Ice Road Truckers - Season 3

Season 3

Synopsis
Season 3 of Ice Road Truckers covers the Dalton Highway, which connects Fairbanks, Alaska, Coldfoot, Alaska, and Deadhorse, Alaska near Prudhoe Bay, as well as ice roads constructed over the Arctic Ocean in the Prudhoe Bay area. The tagline for the season is "In the Dark Heart of Alaska, there's a road where hell has frozen over". In this season the 2009 Mount Redoubt eruptive activity caused complications; the truckers had to carry many loads which were intended for flight but the planes could not fly because of volcanic ash in the air.

Episodes

“	At the top of the world, there's a job only a few would dare. Last season, the dash for the cash was fought on the smooth playing field of Canada's Arctic ice. This season, two old pros join four of America's bravest truckers to tackle the tundra's deadliest ice passage. Just when you thought extreme trucking couldn't get more dangerous, ice road truckers take on Alaska. These are the truckers who make their living on thin ice.	”
—Thom Beers, opening of the show, season 3

The season premiered on May 31, 2009. The Dalton Highway (Alaska Route 11) serves as only road link between Alaska's populated areas down south and the oil rigs of the arctic north, to bring supplies nearly 500 miles from Fairbanks to the Prudhoe Bay oil fields and offshore rigs. However, the combination of avalanches, strong Arctic winds leading to whiteouts, and unforgiving terrain has led to hundreds of accidents in past years. Six thousand loads must be moved up the road within 12 weeks before the ice melts on the Arctic Ocean.

The season finale aired on August 23, 2009.

Final load counts:

• Jack - 20
• George - 15
• Lisa - 15
• Hugh - 14
• Alex - 13
• Tim - 11

Drivers

Hugh and Alex take part in this season as newcomers to the Dalton Highway in Alaska, working alongside the following local drivers at Carlile Transportation.

Jack Jessee: A 38-year-old veteran driver and Virginia native, Jack has 15 years of ice road trucking experience to his credit. He has earned a reputation as a "heavy hauler" who specializes in moving massive and/or oversized loads. In his introduction on the show's Web site, he offers this opinion about driving the Alaska roads: “You learn the road really fast… or you end up dead.”

George Spears: George, 59, is a respected veteran driver in Alaska. He has been driving the ice roads for 30 years and helping rookies get used to the hazards. In the season premiere, he remarks about an incident in which he flipped his own truck over a cliff one year. He intends to retire at the end of the season.

Lisa Kelly: A former school bus driver and state freestyle motocross champion, Lisa is starting her second year on the ice roads. At 28, she is the youngest female driver this year, hoping to earn the veterans' respect and become Carlile's first female heavy hauler. In Season 4, she stated that she had to sell the first horse she ever kept as a pet and was trying to earn enough money to buy it back, a goal she eventually accomplished.

Tim Freeman, Jr.: A 23-year-old ice road rookie from Blackduck, Minnesota, Tim is a fourth-generation trucker with several years of over-the-road driving experience. Family friend George Spears has been helping him prepare for the challenge of driving Alaska's roads.

Carey Hall: The son and grandson of truckers in his native Louisiana, Hall, a 45-year-old African American, is known on the Alaskan ice as "Big Daddy" and is universally respected for his professionalism. He appears in one episode, driving with Jack to deliver a pair of enormous storage tanks.

Route and destinations

Further information: Dalton Highway#Places along the Dalton Highway

Dalton Highway:

• Fairbanks, Alaska - Home of Carlile Transportation, the main trucking company featured in Season 3.
• Coldfoot, Alaska - Home of the only rest stop on the Dalton Highway, serving as a stopping point for truckers when bad weather closes the road.
• Deadhorse, Alaska - Northern terminus of the Dalton Highway. An ice road extends north from here over the Arctic Ocean, allowing truckers to reach the offshore oil rigs.