David Redmon

The season premier of the History Channel’s latest Ice Road Truckers installment aired Sunday, June 5. This season follows seven drivers along dangerous roads in Manitoba, Canada, and in Alaska, along the Dalton Highway.

David Redmon, a heavy-hauler from Riverside, Ala., discussed the show and his experiences on the Ice Road with Overdrive. This is Redmon’s second season on the IRT series. He joined the show last year for the History Channel’s spin-off show IRT Deadliest Roads when he and several other IRT drivers took on treacherous passageways through the Himalayan Mountains.

This season, Redmon was one of four drivers to take on the Dalton Highway in Alaska.

Here’s part of the interview:

Overdrive: What are some of the major differences between driving on a paved highway and the Dalton?

Redmon: The difference between driving in Alaska on the Daltons and driving in the lower 48 is, up there, you literally can’t take your eyes off of the road for even a split second. A caribou could walk out in front of you, or a moose. The roads are so narrow that you can’t see what has been over plowed and under plowed, meaning, did the guy who plowed it go far enough out? Did he leave me enough road to drive on? Or did he go too far out, and what I’m seeing that looks safe is actually a ditch?

Down here you get relaxed and you get complacent. You drive on an Interstate highway for hundreds of miles, and you’re just following the guy in front of you. Up there you’re just driving on a sheet of ice for 526 miles, and they emphasize in the show to stay in your line, because if you top a hill – and there’s lots of them – someone could be coming right at you.