[Narrator] This time...
...on Highway Thru Hell...
[trucker radio] Looks like he went for quite a ride.
[Narrator] ...bent metal carnage...
It won't flip over.
[Narrator] ...tests Team Reliable.
-I can't see. -Whoa!
-[Narrator] MSA... -They're right on the edge.
[Kirpal Banwait] Watch that corner there!
[Narrator] ...hits the tipping point...
No, no!
[Jamie Davis] Wow, that's a huge washout.
[Narrator] ...and a backcountry mission...
[Jamie] Should've brought my gumboots.
[Narrator] ...for Jamie...
[Jamie] Okay, give 'er.
[Narrator] ...and AJ.
-Oh. -The log's jammed.
[Narrator] It's a soggy afternoon...
[Narrator] ...in British Columbia's
Fraser Valley.
[Paul Walker] Abbotsford Uniform 40.
[Narrator] Heading to the scene...
10-4.
[Narrator] ...is Constable Paul Walker
with the Abbotsford Police Department.
[Walker] So we're just taking the Sumas exits here,
see what's going on.
Looks like we do have a commercial transport truck
on its side.
I don't know how he managed that, but...
[siren wailing]
[Narrator] The incident...
is near a border crossing.
[Walker] This particular spot,
this is a major artery
for going to the United States.
[Narrator] Paul checks in with the driver.
[driver] Hit the corner, and the thing just rolled.
[Walker] No injury?
-No. -Okay.
[Narrator] Minutes away...
[Narrator] ...in a 50-tonne rotator...
Loaded trailer rolled over here on Sumas Way.
[Narrator] ...is Aggressive Towing's
Chris Mervyn.
Go there,
see if we can get 'er rolled back over
and get traffic moving again.
[Merv] We want to keep commerce moving.
The quicker we do this, the better.
All the semis are backed up from the border now
to where I'm at.
This is a major big deal.
Everyone's gonna get pretty angry out here.
It's gridlocked.
[engine starting]
[♪♪♪]
[horns blare, engines roar past]
[Narrator] In Abbotsford...
[Walker] It's traffic mayhem down here.
[Narrator] ...a busy route...
It is backed up quite a few kilometres.
It's a nightmare.
[Narrator] ...that sees hundreds of trucks a day...
is gridlocked.
The pressure on us to get this road open is huge.
[Narrator] Joining first responders,
Merv...
[Merv] Beautiful rainy day!
[Narrator] ...needs to solve the problem fast.
[Merv] It's a nightmare of stuck traffic, trucks, cars.
It's a parking lot, basically.
That's gonna be a pain in the ass to roll.
[Merv] We got a bin truck rolled over on its side.
He was obviously loaded with dead trees,
and they're strewn all about.
[Narrator] As Merv weighs options...
...Paul comes up with a way...
There's no manual, textbook to follow.
[Narrator] ...to get some traffic moving.
[Walker] Let's restrict it to one lane,
for, uh, one in each direction.
Improvising is something that I have to do
at every scene that I go to.
Yup. This right lane.
[Narrator] Southbound vehicles
begin to flow
into a northbound lane.
[Walker] It's just problem-solving.
The last thing we want to have happen here today
is cause more delay.
[Narrator] Merv's rotator...
[Merv] We can start getting ready.
[Narrator] ...lines up...
...to attack the wreck.
[Jordon Cumiford] Need a shackle in there?
[Merv] Yeah, if we put a shackle,
we'll go from here to the front.
[Narrator] Swamper Jordon Cumiford
zeros in.
[Jordon] There's not a lot of real estate.
Make sure all the rigging's, you know, on point.
[Merv] We'll separate the truck from the bin...
...roll the truck over as one piece.
[Merv] There's a hook that holds these bins
to the truck in the front.
[starts chop saw]
We're just gonna cut it off.
Got lots of tension on 'er right now.
[sawing]
[Narrator] It's quick work for a chop saw.
[saw stops]
We're good?
Yeehoo!
[Merv] If I keep the two pieces separate,
I can control this better.
[Narrator] Now...
Is there gonna be enough room here?
I don't think there's gonna be.
[Merv] We don't have much room
to the side of my wrecker.
It's quite tight.
[Narrator] ...it's go time...
...on the first piece...
...the 20,000-pound tractor.
Nothing holding onto the bin?
No.
That front's going to be a little violent, I think.
Let's see if we can get 'er to go slow here.
We try not to let things
smash to the ground all the time.
Beauty.
It's nicer when it comes over soft,
and you can set it down.
Back up to 'er, buddy.
[Narrator] ...but the job...
[Merv] That bin's going to be a fun one.
It's loaded with branches.
[Narrator] ...is only half done.
Okay, let's get a strap around that.
[Merv] What we don't want to see is, as we upright it,
everything come out of this bin.
Okay, buddy.
We should be able to roll 'er.
[Narrator] With no wheels to cushion the landing...
Merv needs finesse.
[Jordon] Gotta be cautious
when you're rolling something like this over.
[Merv] Okay.
Just be careful.
Watch yourself.
[Jordon] That's gonna be loud.
[Merv] Good to go, buddy!
Actually, it come over a lot nicer
than I thought it was gonna.
We'll get that guy,
he'll grab his bin, and he'll get it out of our way.
Cool.
[Merv] Perfect.
[Merv] I'm quite happy with this.
Everything went well,
and we'll get out of here.
[Walker] You guys are good?
[Merv] We're done!
[Walker] Okay, thanks!
[Walker] Working together as a team
with the tow operators
is very rewarding to walk away from.
[Narrator] 70 kilometres northeast...
[Narrator] ...on Highway 7...
[Ty Kennedy] Where did they start the traffic control?
[Narrator] ...is Reliable Towing's
Ty Kennedy.
[Ty] Highway 7 is a vital route
in between the Lower Mainland and the rest of B.C.
There it is.
We've got a full lane closure.
[Ty] Everybody's relying on us
to make sure that we can get it done fast.
Wow, what a mess.
[Ty] Looking at the truck itself,
my initial thought is, is the driver okay?
Holy smokes.
[Narrator] The B-train
hit a car...
...and flipped across the blacktop.
[Ty] Both occupants of the car and the truck were okay.
I'm actually quite amazed.
[Narrator] In a 50-tonne wrecker...
[Andy Cullum] Holy.
We're going to be here a while.
[air brakes hissing]
[Narrator] ...operator Andy Cullum...
[Ty] Andy!
[Narrator] ...joins the fray.
[Suki Manj] There's a lot of people counting on you.
There's a lot of pride in this too,
so if you don't get it done,
it's a reflection on you.
[Ty] I just wanna get this first pup off.
Once we do that,
we'll try and get
as much traffic through as we can.
[Narrator] The battle will begin...
with the rear trailer.
[Ty] It's bent together.
This trailer isn't going to come off easy.
[Andy] Are you ready?
[Ty] Yup!
[Ty] There's a lot of pressure on the fifth wheel,
just 'cause of the way that it's angled.
[creaking and scraping]
[Andy] Trying to line it all up straight
to where everything will release.
Still hooked somehow.
[Narrator] The release mechanism
has been pulled...
-[Andy] Are the jaws open? -[Ty] Yeah.
[Narrator] ...but the 6,000-pound unit...
[Ty] It's just caught on the underneath,
on the frame.
[Narrator] ...refuses to cooperate.
It's kind of like a tug of war right now.
Anything can go wrong.
[Ty] Get out of there.
[Andy] Whoa, whoa, whoa!
[Narrator] In the Fraser Valley...
...a rolled B-train...
[Ty] Get out of there.
[Andy] Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
[Narrator] ...is putting up a fight.
[Ty laughing nervously] [gulping] Oh!
We want to get the back trailer off
to open up the highway.
Buh-bye!
[Ty] There's so much lumber on the road.
We need to deal with that first.
There should be almost a lane there.
Time to go!
It's a super busy stretch of highway.
We obviously wanna get that flowing again.
[Narrator] The tractor and its second trailer...
[grunting with effort]
[groaning in frustration]
[Narrator] ...are the next challenge.
[Andy] We're not getting that pin undone.
[Narrator] With this release mechanism jammed...
Right now, there's so much pressure on the trailer
that it's not allowing us to separate them.
[Narrator] ...the Reliable-Mission team
must tackle...
That's going to be strong.
[Narrator] ...nearly 60 feet of wreckage
all at once.
[Ty] At this point,
it's just trying to recover it as best we can...
[scraping]
...but we'll see how that works out.
[Andy] Watch yourself.
[scraping]
[Ty] Any time we're on a major wreck,
I just want to make sure
that everybody's safe on our scenes.
[Andy] Is that fire?
[Ty] Just hold on!
[Narrator] An hour west...
[Narrator] ...MSA Towing's Kirpal Banwait...
[Narrator] ...has been dispatched
to a suburban route
that's bustling.
[Kirpal] It doesn't matter
if it's the middle of the night,
the Fraser Highway is the busiest highway
next to the Highway 1.
[Narrator] The call...
[Narrator] ...is a loaded semi
on the brink.
The trailer is almost into the ditch.
Hello!
It's a good thing that thing is staying.
If it gave up...
[driver] Oh, yeah, I know, that shoulder's holding good.
[Kirpal] Yeah.
[Kirpal] If he was even six inches just to the right,
he would have tipped over.
[Narrator] The driver...
[driver] It's close, but it's holding.
[Kirpal] It's close, yeah.
[Narrator] ...has put his back end...
...on sketchy ground.
[Kirpal] Because one side is soft,
it can tip over any time.
[Narrator] Joining Kirpal...
[Gurkirat Banwait] What do you figure?
[Narrator] ...is his 20-year-old son
Gurkirat,
or Gurk.
[Gurkirat] Being the youngest brother of the family,
I have a lot to live up to.
We're lucky that that corner there
is as strong as it is,
or this thing would have been on its side.
Yeah.
[Narrator] For years...
Okay.
Can you start tightening this up?
Yep.
[Narrator] ...Gurk has been in the family business...
He's still learning about the recoveries and stuff,
but he's good at it.
[Narrator] ...with his older brothers.
You're playing, or doing something?
Oh, fill in the...
Yep, pick something up!
[Gursharan] Be careful when you're driving this thing.
It's uneven ground here.
[Kirpal] In the beginning,
they didn't know nothing.
Now, they are masters.
Ah! Oh!
[laughing]
[Narrator] Tonight...
I figure we can just rig a lowline
and just pull him over.
-No, you can't. -No?
[Narrator] ...Gurk sees a chance
to step up.
I'm pressuring myself to learn as much as possible,
as fast as possible.
By next year this time,
I want to be in... in a heavy wrecker.
[Kirpal] I'll go right here.
We'll lift this side up,
boom right there,
and same time we'll pull
with the lowline.
[Kirpal] If we make a mistake,
it can cause big damage.
We have to be careful when we are winching this out.
[Gurk] That's pretty bang-on.
[Kirpal] This one, other side,
will go right here.
Like this,
and this one, inside here.
-[Gurk] On the other side? -[Kirpal] Yeah.
[Gurk] Let's do it.
[Narrator] With the 50-tonne heavy
rigged to the trailer's side
and back,
they'll winch it to safety.
[Gurk] The trailer looks brand-spanking new.
If something does happen to this,
we're going to be liable for it, and we don't want that.
[Kirpal] Okay!
[Narrator] With Kirpal on the controls...
Watch that corner there!
[Narrator] ...it's up to Gurk
to keep a close eye.
The biggest concern is that the trailer can shift.
Dad!
-[thudding] -No, no!
[Narrator] In the Fraser Valley...
[Kirpal] Watch that corner there!
[Narrator] ...MSA is on edge...
[Kirpal] No, no!
[metal creaking]
What is that?
[Kirpal] On my tow truck,
one of the winches is not locking up.
[Kirpal] Okay, hold on.
[Kirpal] Just a tap, tap here. [tapping]
Slowly.
Not-not hard.
[Kirpal] I ask Gurkirat to tap on the winch
so I can go into the locking position.
[tapping]
That's it.
Watch that corner!
The packing is good?
[Gurk] Bang on.
[Narrator] Father and son
are ready for round two...
[Gurk] I'm his second pair of eyes
to see how the passenger side of the trailer is reacting.
[Narrator] ...with the soft shoulder.
[Gurk] Like, one more inch.
That's it! Done.
Bob's your uncle,
and he's on solid ground.
We're fine.
[Gurk] The coast is clear.
There's no additional damage.
[driver] All done?
[Kirpal] Yeah, that's it!
Drive it away, yeah. It's all done.
I'm excited for sure.
-Okay! -Okay, well, right on!
-Thank you. -Thank you!
[Kirpal] Everybody's happy,
and we are happy too.
You did a good job.
My sons are getting better and better every recovery...
...and sometimes, they tell me what to do.
[Gurk] It's more than just a towing business,
it's a legacy.
[beeping horn]
[Narrator] 90 kilometres east,
team Reliable...
[Ty] Just hold on! Whoa!
[Andy] Is that fire?
[Narrator] ...spots an unexpected hazard.
[Andy] That's ether.
[Ty] Oh yeah.
[Narrator] The source
is a canister of starting fluid
that came from the cab.
[Ty] It's highly volatile.
-Let's just, uh... -Let's clear out for a bit.
Yeah.
We're gonna back up!
[Ty] This is the definition of towing.
It's always something right out of the blue.
[Narrator] The ether
is highly flammable.
[Ty] We don't want the batteries
to ignite anything.
Pull the batteries.
Drag those right outta there.
They're out of the way now.
[Andy] Get the electricity out of the equation.
You'll have less chances of an explosion.
[Andy] Can we pull yet? Is that cleared out?
[Ty] Yes.
It's always good to be safe.
-[Andy] Everybody ready? -[Ty] Yup!
[Narrator] The wrestling match...
...against the 30,000-pound wreck...
[Ty] Yeah, there she goes!
[Narrator] ...is back on.
[Ty] You could probably roll it over right here,
to be honest.
[Andy] Is that cab right off?
[Ty] Yup.
Separated right off.
[Ty] The cab is pretty much sheared
right off the frame itself.
[Narrator] With the highway...
They want us off the road within the next hour,
so hopefully we can do that.
[Narrator] ...now shut down again...
[Ty] The fun part.
Let's get 'er done.
[Narrator] ...two lines from the 50-tonne
will take on 60 feet of chassis
and trailer...
[Ty] We'll just do a basket through here.
Okay, eh!
[Narrator] ...but this flip...
...will be no easy task.
[Andy] Lumber B-trains being so flat...
[scraping]
...it's hard to get them to dig in,
to start rolling over.
[scraping]
Boom... boom out more,
like, let your lines off
and boom out more.
[scraping]
[Ty] Just hold on a sec.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
[Ty] It's not working...
That's that.
It's frustrating.
[sighing heavily]
[Narrator] In the Fraser Valley...
[Andy] I don't think it's gonna go.
[Narrator] ...a major wreck...
is going sideways.
[Ty] There's too much pressure on the top.
It's just sliding over.
[Ty] When it's a flat surface on a flat surface,
it's like taking a piece of paper on a table
and letting it slide.
[Ty] Just hold on a sec.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
That's that.
[Narrator] Ty and Andy...
Let's run a... let's run a low line to this one,
and we'll pull it with that.
[Narrator] ...need to rethink,
or they'll run out of room.
Good?
-You good? -Good, yeah.
[Ty] We'll put a lowline on it
and pull down
as we roll it over at the same time
to help it dig in.
[Andy] He's right here.
Just get him to pull ahead and lift it a bit.
[Narrator] A zoom boom on site...
[Ty] Okay, let's see what happens.
[Narrator] ...might tip the scales.
Get the zoom boom to scoop underneath it
and lift it up for us.
I got it now.
[Ty] There, it'll go.
Watch yourself.
It's gonna flip hard.
Whoa!
Perfect!
Whoo.
[Ty] It's such a relief.
We got 'er done.
[Narrator] Moments later,
operator James Luke...
-Hi, you missed it. -I know.
[Narrator] ...decides to show up.
[James] Unfortunately,
due to other jobs I had to do,
I missed all the fun stuff.
[James] Yeah, good enough.
[Ty] We obviously want to minimize
as much damage as possible...
so the chassis itself stays intact.
There it goes.
Thor's gonna hook up to the front of the truck.
That's probably good there.
[Narrator] With the chassis on its way...
[Ty] Oh, wow.
[Narrator] ...the final pieces...
[James] That guy is lucky as hell.
[Narrator] ...are the cab and second trailer.
[air brakes hissing]
Highway 7 is a vital route.
We always want to try and do our best
to open up the road as fast as possible.
[Ty] We're cold, we're tired.
We just want to get out of here.
[Narrator] ...but then...
-[air line hissing] -Uh-oh!
[Narrator] ...Ty discovers...
[James] You're kidding me, right?
[Narrator] ...the trailer isn't going to roll.
One of the glad hands on the trailer is broken,
so now the brakes will not release.
It's not gonna move anywhere.
It just feels like we can't catch a break right now.
[James] I have no caging bolts or nothing.
It's a highway tractor, not a wrecker.
It's just one thing after another.
We're kinda up the creek without a paddle.
[Ty] I'm exhausted.
[James] Tell me about it.
[sighing heavily]
[Narrator] 60 kilometres northeast...
[Narrator] ...big machines...
...push to clear pavement
with a storm expected soon.
[Suki] The crews working the roads,
it's critical to allow the flow of traffic.
[Narrator] In the town of Merritt...
[Chris Dobbe] This is our fridge
where we keep the blood.
[Narrator] ...freight that saves lives
is secured for a vital run.
[Dobbe] It's all in trays here, like this.
This is whole blood that's donated by volunteers.
[Narrator] Driver Chris Dobbe
and 100 units of blood...
[Dobbe] Red cells, plasma, and platelets.
One person can save three lives.
[Narrator] ...head to the Coquihalla.
We have to get it down to Vancouver
within 24 hours of the first collection.
Temperature-sensitive and time-sensitive.
[Narrator] Reaching the summit...
It's always bad around here.
[Narrator] ...Chris sees
the forecasted storm
hasn't arrived yet.
[Dobbe] There's always surprises.
[Dobbe] Makes my job easier, not stuck behind carnage.
We made it through.
It's a good feeling that you're a part of it,
you know, knowing that I'm helping save lives.
[Suki] On the Coquihalla,
you never know what's gonna happen.
The ultimate goal
is for people to reach their destination.
[Dobbe] Now it's smooth sailing all the way to Vancouver.
[Narrator] On Highway 7...
[James] You're kidding me, right?
[Narrator] ...team Reliable is at a standstill
on a marathon recovery.
[Ty] It's not gonna move anywhere.
It should be just a quick, easy hook-up and go,
but we have the main air line to the trailer broken.
[Narrator] Earlier tonight...
...a B-train crashed...
...on the narrow road.
Come on, baby.
[Narrator] With the car involved...
...removed from the site...
[Narrator] ...the final hurdle
is a trailer that won't roll.
[Ty] Can we try and pick it up?
Your call. -[James] Okay.
[Ty] Highway 7's been a pain in our butts,
to say the least,
for the last little bit here.
The yard's right there.
It doesn't need much.
[Narrator] Ty and James...
[Ty] A little more, little more.
I think we're almost off there.
[Narrator] ...decide to lift the unit...
[James] This truck and trailer actually had an accident
in front of a salvage yard.
[Ty] They're all off the ground. Ready?
[Narrator] ...and try to back it
off the highway.
[Ty] Yeah, just follow it straight like that.
We'll see how it goes.
[Ty] This'll put your driving skills to the test, eh?
[James] The challenge doing this maneuver
is both of us are backing up at the same time.
[Ty] Can you see out of this mirror?
Barely.
[James] We have to make sure
that one of us doesn't end up in the ditch.
[Ty] You're clear here.
I'm kinda nervous about it.
[Ty] Cut 'er my way.
Okay, start chasing it.
Just a little bit.
[James] I can't see.
[Narrator] On Highway 7...
I can't see.
[Narrator] ...Reliable's last play
on a grueling recovery...
Get him to turn his lights off.
[Ty] Can you turn the lights off on the machine?
[Narrator] ...is a daring move.
[Ty] And the beacon!
Okay, cut it hard.
[Narrator] ...backing a suspended trailer...
[Ty] There's a 90-degree corner
right into the actual yard itself.
[Narrator] ...off the highway...
[Ty] Keep 'er going, keep 'er going.
[Ty] It's going to be tight for James
and the zoom boom operator.
[Narrator] There's no room for error.
[Ty] Come back my way.
Yeah, just like that.
[James] Bit of a tricky maneuver.
Stressful.
[Ty] Yeah, nice work, James.
Huh, teamwork.
I'm definitely impressed with how James backed up.
Good, good, good, good, good, good.
[air brakes hissing]
[Narrator] Finally...
the team can call it.
[Ty laughing]
Being out at night in the cold and the wet,
it's never fun.
[Ty] Ready, rock star?
[Ty] We'll head home,
warm up, go to bed,
and start again tomorrow.
[Suki] I'm really proud of what my team accomplished.
I think they did a great job.
[Narrator] The next morning...
[Jamie] They got some snow up here.
[Narrator] ...east of the town of Hope
is Jamie Davis...
[Jamie] Going to spend a few hours
out in the bush somewhere.
A lot of people don't get that experience.
[Narrator] ...off the highway.
[Jamie] That's a huge washout.
A landslide came down that mountain.
Devastation and disaster.
Wow.
[Jamie] Wow, that's a huge washout.
[Narrator] East of Hope...
[Jamie] Way up on a service road,
and the trees have engulfed this trailer.
[Narrator] ...Jamie is on a call
in a slide zone.
[Narrator] Also on site...
[Jamie] If you wanna get the chainsaw going,
let's give this a chop.
[Narrator] ...is 20-year-old AJ Case.
We're gonna take a chainsaw to cut one tree.
[Jamie] We'll winch the log out of the way.
Everything we need to get this thing out.
[AJ] That's good.
[Narrator] Thinning the debris field,
Jamie wrangles timber
that weighs a thousand pounds.
Okay.
[Jamie] We'll put a chain around the middle axle...
Should've brought my gumboots.
...and we'll just kinda winch it straight out.
[Narrator] The trailer has heavy-duty tools inside.
[Jamie] It should just pivot
and then straighten out, I think.
Go ahead.
Okay, give 'er.
I'm going to watch the unit,
make sure that we're not caught on anything else.
-[winch straining] -[Jamie] Oh...
A log's kind of jammed into the back.
Boom it up a bit, maybe.
Yeah.
[crunching and crumpling]
Yeah, right there.
[Jamie] You gotta find that happy spot
where it's lifting and pulling at the same time.
[AJ] You think I can get it on the deck?
[Jamie] Yup.
[Jamie] I'd go, like, right around here too.
Like... here.
Yup, there you go.
[Narrator] Now it's time
to load the unit up.
Perfect.
[Jamie] The width of the trailer
is just a little bit wider
than our own deck truck.
[Jamie] Are you about even?
[AJ] Oh, yeah, that's dead centre.
[Jamie] We have to make sure
that thing goes almost perfectly on.
[AJ] We just gotta strap it down,
and we'll be down the road.
Pull it back your way?
Okay.
[AJ] Typically, I just do a four corner,
but he's teaching me
that there's a side to side.
[Jamie] Are you okay there?
[AJ] Yeah.
It's the small things that you pick up.
[AJ] Doing jobs with Jamie,
I get to see his point of view.
[Jamie] Getting up log service roads
is kind of enjoyable.
You're dealing in a different world.
[Narrator] Next time on Highway Thru Hell...
Yeah, keep holding it.
[Narrator] ...a tricky tug-of-war...
[banging]
Whoo!
[Narrator] ...for team Reliable...
[Narrator] ...a life on the line...
[Narrator] ...in the Canyon...
[Narrator] ...and twisted carnage...
Every piece is in a different direction.
[Narrator] ...tests a crew...
Oh, boy.
[Narrator] ...to the north.
Watch yourself!
[banging]
[♪♪♪]