Pro-Trucker Magazine February 2018

PRO-TRUCKER MAGAZINE

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February 2018

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Rig of The Month Featuring Greg Evasiuk Starting on page 16 to AdvErtisE cAll 1-800-331-8127 or EmAil tori@PtmAG.cA

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From the Editor’s desk... By John White VOLUME 20, ISSUE 01 OF 11

PUBLISHER/EDITOR John White john@ptmag.ca PRODUCTION/CIRCULATION Tori Proudley tori@ptmag.ca ADMINISTRATION Donna White donna@ptmag.ca ADVERTISING/MARKETING John White john@ptmag.ca Tori Proudley tori@ptmag.ca CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dave Madill • Scott Casey Greg Evasiuk • Mel McConaghy Ed Murdoch • Colin Black • Cyn Tobin Bill Weatherstone • Lane Kranenburg PHOTOGRAPHY Ben Proudley • Brad Demelo David Benjatschek wowtrucks.com HEAD OFFICE Ph: 604-580-2092 Toll Free / Fax: 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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Electronic logging devices (ELD’s) went into effect in the U.S. on Dec. 18. On the same day Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced that ELD’s would be required in Canada by 2020 although existing paper logs will be permitted until 2022. We have all known this was coming but at least now we have a firm date. This is good news for many but there is still a lot of resistance from owneroperators, company drivers, and small fleets. The biggest hurdle is some drivers do not use electronics and so are hesitant.

One good point is drivers will no longer be forced to comply with unreasonable demands by dispatchers. This will reduce fatigue in drivers because electronic logs will make compliance easier to police, ensuring everyone follows the hours-of-service rules.

That is until some programing whiz kid builds an app that allows a driver to “adjust” the information in the computer.

This will mainly help company drivers who are paid by the hour. They will no longer be forced to meet unreasonable demands but still get paid. That said, some companies and owner operators will suffer especially if they have placed low bids on a contract.

They will no longer be able to be creative with their log books. In the long run this should increase rates for everyone involved but in the meantime with fewer drivers wanting to run in the U.S. we will see an abundance of drivers in Canada which could adversely affect rates. That being said with fewer drivers going south those rates should rise.

This will probably encourage more drivers to accept ELD’s and go south for financial reasons.

There are many things that have to be taken into consideration in Canada, like the many different variances we have within the country itself. One of the biggest roadblocks is that it is difficult to get all the Provincial Transportation Ministers on the same page.

So far Ontario Transport Minister, Steven Del Duc, is the only provincial transport minister who officially supports the mandate. For this to be a seamless transition they will have to forego egos and come together to do what is best for the industry as a whole.

Another concern is the clock starts ticking the moment the truck is started so for drivers to get all their hours in they have to be ready to go to work immediately. Currently things like driving to the shop and then sitting for an hour will not be subtracted from a day’s work, instead it will automatically be logged as working time. Hopefully all of these wrinkles will be ironed out by 2020. Emphasis on “hopefully.”

Now for some good news. The Alberta Big Rig Weekend will be held July 7th and 8th at Blackjacks Roadhouse in Nisku. There has been a tremendous amount of work done at Blackjacks this past year including a weigh scale, showers and dust suppression for the full parking lot. Watch our Facebook page or pick up the March issue for more information on the show.

We are all looking forward to seeing all our friends again at the show. Drive safe and as Jake the Trucker always said, “Keep the Shiny Side Up!”

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LETTERS to the EDITOR

e Whit John zine

aga ker M c u r T Proite

John Wh Magazine Pro-Trucker

the country, we owe it to everyone on the road to do our job right. No matter if its strapping down a load properly, maintaining brakes and tires, merging properly with the flow, or giving a wide berth to anyone making a tough turn. And we also have a duty for the lives on the road to make those who don’t drive like a pro accountable. I fully understand and respect the job, and the fact we are all on the road for a reason, to make a living for those we love and come home to.

You might see me on the road from time to time, flashing your mirror so you know you are clear to merge back, or changing lanes so you don’t have to gear down to merge, and on occasion straddle the lanes behind you and block while you are bending a 53 around a corner in an intersection. Whether we get to exchange a nod or a wave of understanding and thanks, or a quick flash of the fourways, I hope your members know that there are some of us out there who share the road together as an unknown silent team, who are grateful for what they do, as we hope they are grateful for what we do.

Thanks for your magazine, a lot of folks who don’t drive truck would be enlightened to read it.

Verified name withheld by request.

Dear Mr. White, Although I am a chef by trade I now work in sales, for a large manufacturer here in Canada. I have spent the past 17+ years here on the wet coast, and in Alberta on the road, at sea, and in my office, helping to fill up trucks that your members have undoubtedly hauled year after year. I read through my first copy of Pro-Trucker, I picked up at a large cargo terminal, and was impressed by the reading. I have ridden with drivers, swamped, helped out, and witnessed firsthand much of the wonderment that professional drivers face in all kinds of weather, when they are serving my customers directly and indirectly, and in turn, putting shoes on their babies, and mine.

There are a lot of drivers out there from big rigs down to roller skates, who, in my opinion, should not be driving, or at least be ashamed of how they do drive, when they use the road for their livelihood, and put the safety of the Editor’s note: Thank you for your email. Like any occupatrue professional driver at risk. Whether we are a travel- tion there are a small percentage of people who should not ling salesperson, or someone driving a combination across be there and truck drivers are no different. Your email is

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alberta big rig weekend A Trucker's DREAM Platinum Sponsors:

Gold Sponsors:

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nisku, alberta Parking begins noon Friday July 6th until dark Friday night Lighted Truck Convoy – proceeds to “Military Minds” Parking Resumes Saturday 8 AM Participant’s dinner Saturday night Onsite RV sites available – with or without power.

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For Sponsorship opportunites please email john@ptmag.ca or call 604-581-7773 For updates, find us on Facebook.

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refreshing, too often we just hear complaints by frustrated 4-wheelers who believe they have more of a right to a truck drivers workplace than the truck driver does. Of course getting a fair report in main stream media is not sensational enough for them. Truckers are still more often than not automatically blamed in the public’s eye for any accident that involves a truck. When the true facts of an accident comes out it is often reported as a filler somewhere on a page near the back of the paper.

Sorry for the rant but thank you for your acknowledgement of the professionalism of the vast majority of truck drivers. And thank you for the support you give while on the road.

Hi John, Do you have the dates for the Alberta Big Rig show yet?

Couldn’t make it last year because of the date change as I had already booked my holidays but have plenty of time for this year.

Tommy K., Saskatoon.

Editor’s note: Hello Tommy – we missed you last year.

This year the Alberta Big Rig Weekend is July 7th & 8th at Blackjacks Roadhouse in Nisku. There are some very interesting changes and things going on this year that we will be announcing in our March issue. I’m sure you will like them. r

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Idle Time

By Scott Casey Scott, our Rig of The Month for May 2003 has written “Ghostkeepers” a book about his years as a gun toting truck driver while serving as a Canadian Peacekeeper in the former Yugoslavia.

Happy New Year and Hand Over the Keys So here we are, 2018, all sticky and wet, covered in the embryonic fluid of birth that is the New Year. It’s as though some believe that because we start fresh each Jan. 1st, that we assume the mentality level of a new born infant. Or we’ve suddenly forgotten all the lessons and experience of the past year or years when the clock rolls over 00:01.

The stories of icy roads and loads that needed to be unloaded, frozen airlines, dock locks that didn’t unlock properly, that sixth sense that something isn’t right inside the trailer by how it felt on that last corner, are somehow irrelevant in the boardrooms and developmental labs.

The fact that we are experiencing national unemployment highs, with no current plan to replace even one professional driver is troubling especially when you understand that we have hundreds of thousands of professional drivers. Let’s also not forget that while this technological development continues, thousands more young Canadians are striving to become truck drivers.

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NEW Extended Hours Mon-Fri 8 am- Midnight • Sat 8 am- 5pm Where would Pro Trucker Magazine be if our Rig of the Month read like this, “This month’s rig of the month is DT2BC. DT2-BC was created in Sarnia, Ontario, at 23:05hrs at the Sarnia Driverless Truck plant. DT wanted to grow up and be just like his prototypical father DTEX-1aON, but his father’s circuitry tragically malfunctioned during the inclement weather testing phase.”

Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? To me it sounds as ridiculous as driverless trucks. Automation has its place, but in the commercial driver business it does not. There are a million variables that meet a drivers attention and to think that a driverless truck can register those factors is foolish. Look at driverless commuter trains for example. Even when on a set of fixed rails, or mono rail, they still encounter failure including those with catastrophic fatal ends. Of course crashes occur with manned trucks but there is no data to suggest that unmanned trucks will show any decrease in that fact. There is no possible way to accumulate that information without putting driverless trucks on the roads with other motorists, our families, or our friends families. That’s a risk I’m not prepared to support.

Instead of spending another year and millions of dollars developing ways to put people out of work, maybe corporate trucking Canada could invest in creating new jobs within the trucking industry. Those jobs could include development of a new braking system, because guaranteed, the driverless trucks still use 75 year old braking technology. And that never fails either, right?!? *****

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On the first day at the new senior’s complex, the manager addressed all the new seniors pointing out some of the rules: “The female sleeping quarters will be out-of-bounds for all males, and the male dormitory to all females. Anybody caught breaking this rule will be fined $20 the first time.”

He continued, “Anybody caught breaking this rule the second time will be fined $60. Being caught a third time will cost you a fine of $180. Are there any questions?”

At this point, an older gentleman stood up in the crowd inquired, “How much for a season pass?”

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For more information and to secure your space at this premier event, please contact: Mark Cusack, National Show Manager mcusack@mpltd.ca Toll Free: 1.888.454.7469 Don’t miss your chance to get in front of a targeted audience from the trucking, logistics and warehousing sectors.

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To advertise call 1-800-331-8127 or email tori@ptmag.ca

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PRO-TRUCKER MAGAZINE

communIcATIon

By Greg Evasiuk Greg is a third generation trucker with over a million miles and 20 plus years in trucking. He now sells trucks for Nortrux.

Keep Calm and Carry On. “Radiate an energy of serenity and peace so you have an uplifting effect on those you come into contact with. Your presence will make others feel calm and assured.” Dr. Wayne W Dyer I have always loved this quote and the much simpler “Serenity now!” of Frank Costanza. For those who don’t watch Seinfeld, type it into YouTube and you’ll understand. Mr. Costanza’s version doesn’t quite have the same effect but I have found it effective to scream inside my head at times in times of chaos! Heck I have seriously thought of screaming it out loud a few times too but unless I was in a room of avid ‘90s sitcom watchers it wouldn’t work. I was reminded of the quote during a recent flight home from the States, where I was reminded of the effects of maintaining that inner peace.

Now I’m not saying everyone out there should begin to meditate or start to study philosophy and become one with your chi or anything like that. We all have our own methods of calming ourselves already, the tough part is recognizing when

EST. 1965

we need it. I have discovered that more often than not we need it. One of the most powerful tools to help your mindset can be music. While all the talk of serenity sounds like new age B.S. the music doesn’t have to be. If you’re a Megadeth fan and “Symphony of Destruction” is what makes you smile or gets you singing then that’s the music for you. Country, Jazz, Rock, whatever, the important thing is it makes you happy and takes you out of the craziness around you. Some people find it more effective to listen to a good podcast or talk show that works too.

As I said the need for this came back to me when I was flying home the other day as I dealt with a variety of “interesting” fellow travellers and it reminded me of dealing with traffic in rush hour. The chaotic nature of it all. Back then I would tune into whatever station I was digging on Sirius and all the honking and frustration would fade as I slipped subconsciously into a different place. I’m not saying don’t live for the moment, just try filter out the noise a little. It is something I have to work really hard to do because while my middle name has three letters it isn’t Zen! So I was quite proud of how I handled my recent travel encounter.

I boarded the plane and soon realized I had forgotten to download the entertainment app which prevented me from watching any of the inflight movies. No worries I’ll just listen to my latest Tim Ferris podcast, nope forgot to download that to listen to offline. Ok so not going to immerse myself in entertainment for the flight maybe I’ll have a pleasant conversation with the person next to me. The seat was still empty so I looked

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up and was thankful to dodge two moms with newborns but instead got stuck with the armrest stealing snorer. Yes that wonderful person who sits in the middle of the three seats and doesn’t understand that it doesn’t entitle them to double the armrest count and falls asleep 3 seconds after sitting down thus pinning you against the window for three wonderful hours! Serenity now…

Ok so it was actually only a two hour flight and there is probably some weird karmic justice in having someone snore in my ear - or so I’m told but I do need to set the stage.

We land on time, after having taken off on time, and everyone who has the isle is just doing the stand up and stretch thing. I am still crammed in waiting. Trying to think about how happy I will be to get home after my next flight. Trying not to gag on the overpowering ‘aromas’ emanating from the middle seat. Serenity now…

You have to understand we’re on a flight from Palm Springs so the average age is somewhere between 40 and death so unloading is not the quickest but does not excuse what happened next. From one row back this guy pipes up “Holy F__! What are you a bunch of re___ds?” I know I don’t have to complete the words or even his whole rant for that matter, suffice to say he called down everyone in front of him for age, race, gender, you name it. He ended with “I have a connection that leaves in 4 minutes!” Serenity now...?

A couple years ago this would’ve probably ended in a Video you would all show your friend of the big Canadian

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CANYON CABLE 1988 LTD. 930-6th Ave., Hope, BC 604-869-9036 Toll Free 1-800-588-8868 guy dropping the New Yorker one row behind him on the plane and then getting tazed and removed from his next flight. The words from my mouth surprised even me.

“It would serve you well to exercise some patience.

You’re offensive tirade is completely unacceptable. That is enough.” Who is this guy I thought as those words came out of my mouth. Even with the way I felt about the whole flight, my seat and everything else (did I mention I was hungry too!) those words left my mouth in an even calm tone. What happened next was even stranger, he stopped his bashing of everyone. There was even a bit of light applause. When I stood up to grab my carry on and jacket he didn’t leap or push to get off the plane he just waited. As we exited the jetway into the terminal he was behind me as I stopped to put my coat on at the gate he turned and began to speak. Here we go I thought, out in the open where he can run, while I’m tied up with my coat he’ll let me have it.

“I’m sorry, thank you.” I still actually can’t believe those were his words. What I had expected him to say ended in a you - but didn’t start with thank!

The only way we can diffuse a situation is if we can remove the emotion from it. That’s the lesson I took from this experience. Calm and reasoned thinking will always triumph over irrational emotions so do yourself a favor and find your own happy place in the midst of trying situations.

The more you practice this the less chaos you will find. *****

The Outhouse

Once there was a young country boy that hated the outhouse because it was hot in the summer and cold in the winter and stunk all the time. The outhouse was sitting on the bank of the river so the boy decided he would push it into the water. He got a large pole and pushed and pushed until it fell in and floated away.

That night his father said, “Someone pushed the outhouse into the river today. It was you, wasn’t it son?” The boy answered yes. Then he said, “Dad, George Washington chopped down a cherry tree and didn’t get into trouble because he told the truth.”

The dad replied, “Son, George Washington’s father wasn’t in the cherry tree.”

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mIle AfTer mIle

By Cyn Tobin Cyn has been driving trucks for 34 years. She has hauled loads all across North America and specializes in expedited perishable freight.

Around 5 or 6 years ago I was pounding pavement through the British Columbia Rockies on a beautiful summers afternoon. Blue sky and few others to occupy my time out there. Mesmerized, as I always am by the beauty all around me I almost missed the slowing traffic.

Ah yes... cruise to stop in the summer. As I got out to stretch my legs a tall good looking fella walked up and inquired about the slow down and wondered if I had heard anything on the CB. I climbed back in and gave it a shout...

“Anyone up front have eyes on the holdup?” “A fatal” was all that came back. By now his son had joined him and we all just talked a bit. We talked about everything - from school to girls! Then we were joined by the sister and as we sat there on the side of the highway, perched on our concrete barriers, we talked. We laughed, and we became friends.

After the crew had completed the weary clean up tasks we were finally on our way. Through listening to all the chatter on the radio, it turned out to be that 2 semis had

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i n fo @ t i m s t r a i l e r re p a i r. c o m collided. Killing one driver. It was then that I realized, we are where we need to be at any given moment. We can’t control the world in which we live... but we can accept that we are exactly where we need to be. 10 seconds earlier and that crash could have been me. Now I am not saying or even suggesting you agree with my thoughts... but I am asking that we never become so wrapped up in what we’re doing that we miss all the little things that potentially become some of the greatest moments in our lives. It saddens me that a person lost his life but it elates me that I still remain close friends with these folks.

So as you travel mile after mile take the few moments to reflect on what makes our life all that it is.

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My Life Through A Broken Windshield

By Mel McConaghy

Mel is a retired veteran driver who has spent 40 years on the road.

Old Habits Die Hard The other morning I woke up about 1:30 AM, thinking, ‘I should have had a phone call by now, from my switch’.

Then reality set in, I’m retired what am I doing worrying about a switch? With all these crazy ideas buzzing around in my semi-vacant head, I couldn’t go back to sleep so I got up and got myself a glass of cranberry juice, my special drink for all that ails me.

I checked the temperature; it was hovering around minus five with a lite snow falling. It should be a good night for a trip unless it’s snowing harder in the Pine Pas, I was thinking. Then giving my head a shake I thought, “Who cares what it’s doing in the Pine Pass, you crazy old fool, you’re retired, remember?”

So I went back to bed, thinking will I ever get over this habit of getting up in the middle of the night, reliving the past. But how can you wipe all the memories of your working years from your subconscious or even conscious mind.

Every time I hit a patch of ice or slush on the highway old instincts cut in and as I correct my direction, I check in the

mirror to make sure my non-existing trailer is still behind me, where it should be. Every shadow on a darkened road could be a moose or a deer ready to vault out in front of me!

You worry about whether the car is about to pull out of a side road in front of you, when you don’t have to because you’re not driving a Low-Bed outfit with a D-8 Cat on your trailer. I think it’s because over the years these are things you constantly had to worry about.

For many years you exercise defensive driving subconsciously, you have eluded every potential accident imaginable. You have dodged on coming vehicles that pulled out of a line of traffic who is determined to pass a line of traffic, no matter who he kills.

Is it any wonder why a veteran of the asphalt wakes up in the middle of the night wondering why he did it? Why did he forsake the warm bed with a loving wife to venture out onto the icey, snowy and cold highway?

Why, because he loved to drive, he loved the wonderful people he met out there, he loved the beautiful sun sets and the sunrises. He was a dreamer, he dreamt of wealth and a good life as he drifted over the highways. Many of you know what I am talking about and many of you will go through the same things when you retire.

I have often thought about being a truck driver and why I did it and I only have one answer, I loved it. But a question I still have is, should I be seeing a Shrink? r

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Rig of the Month By John White

About this time last year I was approached by a trucker did such a great job writing the article for his father that I who requested that we run his father as our Rig of The asked him if he would like to write more articles for the Month for May, as a surprise for his birthday. The driver magazine. That driver, our regular readers will recognise

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as Greg Evasiuk. Greg is such a good story teller that we asked him to be this month’s Rig of the Month driver. This is his story.

As far back as anyone can recall I’ve been fascinated with trucks. Truck was one of my earliest words although it may have sounded suspiciously like a certain four letter word with the same ending… For avid Pro-Trucker readers this is the continuation of last year’s May issue which featured my dad Rick. A read of that story would explain some of how I ended up in the industry but I’ll spare you the look through the archives and give you the reader’s digest version (to you millennials that’s the condensed version). My grandpa Nick Evasiuk started a company in Mayerthorpe that became Whitecourt Transport in Whitecourt. My dad tried to become a gym teacher, got hit by a cab, rejoined the family business, left it for a couple years to Kelowna and came back to eventually be part owner of the company. So I entered that story while mom and dad were in Kelowna.

I was born in Kelowna General Hospital at 8:35 am March 20, 1976 the first of two boys and the only one in our family born outside of Alberta. Mom and dad left Kelowna the next month to go back to work in Whitecourt.

Somewhere around the age of two I had what was my first and only real destructive truck crash. My dad had built a really nice W900… model which was displayed on the bar in the basement. It was apparently my wish to drive

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this truck and one afternoon I scaled the barstools to do just that. Unfortunately for the Kenworth, my skills were shaky at best and the truck ended up on the floor in nearly as many pieces as it initially came in! Thankfully for me my dad’s an understanding guy and knew that wanting to drive trucks was a sickness I couldn’t help.

Throughout my childhood I went out trucking with dad whenever I could. He says I wouldn’t sleep either, get up at 4 in the morning go load lumber and go all the way to Lloydminster unload and get home at 6:30. I’d just sit there on the doghouse of that old Freightliner and chatter away, my dad’s still waiting for me to stop talking! I think that’s where I started developing an eye and a memory for truck types and specs too. Asking questions about all those trucks made me feel grown up even more so when I could remember the answers. Seriously to this day I can give a darn near perfect run down of the trucks we had in the fleet from the early ‘80s on, I’m sure all of that info will come in useful one day!

My brother and I started working at the shop doing odd jobs at around 8-10 years old. We would sweep the floors, clean out and wash trucks and our favorite, cleaning the yard. This wasn’t the favorite job for me until we were allowed to use dad’s pick-up to put the garbage in. For me that was the coolest even though it was only slow rolling around the yard, it was driving! By the time I was thirteen I would drive the pickup down the road to the dump by

myself and get rid of the garbage when it was “full”. Some days it was four or five pretty light loads.

Around the same time Uncle Phillip told me to go out and back a van into the dock so we could strip it. Now I’d seen it done hundreds of times but never had any instruction on how to do it, 45 minutes later I walked back in triumphantly! While I fully expected to get praise for not having hit anything and being 13 driving a tractor trailer, the response I got was “maybe you can be a little quicker next time, we pay you by the hour.” Well I can do that. An hour later I got asked to go and pull a different trailer out of the door and I was going to show him quicker! I backed the tractor under, hooked the lines, spun the legs up a bit and pulled out. My second lesson of the day turned out to be why you do a tug test! Thankfully one of the older guys took some pity on me and saved me a long lecture by helping me hook back up and put on some new glad hands.

It must have to do with the way everyone in the family learned but back then it was always baptism by fire. I got my license on the day of my birthday in 1992 and I was doing local deliveries in a 5 ton after school weeks later.

Within a week of starting fulltime for summer I found myself in Edmonton in an FL70 with a 26ft deck picking up steel. No one ever asked can you do this, do you know how to??? It was always we need you to go to____ you have to be there by 1 so you better get moving! That was my after school and summer job on and off throughout high school

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and quite honestly I loved it. I learned a lot of really good lessons and got to work with my brother and friends and make money! But much like my dad when I was done high school I was convinced my future was not in trucking.

Off to Edmonton I went on an ill-fated mission to become a partsman. Three short months later, upon realizing that wasn’t my calling, I went back to Whitecourt to work the remainder of the winter on the pipeline. I enjoyed that but needed something to keep the cash coming when break-up came so I started working for Millar Western in the shake mill. That was the job that inadvertently turned me back to trucking. A posting came up for temporary relief as a scale attendant for log haul and I managed to get it. I loved that job, they would send me out to do safety checks in the bush, fly me around to check out the haul and the best part, I got to go on ride alongs. That was to me the golden age of log truckin’, in the Whitecourt area anyways. They affectionately called the haul the Millar 500 and it was aptly named.

Everyone was payed percentage and only the best drivers got to haul off L1 and the rest would go to the easy haul either in Fort Assiniboine or the Chickadee. The haul was full of characters with nicknames like “Hollywood” and real names like Ted Speed and Danny Fast. It was a bona fide race from start-up Sunday morning until the last load was loaded on Friday morning. All week long the trucks would have to try hold their spot in line while others tried to scoop them.

Scooping is passing and being that you were speed monitored by tachograph for the highway, it could only happen under certain circumstances. Most times it would happen when one trucker was much faster on the bush road or at wrapping up that driver would then just kind of “chase” the other truck out of the bush. Eventually the slower driver would either make a mistake or just ask the faster truck to go by.

Scoop!

After a few rides that I went on for the job I was hooked. I started to make friends with some of the drivers and go out with them to the bush for loads when I was off work. One such friend I made was Geoff or Kiwi as he’s known to most. Anyways my first trip to the bush with him started at the fuel pumps while he and his cross shift Glen were switching out. I grabbed my gear and was february 2018

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goforfar@gmail.com • 604-828-0889 sitting on the swamp side when I heard that kiwi drawl say, “you’re in the wrong seat there young fella”. I still remember rolling out of town that first time, I felt like I had kinda made it… of course when we hit the bush road Geoff took over driving because I still had a lot to learn.

As we wound back towards the block descending down off the goose ridge and into the valley he asked a few of the loaded trucks whether or not we would need chains. I noticed almost all of them wore at least one set but they all said “naw your good Kiwi you got big power”. When we dropped off down the last bench to the loader I seriously wondered if that 500 Cat was in fact big enough power.

Well we got this really nice load of long spruce which even with a 40T winter load was barely above the knuckle on the stakes and the pole was stretched right out. Now for those that haven’t hauled wood, a load like that is an absolute dream to pull because the center of gravity is low

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and the pole trailer rides so much smoother the more it’s stretched. I’m not sure if any of that entered into the no chains decision or not but Geoff headed for the bottom of that ridge railing around the corners to attack the first climb. To my amazement he grabbed a couple and went over the top of the first step without even wiping his feet.

Hmmm, I thought we do have big power! A couple little rollers and corners and we’re pulling up the second bench.

The truck waiting in the pullout says “holy s__t! No chains that thing must be working good!” One look over at Geoff and he’s grinning ear to ear with pride as we head up the last pull.

Sometimes the trucking gods will bring you back to earth for being too smug about your skill and your power.

That was the lesson I learned next as I felt the truck hop once then twice before stopping. There we were, valley down to my right, bank on the left, ten feet shy of the hilltop and spun out! Geoff calmly says he’ll hop out and throw the chains on and I took a look down towards where we came from in the valley. As I turned back towards the front of the truck I was curious why Geoff was standing there in front of the truck with chains in hand… not good! He was there because myself and the truck were going backwards down the hill! Thank god the cab in a ’96 Western Star is narrow, I slid across the ¾ seat inadvertently grabbing the wheel and I hammered the brake pedal. Probably the accidental wheel grab that saved me because it stuffed the tops into

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the bank on the driver’s side. Needless to say when Geoff open the door and said, “Good thinking there young fella!”

I took full credit.

I went on to work for Kiwi in the winter for 4-5 winters and worked for Whitecourt Transport in the summer.

Somewhere in there I managed to fit in Management Studies at Grant MacEwan University, thankfully they offer a flexible schedule allowing me to fit courses in around work and in the summer. In 2001 I partnered with Kiwi and some of my family in Progressive Forest Contracting, a log load and haul company. This was where I learned how to haul equipment, load logs, sand roads, run a tow tractor, run wheel loader and winch tractor.

At the end of the summer in 2003 I was approached to come back to Whitecourt Transport full time to help with the growing need for service to the Oilfield. It would be a more structured job with set weekends off and generally no night shifts. The other plus being that we worked together with Progressive anyway so I could go over and help out if need be. My favorite part of going back was getting to work with my dad again. He had passed on being the maintenance manager to my cousin’s husband and was driving again hauling sawdust to the rigs as well. Later on my brother Brett re-joined the company as well which made it a bit like old times.

We were moving equipment for a pipeline company back and forth across the Berland River and throughout the back country north of Hinton for about a month. Brett had been out there with the tri-drive moving gear for a day or so before I showed up with my tandem Pete and lowboy. The first move we made at night was a couple of 330 Cat excavators. Anyways he already had a set of chains on when I got there and I didn’t figure I needed them yet because I had just put a new set of drive tires on.

With my brother leading the way because he had been to the lease before, we took off across the Berland from the ANC Rd. I stopped to water down the snow and check my load saying I’d catch up. I turned onto the KT Rd. called “empty” on the radio and started grabbing gears. Knowing that the road was clear ahead I railed past the chain-up area where I caught a glimpse of Brett’s truck and him out

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monkeying with the chains. As I kept going he got on the radio and said “aren’t you gonna stop and put another set on? I barely made it up that first hill last time!” Hmmm, that was information I wished I had before I blew by the last turnout before the hill.

By the time I finished that thought I had rounded the corner and realised I was committed. It’s a long steep climb and it hadn’t been scraped or graveled. The only rock was what had been dug up by other trucks chewing with their chains. Well I hit it in 6th wide open and promptly shifted to 4th and then second. Generally I’m a little nervous on a big hill barefoot in second gear and this was no exception but I didn’t kick once. When stopped to check our loads at the end of the Jim Clark Rd. my brother nearly fell over.

“You were barefoot? I almost spun out with 2 sets and I have a tri drive?!” he gasped.

“Well I’ve been at this game a bit longer than you. One day maybe you’ll be this good.” I gloated.

The truth is I didn’t know why my truck had such good traction, heck we worked together up there for another 4 or 5 days before we went home and I never had to put a single chain on. I figured it out back at the shop when Shane asked if I had a low tire. “Not sure” I replied and we got out the gauge to check it… 60PSI. Check the one beside it because it looks the same… 60PSI. We went around and found that all 8 drives were the exact same! Turns out that someone had interrupted the Nitrogen fill while they were dropped

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In 2010 I decided to break away from the family business and go out on my own. For the first time I bought my own truck, a 2002 Western Star 4900 tri drive with the 575 Detroit and a tridem pole trailer. My first day out with it was memorable to say the least. I turned around in the block, the loader picked the trailer up off the truck and honked for me to stop. As I have done a thousand times before I went back to close the pintle and tie up my lines but I needed to give the pole a little help to get the ring to drop down onto the hitch. Now I’m not sure if the loaderman moved the stick or what but just about as soon as I grabbed the pole I was looking down at my leg on one side of the pole and my foot on the other! The loader operator picked it up pretty quick but the damage had been done. At first I thought that I might have just dislocated it so I tried to push the bump on the side of my leg back in…ouch! I fell back to the ground and the operator got to me at the same time and said I should stay down because he heard it snap from inside the loader.

Definitely not the way you want your first day in business to go! I was lucky however on two fronts; first I already had a plate in that ankle which according to the surgeon is the only reason I didn’t lose my foot, second my friend Brent knew someone who was in need of a job hauling logs. So while I was heading off to Edmonton to have my leg reconstructed my dad helped me to hire my first driver. Before that first winter was over I got my cast off and bought another truck and trailer for myself. I spent a few years in logging and at one point I had five trucks but it was a tough go. Drivers were at a premium because of the boom in the oil patch and some of those that were left weren’t fit to drive a body job! Don’t get me wrong I had some good ones who really helped me out but they were the minority.

After a while I got rid of all my logging stuff and went to work in the patch. I did a little of everything there including sales and dispatch. All the while I kept a truck so if I ever wanted to I could get back to driving which is exactly what I did when things started to go south in the

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oilfield. I bounced around with my truck hauling sand, mats and equipment. Then I leased on with Continental and ran north to Yellowknife for a while which was relaxing and when the ice started to melt I went over to Triton. My time there was short but I really enjoyed it. It was my first time running south and Terry and the guys made me feel right at home. Without all the help I’d probably still be sitting in some southern jailhouse for running the wrong route with wrong permits!

Now that I’m off the road and selling I look back and think what a great adventure this industry can be. While the road definitely hasn’t been easy, those are the times that make for the best stories. The tough times are also what shows you who’s really there for you. Through thick and thin that’s been Karen, my wife. Since we met in 2004 she has helped me immeasurably to become the person I want to be. I’ve been working on writing a piece about the woman beside the man because I know she deserves more recognition than I could cover here. She’s given me two amazing kids and I love her more than I can express. My parents have also always been there for me, I think my love and appreciation for them shows through in my dad’s Rig of the Month article. Beyond that there are just too many people to name but I’m sure over time with the stories I’m able to share I’ll be able to thank them too!

My dad is the custodian of my last ride you see here. A 2016 KW W900 with a 550 Cummins.

Reflections Thru My Windshield

A

By Dave Madill Dave Madill was Pro-Trucker Magazine’s Rig of the Month in June of 2001 and he has been entertaining us with his poetry ever since. Dave has published three books of poems that are available by special order through Chapters Book Stores.

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Cold Knight It was the middle of February and it was cold. Fred, Len and I had spent all day hauling sand to the Highway Sand Sheds and finally pulled into the shop. Len fired up the old box stove while Fred and I swapped out a rear tire on one of the dump trucks. We had just finished that and were sitting down around the stove when Dad walked in. We got his usual comment about paying for a bunch of layabouts and then he told us to get ready to roll in the morning.

Seems a little D4 Cat had been on a rail car that had been sidelined in Toronto because of a hot box and had gotten lost in the paper work. Now they needed the D4 A.S.A.P. in Grand Prairie Alberta and were paying for a rush delivery by truck. Dad said he also had 2 little Lift Trucks, (one for Edmonton and one for Calgary), that would give us a full load but the Cat had to be delivered first. Fred and I loaded up our cold weather gear in the R model Mack and headed out. We loaded the two little lift trucks and were at the Rail Yard at 0800 and were out of there and running west

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before noon.

Now as this was a RUSH load we ran hot with stops only for fuel and bathroom breaks and made great time until we pulled into the Husky at the Peg. I went in and handed the guy at the desk our fuel card and he notified me that there was a message for us to phone home right away. Fred and I fuelled and went in and we phoned Dad. It turned out that Fred was needed at home because of a family emergency.

Dad had me take him to the Peg airport while he phoned Air Canada and had Fred on the next plane to Toronto.

Dad said he would meet him at the airport while I headed on alone. Dad said just do your best and he would handle everything.

I was running a little slower now but I made good time until I ran into a blizzard between Edmonton and Grand Prairie where I slowed way down and tip toed along. Just about 10 miles out of GP I came around a corner and here was a pickup truck backwards in the opposite ditch with the front all smashed in. Seems it had hit the guardrails on my side, bounced off and slid backwards into the ditch.

I pulled the truck over, hit my beacons and my flashers then went to see if everyone was OK. There was a very worried young lady in the truck with two young children and no heat so I pulled them out of the truck and got them up in mine where at least they were warm. Another truck stopped to help and we hooked the pickup onto my trailer and pulled it out of the ditch and got it back on the right

side of the road. I backed my trailer up to the pickup, fired up the little D4, walked it to the very back and hooked chains under the pickup and over the blade and lifted. Then I backed up slowly lowering the blade until the pickup was tight to my trailer with the wheels about 6 inches off the ground and then I chained everything in place.

It was a slow drive from there to GP but by the time I got to the equipment dealer the ladies husband was waiting for her (good old CB telegraph) and I dropped the truck and then unloaded the little Cat. The roads were hell so I found a parking spot and curled up for a nap. Guess who my waitress was the next morning for breakfast? Yep, my damsel in distress, and my breakfast was free and my service was better than what I get at home. From there it was an easy run down to Edmonton and then Calgary to drop my lift trucks and then found a load going to Kitchener and I made my way back home.

I still keep in contact with my friends in GP and went to the wedding of one of the kids a few years ago. His Mom says she will never forget the trucker that was her Knight in Shining Armour that rescued her and her children on a cold snowy night. *****

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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.

Snow Well, here we are again, it’s winter, although sitting at home it doesn’t bother me as much as it did two years ago when I was still working. But if I looked out the window back then and it was snowing I didn’t mind, if I had to choose between snow, fog or high winds, it would be snow every time. When you’re working permanent nightshift, I think the snow is great. When it’s falling you can imagine you’re travelling at warp speed in outer space as the headlights pick out all the sparkling flakes. Although staring into that white tunnel does tend to tire my eyes very quickly.

But once it’s stopped falling and the world is white, headlights are almost un-necessary, as you adjust the pace of your travel to suit the road conditions everything slows down. No more sitting holding the steering wheel on cruise control and bopping around to a great tune on the radio. As your school teacher might say, sit up straight and pay attention, the cruise control goes off and the engine brake stays off. In fact, braking is a last resort.

As a bonus, if it’s been snowing heavily it tends to thin

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out the traffic slightly, car drivers who might’ve been considering going on a trip to visit family sometimes delay that trip. Although there are still the idiots to look out for, drivers, professional or otherwise, who don’t give the conditions the respect they deserve, you’ve all seen them out there I’m sure.

They get stuck and think if they just floor the gas pedal and keep the wheels spinning eventually something will happen, and it usually does, but not for the better, like the young lady I saw when I was delivering in Fife on one snowy dayshift. At the last minute she decided she wanted to turn right and braked hard while turning the wheel. The car, a Japanese 4x4 look-alike, turned broadside and the guy in the Land rover, that was following too close, hit her. There are some drivers of these four-wheel drive cars who I think are under the impression they’re a go anywhere vehicle, but some degree of skill and forethought is also required.

None of the roads in the area had been gritted or ploughed, so I had been in, sit up straight and pay attention mode all day. I was far enough back, so without touching the brakes I dropped a gear or two and was able to steer around them.

They were obviously two people who were still driving with their heads in blacktop mode.

If you can get the road to yourself when it’s thick with snow it’s ideal, when I was delivering parcels as a young trucker I had some outlying farms on my route, quite often mine was the first vehicle to make tracks on the fresh snow.

The back roads are great when they’re thick with snow, it’s an ideal place to play with the truck and get some experience for the main highways. Parcel delivery trucks are not big rigs by any means, but they give you a feel of how the trucks might handle in less than perfect conditions. For a start, traffic on the back roads is a lot quieter than the main highway and apart from the postman it’s almost non-existent. The only drawback I had when delivering parcels was the snow covered all the street names and house numbers.

At one time here in the UK you could get your class 1 licence and go straight onto a big rig, the law has since changed, now you have to get a class three licence first.

Drivers usually started small and worked their way up, gaining experience as they went along, just like me, “playing” in the snow on quiet roads. Maybe it’s just me in my grumpy old ex-trucker mode, but when I see on the news, pictures of big rigs jack knifed across a snowy highway, and cars with their noses up, or down, a ditch. I wonder, did he, or she, start small and work their way up. Or maybe, like Canada, we in the UK should be legally obliged to fit winter tyres and chains for trucks. *****

Politics

- They say St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland. I wonder if he could do that for Ottawa.

- What’s the difference between baseball and politics? In baseball you’re out if you’re caught stealing.

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february 2018

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drIVIng Through my memorIes

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 Among the issues facing us here in the Great White North is getting through a tough winter with no fender benders and crashes, all of which are preventable if folks would just slow down a bit and focus on the job at hand.

The job being always to reach one’s destination unscathed following the safest of safety rules.

The next hurdle for the Canadian populace will likely be the legalization of marijuana. Some will clear it no problem while others will struggle to get past the real and imagined obstacles predicted by some pundits to create havoc in our society. I have had a wee bit of experience with pretty much every aspect of the tremendous influences and stimuli which bombard us on a daily basis. I predict very little change in the actual demographics, behaviours and routines followed by current users of the weed and also those who choose to avoid the plant for whatever personal reasons.

The scribbler of this column neither recommends nor encourages anyone to pursue any protocol without considerable investigation as to how it might impact one’s

life in the home or at the workplace. And in the case of any drug whether over-the-counter or prescribed by a medical practitioner the user’s vocation needs to be part of the discussion and any contraindications put forward initially. So one ought to act on the advice of one’s professional care giver. However I also cannot endorse the zero tolerance stance that the new President of the Ontario Trucking Assoc. (OTA) and CEO of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), Stephen Laskowski is taking in regard to commercial drivers in the transportation industry. Don’t forget that residual evidence remains in the body system for up to 30 days which means using Laskowski’s zero tolerance proposal any medical user would be subject to dismissal.

It is no secret that some dosages of certain prescription drugs cause physical and/or mental concerns which have been deemed to contribute to many vehicle crashes of varying severity, property damage, injuries and fatalities.

Alcohol is not treated as a zero tolerance substance and along with distracted driving remains the number one cause of highway carnage. Mr. Laskowski makes absolutely no reference at all to the number of crashes and errors in the workplace caused by medically prescribed & legally issued prescription drugs which exceed even incidents of alcohol consumption!

Medicinal use of the beneficial properties of marijuana has been legal in Canada since 2001, the first nation to

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do so. Many, many responsible Canadians use the weed to provide relief for chronic pain, to reduce the number and severity of seizures, to treat Parkinson’s disease, MS and a host of other maladies…even as a cure for some strains of cancer…with no side effects whatsoever. MJ has been used by civilizations for thousands of years for its beneficial properties with no one ever dying of an overdose or becoming addicted. A trucker’s coffee, Pepsi or cigarette is way more addictive than Mary Jane.

My point is that alcohol and some street drugs stimulate aggressive driving while reducing the ability of the user to assess risk, often ending in tragedy. Marijuana has the opposite effect. The astute user becomes mildly paranoid and is way more likely to avoid confrontation or take risks and drives at a slower pace but at the same time is more alert and aware of his/her environment and the implications of using. A lot of medicinal users of cannabis bake it into cookies, brownies or squares and these confections are usually taken by the responsible user just before bedtime so they work their magic while one is resting. And who would argue that a modern day asphalt engineer needs to experience a good night’s sleep! I suffer from acute osteoarthritis and the latter is my routine although I’m not operating a big rig any more.

To deny those medicinal users in the heavy duty trucking industry access to their legal marijuana prescriptions would be grossly unfair and discriminatory and probably

unconstitutional. Of course we’re talking about Canada only. Cross the border into the USA where using marijuana in any form for any reason is still a federal offense and if one admits to any personal use of the plant even as a mere youth many years ago, one might be denied entry into the Excited States for life. And although medical marijuana is legal in 29 states trucking is a federal activity and federal law supersedes state law.

The secret to possessing beneficial forms of medicinal marijuana is to know and trust one’s legitimate source. As you are likely aware marijuana growers over many years have developed many different strains which have been cultivated for different applications. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the plant’s property which induces the high.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is the healing property of marijuana and plants grown for medicinal use are higher in CBD than THC. If pain mitigation is the goal one still needs some of the THC to assist in pain management. Cannabinoid receptors are located throughout the human body as part of the endocannabinoid system and influence pain, appetite, mood and memory among other physical processes. So our bodies are already attuned to consumption. I do not recommend inhaling for obvious reasons and while toking provides almost immediate gratification the results of this method do not last as long as ingesting baked goods which take a bit longer to take affect but the effect lasts considerably longer.

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As far as enforcement goes there has not been developed to date a reliable device for measuring levels of impairment and officers are going mostly on visual observations much as in suspected alcohol impaired drivers. There are a lot of questions yet to be answered but one thing is certain, there are a large number of employees from various occupations who are current users, some on a daily basis including professional commercial drivers. Legalization will likely have no impact on their usage other than to perhaps ensure a safer product than some unknown street varieties.

There might be a few new users who did not trust sources previously but are willing to try something new but I do not see a very large segment of the population falling into this category. Whatever path one chooses it ought to be approached with a measure of accountability! I personally believe the day will come when responsible consumption of the plant will become more acceptable as a social icebreaker than alcohol for reasons stated above. Drive safely … 10-4! *****

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-People who want to share their religious or political views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

-What’s the difference between a politician and a flying pig? The letter F. -The consensus after the election is that 100% of Canadians think 50% of Canadians have lost their minds.

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Blizzard

by Dave Madill Winter on the prairies and the road is white with snow The sky has turned to dark grey and the wind begins to blow, Snow flies across the highway and drifts begin to grow Telephone poles disappear, obscured by blowing snow.

My speed along the highway slows down to a crawl My lights are almost useless, I can hardly see at all, Suddenly in the darkness I see the exit sign The truck stop is a mile ahead; my trip will work out fine.

I pull into the truck stop, back my truck into a row Snow sweeps across my hood; listen to that cold wind blow, Then I crawl into my bunk to rest my weary head Lay there as the old truck rocks, as I lay warm in my bed.

Morning comes and I awake to see a different sight Mother Nature changed the scene, in the middle of the night, Where once there was a row of trucks is now drifted six feet high Where once there was a roadway, no cars are going by.

I stumble to the café; I’ll sit and wait this out Wait for the plows and sanders to come and plow us out, Then Old Man Winter takes a break and the sun begins to shine, Winter’s fury has moved on farther down the line.

Dave Madill was Pro-Trucker Magazine’s Rig of the Month in June of 2001 and he has been entertaining us with his poetry ever since. Dave has published three books of poems that are available by special order through Chapters Book Stores or amazon.com

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