In the war for supremacy on the winter roads, Polar Industries has pulled ahead of rival VP Express. But VP boss Hugh Rowland isn't ready to go down without a fight. To keep his half million dollar Wasagamack contract moving, Hugh hits the road on his own. But trouble strikes when his trailer brakes go out. VP rookie Todd Dewey gets sent on a solo mission behind Hugh. To prove he's got what it takes to run on North America's toughest roads, he's determined to catch up to the boss. Art Burke must watch the action from the sidelines as his truck is still suffering in the shop. Polar scores a lucrative contract hauling million dollar parts for a water treatment plant. Darrell Ward successfully completes the mission, but after truck problems delay his trip, Alex Debogorski is forced to leave a day late. Hauling a school bus, Alaskan icon Lisa Kelly must pass along a thin crossing only moments after a rival trucker pressures the ice with a forty ton load.
At the top of the world, in the coldest parts of North America, there is a whole trucking industry that most people had never heard of. Some communities and industries can only be reached for a few months each year, when rivers or seas freeze over. Ice Road Truckers features the activities of drivers who operate trucks on seasonal routes crossing frozen lakes and rivers in remote arctic territories in Canada and Alaska.
Seasons 1 and 2 are based in Canada's Northwest Territories, first the diamond mines around Yellowknife and then the Mackenzie River ice road from Inuvik. Seasons 3 and 4 move to the USA and focus on Alaska's improved but still remote Dalton Highway, supplying the oilfields in Prudhoe Bay. Seasons 5 and 6 split coverage between Alaska and the winter roads Winnipeg, in Canada's Manitoba, while Alex heads farther north than ever before on the deadly Dempster.