Alaska Highway

There are three strands to this video filmed in 1998 in the Canadian North-west. Firstly, the highway itself, built through beautiful wilderness in 1942 as a military supply line when the American continent was threatened by the Japanese from the Alaskan coast. This all-year route offers extreme conditions from temperatures 50 Celsius below and freezing rain to mud and soft going. Keeping the highway open and safe are major operations. Then there is the main industry - forestry. The video gives insights into the exploitation and stewardship of the world's second largest forestry area, and examines a variety of machines in operation including a 300hp Chieftain D LGP crawler. But the stars are the truckers and their vehicles, working under pressure for timber haulage, wood products or the oil industry. The respect they show the highway and their trucks is clear - an example of highly professional transport work.