If you recall from last week Hugh had a problem with his trailer striking the wheels of his truck, eventually causing him to loose traction and become stuck. The fix was to increase the air in his tractor’s suspension to rise the trailer just enough to get moving again. However, success would be short lived. The cursed trailer would eventually loose three tires in dramatic fashion. The tires just didn’t pop, they exploded into tiny scraps of metal and rubber. No limping to town for Hugh, he is forced to sit on the road and wait for help…whenever and whatever that might be. Needless to say he is pissed. Hugh blames the old and overworked trailer. “Nothing wrong with our iron!” he yells in frustration before telling the camera crew to “GTFO, it’s time for sleep.” The next morning Rick continues on to town to drop his load and return with assistance. The rescue will take hours if not the entire day during which Hugh will be left to his own devices. Good thing he brought entertainment in the form of a 1953 SKS with bayonet. Several moldy oranges and can of soup fall victim to his boredom. Later in the evening Rick returns with a loader and crew to help transfer the load to his truck and trailer. Three long hours pass and the swap is complete. An exhausted Ricks heads back to town. This road really makes both man and machine earn their paychecks.
Alex is heading along the same road but to a different destination. Nearly to his turnoff he comes across a pickup truck laying on it’s side with the lights on. He stops to investigate and finds at least one drunk man and a elderly woman. He offers them a ride to town which the eagerly take but not before they have a shouting and pushing match. Apparently they are aunt and nephew respectively. The eventually stumble into the cab and continue their shouting match about firewater and lost cigarettes. By this time Alex is seriously regretting his decision to rescue the two strangers. A quick prayer for both himself and his passengers helps Alex regain his composure. Arriving at town the following day Alex quickly finds a way to ditch both of his loads and hits the road never to look back.
Last week Lisa learned that she is being considered for a spot on the Carlile heavy haul team. This promotion would be recognition of her years of hard work on the haul roads. Halfway through a heavy haul convoy run with Tony we find Lisa anxious to hit the road. Eventually Tony emerges from the truck stop to find a extremely frustrated Lisa. She explains to the camera crew that if she doesn’t start the day on time she becomes frustrated and jumpy, perpetually attempting to regain the lost time. We soon see the results of this behavior on the outskirts of Prudhoe Bay when she loses the shoulder of the road and becomes stuck. Tony is able to pull her out but with minimal damage to his truck and hers. Lisa reflects on the event and realizes she was rushing and not being a team player. She vows to learn and not let it happen again. This is a strikingly different attitude from most of the other IRT’s who would have found a scapegoat and simply become angry at events.
Finally we join our favorite trainee in the Carlile yard. Ready to hit the road with a load of cable a serious problem is discovered, exhausts fumes in the cab. The potentially deadly problem is repaired at the cost of a few hours. About halfway through her run Dave makes his only appearance of the episode. He makes a few feeble jokes about Maya dragging her feet over the CB. All calls are ignored by both Maya and Phil. Dave becomes disgusted and eventually shuts up.
Another good episode is in the books. Plenty of good action and unique footage with little or no produced drama. Next week will be the 1/2 way point of the season so expect things to heat up, literally.