Québec, sur les routes de l’extrême

Québec, sur les routes de l’extrême

On the roads of Quebec, in winter, drivers must redouble your attention. Carl Deschatelets is a heavy goods vehicle tug in Rouyn-Noranda. In Quebec City, Steve Parent drives the truck firefighter of the old town. The two men must use the roads, whatever the weather conditions, to do their job.

They both do a profession linked to emergencies. No matter how deep the snow is, they must pass. We are in Rouyn-Noranda, last town before the great Canadian north. This is where Carl is based, the heavy goods vehicle tug. He takes care of troubleshooting immobilized trucks in places the most remote areas of Quebec,

At any time and despite climatic conditions. Today he has to repair a truck on an extremely busy road. Carl doesn’t have a second to lose. Roadsides national are dangerous and he wants to take as little risk as possible, for him and his client. There is the shock absorber attachment which broke.

It started to rub against the tire, It started to smoke. I stopped on the side of the road, because this room hold your differential, and if the differential comes loose, you can lose control of the truck. Carl’s daily life is carrying assistance as quickly as possible

To broken down truckers on all the roads in its region. He must answer calls let it snow, let it be windy or that the temperatures are very cold. It’s around -20 degrees. We were -17° in the truck just now, but there, it’s a little colder.

Carl prepares his tow in less than 20 minutes and quickly gets to safety. Road workers are particularly exposed to accidents. In Quebec, since the start of the year three people, have already left their lives there. I work in conditions quite perilous at times. The temperatures… There are lots of factors that influence.

The cars that circulate fast enough, the aisles are narrow, we have to to work directly on the asphalt and motorists do not pay attention, like we’re not big enough or not yet visible enough. Motorists are not paying attention, they don’t even slow down. Dangers are present at all times. Winter, with snow,

The roads are particularly slippery and even with snow tires, the slightest fault inattention can be fatal. Carl is one of those who never leaves in view of the possibility of an accident. He expects it every moment. Sorry, a car almost cut me off.

You have to have eyes in the back of your head permanently. Otherwise our lives are at stake. Even truck drivers are not attentive. In addition to having eyes in the back of your head, you have to look out for others. It’s part of the job. Carl is an experienced driver,

But he knows perfectly well that this does not protect him from everything. I’ve had accidents before. In relation to the conditions roads that we have to travel around, These are things that are possible. We scare ourselves sometimes. We do not have a choice. We work in storms.

It’s an emergency vehicle to help people out. We don’t just go out in good weather. On stormy days, when the trucks have difficulty moving and that we must go and help them, It is for us. As we are not supermen, we scare ourselves sometimes. We’re going slower, we organize ourselves to come back.

With the cold, fatigue comes more quickly, These are hard factors in the long run. All conditions were gathered this morning, to have maximum stress. On the snow roads, Carl is not the only one to be at maximum stress. In the barracks at number 3 from the city of Quebec, every outing in winter

Also represents a real danger. Steve is called urgently to intervene in a primary school, just a few minutes away from the fire station. He just triggered his GPS system which turns green all the lights of his journey. We must act quickly. Two hundred children come to be evacuated into the courtyard,

A smell of gas was smelled and no risks should be taken. Barely out of his truck, Steve is busy doing its first implementations. The first thing to do is to prepare my truck, to be able, if they ever need water, we will be able to operate as quickly as possible.

Of course I could wait to have details, but to be sure not to have a mechanical problem, I prepared myself. The fountain is ready. I’m waiting for them to give instructions. The call we’re on, it’s a primary school. There are 200 children. We were called for a propane gas leak.

A hazardous materials leak. The school is expected to be evacuated. They are in the process to measure the gas inside, to see if it’s true or not. That’s why that we have police with us, to help us evacuate these 200 children. Steve never walks away very far from his truck.

He follows closely by radio the entire procedure to be ready if a fire breaks out. The tension is palpable on the scene. The truck in the back, it’s the hazmat truck, for hazardous materials. They deepen the research with devices inside. Each firefighter has a specific role to be completed if the situation deteriorates.

Steve is also ready. Its role is essential. Me, my job, is to have the least problems, then deliver the water as quickly as possible inside. They don’t have to know if I have a mechanical problem, or a pump problem. I have to manage.

When they ask me to send the water, I have to send. Inside the school, the firefighters did not detect anything abnormal. They are now looking outside to identify with certainty the origin of the odor. There is a restaurant next door, maybe it’s from there where does the propane smell come from?

The smell may be coming from this restaurant next door. Firefighters use detectors to find if there is a gas leak. It’s negative, there’s nothing. We moved towards an installation oil or heating, but there is absolutely nothing. Finally, it’s not a gas smell,

So we look for any type of smell which might look like it. He thinks maybe it’s a smell of cooking. There are restaurants nearby and maybe that’s it. Firefighters are now safe that the smell does not come not from primary school and very quickly, one of them will discover the mystery.

It comes from outside. To me it smells like rubber from the Goodyear factory. It’s very likely. There is a processing plant rubber, right here at the end of the street. The wind is coming from this direction. They may be to transform it, and that makes the smell reach here.

We confirm that this is indeed it. We left again. End of intervention. Steve is reassured. The children are out of danger. They can return to the barracks. Return to Rouyn-Noranda, this town of 41,000 inhabitants, derives its wealth mainly mining and forestry. Traffic is heavy in the city, but also all around its territory.

Truckers often find themselves on snowy and very isolated roads. For hundreds of kilometers, they find neither house, no living souls, no gas station. Here we count two inhabitants per square kilometer, but in case of problem, they will always be helped out. We find Carl.

He has just been called on a major traffic accident. The accident has happened on a small snowy road. A truck weighing more than 50 tonnes overturned onto the side of the road. The driver suffered serious bodily damage. He has just been taken to hospital by the emergency services.

We wait for Carl the most as quickly as possible to clear the road. We had left to have a peaceful day. Then a phone call and everything changes. Carl has just been diverted from his path by his boss. He had to perform three ordinary tows, but the priority is urgency.

Work, it’s the unknown, 24 hours a day. You never know what will happen. The truck overturned when fully loaded. Forty tons of plywood are still on the trailer. Impossible to detect all at once. I have to remove the canvases, I cut the elastic from the canvases, after that I cut the big straps

So that when we get up, the wood remains on the ground. The truck will get up almost all alone. Afterwards we will take care to recover the wood. Even without loading, the truck is not going to be easy to lift. The puzzle begins for Carl.

The path is not wide enough and I can’t shoot sideways. I have to position myself to shoot my load over here, but putting my truck there. This is where it is necessary think about logistics, and know how I should place it. A truck like mine, pulls straight back and forth, not sideways.

I don’t have the equipment to tow aside. It just shoots in a straight line and there, the load must come this way. The truck is not in the same direction because the path is not wide enough. We don’t have enough space. We try to find the limits of the path,

To get the maximum width. We see the ground. It’s been going so far. I don’t want to spill either. Carl must find the best traction points and place your truck as online as possible without ever falling into the ditch. Real precision work. The tug can tow easily 30 tons,

But the truck doesn’t want to know anything. He doesn’t move an inch. Carl’s winch tows still too far away. The truck doesn’t want to know anything. I thought I would counterbalance on my truck but it didn’t work. He is in an unfortunate position.

Carl will have to change his strategy and tow in two stages. He must turn around and attack to the lightest part of the truck, trailer. The winch on his tow truck is powerful. With such towed tonnages, Carl is never safe from slipping up. The trailer finally lifts off the ground.

It took more than two and a half hours at Carl to start moving the first part of the truck. We must now align the whole truck on the road and straighten it. Carl’s work is far from finished. There he is, he’s on the ground. It took much longer than expected.

It’s been almost three hours for Carl to straighten the truck, he’s going to need that much now for towing. The truck goes into the garage in Amos. After that, I have to come back look for the trailer. I will have to make two trips to come and get the pieces.

Legally I don’t have the right to tow the two pieces together. Carl will have to make two trips back and forth to finish troubleshooting. The garage is an hour’s drive away. So he still has for four hours minimum. And off we go for an hour’s drive.

Carl performed the part the most difficult part of his job. It will now roll without wasting time, but keeping in mind that the road is covered in snow and that he must demonstrate with the greatest caution. He goes to Amos, at the Belzile tugboat HQ. This is where the truck will be stored

Before being recovered by its owners. Luckily, Amos is on his way, it will make him save an hour of time. Night falls on Amos. Carl still needs to get the trailer of the truck left an hour away. It’s almost 9 p.m. and we have to finish the job.

Carl doesn’t count his hours, He does not have a choice. He can work like this 24 hours without interruption, if demand requires it. He does an emergency job and has no fixed schedule. While Carl will end his night very late, Steve, in Quebec starts his day very early.

He goes to the Saint-Sauveur barracks, in just over 30 minutes. Quebec City is slowly waking up and you have to be ready before she is in full effervescence. The temperature has changed. Steve, just after taking his clothes, implements all its settings. I’ve always done this, I have my little routine.

I imagine that all the drivers work like that. I have a little routine, because there are things that I don’t want to forget. I manage all the time to have a position which is comfortable to drive. like in our car, it’s the same thing. Because if I go and do other things

And in 30 minutes we have a call, and the vehicle is still adjusted to the driver who was there that night, In my opinion it doesn’t work. A habit that I give myself. I turn on all the accessories that I’m going to need to cover a call, depending.

You always have to make arrangements to be audible and visible. Visible with our lights, audible with our sirens. Everything I’m going to must need for my intervention, for the alarm, is already in operation. Everything is already ON. The only thing I’ll have to do is to turn on the main switch.

Like this, when I get to my truck, I get dressed quickly. The guys are getting ready, I just have to turn it on, and everything is working. I know I couldn’t forget anything. We have our breathing apparatus. All is well. I don’t trust my lights, I prefer to check visually

If I have water in my tank. I do this every day. There are 500 gallons of water in this truck. It’s a very big tank. My job is to be ready and to ensure that everything works on this truck. That’s why in the morning, it’s a little longer for me

To climb up, to go join the group, because it’s important to check everything, so as not to be fooled. I also do a visual inspection of my truck. I do this every morning to be sure that there is no major anomaly. I take the time, it takes 30 seconds.

I clean my reversing camera, given that I drive a lot with it. Little check of my lights. When I left home, This morning it was stormy. We saw that the temperature went down a lot. I think today, they announce -21°. Yesterday it was around 0°. It is certain that conditions have changed.

If we talk about driving a vehicle, it could be a good opportunity to go do the little test that I always do in the change of season. There is a large parking lot, then we shake up the vehicle a little to be sure of the reaction. How does this happen.

And then no one stays surprised neither in the truck. Steve doesn’t think he’s saying that well. The road is slippery this morning and a car has just returned in a truck at an intersection. Firefighters are called to the scene. The accident is less than a minute away.

The driver has just been evacuated by the paramedics. He failed to master its braking distance on the road, freshly slippery. The horn is blocked and it’s up to the team firefighters to stop him. This morning he fell 10 centimeters of snow in the city.

For Steve, there is no question to be taken by surprise. We are in an industrial park where there is no traffic. We chose a large parking lot. It is certain that driving will not be the same, that’s why we come here. We’re going to make the truck react

To prepare to go on an intervention among cars, residential areas, people, pedestrians. We are going to do a series of accelerations, sudden braking, skidding. This will bring us up to date a little, if we have interventions to make In the conditions slippery like these. We don’t act stupid.

We only do somewhat abrupt maneuvers. Safe, Steve will check how does his truck react? to be able to anticipate and avoid any accidents during emergency calls. First test: distance braking on snowy roads. It’s a good distance. Thanks to their weight, trucks have a lot more grip on snowy road than cars,

But for Steve, the distance is still too long. Everything behaves differently, it slips, it accelerates in fits and starts, It brakes badly. You see there I have the front which goes sideways. I wasn’t even able to to change direction. We’re going to slip up to see how the truck will react.

You see, I lost the lead again, I went sideways. It’s things which should not happen when we go on intervention. You have to know your vehicle. It allows us to anticipate and go slower. It can save us a lot of problems, to do that to the changes seasons and temperatures.

We find Carl in the parking lot of a gas station. It’s 11 a.m. He’s still sleeping in his truck. Carl went to bed at dawn. All night he had to do tow after tow. Another night that was very short. I took advantage today, there was no call. It’s 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

That night Carl towed a truck with engine failure on the side of a road. It should be first thing in the morning at the garage. A stopped truck is a truck who loses money for its owner. Carl’s customers don’t want to wait. Then he took care of a snow plow.

Once again, private companies want their professional vehicles be operational as soon as possible. Carl worked all night and went to bed at eight in the morning. I’m going to lunch, eat a good lunch, After that we’re going to go do full of diesel because it is empty.

Then we will park in the garage, hoping to have part of the evening, to relax. Carl will take his breakfast at 4:15 p.m. Moments of rest like this There, Carl doesn’t have much. When he has them, he appreciates them. At 5 o’clock in the afternoon, I still haven’t had time for lunch.

It’s normal. If I had finished at 7 a.m., I would have gone to have breakfast, then I would have gone to bed. It doesn’t matter if I go to bed in the morning or in the evening, for me it’s dinner time, then I have dinner.

My life is the road, we live with it. With the hours we work and the hours when we are not working. Carl adapts very well of his working hours. He can work 48 hours without interruption, like being on hold for three days. Always ready to ride, to go anywhere.

His life is his truck. I should have put on my coat. I can put approximately 500 liters on each side. The maximum I could put in, it’s 970 liters. With the autonomy that I have, I should never run out of it. If I miss any,

It’s because I didn’t look my things as they should. 712 liters. I wouldn’t know yet how much it fits in. The pumps block at 700 liters. If the pump does not deliver not more than 700 liters, it’s still a little bill which amounts to 990 dollars, i.e. 750 euros,

But the range is 3,500 kilometers. Back to the garage for Carl, he has time to clean his truck. Normally he does it every day. This is essential to remove the salt. This is essential for the longevity of the truck. It’s a 2005 truck which was originally sold for transporting wood.

We bought it 3 years ago. It already had 700,000 kilometers. We modified it to put on our equipment. I made about 200 250,000 kilometers with it. I moved to Approximately 915,000 kilometers. By Christmas, I’m looking at a million. And to reach the million kilometers, Carl doesn’t skimp on his overtime.

As soon as he has a moment, he pampers his jewel. He even goes so far as to pay out of his own pocket chrome or luminous accessories. He continually maintains the engine and bodywork. My friends laugh at me, because I call her my mistress. It’s been years.

Since I got this truck, I call her my mistress. They find it funny. A passion is maintained. At the same time, firefighters from the barracks number 3 of Quebec are also working on the same task. Steve doesn’t allow his truck to be washed, that when the external conditions allow it.

The only thing on which we are a little cautious, it’s only from leaving at a temperature of -18°, we no longer wash the vehicle. Because if we have to go out, it’s cold outside, chests, levers, It would all freeze pretty quickly. Here, we are a little limited in temperature,

But we’re going anyway, clean it properly. That’s something that everyone does. This is a common task. Everyone gets involved. It belongs to the citizens, it’s paid for with the contribution of citizens, it belongs to the city, it’s nice equipment which works well. We have to pay attention to it

And keep it in good condition. Steve’s truck should always be in impeccable condition to cover emergency calls. He was specially ordered by the city to answer to the requirements of its environment. These are trucks that will be manufactured according to requirements specific details of a municipality. It’s made by a company, Maxi Métal,

A company that is from Quebec, who knows, precisely, the criteria that we need because of the cold, and such things. These things, these are also the city roads. Quebec is one of the oldest from North America and these emergency trucks must be able to adapt to your environment. They are good vehicles.

They are ergonomically well made to work. These are vehicles which are still fast, when we are going to speak for the north. They control well, they brake well. They have fairly short turns. Given that in the city, it’s always stopping, then quick departure, these vehicles are well designed for that.

Today, Steve is taking advantage to identify the conditions of traffic on the city streets. It’s important to him to know all the pitfalls which could get your vehicle stuck. Eighty percent of the race, stress is knowing exactly where I’m going. My work, is to take the guys to the right place, quickly.

And above all not to make a mistake. It’s good, the streets are clear. In the event of a snowstorm, all cars would be three, four feet further inside the streets. It would become more problematic, for fire truck drivers. Look, it’s tight there. We have to think about buildings, but also to electric wires

And my truck is high. There is a bunch of vehicles which are parked in fire zones. You have to work with that. Downtown trucks like ours, are so called to go into tight places, that even the bumpers are thinner. In other words, everything has been done to minimize vehicle excess,

And to be able to work with distances. Look, we’re almost in the houses there. Quebec City is one of the cities, where the streets are the narrowest in Canada. Fire trucks must have been there all specially adapted. Look, we have a problem here, we have a car on the left

And a large metal pole on the right. You have to go for the maximum. It is essential for Steve to practice passing in each of the city’s streets. No question, in case of fire, to leave the truck at 100 or 200 meters of the place of Intervention.

A good driver, will not necessarily pass quickly, but will make sure not to take risks. It’s better to say that it doesn’t happen rather than breaking everything. There are many drivers, who are less comfortable to come and drive in neighborhoods like here, because it’s very tight. In other neighborhoods, they experience other constraints.

This is it. To be able to be a driver of vehicle 203, so you have to be like Steve, above all firefighter, but above all, very experienced in driving. At his time, no training firefighter driver was not exempt. I have to sneak in. Look, we have vehicles on the right,

Another one there, another inside, a pole. That’s the fun. We are not in intervention, but on a call, it’s things… My job is to stay calm, and control the situation. If I go too fast and I have a collision, I can’t go to the intervention. Steve keeps his cool to zigzag between vehicles

And uses, as best as possible, all the truck equipment for maneuvering. The reversing camera, normally used when maneuvering backwards, in reverse. I always use it, day and night. I like to know all the time what is happening behind me. I can play with intensity, depending on the day or night.

In the second mode, it works with the thermal camera who is on the roof. This allows me, for example, to spot a vehicle in a snowstorm. Return to the Saint-Sauveur barracks. All the streets of the lower town was spotted. It’s time for Steve and his team to return to base

And take a little rest, because they are going to need it. We meet again, Carl. He barely has time to stop at a gas station to buy enough to have breakfast. This morning, a gas delivery man got into a ditch and it is completely blocked.

He’s on tour and can no longer deliver to its customers. Carl sets off. It’s less than an hour away. After a long hour of driving, Carl finally finds the right place where the driver is waiting for him. The truck slipped, then when I wanted to get it back, impossible.

There was nothing to do. Unable to move? No, you really need to move more and wait for the tow truck otherwise I risk slipping even more. The driver had the right reflex not to insist. He could have completely overturned. They’ve already been used for that anyway.

Remove the handbrake, and don’t touch the accelerator. Carl asks the driver for help. The wheels are not sufficiently in line and you have to go up in the truck to help traction. We’re going to try to get him out of there, without breaking it. The truck is now perfectly placed

To allow Carl to use your winch at full power. It will, in a few minutes, free the truck, which apparently has no damage. The driver is very happy. I will be able to return to work. With all this snow, I didn’t break anything. I lost my time but I didn’t break anything.

Does that happen often? No, it doesn’t have to happen often, especially not. It has to happen as infrequently as possible, but it happens. The one to whom it doesn’t happen, he’s the one who stays at home waiting for his check. Carl, thanks to his rapid intervention,

Allowed the driver not to waste your day. The driver expresses his contentment to Carl, something that doesn’t happen that often. He was happy, he can continue his day. He was just starting his day and from its first customers, he finds himself blocked. It lengthens the day.

I am happy when my client is happy, but if he had not been happy, it wouldn’t have changed much, It’s my job. Sometimes I arrive, the customer yells at me. It’s not me who put you in that position. It sure is nice when people say thank you, and the job is well done,

But hey when there is nothing, it’s part of the job. While Carl finishes his day. Steve, he begins his night shift. Steve is called to a house fire in downtown Quebec. The fire spread. There’s not a minute to lose. It’s thanks to all the preparation which he carried out upstream on his truck,

Thanks to the identification and thanks to the taking in hand on snowy road, that, mechanically, it takes away in a minimum of time his whole team at the scene of intervention A team of firefighters is already on site. It’s urgent because there is a risk of propagation.

The houses of the city are houses side by side and the fire can reach very quickly neighboring houses. Steve’s first job is to provide water, through his truck, as quickly as possible. It must be connected to the fire hydrant to continuously feed the truck’s water tank.

The fire is already important, but it is quickly mastered. Fortunately, because the neighboring house starts too to have some flames. The end of the alert will quickly be given, but already the streets are submerged. Water quickly turns to ice because of the very low temperature. There’s a good wind there.

I haven’t been wet, but because of the cold, you have to cover yourself a little more. The cold, Steve and his team, are used to it. Winter is their daily life. He closes the fire hydrants which are specially designed to never freeze, even in the cold.

In his truck, the water doesn’t freeze either. In fact, water constantly supplies the truck during the fires and this continuous flow prevents it from stagnating and freezing. After the fire, It is necessary again a good hour to the firefighters to store all of their equipment. Then, head to the barracks.

But the night is already over and the early morning begins to rise in Quebec City. It’s the end of the shift. We’re going to pass the torch to the day driver, to Gaëtan. We’re going to pass on the information, of what happened last night, then last night.

We still had a good fire on Charest Boulevard. I have to convey all this to him, so that he knows in what state is the truck, and the equipment. Then, what happened too. Every morning, the change of guard takes place. The night guy leaves, I come home during the day,

To make the transfer. I’ll talk to the driver for him to tell me everything what happened last night and then so that we can make the transfer information, on what is missing, what is broken and the particularities of the truck.

Last night we had a fire in the East, it was on the second floor. We watered, we connected the 4 inch pipes, we powered the pump. It went really well. We didn’t lose any tools, we didn’t break anything either, There are no casualties. It was a correct intervention.

There I charged you the batteries. -Perfect, have a good day. Steve will be able to benefit three days of rest. A well deserved rest given the sleepless night he has just had. Carl still doesn’t take any rest. The night is busy with towing and we find him again at the wheel,

But things don’t happen exactly as he wants it. He feels that his truck has a problem. Little problem, I don’t know what exactly. The truck changed its sound. As a precaution I’m going to stop, I’m going to go see. I’ll go take a look before going any further, to be sure.

Carl knows his truck so well that the slightest little sound, than any driver might have ignored, disturbs and worries him. It stops right away to be clear about it. With all the traffic from the road right next to it, he has difficulty finding where the noise is coming from.

However, it is sure, he hears like a screw snapping, like the squeak of a ball bearing. At the front of the engine, there is the fan to cool it. It doesn’t work all the time, it is an air pressure system, which makes it not work only when necessary.

It’s a ball bearing what’s inside, and it is breaking. In general, drivers never realize it. When they realize it, This is when the ball bearing breaks. And when it breaks, the fan falls forward. And it goes through the radiators. I have four or five radiators, Its a story several thousand dollars.

And even if, for many drivers, this noise would seem minor, Carl doesn’t want to let it go. It hurts me there, there is something not normal. We will start by seeing if there is anything to repair. We will start by seeing if they find anything.

Maybe they won’t find anything because I don’t have any lights on. Carl knows that if he doesn’t anticipate the breakdowns of his truck, he can also find yourself stuck on the side of the road. And that is out of the question. So far, in 12 years of travel, I have never been down.

I’ve never tried being towed. I always said that I, I wouldn’t go on a tow truck. I have to arrange myself accordingly. There is no question of it. The blow of the towed tow truck, it’s not for him. Carl makes it a matter of honor.

He’s the tugboat and he is the one towing. And his most beautiful trophy, he enjoyed taking a photo of it, it’s towing of his work colleague. It’s because he is far-sighted that Carl never broke down. Just a few minutes after discovering its abnormal noise, he ends up in the garage for electronic diagnostics.

Click-click sound can come from its fan, but he is not sure. I am a driver, I’m not a mechanic, but by ear it seems to me to be an injector or something like that. I already had one injector problem with, there was a light on, but no. I don’t know. I’m really bothered.

We don’t have a problem. That’s not the problem. It’s my favorite, She’s basically my mistress. All the time I think with it. Carl is very upset because for him, his truck is good more than a work tool. Carl will have to wait the mechanic’s verdict.

He’s the one who’s going to tell her whether or not it’s serious, whether or not he must go back tonight alone or with his truck. You hear ? The mechanic does not want decide immediately. He prefers to wait for the result analysis of his electronic devices. He measures everything, exhaust, compression, cylinders

And visibly, Something is wrong. Carl can’t sit still. He needs to know. The mechanic will not be able to tell him what’s wrong with his truck. He doesn’t have electronic devices originals of the brand who can enable him to detect in depth Carl’s problem. Fortunately, a few days later,

Carl will be confirmed by the manufacturer that, thanks to his ear, he avoided a major breakdown. A breakdown which would have could have cost him his engine, a $40,000 engine. Carl is a tug, and it’s not yet today he will be towed. That, even if the roads are covered in snow.

Steve and Carl are drivers trucks like no other. Snow is part of their life and they master it. They know each other as well, that it is nevertheless not necessary never let your guard down to last on snow roads.

Au Québec, pendant la saison hivernale, les chauffeurs de camion doivent redoubler d’attention en s’engageant sur des chaussées glissantes ou enneigées. Karl Deschâtelets, remorqueur de poids lourds à Rouyn-Noranda, en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, vient en aide aux camionneurs en fâcheuse position. Lui-même est tenu de se montrer prudent pour arriver à bon port. De son côté, dans la capitale, Steve Parent conduit le camion de pompier de la vieille ville.