Pro-Trucker Driver's Choice - May June 2023 ( Find Your Trucking Jobs)

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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

BY

JOHN WHITE

Canadian and Proud of it.

With Canada Day coming, I want to say that when I hear words like tyranny, communism or comments about our lack of freedom, I get my back up and immediately question the speaker’s knowledge. Either they do not fully understand what those things are, or they are simply using them for the shock effect to impress people with their bravado. I am sure this is the case, as I cannot understand how people can mistake democracy for communism or tyranny. No society has ever achieved complete personal freedom. There are always limitations in place to maintain social order and protect the wellbeing of the community as a whole.

I understand that these terms are often used out of frustration by people who have a specific rule or law that they do not like. But, unfortunately, I think it often alienates people who might generally support their cause.

Let me explain where I am coming from for those who may get their panties in a knot over this editorial. (That comment alone will get some going, so to head that off, I’ll apologize now for using an old-school, slightly misogynistic term.)

I have been a conservative all my life. I do not like nor vote for Justin Trudeau or his father, Pierre. (Yes, I was old enough.) I think that Pierre divided Canada more than he united it. I dislike Justin for his treatment of our veterans and seniors and that the surgery wait times for Canadians, unlike those for politicians, and those on workers’ compensation, continue to grow as he arrogantly holds the purse strings. I believe politicians and those on workers’ compensation (who get paid while off) should get in line behind seniors and all other Canadian citizens while waiting for lifechanging surgeries. I guarantee this would shorten the line. I also believe that politicians’ pensions should be more in line with the rest of Canadians. This, too, would bring quick changes.

Now back to my original rant. Canada is a democracy, and as a Western Canadian, I hate the fact that we have little or no control over who governs. By the time the polls close in Eastern Canada, the election has already been decided. But that is what a democracy is - the majority rules. That is what our veterans fought for.

On Canada Day and every day, we should be proud that Canada consistently ranks in the top 10 countries worldwide for individual freedom and in the top 5 for personal happiness. The annual Human Freedom Index, which the Cato Institute publishes, ranks Canada sixth in the world for personal freedom. This rating considers the rule of law, freedom of expression and religion, freedom of movement, and property rights. According to the World Economic Forum, Canada ranks third among those who want to immigrate. Of course, Canada is not perfect, and no country is, and if you are not satisfied with the amount of personal freedom you currently enjoy, then, by all means, protest. It is your right. But if you insist on using ridiculous terms to describe what we already have, you do not and will not have the support of most Canadians.

John White john@ptmag.ca

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RIG OF THE MONTH

My name is Richard Hughes, and I was born in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, in March of 1984. I grew up with my parents and younger sister on our dairy farm west of Wetaskiwin. My parents owned twoquarter sections of land where they grew crops, and they rented another two-quarters for pasture. On the farm, I learned the value and rewards of hard work. I also developed a deep love of the land, equipment and livestock.

One of my first memories is being in the barn helping Dad feed and milk our one hundred cows. We had to milk them twice a day, which was fun. However, I wasn’t very fond of cleaning the barns afterwards. I remember, as a kid, as soon as I heard

the sound of the brakes from the milk truck backing up the driveway, I would race out of the house to visit with the drivers. I would ask them thousands of questions about the trucks. Thinking back, I’m impressed with the patience they showed a

young kid.

My favourite times of year on the farm were the spring and fall. Truck driver Victor Jaburek would come early in the spring with his Cabover Freightliner, and I would ride with

Richard Hughes

him hauling our young stock out to pasture. Then I would do the same in the fall while he brought them home again. When I was about five, Dad let me ride around with the silage and manure trucks. Dad hired crews to do these chores as he was too busy working with the milk cows. The silage crew we hired had a Ford tandem L900. It was rough and loud with a screaming Jimmy under the hood, but it was fun for a kid.

Guy Lofgreen ran the manure crew Dad hired out of Gwyne, AB. He ran old Kenworths, Pacifics, and Hayes trucks with Makee boxes. My favourite was his old Pacific truck with the double shifter. Working with older equipment, I learned how important it was to maintain the equipment through regular oil changes, greasing, and cleaning. It helped keep the DOT and county cops away and made a guy feel good about his iron.

When I was about ten, Dad let me feed the cows and do fieldwork. The first tractor I drove was a David Brown 995 with a loader. I used it to pull the feed wagon, load silage and haul bales. I enjoyed running the loader and learned how to back up a trailer. Then, when I was 13, the custom farming company we hired to do our silage asked if I wanted to run the silage bagger for the summer.

When I wasn’t running the bagger, I was the wash and grease boy in the shop. It was there when we had infield jobs, that I learned how to drive the trucks. The rig I learned on was a 1993 Kenworth T800 tandem with a 350 Cat with 13 speeds. I got good at backing up using my mirrors as the silage bagger was just wide enough for a truck to back into it to dump the load. It had to be backed in straight because as you dumped, it moved forward.

Between custom farming and Dad’s farm, my teenage summers

were busy. It was steady work from May to October. The custom farming took me from Westlock, north of Edmonton, to Brooks, south of Calgary, and everywhere in between. From age 12 to 17, I drove the silage trucks.

Winters were a nice break and left time for downhill skiing. I was active in the Dairy 4-H Club, where I learned the importance of teamwork. I was also part of WCC (Western Canadian Classic). Members are judged on showmanship, leadership skills, teamwork, citizenship, and public speaking. Once a year, we would meet up in a western province, and as a province, we would compete against the other western provinces. Along with learning teamwork, I realized how much I enjoyed travelling.

called Darcy Wedlund and asked if he needed a driver for the summer, and he hired me to haul liquid. When the snow came that fall, I was out of work, so I drove into Red Deer, where I saw a big sign out front of B.J. Services looking for drivers. I walked in and got the job. I trained for the first two weeks, and then I was on my own out in the field as a frac pump operator for the winter. I spent time in Hinton, Edson, and Grande Prairie and two months north of Fort Nelson in Helmet, BC. When spring came, it slowed down, so I started looking for a new job.

I was still living in Wetaskiwin when, one morning, I ran into one of our old milk truck drivers from the farm. He told me they were looking for drivers, so I called Keld Hanson and had an interview that afternoon. I gave my notice to B.J. Services,

In 2003, my parents decided to divorce and sold everything. It left me feeling kind of lost and without a plan. So I rented a place in Wetaskiwin. I decided I wanted to be a driver, so I went to Edmonton, enrolled in 10 hours of truck training and got my Class 1 license. Then I

and the next day was training to be a milk truck driver. It was funny that, as I was standing around the shop on my first training day, Victor Jaburek pulled in with his rig. He got out, looked at me and said, “Richard, is there something I can help you with?” I replied, “Nope. I’m good.

I work here now as a driver.” Then, without missing a beat, he said, “Wow! Am I ever old - I remember the day you were born.” We both had a good laugh over that.

I knew all the drivers at Keld because they had been to our farm at one time or another since I was a little boy. They taught me a lot there, especially about hauling fluid with no baffles, just a front and a back tank. The truck I had was a red CH613 Mack with a flat top. It was initially a Westcan truck before Keld bought it.

I hauled milk for the next year and a half on two different runs. On the first day, I went from New Sarepta to Camrose, then to Saskatoon to unload. Day two was Lakeland College to Minburn, Irma, up into Wainwright and out to Saskatoon again to unload. I enjoyed seeing the farmers daily, and at that time, I had friends going to college in Vermillion taking dairy farm courses. So every second night, I got to meet up with them, grab a meal and have a drink. That was a big plus to the job.

The fall of 2005 saw the end of the Saskatoon runs. My friend Dave Malander was driving for Miller Oilfield and suggested I talk to them. I ended up getting hired and was back in the oilfield hauling pipe. I did this for a winter. It was good money, but I didn’t enjoy the work. The oncall, busy one week, next week slow schedule drove me bonkers. When spring breakup came, I started helping my friend on his farm in my spare time. He hired G & H Corral Cleaning to clean out his manure, and I got talking to Henry Bilodeau, the owner. He offered me a job, so I gave my notice to Miller Oilfield and started the next day with Henry. I spent that summer driving truck and running a loader loading trucks.

We were on one of the last jobs that fall, when the farmer jumped in the truck to show me the new field. He

mentioned he had two trucks hauling cows for Keith Stevenson in Valley View, AB. He said Keith was looking for a driver, so I called Keith up at the end of the week when we were done for the season. The next Monday, I went for a load with Keith and got the job. I was driving a 99 Peterbilt with a 600 Cummings and a 63-inch stand-up bunk hauling livestock. It was the first ever longnose Pete I’d driven and my first time pulling livestock. I’d always wanted to pull critters, but since BSE, there hadn’t been many jobs available.

I loved the job and the truck, and I fell in love with the Peace River country. I learned about hauling cows and buffalo and how to run hard. When January came, Keith’s new and first-ever tri-drive truck with tri axel trailer came open, and I got to transfer into his Pete 389 tri-drive. It could haul up to 74000 lbs instead of the 63500 lb limit I had before. I mainly hauled hogs. With this new rig, instead of having three decks and hauling 200 hogs, we had four decks and could haul 280 hogs. It was a lot of work, with the 4th deck being topheavy.

Early one Sunday morning in April, I loaded west of Falher, AB, with 280 hogs and headed for Red Deer. I was north of Valley View going down the Little Smokey Hill and started around the bend when my load shifted. (It didn’t help that I was going a little fast.) Before I knew it, I had laid the truck and trailer over. I was ok, but my load was a mess. We got panels and a chute down there and cut the wagon open. We then got another truck and liner and loaded up the survivors. When it was all done, I was looking for a new job.

I hired on with Dale Havanka, west of Wetaskiwin, hauling dirt, gravel and construction equipment. When winter came, he put the truck on with the County of Wetaskiwin

Road Graveling Program. It kept us busy until the end of February that year. The oil patch had slowed by this time, and summer work looked bleak. One day, when hauling some of his grain into Camrose, I talked to a driver for Triple C Holding from Maidstone, SK, who said they might need drivers. I called them, and they didn’t have an open truck but said a lease operator did. So I spent the winter hauling grain and fertilizer for them.

The truck was tired and needed some work which the owner didn’t want to do. By then, I had some savings and decided to buy a truck. I talked to Triple C, and they said they had some empty trailers. Anyone who has bought their first truck knows the hoops they must jump through to get financing. Being on the road and without smartphones, it took me 45 days to get my first truck. But by this time, there were no trailers available. So I called Rick at Jester Transport in Calgary, AB. By the next week, I was proudly pulling their trailer with my truck.

My first ride was a dark blue 2001 W900L Kenworth with a 6NZ Cat under the hood. Becoming an owner/operator was a big change and challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed. I worked for Jester for 4.5 years, hauling grain and fertilizer around Alberta. After Jester, I bought a brand new set of AHV Load King grain trailers and went on my own. In the spring of 2012, I bought the truck I currently own. It’s a 2003 Kenworth W900L with a 6NZ Cat again. I ran two trucks for just under two years, but the headache of the business got to be too much, so I sold the 2001 and kept the 2003.

In the fall of 2016, I got the opportunity to get back into hauling livestock when Jason Kuester offered me a chance to work for him. I took the job and have never looked back.

When I started driving for Jason, I had not been past Brandon, MB, or Kamloops, BC, but since then, I’ve been out to Ontario six times, to the B.C. coast more times than I can count and up to the Yukon a dozen times. I’ve hauled lots of freight to the Yukon and moved buffalo from Elk Island National Park to Whitehorse, where I switched with Jason, who then took them on to Fairbanks, Alaska, to start a new wild herd.

I’ve taken guide horses from Dawson Creek, BC, up to the Dempster Highway in July and hauled them home again in October. Many loads of hard-horned Elk around western Canada and many loads of buffalo every year to various places. I have hauled logs from B.C. to Alberta to be made into beautiful log homes, but the craziest load I’ve pulled was a load of live bees from Osoyoos, BC, to Peace River. Even with the special suit they gave me,

I was stung more than a few times. On top of these wild critters, I still moved cows and hogs regularly.

I have enjoyed working with Kuester Trucking with the small company atmosphere, and some of our cool jobs have made the news and the papers. It doesn’t feel like a job when we have fun. While working with Jason, I have donated time to causes like the annual Lesco Show in Nisku, AB, and Angel Tree Foundation in Lethbridge. When the fires ripped through Manning, AB, a few years ago, I donated my time and fuel to haul cows to safety for three days. I would do that again without hesitation.

In 2018, I started dating Amber Niemeyer and have happily been with her ever since. Together with my son Liam and Amber’s daughter Aerianna, we have become close. We have shared many amazing times

as a family. Some of our favourite activities are camping, river rafting, and family get-togethers. Amber has recently got me into skating and trying out a few new fun places as a family. She also has her Class 1 license and has shared driving on occasion. In addition, we have become active members of the various shows and activities with our trucking family. In 2019, I won first prize in the Best Lights Category at Pro-Trucker’s Alberta Big Rig Weekend. It was my very first truck show and first trophy. Later that year, I also won Best Lights at the Lesco Show. In 2022, I won first for Best Legal Lights at the Lesco Show again.

In the past 19 years, I’ve had a varied amount of experience. Would I change it? No! Am I happy where I am now? Yes! And I wouldn’t change a thing.

Bring on another 30 years, please!!!

Letters to the Editor

Hello John

I liked your editorial giving the truck driver’s background from the Humboldt crash. I agree that he made a tragic mistake, but the people who qualified him were just as much to blame. He was trying to better himself and was put, or allowed to be put, in a position that was an accident waiting to happen. The roads are much busier, loads are heavier and the number of configurations are very different than when I started driving. Yet the government is still licensing drivers using the bare minimum they can get away with. I have been a driving instructor for over 10 years and now teach the MELT program in Ontario but it does not go nearly far enough. We need a much better system. I agree that a Red Seal certification is the only way to produce good drivers who will have the skill to pull loads safely in any province. Yes it would be a costly venture but it comes down to what price the government is willing to pay to prevent another Humboldt.

Pro-Trucker Driver’sChoiceMagazine

Editor’s note:

There will always be naysayers for any suggestion to improve driver training. The big question is how many deaths are needed to convince the province’s Transportation Ministers to get together and agree on a standard driver training program that considers the various road conditions across the country. I believe that unless drivers are only allowed to drive in the province where they got their license, then it is a national concern, and the Federal government should be responsible for setting the standards.

Driving Through My Memories

It’s over - well, maybe! One is never quite sure. In the past, every province in The Great White North has seen white manna fall from the sky every month of the year. We can only hope that this will NOT be one of those years!

Since moving to Alberta, my driving habits have changed somewhat, not necessarily for the better, but on occasion, one is required to play dodgem rather than bumper car, as in a carnival midway. Speed limit signs here are generally treated with LOL attitudes, and windshield damage insurance is either unavailable or unaffordable. Winter driving is definitely not for the faint of heart.

Where we live just north of Calgary, it has yet to be warm enough to sit outside in the sun. The wind from the mountains is still chilly and unrelenting. Of course, there are still the butch guys who will wear shorts and a t-shirt while suffering hypothermia to impress whom it hasn’t yet been determined.

This past season was not particularly climate-friendly in other parts of

our great nation. The 2023 Farmers’ Almanac predicted “Labrador, Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, and the Great Lakes—will more often than not see winter’s precipitation fall as snow, and sometimes a lot of it. The Prairie Provinces will be hit the hardest this year with tons of snow in both January and February. British Columbia should see about an average amount of winter precipitation, but with brisk temperatures, skiing should be decent this upcoming season.” That legendary publication suggested that Canuckistan would be in for a “shake, shiver and shovel” ‘22/’23 winter season and it was bang-on!

Weather-related vehicle accidents kill more people annually than large-scale weather disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.

In Canada, there are at least 160,000 car accidents yearly, resulting in upwards of 3,000 fatalities. Economic loss and healthcare costs are over $10 billion annually. Add commercial vehicle mishaps to these statistics,

By Ed Murdoch

Ed has held a commercial drivers license for 65 years and has spent the better part of 50 years on the road. You can get Ed’s new book at www.drivingthroughmymemories.ca

and they become astonishingly high. A minimum of one-quarter of these incidents occur over the winter. Some one-third are rearenders. Most would be avoidable if the proper distance was maintained between vehicles. Twelve avalanche deaths have also been attributed to the severe conditions during the ‘22/’23 season. Careful recognition of hazardous conditions also needs to take place in risky non-mobile recreation areas. Road closures due to snow slides are frequent in BC, where gun emplacements are strategically located to trigger an avalanche before it can attack the highway and cause mayhem.

I witnessed a particularly bad one in the late ‘60s which occurred atop the Spiral Tunnels Big Hill. Large trees were uprooted, and huge boulders rolled down the slope, badly twisting the railway tracks. One of Arnold

Married Couple

A married couple was in a terrible accident where the man’s face was severely burned. The doctor told the husband that they couldn’t graft any skin from his body because he was too skinny. So the wife offered to donate some of her own skin. However, the only skin on her body that the doctor felt was suitable would have to come from her buttocks. The husband and wife agreed that they would tell no one about where the skin came from. After all, this was a very delicate matter.

After the surgery was completed, everyone was astounded at the man’s new face. He looked more handsome than he ever had before! All his friends and relatives just went on and on about his youthful beauty!

One day, he was alone with his wife, and he was overcome with emotion at her sacrifice. He said, “Dear, I just want to thank you for everything you did for me. How can I possibly repay you?”

“My darling,” she replied, “I get all the thanks I need every time I see your mother kiss you on the cheek”.

Bros. cabover Freightliners had the top sliced off the cab right at the door window level. Luckily the driver got wet but escaped serious injury. So don’t grumble when you are delayed by avalanche control. Just be thankful you are safe and enjoy some quality time off!

Some vehicle corridors are more notorious than others. The Highway 400 series in Ontario comes to mind, as does number 2 between Edmonton and Calgary. The TransCanada Highways 11 and 17 are currently under a petition to complete twinning. They are considered an embarrassment to Canada’s 900,000mile highway system. Richard Deschamps, a driver for Enterprise G. LaJoie, who runs Montreal to the west coast, created the petition, the 2nd of its kind, to address the issues facing drivers on these routes. He just lost an acquaintance in a head-on collision and said, “I just started to

get tired of statistics – friends dying, near misses, not sure if I’m going to make it home.” One wonders why, if according to documents tabled in the House of Commons, Canada’s Prime Minister can spend over $162,000 on a winter vacation, funds are not available to make Canada’s roads safer for commercial and private use.

The shortage of qualified drivers is one serious reason for concern. Often young drivers are set free with little or no experience in all-season driving, and Northern Ontario and British Columbia present challenges that even put a seasoned veteran’s skills to the test. One pundit recently spoke with a driver dispatched to the west coast from the East who had never driven in snow before. This is completely irresponsible and wrong; however, some carriers just shrug their collective shoulders and ask, “What else can we do?” How about adequate training, including a team driving

period with an experienced driver? I know the bottom line suffers a bit, but consider the loss accompanying a serious crash involving multiple injuries or death.

This conundrum heavily burdens the industry and the personnel that drive it forward, including the greatest resource of all, you, the human operators. It is incumbent on you to set the standard of quality expected from a professional highway engineer. This would not only elevate the way the general public sees you but would also positively influence the safety and well-being of everyone and ultimately increase the bottom line. How terrible would that be? Difficult to accomplish? Possibly a tad strenuous, however doable in the universal scheme of things, don’t cha think? Drive safely, perform at least one random act of kindness dailyand don’t forget to wash behind your ears … 10-4!

Wait Over Weight

Coming from Vancouver, I had just crossed the border into Washington, and about five miles later, I stopped at a rest stop to use their facilities. I parked my truck and went in, and did my thing. When I came out, two guys were standing by my front wheel. I walked up to them and asked if they were waiting for me. They said they were because they wanted to ask me something. So I said, “Go ahead, and I’ll see if I can help you.” One guy was middleaged, the other in his early twenties. The elder of the two said, “This is our truck beside you, and I think we may be overweight.” I replied that the way to find out was to weigh the truck and trailer, and then they would know. Then he produced a scale ticket and said, “We weighed in Canada, but it’s in kilograms, and they use pounds down here.”

I told them to convert it to pounds and that the gross weight in Washington is 80,000 pounds. They asked how to convert it, so I got out my trusty calculator (paper and pencil) and figured it out. According to their scale ticket, they were over 80,000 pounds by about three or four

hundred pounds, and the drive axle was well overloaded. I told them they would have to slide some axles to get their weights as close to legal as possible. Then I told them that if they only half-fill their tanks, they would probably get away with it. I told them there was a truck stop with a scale about seven or eight miles down the road where they could stop and get their weight sorted out.

They both looked at me as if I had just spoken a foreign language. That was when the elder of the two said that he had just got his class one license, and this was his first trip, but he added that he knew how to drive a truck because he used to drive a gravel truck with a class three license. He said the younger guy had just got his class one license and had never driven a truck before, and this was his first trip. Then he asked me if I would go to the scale with them and show them what to do!

Folks, that’s when I lost it. I said do you mean to tell me that the owner of the trucking company lets people (not drivers because they obviously weren’t) like you out on

By Frank Milne Retired Driver, Lease operator and company owner

the road? And I have to compete against outfits like yours? I can compete in every way and beat you in everything except one thing, and that’s probably the rates he charges to move Freight up and down the road, and I’m not going to stoop that low!

With saying that, I got into my truck and drove off. Would you have handled it differently? Should I have phoned up the trucking company? Should I have phoned the police, the licensing department, or the DOT?

Every time I come across situations like this, I think, “Humboldt hockey players,” and the ones that didn’t get to live a life.

P.S. It’s not the string that’s wrong – it’s the person pulling it.

P.P.S. It doesn’t matter what you get in life - you have to pay a price.

Official Visit

A Federal Government representative stopped at a farm and told the old farmer, “I’m going to inspect your farm.” The old farmer said, “You better not go in that field.” The Federal Government representative said in a wise tone, “I have the authority of the Candian Government with me. See this card? I am allowed to go wherever I wish on this land.” So the old farmer went about his farm chores. Later, the farmer heard loud screams and saw the Government representative running for the fence and close behind was the farmer’s prize bull. The bull was madder than a nest of hornets and was gaining at every step.

The old farmer called out, “Show him your card!”

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Minimum 1 year of experience

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Our Drivers are First Class

From

Elliot Lake

Iwill not mention names in this story as some of the things that happened ended up in criminal court, and I would hate to have to defend myself from any charges.

Elliot Lake was founded around 1954 as the Uranium Capitol of the World, and Dad started hauling there soon after. However, it was not somewhere we went to often until 56 or 57 when a company we did a lot of work for started construction there.

There was a weigh scale at the Serpent River junction, but we didn’t have any problems at the start. All our trucks were leased to the Construction Company, and each had a magnetic door sign with their company name.

One day the company phoned and said they needed two trucks which they would load on Saturday for Monday delivery. We were short a truck, so Len took one of the “Company” trucks, and Dad loaded the second load on his R model with our name on the door. Anyone who knew Dad knew his name was John, but he always signed everything Jno

Bxxxxxxxxx which was on the door of his truck. Everything went great until we hit the scale at Serpent, and while Len was green-lighted, Dad was told to park and bring in all papers. I waited in the truck, and it was a long wait. We only had two Case tractor backhoe loaders, so I knew we were underweight. We did have quite a bit of snow and ice build-up on the truck and trailer, but I still knew we were under, so I wondered what was up.

Dad finally came out, and he was fuming. Seems like the scale operator had been in Dad’s regiment during the war, and Dad had repeatedly reported him for theft, cowardice, and failure to perform until finally, after the Battle of the Bulge, Dad reported him to the MPs. When they arrested and searched him, they found 42 wedding rings and several gold and silver crosses hidden in his pack. Several of these proved to be off Canadian dead.

He ended up spending some time in the brig and was Dishonorably Discharged. Now he was saying the shoe was on the other foot, and either Dad could pay a $200.00 fine or he could remove all the ice and snow off his unit as it was unsafe. So Dad and I started shovelling, and when the scale operator went home for the night, he told Dad that if HE moved that truck, he would have the OPP arrest him,

and Dad could spend some time behind bars. Dad swore he would not move the truck, and the scale operator left.

Thirty minutes later, the OPP arrived and talked to us. Shortly after they left, Len showed up and spoke to Dad and, when he learned what was up, came up with a solution. Dad would not move the truck but would walk over to Lens truck and take a nap. So Dad crawled in Lens sleeper, and Len and I hopped in the R model.

We went and delivered the load, and after we delivered, we dropped the trailer a couple of times and knocked all the snow and ice off. We then returned, and Dad crawled into his own bunk and settled down for the night.

Morning came, and Mr. Scale was banging on our door. Dad swore up and down that HE did not move the truck, and I backed him up. The OPP were called, and after a lot of he said, you said, we were allowed to leave. That was the last trip our R model took to that area, and while our B models cruised by weekly, they mostly got green-lighted.

Six months later, after many complaints and an undercover investigation, Mr. Scale was arrested and sentenced to a 3-year stay in the crowbar hotel.

Dave Madill

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The Good (?) Old Trucks

Backin the day, I drove an old Flagyl truck with a Rolls-Royce engine, hauling gravel for Kirsch construction from Middle Lake Saskatchewan. It was a very quiet truck, but its top speed was only 35 or 45 mph. It was a good thing that I wasn’t hauling a perishable load!

Each of the old trucks I drove through the years taught me something, such as don’t park on a slope with no brakes (lesson learned). Turn the steering wheel the way you want to go when you start out because there was no power steering, and you needed a swamper to help turn the wheel if

you weren’t moving. Drive with your thumbs on the outside of the steering wheel –another lesson learned the hard way.

Kirsch construction also taught me to be smooth on the clutch. They had five or six dump trucks, all of different makes. The only thing that was the same was that they were all old and worn out. Some of them had weak batteries or no starter. They overcame this problem with their D8 Cat. At night, any truck with a starting problem would pull up

By Glen Millard

Glen “The Duck” was born in Saskatchewan. He has driven trucks for 50 years, mostly long hauling. He’s now retired, that is until another adventure comes along.

to the back of the cat. Each one carried a ten or twelve-foot chain, and the driver would hook it to the back of the cat and then to the front of his truck before he shut it off. The next one with a problem would pull up to that truck and do the same until all the trucks with starting issues were hooked up. In the morning, they would start the cat and then start pulling ahead. When a driver’s truck started, he would stick his arm out the window to let the other drivers know. Once they were all going, they would unhook and go to work.

This taught me to be smooth with the clutch and not to stall my truck. I learned something from every one of these trucks. How to drive smoothly and read the surroundings before you park or stop. There was no power steering, air ride seats or radios, and we used the original air conditioning unit called a 2-60. That is two windows rolled down while you’re driving 60 miles per hour. Mine did not work well either because, as I mentioned, my truck topped out at 45mph.

No Novacaine

A woman and her husband interrupted their vacation to go to the dentist. “I want a tooth pulled, and I don’t want Novacaine because I’m in a big hurry,” the woman said. “Just extract the tooth as quickly as possible, and we’ll be on our way.”

The dentist was quite impressed. “You’re certainly a courageous woman,” he said. “Which tooth is it?”

The woman turned to her husband and said, “Show him your tooth, dear.”

Old Drivers

Old Ross finally hung up the keys, and Fred, he quit last year Don and Art and Andy, well, their retirement dates are near

The drivers are all changing and the road is not the same

We are the last of a dying breed yet we still play the game

The old trucks are all gone; their steel has turned to rust

Many drivers followed them and their bodies are now dust Some of us still struggle on and try to keep the dream alive

We try to teach the new breed how to act and how to drive

Old Knights of the highway with our armor bent and rusted

Stagger off to our steeds though our bodies are tired and busted

Once more into the breach; haul just one more load

Ride into the sunset on that never-ending road.

Dave Madill

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I Write

As I was sitting in a hospital waiting room a few weeks ago with a couple of hours to kill, I thought, I’ll buy myself a magazine to read. In the shop I found a magazine I used to buy regularly but stopped after the price kept going up. You know how we Scots don’t like to part with oor pennies. Even when they bundled it with a truck stop newspaper to make you think you were getting a bargain, it didn’t tempt me to buy.

The paper had always been free anyway, it was a truck stop giveaway, as I read through the paper that was mostly all advertisements my eye was drawn to a couple of articles.

Truckers advised not to underestimate the importance of sleep was one headline, no s**t Sherlock. Apparently, the lack of sleep can affect your mental health, no, the lack of sleep is more likely to affect your ability to stay awake at the wheel. Another headline was, safe loading of your lorry is vitally important, again, what? Who have they got writing this stuff?

But the main reason I bought the magazine was the photo on the cover, a 21-year-old ERF that was still on the road earning it’s keep. The driver had bought the truck to start his own business, and if you’re going to become an owner operator, in my opinion there’s no better truck than an ERF to do it with. It’s

a real driver’s truck, not full of electronic gadgetry, it had an 11 litre Cummins with 450 power and ZF 16 Speed transmission. If I had to pick my favourite truck the ERF would be right up there. Unlike modern trucks you can access the dipstick and radiator under the front grill, so you can check oil and water levels without tilting the cab or relying on gauges or warning lights. With fibreglass cabs ERFs are safe from the dreaded rust, although you have a little more wiring to do if you want to get a good earth for your CB aerial.

The driver got the truck for the bargain price of £4,500, ($7500 CAD) but then had to spend double that making it roadworthy. For most of its life the ERF had been hauling fairground rides and as such was exempt from the yearly Ministry of transport checks all other trucks have to go through. Fairground trucks don’t have an easy life pulling the rides from site to site. I saw a piece online where the cops had pulled one over for a random check, it was 15 tons overweight with six illegal tyres.

Compared to the cost of a newer truck the ERF at £13,000 or so is a bargain, and it’s all paid for, no debt. The driver is a mechanic so was well able to bring it up to a legal usable state.

By Colin Black

Colin Black lives in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland and has been driving truck for over 40 years. His story shows us once again that the problems drivers face are universal.

Another truck the magazine reviewed was a new Volvo, it was an all singing all dancing 13 litre 500 power truck with all the software to make the driver’s life as easy as possible. I-save to get the best mpg, I-shift dual clutch automatic transmission, a map based predictive cruise control with, I-See, I-cruise and I-roll. The company running the Volvo was getting an average of 9.5mpg, not too far from the old ERF getting between 7 to 7.5mpg fully loaded at 44 tons, on lighter work it gets between 9 to11mpg.

If you factor in the cost of not having to buy DEF fluid, the bought and paid for ERF is starting to look like a no brainer. There is a drawback of course, without the DEF fluid your truck does not meet the low emission zone levels of city centres, but not being able to deliver in city centres might be a plus point for some drivers. I know I’m quite happy to stay out of city centres.

This story was brought to you by I-write software, which usually kicks in when I’m lying in bed trying to initiate the I-sleep program.

On The Road Again

WhenWillie Nelson sings the following, he describes exactly how I feel about trucking when everything runs smoothly.

“On the road again

Goin’ places that I’ve never been Seein’ things that I may never see again

And I can’t wait to get on the road again”

Now, anyone in the trucking industry knows that things very rarely run smoothly. I was just starting to feel optimistic about the weather turning around, and then Mother Nature had to throw her surprise Spring snow storms into the mix.

I took a few days off of work and figured we should be proactive and get some truck maintenance done while I was off. With my last Pete 389, I asked to have the DPF cleaned while I was on vacation because it was in and around the mark that they recommend it get cleaned. The powers that be decided if it wasn’t acting up, why waste the money cleaning it? But wouldn’t you know it….the very first trip back after my time off, the filter plugged! The truck was down for a week. By no means am I a fortune teller, or in this case, a misfortune teller, but I had a feeling this was going to happen. I don’t know if anyone else feels this way, but from time to time, I get this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach like I just know I’m going to have truck issues. I guess it’s kind of like your body. You’re with it all of the time, so when something seems a bit off, you can feel it. Whether it be a creak here, a clunk there, or a mild hesitation, you just know your truck isn’t performing at 100%.

The shop was great this time, and they sent the DPF in to get cleaned

while I was off. They knew my frustrations from the last go-round and were not going to let that happen again. It was a good thing the filter went in because it turned out that it had a crack in it, so they replaced it under warranty. Maybe just a little more fortune-telling on my part again. A valve set was also done, and they replaced the EGR valve.

Once I got back into the truck after all these repairs, I felt again that something was going to happen. Like it was too much work done on the truck all at once, something is bound to happen. Sure enough, on the first trip out, the check engine and wrench light came on about a mile from the Rothsay Truck Stop. I start to lose power, and the truck starts running rough. I made it to Peterbilt in Alexandria, MN, and they replaced the EGR pressure sensor. In the meantime, I had to switch loads with one of our teams so they could proceed to Virginia, and when my truck was fixed, I’d head back to the yard.

I made the trip home in one piece and decided to take a Grand Forks, ND, rounder to fill up the rest of the week. Sure enough, the check engine lights came on again. I was empty and headed home this time, so I didn’t notice the lack of power as I did with a full load. Back into our shop we go! Peterbilt came to work on the truck, and two days later, I was on my way again. Then, the craziest thing happened - the check engine and wrench light came on again one mile from the Rothsay Truck Stop for the second week in a row. I was starting to think that the exact spot was jinxed. Finally, the wrench light went out, so I figured I might as well keep going, and I continued down the road. From that day on, and for the rest of the trip to Indianapolis and back, I

By Myrna Chartrand

Myrna was born and raised in Oak Point, Manitoba and was our April 2019 Rig of the Month driver.

had to pull over on the shoulder once per day to do a forty-minute parked regen. I’ll tell you, when that warming comes on, it doesn’t give you time to get safely to the next truck stop, rest area, or off-ramp. You need to pull over ASAP! And it always happens in the most inopportune places. It was the most inconvenient thing.

I finished the trip and made it home again in one piece. It’s frustrating not to know why the truck is acting up. When the mechanics hook up the computer to check codes, it all seems vague. There doesn’t appear to be any exact corrective action but more so just trial and error.

Back at our shop following this Indianapolis trip, our mechanics finally found the cause of all these issues. From what I understand, they cleaned a plugged port on the EGR system that leads to the EGR differential pressure sensor, but honestly, it’s all gibberish to me.

I’ve since made a trip to Florida and, knock on wood, everything has been running great! Being down here where the weather has been sunny with little rain and temperatures keeping around 30 degrees Celsius has been good for my mind and body. I told my dispatcher that if she couldn’t find me a load until next week, I wouldn’t even feel bad about it. I know of a truck show at Wildwood, FL, so I’m sure I could keep myself entertained.

Why us?

At Transam Carriers, we believe that success is not achieved without professional human attitudes. We are proud of providing some of the most flexible work options in the industry for an optimum work-life balance. All of these, in conjunction with new equipment, modern technologies, in-house truck shop, and cross-dock facility, make Transam an exceptional workplace that we call here our second home.