Trucking Hell

In Leicestershire a 44 tonne food lorry is on fire, blocking a slip road of the M1 and putting motorists in grave danger. Crouch incident manager, Steve Kelly and his team need to get it shifted off the road as quickly as possible, but the smouldering wreck threatens to catch alight at any moment, making this one of the most dangerous jobs the team have ever encountered. In Hertfordshire, Lantern recovery op Sean Bearnie is sent to rescue a Jeep Cherokee that’s been abandoned in a muddy field. But when he attempts to move it, disaster strikes as the team’s 4 x 4 ends up sinking fast. Meanwhile on a tiny lane in the middle of the countryside, a 30 tonne cement mixer is also in trouble. It’s come off the road and is tilting precariously with its wheels in the air. Recovery Op Lee Price has got to think on his feet, before the concrete sets causing the mixer to crash over into a ditch.

On the outskirts of Derby, Crouch Ops Rob and Lee race to the scene of a horrific traffic collision where a Ford Transit van has slid out of control on a country lane and landed on top of a car. With the car wedged underneath the van, the recovery team are faced with a complex challenge. In the Leicestershire countryside, a 20 tonne milk tanker is in serious trouble. It’s come off road and is sinking in a muddy field. Tez and his crew need to think on their feet when they realise the tanker is in danger of tipping over with recovery op Marta at the wheel. Meanwhile, Merrie gets a rubbish job trying to rescue a broken down bin lorry on the M42. Closed after flash flooding, the motorway reopens when Merrie least expects it and she’s dicing with danger working so close to the live lane.

In the middle of the night Incident Manager Steve and the team are called out to upright an artic that’s rolled over on the A1. On arrival , they discover the container is loaded with a 23 tonne transformer. With the titanic cargo threatening to capsize their wreckers, Steve is forced to call in some specialist kit, but with rush hour fast approaching, the boys need to raise the heavyweight payload before they cause traffic mayhem. Recovery op Marta and Crane op Nick team up to transport an extra special load - a 13 ft wide porta cabin that needs rehousing. But when their delivery proves too big to get into its new home, the plucky pair bring the industrial estate to a standstill as they attempt a blind crane lift over the entrance. Crouch new recruit Danny is proud of his 100% recovery record, but when he’s called out to rescue a truck that’s dangling precariously in a water logged ditch on the side of the busy A1, Danny finds himself out of his depth. With his success rate hanging in the balance Danny must find a way to shift the upturned truck before it slides even further into the murky depths

Crane Operator Nick, cannot find a 4 x 4 that has taken the term ‘off road’ to another level on the busy A10 and is buried on its side in a water filled ditch. Once it’s discovered he is forced to stop his truck in a live lane to winch it out and narrowly avoids causing motoring mayhem when the car swings towards oncoming traffic. Rory and technology are not a match made in heaven. So when he’s called out to a 7.5 tonne truck that has lost power and is stranded in a layby on a remote road with no shops or services, he gets caught short struggling with HQ’s navigational system Truck super fan Robert who has autism, is treated to a VIP tour of Crouches Depot in Lutterworth and is over the moon when he gets a ride in one of the cranes. And Lantern Recovery Op Merrie has to reverse her massive truck down an impossibly narrow country track to rescue a heavy sprinter van, marooned in a muddy field. But now Merrie risks her own truck getting stuck and has to think on her feet to get the van out of its muddy grave

Incident Manager Steve is sent to coordinate a recovery on the Northbound A1 after a collision that has closed both lanes. With a Bin Lorry on its side in a ditch and a truck pulling a refrigerated container rolled over, this is a major job. Stig is reunited with a regular when a bin lorry gets wedged on a muddy verge down a remote country road. Crane operator Nick comes to the rescue when Pat is unable to tow a tractor, but with a road closure required to set up the crane the pressure is on. And Merrie’s attempts to rescue a sprinter van that is stuck in the mud are hampered by access issues and the dark.

On the M1, Crouch incident manager, Steve and his team face a massive task trying to recover a 26 tonne lorry that careered off the motorway, catapulted across a 6 foot ditch, broke through a fence and landed a shocking 30 meters from the road. Lantern recovery op Sean is on dangerous ground trying to rescue an 18 tonne delivery lorry that’s stuck in mud at the side of the A1 heading into London – one of the busiest and most congested roads in the country. Meanwhile, Crouch op Roman is dispatched on a special mission to collect a 25 tonne Foden Drops tank transporter. When the military machine fails to start, Roman has a battle on his hands. Near Nottingham, Crouch op Stig’s been called out to a rescue that’s every homeowner’s worst nightmare. A fuel tanker’s wheels have sunk up to the axel on a driveway that’s still under construction and yet to be tarmacked.

Steve and the team attempt to rescue an enormous rubble truck that’s tipped over in a ditch. Forced to close the road they’re up against the clock, but having to work in the dark is making the job a lot more precarious. Gaining little headway, Steve investigates further and discovers there’s a big problem underneath the truck. It’s a task only the rotator can handle, but is it up to the job? Stig is called out to an oil tanker stuck in the mud in the middle of an isolated farm track. Unable to get around the vehicle and needing to lift the tanker from the front, Stig is forced to reverse his massive truck through the surrounding tiny lanes to try and reach the stranded truck from the other side. But even when he gets there his troubles aren’t over. Rookie Danny and his tonka toy truck come to the rescue of a stranded tractor unit and its driver. It’s a straightforward job, but Danny is on a deadline trying to get the task completed before driver Jason misses his legal sleep break. Despite the pressure, diligent Danny makes sure the job’s done right. Driving instructor turned recovery op Kev is sent on a mysterious mission; transporting a looted range rover to the repair shop. But when he gets to the vehicle he’s in for a surprise. The car has had some unusual modifications and Kev is forced to think outside the box to ensure his assignment is complete.

Steve and the team attempt to rescue an enormous rubble truck that’s tipped over in a ditch. Forced to close the road they’re up against the clock, but having to work in the dark is making the job a lot more precarious. Gaining little headway, Steve investigates further and discovers there’s a big problem underneath the truck. It’s a task only the rotator can handle, but is it up to the job? Stig is called out to an oil tanker stuck in the mud in the middle of an isolated farm track. Unable to get around the vehicle and needing to lift the tanker from the front, Stig is forced to reverse his massive truck through the surrounding tiny lanes to try and reach the stranded truck from the other side. But even when he gets there his troubles aren’t over. Rookie Danny and his tonka toy truck come to the rescue of a stranded tractor unit and its driver. It’s a straightforward job, but Danny is on a deadline trying to get the task completed before driver Jason misses his legal sleep break. Despite the pressure, diligent Danny makes sure the job’s done right. Driving instructor turned recovery op Kev is sent on a mysterious mission; transporting a looted range rover to the repair shop. But when he gets to the vehicle he’s in for a surprise. The car has had some unusual modifications and Kev is forced to think outside the box to ensure his assignment is complete.

Tez and the team get in a jam when they recover a parcel lorry that has taken term ‘stuck in the post’ to another level. After striking and getting stuck under a bridge on the busy A5, in the early hours of the morning, they find it resting precariously on the top of a three inch wide sign under live power cables and have the risky job of getting it shifted before rush hour begins. Lost in the dark and up against the clock, Stig struggles to find a new driver, who has driven his lorry into a ditch. Unstable and resting at a dangerous angle the driver is too scared to get out of his cab as he fears the truck will fall on him. And a simple lift and shift turns into an assault course for Lantern Heavy Recovery Operator Merrie, whose mettle and driving manoeuvres are tested when she has to tow a burned out dustcart around the tight residential streets of South London.

A delivery truck’s in hot water, cab first into a pond and it’s recovery ops Sean and Michael in at the deep end, figuring out how to extract a 38 tonne delivery lorry from its watery grave. Op Buzz gets busy trying to rescue an artic with a broken prop shaft blocking a busy A road into Leicester before rush hour hits. And recovery op Danny’s in a sticky situation trying to save a horsebox sinking in a muddy field before navigating the narrow country lanes to deliver it.

In the Midlands, a tipper truck has spun 180degrees and slid down a steep motorway embankment. This mammoth recovery job calls for a five-man team, two trucks and a crane. Heading the team, and with pressure to get the motorway lane open again, incident manager Steve needs all his experience to get the battered truck up and out of the bank. Meanwhile Michael has a tough day getting out of a tight spot on the M25. And Lee faces his biggest fear trying to locate a remote yard, before coming face to face with a stranded school bus.

Rescue Operative Lee races to recover a lorry with a ruptured fuel tank on a busy stretch of the M1. With fuel potentially slicked across live lanes, Lee’s dicing with danger as he works inches from speeding traffic that could skid and plough into him at any moment. Recovery driver Sean is faced with a thorny problem when he tries to recover an SUV that’s skidded on black ice and ended up 20 foot down a ditch, wedged in dense shrubbery. Meanwhile Stig’s faced with a dilemma when a delivery driver reverses into a boggy field and gets stuck in mud and his attempts at using a tree to help with the recovery result in disaster. And petrol head rookie Danny B gets to play with the big boys when he takes part in a convoy with his small wrecker affectionately known as the Tonka Toy.

A gravel truck has swerved to avoid an animal In the middle of a busy B road near Coventry, before going into a ditch and rolling over several times. Recovery op Pat Jennings has come to get the truck back on its wheels and help the clean up team get the road reopened as quickly as possible. He has to deal with a number of problems on the way, including a fence which has attached itself to the truck and a broken hydraulic pump. Stig is called to the hard shoulder of the M45 near Rugby to help a scrap truck with a broken wheel bearing. Shifting the high and heavy truck is a tough job even for a man of Stig’s abilities and experience, but he deals with the job next to the live lane of the motorway with his usual grace and charm. Plus, Lee heads into the Leicestershire countryside to rescue a gas tanker which has come off the icy drive of a chicken farm – it’s a tricky lift and shift made even more complicated by the precautions needed to deal with such a volatile cargo. And Tez takes his American made Peterbilt truck to a muddy building site near Daventry to help a truck that’s stuck in the muck. Tez gets down and dirty and uses the slippy mud to his advantage to get the truck back on terra firma – before taking himself and his truck for a serious clean up

Merrie pitches up at a golf course to rescue a tanker that has landed its very own hole in one, but before she even arrives, a second tanker goes off course and suffers the same fate. Merrie must reverse her 32 tonne truck a mile down a pitch-black boggy track to try and reach the stranded vehicles. But with every metre she’s in danger of getting stuck herself. Sean gets the call to help a 44 tonne lorry that has struck a bridge, but when he arrives he’s shocked to find the curtain sider already moved and collapsed down. It’s not all good news though, there’s a 10 metre overhang at the back, making it extremely dangerous for surrounding traffic. Not only that, Sean is going to have to tow 35 metres of vehicle on a 90 mile journey and it’s getting dark. Things turn sour for Lee when he has to move a broken-down fruit and veg truck from a bus stop. It’s parked too far forward for him to get in front and it’s on a busy dual carriageway. Even worse, the automatic gearbox has failed and the truck won’t drive. Lee needs to find a way to move the veggie vehicle before the groceries go off and he’s left in a stew. Fluff finds himself with an uphill struggle trying to rescue an artic stuck in the mud on a steep incline. With traffic speeding over the brow of the hill and a blind bend to content, with Fluff needs to act fast before the stranded lorry causes a serious accident. But on such a narrow road, Fluff’s in a tight spot and there’s little room for manoeuvre.

When a tipper truck full of gravel rolls into a farmer’s field, Steve and the team get in a jam as they try to get it out. Soft ground and the angle the truck is resting at mean they can’t clear the gravel out, making it dangerous and unpredictable to lift. Buzz rescues a truck carrying nine tons of concrete bars from a layby that has been used as a toilet, while Nick is up against the clock, as he tries to save a refrigerator van filled with fresh meat and vegetables that is stuck with a flat tyre on the edge of a live lane on the busy M1. And a straight forward winch out turns into a stinker of a job, as Merrie is forced to block a road and pavement when she is called recover a lorry filled with fresh raw sewage, from a playing field on the outskirts of West London.

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and before lockdown, a lorry containing vital medical supplies has been involved in a collision with another truck on a busy A road in Leicestershire – Tez, Buzz and colleagues Dan and Moz have to get the medical truck back on the road as quickly as possible so its supplies can be offloaded onto another truck and taken to waiting hospitals – as well as recovering the other vehicle, which has rolled over onto its side following the collision. It’s a race against time, where all of the team’s skills and experience are tested to the max. Plus, Merrie heads to Gravesend to try and winch out a delivery truck which has got stuck in an alleyway while doing a delivery direct into a back garden – and if that wasn’t difficult enough, if she gets the winch out wrong, she’s likely to take down the garden fence; Marta heads into the centre of Lichfield to pick up a bin lorry whose rear steering is broken – getting this large vehicle onto her low loader in busy traffic is no mean feat. Plus, Fluff comes to the rescue of a talkative but shell shocked driver whose skip loader was involved in a 6 vehicle shunt on the motorway.

Rescue Op Tez has a stinker of a job getting a bin lorry out of a ditch. After calling for back up and asking the bin lorry’s mechanic to assist, Tez puts all his might behind winching the heavy lorry out of danger. But can he do it without causing any damage to the vehicle? A straightforward lift and shift turns nasty when Rescue Op Lee comes up against a stubborn prop shaft. Merrie is in a race against time to recover a broken down 8 wheeler stranded by the River Thames and Buzz’s night shift sees him take extra precautions when recovering a luxury load.

Crouch op Stig fears for his safety and needs assistance when he’s called to rescue a refrigerated lorry that careered off the road on a blind bend of the notoriously busy A47. Recovery op Buzz gets dumped with a bummer of a job when he battles to recover the tractor cab of a lorry smeared thick with manure. Meanwhile, Lantern recovery op Merrie gets down and dirty trying to recover a road sweeper reversed into a pond of slurry on a building site. When she discovers the road sweeper’s carrying a full load, she’s forced to abandon the winch before it tips over Near Wellingborough, Veteran recovery op Fluff is stuck for words when he finds a 44 tonne lorry stuck across two lanes of a closed road after the driver attempted a U turn and got the wheels stuck on soft grass.

Recovery op Buzz is sent to rescue a double decker artic marooned at the junction of a busy roundabout. With rush-hour fast approaching and traffic building, this is a major job. Danny’s day starts badly when the windscreen on his truck is smashed by a stone, forcing him to swap to an unfamiliar slidebed for the day. Lee is faced with the danger of high speed traffic as he battles to recover a troubled truck that has broken down in a narrow lay-by on the side of a dual carriageway. And Stig is amazed at the poor skills of a delivery driver when a lorry gets wedged on a muddy verge down a remote country road.