Lisa Kelly (born December 8, 1980) is an American trucker who has been featured on the

History channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

reality television series ''

Ice Road Truckers ''Ice Road Truckers'' (commercially abbreviated ''IRT'') is a reality television series that aired on History Channel from 2007 to 2017. It featured the activities of drivers who operated trucks on ice roads crossing frozen lakes and rivers, i ...

'' and its spinoff series '' IRT: Deadliest Roads''. For seasons 3–5 and 7–11, ''Ice Road Truckers'' followed Kelly and her fellow drivers as they make their way along the icy

Dalton Highway The James W. Dalton Highway, usually referred to as the Dalton Highway (and signed as Alaska Route 11), is a road in Alaska. It begins at the Elliott Highway, north of Fairbanks, and ends at Deadhorse (an unincorporated community within t ...

from Fairbanks to

Prudhoe Bay Prudhoe Bay is a town located in North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population of the CDP was 1,310 people, down from 2,174 residents in the 2010 census, and up from just 5 residents in 2000; however ...

, frequently hauling "oversized" loads. Kelly has also made appearances in Seasons 1–2 of ''IRT: Deadliest Roads''. Kelly was notable as the only female trucker featured in the series until Maya Sieber joined in Season 5, and Stephanie "Steph" Custance in season 10. Originally from

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

, she now resides in

Wasilla Wasilla ( Dena'ina: ''Benteh'') is a city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, United States, and the fourth-largest city in Alaska. It is located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of the southcentral part ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. She has a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel under her name.

Early life

Kelly was born on December 8, 1980, in

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. Her family moved to a mini farm in

Sterling Sterling may refer to: Currency * The English penny, historically known as the ''sterling'' * Pound sterling, the currency of the United Kingdom * Sterling silver, a grade of silver Places United Kingdom * Stirling, a Scottish city whose al ...

, when she was six years old. She returned to Grand Rapids for college, attending

Cornerstone University Cornerstone University is a private evangelical Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Cornerstone University has undergraduate and graduate programs, two seminaries ( Grand Rapids Theological Seminary and Asia Biblical T ...

for one semester before deciding it was not for her.

Career

Prior to her appointment as an Ice Road Trucker, Kelly worked as a school bus driver and

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

rider. She also worked at gas stations, and a pizza company and was a state

freestyle motocross Freestyle motocross (also known as FMX) is a variation on the sport of motocross in which motorcycle riders attempt to impress judges with jumps and stunts. The two main types of freestyle events are: *Big air (also known as "best trick"), in wh ...

champion. After these ventures, she decided to settle on a long term-career and trained as a trucker because it 'looked interesting'. She subsequently got a job driving for Carlile Transportation, an Alaskan haulage company. Being a woman, Kelly says this was a difficult achievement. "I had to work twice as hard. I had to pull my weight and everybody else's and get the job done as fast, or faster."''Lisa Kelly cuts pretty figure on "Ice Road Truckers"''
Daily News (New York), May 28, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2012.

TV appearances

Kelly is one of the truckers for the History Channel's ''Ice Road Truckers''. She first appeared in season 3 (Seasons 1 and 2 had been set in Canada) in 2009, as the only woman., North Shore Journal, June 21, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2012. She subsequently took part in seasons 4 and 5 (early 2010—early 2011) and further seasons (2013—2017), with the exception of the series season 6 (2012). Journalist Kaye O'Hara claims that Kelly was offered a contract to return to the show for season six, but she declined it. According to the show's producer, Kelly was taking a year off. In 2013, Kelly quit Carlile and returned to the show's season 7, which returned to run only in Canada, working now for Polar Industries, company owned by Mark Kohaykewych who also appeared on the series. Starting with season 9 (2015), she worked with Darrell Ward in a self-owned trucking company for 2 years (seasons 9-10) before his death in 2016. Kelly ran the company on her own during early 2017 (season 11) before the arrival of Darrel's younger son, Reno Ward, with whom she ran the company until the end of the season. She also took part in the History Channel's ''Ice Road Truckers: Deadliest Roads'' in later 2010, along with Rick Yemm, Dave Redmon and Alex Debogorski, trucking in the Himalayas in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

during the first season, being the only one to conquer the journey through the Himalaya's mountain range. In a later season (late 2011), she drove on the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

' Death Road (Yungas Road) in Bolivia and southern Peru roads, along with part of the first season cast (Rick and Dave) and newcomers Hugh Rowland, G.W. Boles, Augustin "Tino" Rodriguez and Timothy "Tim" R. Zickuhr. In 2023, Kelly also provided the intro voiceover for
Alaskan Road Truckers
', a PC game on

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

Personal life

In 2008, Lisa married Traves Kelly, after dating him for four years. He is full

Aleut Aleuts ( ; (west) or (east) ) are the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleuts and the islands are politically divided between the US state of Alaska ...

Native Alaskan Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

and an avid

dirtbike In the market, there is a wide variety of types of motorcycles, each with unique characteristics and features. Models vary according to the specific needs of each user, such as ''standard'', ''cruiser'', ''touring'', ''sports'', ''off-road'', '' ...

r. They have no children. Her hobbies include

horse riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

skydiving Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

hang gliding Hang gliding is an air sports, air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium al ...

, and

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

. She owns a miniature horse named Rocky and a cat named Tanzi.

References

External links

*
Interview with Esquire magazine (June 11, 2010)
*
Interview with The Hindu (February 20, 2012)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Lisa Living people 1980 births Ice Road Truckers Participants in American reality television series American truck drivers People from Grand Rapids, Michigan People from Wasilla, Alaska Cornerstone University alumni Freestyle motocross riders