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From the Editor’s desk... VOLuME 17, ISSuE 06 PUBLISHER/EDITOR John White john.protrucker@shaw.ca PRODUCTION/CIRCULATION Tori Proudley tori.protrucker@shaw.ca ADMIN/SPECIAL EVENTS Donna White donna.protrucker@shaw.ca ADVERTISING/MARKETING John White john.protrucker@shaw.ca Tori Proudley tori.protrucker@shaw.ca CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dave Madill • Mel McConaghy Ben Proudley • Scott Casey Ed Murdoch • Colin Black Tamara Weston PHOTOGRAPHY David Benjatschek • Ben Proudley HEAD OFFICE Ph: 604-580-2092 Fax: 604-580-2046 Toll Free: 1-800-331-8127 Published eleven times a year by Pro-Trucker Magazine Inc.,
The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without prior written consent of the publisher. The advertiser agrees to protect the publisher against legal action based upon libelous or inaccurate statements; the unauthorized use of materials or photographs; and/or any other errors or omissions in connection with advertisements placed in Pro-Trucker Magazine. The publisher can and will refuse any advertising which in his opinion is misleading or in poor taste. The publisher does not endorse or make claim or guarantee the validity or accuracy of any advertisement herein contained. All materials submitted for publication are subject to editing at the publisher’s discretion. The act of mailing or e-mailing material shall be considered an expressed warranty by the contributor that the material is original and in no way an infringement on the rights of others.
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As we all know the drop in oil prices has produced big layoffs in the prairie provinces. One estimate is that, in 2015, Alberta alone will have approximately 25,000 layoffs. Another reports states that the rollback in spending and budgets in the oilpatch, could see as many as 185,000 direct and indirect Canadian jobs lost this year. This is a twofold hit for the trucking industry. Not only are the people that are laid off not spending as much on goods that are shipped in by the truck load but, as more people lose their jobs, even less John White money is being spent on unessential items. An even bigger loss for the industry itself is the thousands of loads of materials needed for exploration as well as the new projects and additions to existing projects that have been put on hold. This slowdown in projects extends past the oil industry as provincial governments, cities and municipalities, who all depend on the spin off taxes from the energy sector, are putting major projects on hold. On top of that many existing projects, that were under construction when the crash came, have had their completion dates greatly extended, some indefinitely. One major development that could reverse this trend and speed the recovery is the building of the Keystone XL pipeline. There has been tremendous progress made over the past 30 odd years that has reduced man’s dependency on oil and gas but anyone who thinks it will stop before all supplies are exhausted has been visiting too many of the new ‘smoke’ shops on Granville street in Vancouver. Environmental groups say they are afraid of oil spills. Have they never heard of the Exxon Valdez? The U.S. imports oil from almost every continent with the largest amount coming from Canada. The next two largest exporters to the States are Mexico and Saudi Arabia. For some reason the environmentalists in the U.S. have no qualms about importing oil from Saudi Arabia. This oil is brought over to North America in ships whose fuel is not regulated in anyway. The diesel fuel in our trucks is purer than water compared to that stuff. The bottom line is that the oil will be imported and there will always be risks, no matter how it is transported. Slightly off topic but, a point I believe is well worth making is - I cannot understand how a country as patriotic and supportive of their homeland as the United States is, can still buy oil from a country that spawned Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 terrorists that took Peace Arch Border Crossing Twin Towers down the twin towers of 9/11.
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Pro-Trucker Magazine’s 13th Annual
Big Rig Weekend
August 15/16 Westener Park, Red Deer, Alberta RC Big Rigs • Face Painting • Balloons• Mini Golf• Live Band
BIG RIG SHOW ‘N SHINE • TOW TRUCK SHOW’N SHINE(BC)• INDUSTRY TRADE BOOTHS SATURDAY NIGHT BEST LIGHTS COMPETITION • ON-SITE CAMPING • DOOR PRIZES STEAK DINNER FOR TWO WITH EACH TRUCK ENTRY TRUCKER’S FAMILY WEEKEND!
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LETTERS to the EDITOR
e Whit John agazine
rM rucke Pro-T
John White agazine Pro-Trucker M
Hey John, Thanks for the reminder invite to the shows. I might get to Red Deer this year, but not BC. This last year has been a slow one. In fact may be the slowest I’ve had? Almost immediately upon the price of oil dropping and news of projects being halted, most of the trucking companies that haul shacks dropped their rates down around their ankles. Same as ever. Can’t fix stupid !!! Believe it or not the age old formula that fuel cost should not exceed 30 - 33% of gross is still fairly reliable. So if you know that hauling shacks you will only average 5.5 miles per imperial gallon between winter and summer, and to get that you will travel 58 - 60 miles per hour . That’s based on Alberta. We can’t achieve same in BC due to mountains and or road conditions. So now we know 2 of the 3 factors for an equation to determine a minimum base rate. The last is fuel price.
So - cost per litre x 4.5 = cost per Imperial Gallon. Miles traveled divided by 5.5 gives you the number of gallons necessary for the used. Number of gallons times cost per gallon will give you a total that should not exceed 30 to 33% of your gross. Was that hard ??? Apparently it must be, ‘cause I see a lot of guys going for too cheap. Ain’t ever gonna change man! Want to buy a truck ? Lol !!! Let me warn you though - first you should go get a lobotomy. Whatever, mine can sit parked. I’ll go broke slower that way, compared to burning tires and fuel at a loss that only benefits the huge corporations that sit back and laugh at how desperate people are. Well, that’s my happy thought for the day - take ‘er easy John. Trevor Cameron, Spruce Grove, AB Editor’s note: It’s always a pleasure to hear from you Trevor. A lot of people get into trucking because they love trucks and the freedom it gives them. If – heavy on the if - the times are good, like they have been in Alberta for many years now, things go along just fine. The demand for trucks and drivers is high and so are the rates. Unfortunately a lot of drivers do not come from trucking families so their basic knowledge of the business side of trucking comes from what they are able to pick up along the way. If they started when the times were good then
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they never had to pay too close attention to costs. They rode the gravy train, money flowed and life was good. At times like these more and more people buy trucks to fill the void. Unfortunately when the crunch comes, and it always does, drivers and small companies who have depended on the boom to get started are trapped under a load of debt. If they do not know their true costs and have not planned for the slow times they desperately keep undercutting just to get a load – hoping to weather the storm. Unfortunately the shippers smell blood and jump on this like piranhas. Rates go down and the whole industry suffers. I remember back in the late 70’s following a beat up old pick-up with Alberta plates across the Pattullo Bridge going into New Westminster BC. It had a bumper sticker, (my favourite of all time) that was barely readable under the grime. It said, “Please Lord, let there be another oil boom and I promise I won’t p&%$ it all away this time.” Unfortunately not everyone has had the advantage of riding in a truck with their father since they were a year old, like you said you did in your May 2005 Rig of the Month story. You also said your dad hauled shacks to the oil fields for well over 40 years and the majority of your work through the years has been the same. Not many drivers can say they have specialized in one
area of trucking for as many years as your family has. You and many other drivers have seen the good and the bad. We are in our 17th year of publishing and have had well over 150 Rig of the Month drivers featured in ProTrucker. The most common part of many of their stories has been buying a truck and losing it due to not knowing true costs and how to budget. Many of them could have benefited from your rate formula. One of Merle Haggard’s songs asks the question, “Are the good times really over for good?” The answer is no. The drop in oil prices has affected trucking and all associated businesses, including publishing, all across Canada - we just have to weather the storm. Hello John, I’ve been reading Pro-Trucker for many years now and I have to say that I enjoy it very much. The old-timers like Mel, Ed and Colin remind us of where the industry comes from and the younger drivers like Scott, Tamara and Ben give us an idea of what is happening out there today. Mark Whitworth and the occasional article by the CVSE gives us an idea of what they have to put up with also. As I’ve heard you say at Big Rig Weekend – we’re all in this together. Keep up the good work and I’ll see you in Red Deer. Tom Hanlen, Edmonton, AB
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refLeCTions Thru My WindshieLd By Dave Madill Dave was Pro-Trucker Magazine’s Rig of the Month in June of 2001
One Of Those Days
The day started off just great, it was a beautiful day as Betty and the kids drove me down to where I had parked the truck. We pulled up beside the truck and I unlocked the doors and we loaded in my cooler, my clothes and my
G N I R I H
paperwork. Then it started - I twisted the key and all I heard was a click. There is no worse sound than that especially when you are right on schedule to pull out and go trucking. Well at least my wife was there with my pickup. I grabbed the cables out of the truck and hooked the pickups battery to the trucks and revved the engine up a bit so the alternator could charge the system. That’s when I found that I had left a light on in the sleeper and that is what had ran down the batteries. Twenty minutes later the truck was running. I started to do my pretrip only to find that there was air spilling out from somewhere. I told the wife to wait a few minutes while I checked things over. Following the sound of the air I found that somehow the line off the main air tank had
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broken. It was a funny kind of a perfectly straight break but who am I to suggest that someone with bolt cutters didn’t like me. I pulled the hose off and sent the wife over to the dealers to pick up another while I checked the rest of the truck over. The wife came back with the new line which I proceeded to install. By now the kids were going crazy so in self defense I sent her and the kids home while I carried on. Everything went together like it is supposed to and in a few minutes I was off to the yard. By now it was starting to get dark and clouded over. I pulled into the yard and backed under my trailer only to find that two tires are FLAT and there is no one but me in the office or yard. I break out my jack and wrenches and in about an hour I had changed the tires for a couple that were inside the shop and finally away I went. No I didn’t, because while my trailer had been sitting in the yard someone had stolen over half the bungee cords off my tarp and it needed to be refastened with the last of my bungees and a lot of rope that I had “just in case”. Did I mention that it had also started raining? By the time I was done I was soaked to the skin and frozen to the bone but at least I had clean dry clothes in the truck along with a towel and my truck did have heat. Finally I was rolling and things were going great - for the first hundred miles - until I stopped for a walk around and paused to water a trailer tire. That when I found that I now had a flat on the inside right front. No one answered
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my calls to the office so I called the only service person I could get find. Problem was he was an hour away and very busy but he said he would get to me as soon as he could. Three and a half hours later the service truck finally showed up and one new tire and a service call went on my personal Visa. Once again I was off and running. I drove almost straight through the night to make up time and finally pulled in to deliver my load the next morning, only fifteen minutes late. After only getting about two hours sleep I un-tarped my load to find that their lift truck was broken down. They said they were waiting for a new one to arrive but they said it might be a while. Well it was a while.
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Almost twenty seven hours later I finally pulled out of their yard and got back on the highway. When I called my dispatch he informed me that I had missed my scheduled return load because of “MY” problems and that I would have to wait another twenty four hours for a load. Sometimes you are the windshield and other times you are the bug and this was just one of the times that made me ask myself why in heck I ever took up driving a big rig in the first place. *****
Thought for the day.
You know that tingly little feeling you get when you really like someone you’ve just met? That’s common sense leaving your body.
From the Patch By Tamara Weston
Tamara and her husband Eric, were the Rig of the Month drivers in our October 2014 issue.
Eric and I have been through quite a few changes these past few months. We have made a move from Cenalta, which was one of the toughest decisions we have ever had to make. As hard as it was, it was what was best for our family and for us personally. We are still working in oil and gas and hauling pretty much the same loads, it is just with different trucks and trailers. Going to a new company is never easy and we have seen some big changes, new gear new company new policies etc, although one of the biggest changes I’ve had to deal with is no Steve. I’m pretty sure that every driver out there has had people who have helped them along the way. They also have that one guy or girl who has made a big difference in his or her career. That one person who took the time to share his or her knowledge and experience with you. Steve was that guy for me. He is a mechanic for Cenalta. It has been a huge adjustment for me, not having him to call or text and for the
most part, relying on the advice that he would take the time to share with me. The company we have gone to work for is a small, family based company who relies on commercial garages and us drivers to keep the fleet of 6 trucks rolling. It is quite a difference from the manned shop that Cenalta has. I have a better understanding for the “look” I would get from the guys when I would pull into the shop for a service and I would say, “Oh and I have a light out on my truck.” I have spent hours chasing a wire to get my chicken light drivers side to work but, because I watched, and listened and learned Eric and I have been able to fix it on the road. Steve would always take time to explain the mechanics of things to me, why something was doing what it was doing or what has caused it to wear or why it made that noise. He made me feel that there were no stupid questions, I learned the most about these trucks that I drive from him. Now I’m not saying that the rest of the guys at the shop were not helpful because they were. They all, for the most part, put up with the girl and all her crazy questions. I think, sometimes, that these guys who put in long hours keeping us rolling go under appreciated and with the changes we have had I just wanted to let the few who have made a huge difference in my trucking career know that they are appreciated. One of the things I learned is that sometimes you have to improvise and MacGyver a part with whatever you may have available. You never know what you may need and no two drivers carry all the same things with them. One time I was doing infield work and was in and out of my truck quite regularly. Short little runs. Puddle jumping is what they called it. I was assigned the truck no one wanted. Older Pete had almost a million miles on her and was dirty inside and out. I spent hours cleaning and scrubbing inside – I even steam cleaned the carpet. When I was finished she became a bootless truck. That being said the clutch pedal was missing the rubber pad leaving only the spikey metal clutch pedal which was not very easy on my bootless foot. I asked a few times for a rubber pad and it was forgotten about until I took matters into my own hands. I took a maxi pad with wings and wrapped it around the pedal. I then wrapped that in duct
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tape and viola, instant comfort on my clutch foot. My cross shift thought I was brilliant…lol. Steve however thought I was nuts. He instantly produced a rubber pad once I showed him what I had done. He wouldn’t however remove the maxi pad. He just made a face and asked me to take it off. Boys, sheesh! *****
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An Irish priest was transferred to Texas.... Father O’Malley rose from his bed one morning. It was a fine spring day in his new west Texas mission parish. He walked to the window of his bedroom to get a deep breath of the beautiful day outside. He then noticed there was a jackass lying dead in the middle of his front lawn. He the last rites!” There was dead silence on the line for a long moment… promptly called the local police station. Father O’Malley then replied: “Aye, ‘tis certainly true, The conversation went like this: “Good morning. This is but we are also obliged to notify the next of kin first, which Sergeant Jones. How might I help you?” is the reason for me call.” “And the best of the day te yerself. This is Father O’Malley at St. Ann’s Catholic Church. There’s a jackass lying dead on me front lawn and would y ife hrough roken indshield ye be so kind as to send a couple o’yer lads to take care of By Mel McConaghy the matter?” Sergeant Jones, considering himself to be quite a wit Mel is a retired veteran and recognizing the foreign accent, thought he would have driver who has spent 40 a little fun with the good father, replied, “Well now Father, years on the road. it was always my impression that you people took care of
M L
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The Evolution of a BC Teamster Cont’d
Jim Johnson had been hauling lumber out of Ole Swanson’s small sawmill with a team of horses for about five years. Then Ole got to the point where he was running out of timber on the sale he was cutting so he decided it was time to move the show a little farther back into the woods.
A
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This and the fact that Ole had made some modifications to his ‘slab factory,’ making it more productive, meant that Jim and the horses wouldn’t be able to keep up with its production. So something had to be done. Ole could have bought another team and wagon and hired another teamster but that also meant he would have to build another barn and buy more feed. This would cost Ole a lot of money that he wasn’t prepared to spend. Now I should explain something about Ole. He had emigrated from Sweden as a young man and had started
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hewing ties with a broad axe for the rail road, which was fast approaching Prince George in the first part of the 1900’s. Over the years he had worked hard for his money and had formed an attachment to it so he didn’t like to part with it, but he was smart enough to realize, that if he wanted more of it, he would have to keep up with the fast growing technology. So it surprised Jimmy, while he was in the cook house eating a late dinner, after a very hard day on the road, when Ole came into the cook house, grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down across from him. “Yimmy” said Ole who had trouble with his ‘J’s’, “I tink it’s time we did someting better”, (he wasn’t too good with his h’s either) “so I decide to buy a truck for you to haulit the lumber.” “A truck!” Jimmy said, trying to suppress his excitement. Some of the mills around the country had bought trucks and Jim had looked them over, envious of the drivers. A lot of them were new, with cabs and Jimmy could envision himself, in the winter sitting in a warm cab, instead of enduring all of what Mother Nature could throw at him, sitting on a board seat freezing his butt. Ole went on to tell him how he had bought a used Ford cheap from a freight outfit and that Jimmy would have to take the bus to Quesnel to pick it up. After an agonizing, nine hour ride in the rickety old bus over the old Black Water Road, to Quesnel, Jimmy was more than happy to walk the two miles to the office of the
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freight company. A pleasant young lady behind the desk cheerfully greeted him and asked if she could help him? “I’m here to pick up the truck Ole Swanson bought.” “Oh yes, we have been expecting you, Now if you would be kind enough to sign these papers, you can go out to the shop and John will show you the truck.” Before Jimmy walked into the shop he had noticed a few trucks parked in the yard and he was pleasantly impressed, but this all changed when John, the mechanic, showed him the old Ford, Ole had bought for him to drive. It looked like a derelict! John noticed Jimmies look of disbelief as he was showing him how to start the truck and shift gears. “Don’t let her looks fool you, he said, “she’s still a good, dependable old truck.” After 12 hours driving, with many stops along the way to check the old Ford, Jimmy chugged his way into Prince George. With the powerful forty horse four cylinder engine barking and sputtering, he sat up straight proudly behind the steering wheel. This was his first truck and in the last 12 hours the bond that a teamster forms with his first truck had been established. Jimmy was now a teamster of the new generation. *****
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I decided to change calling the bathroom the John and renamed it the Jim. I feel so much better saying I went to the Jim this morning.
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Driving Through my Memories
By Ed Murdoch
Ed has held a commercial drivers license for 64 years and has spent the better part of 50 years on the road. You can get Ed’s new book at www.drivingthroughmymemories.ca The following content comes just a tad too late to be useful for surviving this year’s safety blitz we had in early June but it might serve as a check to see how well you did in each category, and will certainly be useful any time you are stopped at a DOT inspection facility or by a peace officer for whatever reason. First, a tidy and clean vehicle, inside and out makes a good first impression and often is enough incentive for the inspecting officer to let you go without further ado. Clutter and disarray often reflect a driver’s attitude toward how he/she conducts his/her business and how they maintain their equipment. If the officer opens the door of your vehicle and is immediately attacked by an array of fast food containers, potato chip bags and the like, chances are his/her mood will be somewhat negatively impacted. A neat and clean exterior and interior make a very positive first impression and just might be enough for the officer to think this guy or gal has his/her stuff
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NEW Extended Hours Mon-Fri 8 am- Midnight • Sat 8 am- 5pm together and tell you to, “Have a nice day!” and wave you on your way. Secondly, have your license and registration, log book and bills of lading, easily accessible and easy to inspect. The time it takes for you to root around looking for the requested paperwork is directly in proportion to the growing irritation that the officer is experiencing while you search. If you appear to be efficient and on top of your game, you are more likely to be seen as a winner, and released with a wave and a smile. One driver under my supervision a few years ago turned in log books that were totally illegible & I knew he was doing it on purpose. He was one of those ‘been there done that’ kind of persons and his idea was that if the DOT couldn’t figure it out they’d send him packing. Thing is however, he was always getting pulled in for a secondary inspection and couldn’t get it through his skull that it was because of his cavalier behaviour. According to him he wrote the book on just about everything – problem was no one else could read it. Thirdly, as mentioned, attitude is paramount. Never attempt to say anything clever or make jokes. Answer questions with as short and complete an answer as possible and always with courtesy, whether you feel like it or not. Don’t ask questions that are irrelevant. Any attempt to distract the officer from his/her mission will be perceived as a ploy to hide something or deflect a situation where you are not comfortable. It is to your advantage to get the process over with as soon and as painlessly as possible and get on down the road to your destination. Fourthly, and contrary to popular belief the inspector does not have a quota he/she must meet on the number of tickets he/she has to issue but he/she does have a quota on the number of inspections to complete within a certain period of time. And finally, occasionally, even if you have all your i’s dotted & your t’s crossed, you will still have to endure a full inspection. That’s the way it goes sometimes so just suck it up and smile. Things will go better and chances are, if you are cited for an infraction, they will go easier on you. There are times when they do not catch everything though so it is a good idea when traveling to do your checks
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along the way. Quite a few years ago I was westbound in my old ’77 Kenworth on Highway 17 at Dryden, Ontario. The scale was open and I dutifully pulled in. Possibly the officer was lonely and needed some company because he came out slowly, walked around my unit slowly looking here and there for this and that, underneath on top and in between. Obviously he was in no hurry and perhaps was interested in looking over the machinery that I was hauling on a drop deck trailer. Anyway he completed his tour and ended up at the driver’s door where he gave my paperwork – yes I had it ready – a quick glance and following a bit of idle chit-chat let me go with a “Have a nice day.” I stopped briefly at the Husky just a short distance along the way probably to pick up an order of French fries, since back then they were the best anywhere and when I was walking back to my cab something caught my eye that didn’t look quite right. Upon closer inspection I noticed that the clevis pin on the right rear drive axle slack adjuster was missing and the arm was just hanging there right out in the open. How the officer missed it I could not imagine but it was an easy fix and away I went. Other times of course you really have no idea what they may be thinking. Back in the early ‘80s I was hauling reefer A trains with cheese from Belleville, Ontario to the coast and beer for Carling Breweries back to Toronto. I had gone over several scales already in Ontario by the time I would pass the scale on Hwy 102 at Thunder Bay - in the empty
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lane. The first time the officer stopped me, came out and asked me why and I told him, “My trailers have been sealed since I left the factory, I have been legal so far and have no reason to believe that I am not currently in compliance.” With a smile he shrugged his shoulders and waved me on. Each time after that which was about every two weeks we would go through the same routine only instead of asking why he would slowly walk around my units, come to the driver’s door, smile and wave me on. It was a game we played. I didn’t have to go over the scale but it took just as long for him to walk around my truck as it would have been to weigh each axle, unless of course it was raining or -40 below in which case he just smiled through the window and waved me on. Sure sometimes I miss the good old days, but not quite enough to get back in the saddle. Enjoy and be safe!
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Rig of the Month by John White
Our July 2015 Rig of The Month driver is Ron Spring Saskatchewan. I was second in line to the throne, to my from Calgary Alberta. This is his story: I was born older brother Bob, who was like my best friend. Our Mom into a trucking family in my hometown of Regina, was a homemaker and Dad worked for Imperial Oil ( Esso)
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as a company driver. He was a good driver, winning the National Trucking Rodeo in 1957. Dad left Imperial Oil and started his own business in Regina in 1958, moving pianos, furniture and providing local drayage services. My brother and I grew up with the business. We learned math by unloading truckloads of small appliances by hand – one piece at a time. There was no such thing as a palletized load or shrink wrap at that time. Each piece had to be accounted for and match the shipping documents. That was an era when we had no fork lifts, so it was peavey bars, pipe rollers, hand trucks and hand bomb. In about 1965 Dad started picking up extra work pulling Esso tankers around the area. Within a couple years we had moved out of the freight business and into hauling fuel around Saskatchewan. By this time we had 6 - 3-ton delivery trucks hauling freight and 4 semi-trailer tankers, pulling for Esso. My brother and I were responsible for washing and servicing everything on the weekends. We got $20.00 a month for that and I had more money in the bank then, than I do now! We used to carry wash brushes and soap with us so if Ron and Heather it rained, we could do a wash job while unloading.This was definitely an apprentice position. (child labour) Dad horse traded some 3-tons with the owner of the in Saskatchewan. Since Bob was 2 years older than me he Kenworth dealership in Regina and managed to acquire was now legal to be a highway driver so he got the new his first diesel tractor. It was the first wide front Kenworth Kenworth with a big horse 270 hp Cat. At the same time I
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got my first tractor unit – a 1967 Ford F-800 that I used to deliver fuel to the city service stations. I was sixteen but I didn’t need a Chauffeur’s licence as long as I was within 15 miles of the city. Even as kids we were into shiny and dress up. My brother was spending all his extra money on chrome for the Kenworth and I was competing by spending all my extra money on chroming anything I could on the Ford. Finally Dad stepped in and put a stop to that - All the other drivers wanted their trucks dressed up too and Pop wasn’t really excited about glitzing up 6 more trucks – so he paid us for what we had into the trucks and put a moratorium on shiny objects. One of the earliest lessons I learned was about getting out to check when backing up. I was backing one of our tankers into the shop one day and rather than get out and check my clearance, I continued backing up… knocking over the huge bolt bin that was being used as a divider between our shop space and the neighbours. THAT was a sobering experience and a good lesson in eating crow and spitting out feathers. My brother and I were expected to be the role models for the rest of the drivers. We had learned the business while riding with our Dad. He talked to us about driving skills, customer service, image and operations, long before we were able to legally drive. At 16 years of age, when Mom and Dad weren’t around I was dispatching, doing the
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outside smoking. Likely wouldn’t go over well anymore. I bought my first truck off my brother in 1975. It was a 1973 Kenworth Conventional with a hot-rodded 350 Cummins. I thought trucking was all about running fast and hard. What did the Old Man know?? By the end of 1976, I was all but broke. Rates were low and running fast kept my expenses high. By this time I had met this cute little sweetie and was quite enamored with her and her daughter. My wife to be was working in an office downtown and had her own house – not an easy accomplishment in those days. So after living with her for almost a year and never having enough money to pay rent or buy groceries too often, we decided I should park the truck and get a real job. Heather and I got married on December 4, 1976 and I started as a company driver for Shell Oil 3 days later. Now I learned real fast how speed affected me. Shell Oil had a 90 kph speed limit. It took me almost 2 months to be able to stay awake for my 10 hr shift. Only then did I realize how stressed up I was when I ran my own truck at speeds of up to 130 kph. Over the years the family grew. Since my wife couldn’t make enough at her job to pay day care, she stayed home and I had to step up to the challenge. With her daughter Colleen, and a year later our son Conrad, then 4 years after that our second son Corey, there was always a demand for something… Shell was a great company to work for, lots of days off,
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with good pay and benefits. On my days off I ran flatbed for Richards Transport. I bought a new house, built a garage did the landscaping, blah, blah, blah… All the trappings of a good life. For the next 5 years I kept up the pace - flat out, hair straight back. But I was working too hard and not living much, so I took a job in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, peddling bread for McGavins Foods. Smaller town, better life right? Uhhhh… Nope. The commission was okay, but the hours were worse than trucking. I quit the bread company in 1981 and moved to Moose Jaw where I ended up working for the Government Training school (SIAST) as a Truck Driver Instructor. During this time I went back to school and acquired my Adult Education Diploma. While I meant to upgrade my work skills, this was likely the best thing I did for my family. I learned how to learn. I became more aware of the human condition and that we have to judge and work with people at their level. I became a better parent and a better husband. That is likely the most rewarding thing ever. When a major shuffle came to the training school and we were laid off I ventured into consulting services with a couple other fellows. Unfortunately we were way ahead of our time. Today we wouldn’t be able to keep up with demand, but at that time, in Saskatchewan,we weren’t in the right place at the right time. When Deregulation set in I hired on with Greyhound Canada. I drove both the buses and the Courier freight
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person. In Saskatchewan I had always been my Dad’s son or Bob’s brother. Here I built my own network based on who I am. One night there was an incident that convinced me to quit Greyhound. After being on call for so many years, I had gotten to the point where I couldn’t tell when I was getting tired. It had been a regular thing to be up all day and then get a call at supper time to be at the depot 2 hours later. On that night I was heading west to Revelstoke and I remember going through Rogers Pass. The next thing I remember is seeing the water tower just before the “S” curves going down into Revelstoke. I looked down at the speedo and I was doing 110 kph going into the 70 kph corners. We all survived that one, but I carefully got off the bus, looking back to see if any of the passengers noticed anything. I handed the bus over to the driver who did the next leg of the trip and hit the sack. The next morning after 7 hours sleep, I was in the shower when my knees started shaking so bad I couldn’t stand up. I had driven that bus at an unknown speed for an hour with absolutely no recollection of anything. I needed to get a different job! A few weeks later I replied to an advert in the newspaper for a “Car Hauler School”. I had to pay $1000 tuition to spend a week learning how to load and unload cars. If you passed then you could be offered a job with Allied Systems. Hell, I had squandered away more than that on a bad weekend! Why not try it? So again I found myself off on another adventure.
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trucks. I worked for them for 10 years on the spare board. That meant living off the end of a phone line and being on call 24/7 and then being laid off 4 and 5 times a year. This worked for me though as I could always supplement my income with trucking jobs. One year I actually had 9 T-4’s for employment income. During that time I ran for Richards, Hunterline, Porter, Martin Vegetables, Blanchard Transport, SLH and it also allowed me to work as a training consultant. By the early nineties, I realized I could drive bus year round if I moved to Alberta. Heather and I had a chat and we packed up the 2 boys and headed west – to the “ Land of Opportunity”. Actually at that time the job opportunities were amazing, I had never seen anything like it. It was nothing to be approached while driving the bus and being offered another job. Greyhound at that time had some of the best people around to mentor and coach us. Just listening and watching the old ‘pros’ handle people with their skills and talent was incredible. I learned a lot about people skills and Psychology – but to learn you had to watch and listen – they were so subtle in their manner. I was trying to work smarter not harder, but being junior on the ‘call’ list wasn’t enough so I did a stint with SLH as well. Ironically, their peak times dovetailed with Greyhound. When one of them was slow, the other was busy. It wasn’t until I came to Alberta that I became my own
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After two years as a company driver to master the skill (and wreck a few new cars along the way) I saved up the coin to purchase my own unit. This time I was prepared and went into this venture thinking like a business man. That was definitely a good choice. I hauled cars for 5 years as an owner operator based out of Vancouver. No schedules and no phone calls. I bonded with some fantastic people there who are still on my list of friends. Hauling cars was like a brotherhood – definitely my favorite job ever. It was always a challenge to get the biggest load through the snow sheds at Rogers Pass – with only inches to spare. During the time I was at Allied, we tried to diversify and I bought into a real estate development, with the intent of creating some residual income. My money walked off with one of the developers and we spent the next 7 years paying lawyers and chasing the money. In the end we couldn’t afford to go to court so we walked away with the loss. After the car haul I moved on to Heavy Haul work with Burnell Contracting. I bought and sold a winch truck that almost broke me during a downturn and I worked at ECL Transportation for 5 years hauling propane into southern B.C. Through a series of events and with some help from my friends I went into the Alberta oil patch again. This time I bought a new tractor and tanker and for 5 years I
hauled fluids for fraccing and other service work. Then one morning I woke up and looked around at all the new equipment that was in town and had a Déjà vu minute – this was like the last time – there is way too much equipment for the work that was out there. I decided to sell off my equipment to the fellow I was working for. THAT was a great decision! The current oil crash came a short time later. A year later I find myself back behind the wheel. This time just as a driver. I had a couple short stints in management over the past year, but for different reasons they didn’t work out. I have been with Brad and Robbie from UFC Logistics for just over 2 months now. I’m the junior man and running the small bunk truck, but we don’t live in these things. These fellows run a pretty nice operation doing specialized chemical delivery. The truck I’m assigned to is a 2010 Kenworth with a 550 Cat, and it is in next to new condition. We are expected to keep these units clean and shiny and we wash them pretty well every day. It is a good concept and it works for me ‘cause I love ‘clean & shiny’. The part I really like is the Monday to Friday schedules and the care and consideration they give to their staff. I’m thinking that at this stage of my career this is like retirement. Over the years, I have changed a lot of careers within a career. I have done almost all there is in trucking. I’ve
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done the California produce, freight to Laredo, bananas from Galveston. Super B’s to the west coast, Roger’s Pass, Highway 3 through the east and west Kootenays. North to the territories, northern Manitoba and Ontario. ( Never really had the urge to go central Canada) Through it all I’ve tried to pick the ‘niche’ market jobs, the ones that pay better, the ones that make you think. It hasn’t always been rosy. I wasn’t home every night or every week for that matter, but I had a family to feed and a job to do. I’ve made some great and lasting friendships and lost some friends along the way. That’s a part of the life. My family has suffered from my passion for trucking, but we still get together whenever our schedules allow. My Wife has been my rock. She still stands with me after 38 years. Our daughter Colleen has recently finished her Bachelor’s degree in nursing, after having been a high school dropout - setting a great example for her 2 children. Our oldest son Conrad, a mechanic for Finning, has weathered the storms in his life and accredits survival to our instilling the work ethic that he has. Our youngest son, Corey, decided to become a trucker like his dad but I was working in the oil patch at the time and couldn’t train him myself. We decided, if he was going to get his licence, he should go to Mountain Transport Institute in Castlegar. If you can drive the Kootenays, you can drive anywhere. He now has 10 years of Safe driving pulling super B’s and tankers all over North America and has been working for
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604-580-3512 Manties Transport for just over two years. For those out there who think trucking is just a job, you might be in the wrong business. Look for the comradery of the people you get to know. Spend a little time chatting with others, you might be surprised at just who you are sharing a coffee with. If you don’t like what you’re doing, you’ll never enjoy the journey. I became a better person through education. There aren’t a lot of stupid truckers out there, but there are a lot of uneducated ones. Listen to the drivers with the life experience and question what you don’t understand. Listen to audio books, learn about business and life. It’s all a journey. The last word from this old guy is – the loudest guy in the room isn’t always the smartest. Stay safe out there.
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By Scott Casey Scott, our Rig of The Month for May 2003 has written “In the Devil’s Courthouse” a book about his years as a gun toting truck driver while serving as a Canadian Peacekeeper in the former Yugoslavia
A Full Load Off-highway trucking comes with its inherent dangers, and it is not an application for everyone. I spent thirteen years hauling off-highway on one of those extreme BC bush roads. There is of course the less than appealing aspect of bush work, such as mud. Which covers and permeates every nook and cranny on a tractor trailer. Lots of work come Big Rig Show and Shine time. But driving off-highway has many attributes as well. The solitude is one of my personal favourites. There is something to be said for driving for hours and not meeting another soul on the road. I would park at a pullout at 94km, shut the truck off, get out and climb up onto a rock ledge and observe nature below. Another other part of off-highway hauling I enjoyed was the camaraderie. With that brotherhood came pranks and joking around. Over the course of a decade and a bit I had the opportunity to train a few other drivers who
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wanted to find out what the hidden part of trucking was all about. Anyone who wanted to try their hand at my run, had to follow me in so I could show them the proper procedure. Which brings me to Daryl. Daryl was that guy who figured he could truck harder, farther, and better than anyone to sit by the left door. After many days of squawking to go on my run, the boss caved. 8pm January 2008, we made our turn off the pavement and onto the snow covered forest service road. The temperature was hovering around freezing and the falling snow was gradually turning to rain with each kilometre. The road became an ice road with us both sliding from one side to another. If we stopped we would merely slide off the road into the ditch. We were committed. Thankfully the rain subsided just shy of the first major hill. We hung our chains and as we neared the climb and I began giving Daryl instructions over the two-way radio on how to negotiate the impending 12% grade. “How do I know that I’m going fast enough to make the hill?” he asked. I replied to his question, pausing for effect. “So when you come off the bridge and round that hairpin corner....and your leg starts to shake....you’re going fast enough.” “What!?!” I burst out laughing in my cab and grabbed another gear. I waited at the top of the hill for Daryl to appear, but after a couple of minutes and no response on the two-way
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radio I started walking down. When I found him, he was parked on the shoulder at the bottom of the hill. He relayed to me that as he drove off the end of the bridge his truck and trailers were going sideways and doing the Super B shuffle on the slippery road surface. In the glow of his clearance lights I could see his face was a light shade of pale. This run wasn’t so hard he said, trying to save face, as I backed his truck up and took another stab at the hill. When we came barrelling off the bridge the second time with me driving and him screaming, seems to me he quit because he had a full load...in his shorts. *****
Excellent Buisness Plan
A motorist, after being bogged down in a muddy road, paid a passing farmer five dollars to pull him out with his tractor. After he was back on dry ground he said to the farmer, “At those prices, I should think you would be pulling people out of the mud night and day.” “Can’t do it”, replied the farmer. “At night I haul water for the hole.”
Tyres ACross The Pond 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.
Fire!
Many years ago when I worked for Lep International in East Kilbride, there was an incident that could’ve been straight out of a silent movie. Back then Lep was a busy transport and packing depot in EK, they had four units, two 17 tonners and about eight flatbed trailers. They also had their own single bay garage to service all the fleet and the two Iron Fairy mobile cranes used by the machine removals squad. When it was quiet on the transport side the drivers helped to load and unload all the continental trucks that came in. Lep had a big purpose built fork lift with eight foot long forks that could unload or load trailers from one side. It was also used to load the empty open top Schenker containers they kept in the yard. Back in the days before smokeless zones and health and safety, the boys from the packing department used to burn their rubbish at the top of the yard. There was nothing but grass on the other side of the fence up there so they were not bothering anyone. That is unless the wind was in the wrong direction. One day we were busy working in the yard when we became aware of smoke blowing down from the top of the yard. Nobody gave it much thought to start with, it was PAGE 36
just those packing boys burning rubbish again. Then the smoke became thicker and blacker. John Thomson, the yard foreman, walked up nearer the fire muttering loudly about those “blinking” packing boys lighting fires and leaving them to choke everybody else. Then through the smoke came the shout, “The trailers are on fire!” The wind had blown the flames from the fire onto the nearest trailer, which had now spread to the next trailer, and was threatening a third. John started shouting orders, “Get the hose, get some extinguishers.” There was a fire hose reel mounted on the outside wall of the garage about twenty odd feet from the last trailer in the line so we raan to it. As one of my buddies pulled it out I checked the valve to make sure it was turned on. The guy with the hose was running towards the fire pulling the hose out and trying to open the nozzle at the same time when he was almost pulled onto his back as the hose abruptly ran out just two trailers up the line. That’s when John decided to take the fire to the hose and ran down to get the big fork lift to move the burning trailers closer to the water. As I said this was a big special build fork lift, it could lift 5 tons and allegedly only two were ever built, we had one and the London depot had the other. But its Perkins P6 engine was knackered and would only start if you took the air cleaner off and squirted Aerostart down the manifold. As it ran on lorry size 20 inch wheels it was quite high off the ground, so John had to climb up, open the engine cover, get the air cleaner off and squirt a dose of starter fluid down the hole. Then climb down off the back and up into the cab, hopefully before the Aerostart evaporated, and get the engine started. It was a big awkward beast and only fit for outside use, but as it was John’s baby he soon had the burning trailers into the middle of the yard and the fires were put out. Luckily it was only three trailers that were damaged, so three sets of rear lights, a back end rewire, a few floorboards and a bit of red paint saw them back in service. When I think back all that was needed was a pianist playing dramatic music and some Keystone Cops running in circles and we could all have been in a Buster Keaton epic silent film.
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Highway Through Hell
Drivers, hear my story, a tale I have to tell, About a stretch of blacktop known as the Highway through Hell. It starts down near the west coast with curves wet with rain and snow, Winds up into the mountains where even Angels fear to go. Yet drivers of the big rigs travel on it night and day, Freight must move across the land for them to make their pay. Tow trucks, plows and sanders try to keep it clear, Dave Madill Dave Madill was Yet wrecks happen on this highway each and every year. Pro-Trucker Magazine’s Rig of Rocks tumble down the mountains and icy winds do blow. the Month in June of 2001 and he has Here Hell is not made of fire but of rocks, ice and snow. been entertaining us with his poetry Here travelers must pay the price for the smallest of mistakes, ever since. Dave has published three This is not a place to lose your cool or worse still lose your brakes. books of poems that are available by special order If you have a guardian Angel be sure to treat her well, through Chapters Book Stores or You might find that you need her on the Highway through Hell amazon.com
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