The Ice Road Truckers Star Who Was Put On The Ice With Less Than A Year Of Trucking Experience
Longtime fans of History's "Ice Road Truckers" (the aptly-named reality series which follows truck drivers whose routes take them across the perilous ice roads of Arctic North America) will know that the fearless truckers we meet within the series have a lot to keep in mind while driving out on the ice. For starters, there's the fact that ice is continuously cracking underneath you the entire time you drive. This unexpected circumstance of the job often leads to new recruits quitting on the spot, once they realize just how terrifying each journey truly is.
On top of that, you have to maintain a consistent speed the entire time you're on the ice, as stopping or getting stuck out on the ice is a surefire way to crack through and sink to your death. Factor in the horrendous weather conditions native to this area of the world, on top of the already mind-bogglingly long trips that these truckers have to endure, and it almost seems like too much for one person to handle.
Considering the immense difficulty and terrifying conditions of this job, you'd assume that every trucker out there on the ice had plenty of time and experience behind the wheel, right? Such was not the case when cast member Steph Custance joined the series, as she had almost no trucking experience before she started working out on the ice.
Steph Custance had very little truck driving experience
Fans of "Ice Road Truckers" will remember Steph Custance as a new recruit who joined the series during Season 10, where she learned the ropes of the profession under veteran truck drivers Todd Dewey and Lisa Kelly. The show doesn't clarify exactly how much experience Steph had, other than some experience as a truck driver and absolutely zero experience on the ice roads. It's pretty telling that her very first appearance in the series saw her undergoing a rigorous driving test at the behest of her boss, Polar Industries' Mark Kohaykewych.
Further proof of Steph's lack of experience as a driver can be seen in a 2016 interview between Lisa Kelly and Overdrive, in which the "Ice Road Truckers" star claims that Steph "didn't really drive a truck before the show." Considering the extreme conditions and daunting roads that the series' cast members have to endure on a daily basis, it seems extremely odd that the showrunners would pick somebody with such little experience driving a truck and no ice experience whatsoever.
Despite how strange Steph Custance's addition to the series might have seemed at the time, fans know that the young truck driver ended up becoming a capable and respected member of the team. Indeed, Steph continued to work as an ice road trucker throughout Season 10 and 11 before the show's cancellation back in 2017.