‘Ice Road Truckers’ Hit the Road for a New Season

Maya Sieber and Lisa Kelly on 'Ice Road Truckers'
Maya Sieber and Lisa Kelly on 'Ice Road Truckers' - Photo Courtesy of History

History’s bringing back the popular series featuring truckers navigating treacherous roads for another season. Ice Road Truckers returns for season seven on June 9, 2013 at 10pm and will feature “two different companies with legendary truckers” going head-to-head as they attempt to put their rivals out of business. Even Lisa Kelly, who took a year off, will be back this season trying to hang on to her Queen of the Road title.

The Plot:

The battle lines are drawn in Manitoba, Canada. Hugh “Polar Bear” Rowland returns after quitting his previous job at Polar Industries and sets up his own shop right down the street. Bound and determined to reclaim his crown as “King of the Road,” he poaches Polar’s dispatcher, intent on landing as many loads as he can to force his old company into submission. Hugh rounds up the toughest truckers he can find and together with these new faces, they hit the winter roads.

However, Polar Industries and owner Mark Kohaykewych aren’t about to take this challenge lying down. To counter this threat on their turf, they enlist some of Hugh’s biggest rivals. Ice road legend Alex Debogorski signs on to Polar, anxious for the opportunity to wipe out Hugh’s company before it gets a chance to bloom.

After a year hiatus, Alaskan trucking icon Lisa Kelly signs up with Polar as well, looking to conquer the new terrain of the winter roads just like she did on Alaska’s Dalton Highway. Montana Legend Darrell Ward joins the crew at Polar as well, finally getting the chance to drive the deadly ice crossings of Canada.

Throughout the season, the rivalry between the companies reaches a fever pitch as every load delivered means money out of the other team’s pocket. No assignment is off limits, no road is too dangerous and no ice crossing is too thin in this battle for winter roads supremacy.

This season also chronicles an eccentric mechanic way up north who dances to the beat of a completely different drummer. Joey Barnes, nicknamed “The King of Obsolete,” fills his yard with trucks from the 1930’s through the 1970’s. Many of the vehicles are rarities, some he’s re-engineered into his own unique pieces of equipment. And he’s taken it upon himself to use his fleet of trucks to rescue those stuck in the most remote corners of Manitoba.

Ice Road Truckers is a classic story of adventure, perseverance, human ingenuity, and, most importantly, danger. One miscalculation of the road, bad weather or an unseen road hazard can be the difference between life and death. Even the most seasoned drivers will find themselves challenged by the conditions, isolation and lack of creature comforts on the most dangerous roads in North America. Although technology has changed how people deal with the conditions of the Arctic Circle, the people of the region cling to their deep roots and traditions of which ice road trucking has been an integral part for many generations.