton) in the middle of a brutal storm, 50mph wind and snow (blowing snow)
o Rookie Tim has to heavily rely on George’s knowledge of the road
o Blowing snow can clog the air filter, stalling the truck’s engine, which would leave them stuck on the road with no heat
o After 4 grueling hours, they reach the outskirts of Fairbanks
· 9 weeks into the season, about 3 or 4 weeks left for the season before the roads close
o Weather has caused several delays, lost loads, and thousands of dollars
· Hugh and Phil are backhauling to Fairbanks
o Hauling: Sea-Can – 50,000 lbs
o Hugh is maintaining lead over rival Alex
o Phil is battling it out over the radio with Drew
· It’s bright and cold - -28 degrees for Lisa and Jack
o Connex containers, rig mats – 70,000 lbs
o 414 miles to go
o “The Taps” – 70 miles of icy turns and hills
o Lisa learns a lot from Jack and appreciates his patience and that he doesn’t act like she’s an inconvenience
§ Teaches her a new method for avoiding spinouts, how to climb vertical hills without stalling out
§ Lisa finds herself free-wheeling in neutral, after a little nervous time, she falls into the gear
· George’s truck is in the shop in Fairbanks with an oil leak after taking a beating in last night’s storm
o Tim is picking up 6th load of season in the yard
o High hopes for making good time in today’s weather
o As the approach the ice road, Tim notices a marker and tail light not working (illegal to drive without daylights and at night could easily be rear-ended)
· Phil is ready to settle bet with Drew back in Coldfoot
o Phil beats Drew by 0.5 a trip! 6 to 6.5 trips
· 100 miles South, Lisa is still on the road with Jack
o Jack spots trouble with Lisa’s taillights, too
o Uses a bungee to re-attach broken lights, needs the quick fix to last long enough to get her back to the garage
· Tim is also hung-up with a taillight problem, 3 of his 6 trips up the road have ended with a mechanical problem
· Alex has been stranded since yesterday when his trainer was forced to return to Fairbanks
o George arrived last night, without Tim, and has room for Alex in his convoy
o George warns him he’s one of the slower guys, but that works for Alex
o George throws his chains on in 15 minutes though, but Alex has trouble with the skill (which already caused one trainer to bail on him)
· Jack is getting a slow start in Coldfoot
o Lisa’s ready to go, but Jack is taking his time
o Lisa takes the lead because she has a lighter load, and on a mission to rack up as many trips this season as possible
o Jack and Lisa reach the foot of Addingon Pass
· George comes to Alex’s rescue in getting the chains on the tires
o Start ascent over Addingon Pass
o More than a dozen trucks have been taken down on this range this season
o Alex’s truck doesn’t weigh much, so chains aren’t being imprinted in road very efficiently
o To avoid spinning out, he needs to maintain speed, while keeping enough distance from George
o 4,200 ft. altitude
o Finally reaches summit after barely clinging to ice
· Hugh and Phil are crossing Yukon River bridge 190 miles South of George and Alex
o Bridge carries both Dalton traffic and the pipeline across the Yukon River
o If you couldn’t cross the river, you couldn’t get near Prudhoe Bay
o Largest bridge in Alaska
o Have to head to scales at DOT inspection station
o Hugh: Doesn’t have last inspection record on board, only has log book
o Needs to have 10 hours off for every 16 hours driving
o Not having records of downtime is very serious, slows him down
· Alex and George
o Alex wants to make it within an hour and some change in time for a hot dinner
· Hugh gets a citation, Phil returns from Carlile with the missing paperwork for Hugh’s trailer
o 3 points assessed to license
o $200 fine, $10 surcharge
o Hugh tries to joke around on camera, the DOT official isn’t having it
o Biggest impact: he’s out of service, can’t drive
· Lisa and Jack also hit a roadblock
o A roadblock with four legs (two of them actually)
o Dal Sheep
· Another accident on the ice road
o Recovery specialist, Ben, is heading to the scene
o When the Dalton is blocked, all of the drivers are held up not making any money
o Tanker caught the edge of the road and wrecked in the ditch
o Tires were still on ground and driver escaped injury
o Had to clean up diesel off road/snow which seeped out of tanker
§ Protects the tundra to clean it up
o Remaining fuel in the carrier had to be transferred into another trucker
· Alex is approached by a pickup that wants to pass
o Truck comes to a stop because of an approaching truck
o Alex has to try and come to a screeching halt to try and avoid hitting the pickup truck
o It pulls away just in time
· George doesn’t want to drive at night, so Alex isn’t turning around and heading back out
· Jack is racing to unload trailer of fuel
o Lisa is now hurrying to not get left by Jack
· Load Count
o Jack – 15
o George – 11
o Lisa – 11
o Hugh – 8
o Alex – 7
o Tim – 6
· Hugh has to pay his fines for the half hour mistake on his log at the courthouse to get back on the road
(3 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)
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Posted on: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 9:12 pm 
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