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JUNE 2017
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From the Editor’s desk... by John White
VOLUME 19, ISSUE 05 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 Ben Proudley • Mel McConaghy Ed Murdoch • Colin Black 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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Surprise! Surprise! The 2017 North America wide CVSA Roadcheck has been announced for June 6th through 8th. This yearly event is a windfall for shops doing vehicle inspections in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Right now they are all booked solid with last minute work to ensure that trucks will not be put out of service. The inspectors will all be conducting the North American Standard Level 1 Inspection. This is a 37-step procedure John White which includes an examination of both driver and vehicle. Drivers will be asked to provide paperwork like their driver’s licence, hoursof-service documentation, motor carrier registration, shipping documentation and you can be sure that a seat belt check will be done when you pull in. The vehicle inspection includes checking the brake systems, cargo securement, coupling devices, driveline/driveshaft, exhaust systems, frames, fuel systems, lights, steering, suspensions, tires, van and open-top trailer bodies, wheels, rims and hubs and windshield wipers. Each year, while doing the inspection, there is usually additional emphasis put on one area of the inspection. This year that area will be load securement. This blitz will be nothing more than an inconvenient stop for the vast majority of the drivers who always keep their trucks in tip top shape. The biggest effect this advance announcement has each year is to make sure the roads are safer for those 3 days as trucks that could not possibly pass inspection will be safely hidden away while their drivers enjoy a 3 day holiday until they go back to work on June 9th. The various talking heads in government can then publicly pat themselves on the back as they pose for photo ops to show the unknowing public how concerned they are about keeping our roads safe from those big old trucks. Just remember that the inspectors are doing their jobs just like you are. If you give them attitude then you can expect to get it back as can the guy behind you. Yes there are some small men with big badges but these are few and far between and everyone knows who they are already. Some of these are newbies who the older inspectors have not yet brought up to speed on the use of common sense. You find this type of person in every occupation including truck drivers and I’ve even heard – gasp – editors!
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LETTERS to the EDITOR
e Whit e John agazin
ker M Truc Prote
John Whi r Magazine Pro-Trucke
Hi John, In response to the article about truckers not being considered a Skilled Trade! My blood boils when I hear the way that us, ‘unskilled laborers’, aka truck drivers, don’t deserve the treatment the ‘real’ working people get because we are not considered a ‘trade’. I have worked in the trucking industry for over 20 years and have seen so many rules and regulations change, all which have never benefited the last guy on the totem pole, us, the lowly ‘unskilled laborer’ called a truck driver...whose job is one of the most important in the supply chain of the commercial world! Without us, you cannot eat, you would have nowhere to sleep, no clothes, no car or fuel, or even paper to wipe your butt! That lowly unskilled labourer everyone calls, ‘just a truck driver,’ puts up with so many rules, regulations, policies and laws that a ‘normal’ skilled employee (union or not) could not fathom! We have to be ‘Professional’ at everything we do from having perfect manners on
the highway or city streets, to dealing with Government laws and regulations as to hours of service, securing freight and making sure the vehicle and trailer we are driving is safe. Then we have to provide good customer service to the clients we deliver to who are very strict on lates, damages, shorts and proper tie-highs. We also have long hours, time away from the home base, waiting for receivers and shippers to be done lunch, (when we don’t get a scheduled lunch!) delays because of weather or accidents and the lousy overtime rules we don’t enjoy the privilege of collecting on – all because we are not considered a ‘Trade’. I dare anyone to take Joe-Q citizen off of the street, and see how far they make it in this Profession! Few would last even a week. You have to be politically correct, not get a bad attitude when your freight is refused at a warehouse for a ridiculous reason after you have busted your butt to get it there on time and be nice to the jerks who cut you off and give you ‘that attitude’ on the highway. You also have to be able to skillfully move your rig in and out of sometimes such poorly designed facilities that you wonder ‘what were they thinking?’ Not to mention all the safety courses we are required to have and keep up to date in order to do our jobs. There are few people out there who could hop into a truck on a moment’s notice and be able to deal with our everyday situations. All of which require on the spot
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decisions, attentiveness, and problem solving skills that we have to develop all on our own without any training! Our training in that area is to be creative, deal with it, and for some, sink or swim. I’m sure all the drivers out there would agree...we are far from unskilled, and are the very fabric to the nation we live in. There should be an adjustment to the Labour Laws that recognize, and reward us for our everyday struggle/job that we perform just to keep ticking along. Without our patience, skills, concentration, attention to detail and dedication, no one would ever receive their freight! Maybe a change will come in the future but that will not happen until the government realizes we are skilled at what we do. This is a very sad situation for all of the good drivers out there. We deserve recognition and a better reward for the extremely tough job we do. Shelley Francis Red Deer, AB
politicians will do anything to get elected and then to stay in power. Don’t be fooled, they only care about your vote not your welfare or your concerns. The only way to change the way government’s attitude towards truck drivers or anything else is to let politicians know that you will only give them your support when they demonstrate that they are willing to give you theirs. If enough drivers wrote a letter to both their provincial and federal representatives you would soon have their undivided attention. The key word in that last sentence is “enough.”
Editor’s note: Shelley was our Rig of the Month driver in our February 2016 issue. There is no other occupation that is as regulated and government controlled, without being recognized as an official trade as driving a truck. Truck driver is still one of the most common occupations listed on the Canadian census and together that is a huge block of votes! By now everyone should realize that
Editor’s note: We have never done that before but that is a great suggestion. Please give us a couple weeks after the show to get settled and then email Donna at donna@ptmag.ca with your name, category, truck parking number from your window sign and any optional categories you enter in. She will then send the score sheets to you. See you at the show! r
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driVing doWn under
By Randy Bye
Randy was our March 2017 Rig of the Month driver. He was born in Hixon, BC and comes from a family of truck drivers that goes back to his Grandfather’s trucking company in the 1940’s. Randy now lives and drives truck in Australia.
So far I’ve been living here in Australia on and off for about 4 years and I have to say that Australians know what life is all about. They feel that family comes first and work comes second and I totally agree. It’s a more laid back way of life. Most guys on the highway are home for a lot of the weekends and you get paid very well as a truck driver. You
junE 2017
are paid by the kilometre, usually about 48-50 cents a Km and you can write off virtually every expense. There are some drawbacks though. The highways aren’t all that great and the rules here are strictly enforced. There are speed and safety cameras everywhere and the log book rules are not easy to wrap your head around. The fines are atrocious. You can only drive 12 hours in ANY 24 hour period, which means you must take 12 hours off during the day and here’s the kicker – there are no set fines. It all depends on how the judge feels that day. I was over my hours by 15 minutes and received a $1000 fine! The next time I was 30 minutes over and received a $700 dollar fine - go figure. The DOT and cops are in cahoots, so they all hate you...lol. All trucks are governed
Alberta Big Rig Weekend July 14-16 in Nisku, Alberta
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at 100kms, even downhill. The cops have the right to plug in to your truck at any time to see what you’ve been doing and they can issue a speeding ticket if they find anywhere that you have gone 101 km/h. I don’t want to bag out Australia because it is a really very good way of life. I could go on and on about the DOT or RTA as they call them here but we all have our rants about those in authority when their head gets too big for their hat. If you keep yourself legal you have no problems, I just feel the log book rules are a bit over the top. With that being said, it’s like a truck show here every day. The pride these Aussies have is unmatchable. All the trucks are clean, shiny and there is Armor All on all the tires - even the trailers! I drove highway here for about a year but now I haul equipment in the city of Melbourne. The pay is also quite good at $35.00 an hour and although city driving has its moments they treat truckers here very well with food and rest. The truck stops and gas stations all have an enormous amount of hot food, beef roasts, pork roast, lamb chops, kebabs and it is all made fresh. I can get a full roast beef dinner with potatoes and veggies for $10 Dollars. There are also massive parking spots for trucks in and around the city, it’s pretty cool actually. The weather here is also great for the most part, no snow or cold weather, unless you consider +2 to be cold. That’s the coldest that I have seen and I can live with that.
I do miss Canada but there are strong similarities between here and there. Aussies are friendly and pretty nice, a lot like Canadians and they love to drink their beer too! It seems that anytime is a good time for a stubby. Kenworth seems to be the favorite truck here, not many guys drive Peterbilts. There are lots of old trucks here that are still going up and down the highway and they still look brand new. I’ve seen hundreds of trucks 10-20 years old that are as shiny as new. Old Ford 9000’s, old Macks, it is really neat to see all this old iron looking like they just rolled off the show room floor. I mentioned that I haul equipment here and I have to say that the lowbed trailers are really cool, they hydraulically widen out to 4 meters and they all have hydraulic ramps. Since nothing is allowed to stick outside the bed of the trailer, tie downs on an excavator are secured by the idler block front and back, rather than to the tracks. Speaking of tracks most excavators here have rubber cleats in town. After doing this for 25 years in Canada, it’s a whole new world here in Australia and I’m still learning. The reason the rules are so strictly enforced is because 20 years ago there used to be a lot of cowboys in trucks that would do over 100 miles an hour from Melbourne to Sydney. It would be pretty easy to do because it’s straight and flat with very few hills. I can imagine how it used to be here as they love their horse power, whether it be in a truck or car. Cabovers are also still made here and they
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love them. The Kenworth K200 is the Mac Daddy and there are thousands of them! Personally I like a cabover to look at but not to drive. Cummins is the most popular engine here as well. When you get your license in Australia you don’t have to use a stick, you can use an automatic and surprisingly a lot of the guys have never driven a stick. I was asked in my job interview if I’ve ever driven a road ranger. I asked if he meant a 13, 15, or 18 speed. He said he had never heard of a 15! I couldn’t believe my ears. You also need a special license to drive a B train or B double as they call them here. When you get your license you have to start with what they call a rigid license then work your way up. When I got my class 1 at 19 years of age in Canada I went to Terrace, BC and started hauling logs out of the Nass Valley. That definitely wouldn’t happen here. It hasn’t been easy here, learning to drive on the wrong side of the road, shifting with my left hand and basically learning to do everything backwards, but I wouldn’t change it for the world, it’s been a great experience. I’m still learning everyday but loving it all the same. I’ve found that it’s okay to be out of your comfort zone sometimes, it stretches your mind and keeps you on your toes. Hope you enjoy my stories, I thank you for reading and I hope to send more to you all soon. Take care, guys and girls, and G’day from straya mate’s!!
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 Editor/publisher John is always exhorting me to extract something funny from my vast … even from my half vast … roadside memory bank and deposit it in this monthly column. Problem is most funny episodes that occurred over the course of my career are either terribly embarrassing or downright unprintable like the “great cursing outburst” or the “red pantyhose incident” … never mind! Then there was the occasion back in the mid ‘80s, Claudette and I were napping in a pullout just west of Quebec City after unloading when we were awakened by a banging on the door. Looking out I saw a Canadian military officer standing on the running board and a whole contingent of personnel carriers lined up with no place to go. I wound down the window and the officer asked if he could use our Marconi hard wired cell phone as the platoon, charged with Canada’s security against alien invaders, was totally lost and he needed directions. Before turning over our high-cost communications
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device I asked where they were all headed and when he said Valcartier. I laughed as I could see in my mirror the exit sign on the eastbound side of Hwy 40 with CFB Valcartier in big white letters on the green background and an arrow pointing to the off ramp. And would you believe that not 20 feet from the front of our rig was a pay phone? I guess no one had a quarter. This next item might be funny for some environmentalists who wish us to breathe clean, fresh uncontaminated air and be able to provide pure drinking water for all Canadian citizens but it certainly is not good news for certain large commercial conglomerates that are still hung up on being able to deliver or receive unsustainable fossil fuels for manufacturing purposes and to provide energy to power machines for construction and/or to supply the transportation industry. Tony Seba is an economist with Stanford University in California and in a recent Financial Times article he predicts that there will be no more gasoline or diesel powered cars, buses or trucks sold anywhere in the world within eight years. That might be a bit of a stretch but already some countries such as Norway and the Netherlands have begun the process to enforce a ban by 2025. Other European Union nations, Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, etc., are likely to follow suit by 2030. Seba’s prediction is that people will eventually just stop driving and self-driving electric vehicles (EVs) which
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operate at 10% of the cost of petroleum cars with almost zero fuel expense and a million miles life expectancy will become the norm. If he’s right Ford, General Motors, the German and Asian manufacturers will be dealt a death knell and will either adapt or die. Silicon Valley is where the auto action is today, not Detroit, Wolfsburg, or Toyota City. Vehicle dealers will disappear, Uber-like initiatives will abound. Big Oil will become a piece of history. Oil for road transport use in the US will drop from 8 million barrels a day to 1 million. The US government will lose $50 billion a year in fuel taxes. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of oil is selling large blocks of its giant oil consortium Saudi Aramco in anticipation of the trend and is using the proceeds to fund diversification from oil
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as a source of energy. Canadian Mark Carney former head of the Bank of Canada and now Governor of the Bank of England and chairman of Basel’s Financial Stability Board, has warned that companies that cling to the fossil fuel protocol will never be able to utilize their assets under the Paris Agreement. Carney pointed to the bankruptcy of three of the world’s four largest coal-mining companies last year with just a small drop in demand. Even India is planning to phase out petroleum powered vehicles by 2032 and is passing China in the race. “The trend is irreversible,” said Wang Chuanfu, head of the Chinese electric car producer BYD that hopes to have 7 million EVs on the road by next year. If this all sounds like too much too soon just stop and think a moment as to how far we’ve come in the past decade or two. And it isn’t the global warming fanatics that are driving the trend … it is the rampant surge in technology that is the force behind the movement. My son who is the National Technical Consultant for Mazda Canada says the next generation of Mazda cars will not have spark plugs but still an internal combustion vehicle has around 10,000 moving parts, over 2,000 of which are simply engine components, while a Tesla S, an EV, has fewer than 150 moving parts including the drive train, windows, controls, suspension and doors. EVs will run at about 6.8 cents per mile and insurance
will likely drop by 90 per cent. “Maintenance is essentially zero. That is why Tesla is offering infinite-mile warranties. You can drive it to the moon and back and they will still warranty it,” Prof. Seba says and he added that by 2030, 95% of all miles driven in the US will be in autonomous EVs. Of course used cars will have no future and there will likely be a disposal tax added to them as batteries and tires cost us extra today. And if one thinks that the trucking industry is immune from this most significant disruption in the history of locomotion, think again. Already 70% of all US truck service lanes are within battery range and batteries are getting better and cheaper every year. EVs are also much more powerful than internal combustion vehicles that lose 80% of their power in heat. Nikola 1 is an aerodynamic hybrid semi put out by Nikola Motors that produces 2,000 hp and there is a hybrid Volvo called the Mean Green Machine that also produces that much power. We old-time double-clutching gear jammers will just have to make an adjustment in our thinking. Gone forever is the “seat of the pants” driving style and hello to a low maintenance, wimpy age of motivating … sighhhh … but society at large and future generations will be the huge beneficiaries of this technology. Are you prepared for summer hazards now that winter in most parts of the country is gone for a few weeks? Motor with care, be safe and come back, y’hear … 10-4!
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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.
Jurassic Truck I recall a conversation not so long ago when a young driver said, “Trucking has changed, it’s not like years ago when your dad was trucking and everything was good.” Rolling my hand on the shifter my wrist cracked as I geared down half a gear and rolled on the coal. He continued talking and I leaned back in my seat and thought about the good old days. Without any effort, I reached down and pushed the button to lower the passenger seat window an inch for a bit of fresh air, as I looked over my neck creaked and I winced a bit. Man, I was feeling all the years of driving, as my ears listened to his chattering on the radio. He went on about how guys like my old man were the old guard and had some amazing stories about trucking. How he wished he could have run with them and shared the glory years. “Glory years?” I said in my usual gruff tone. “Glory years? Listen, truckin hasn’t changed a lot in the last
three decades. We’ve been so lucky to have technological advancements in our trade. I don’t ever look at armstrong steering, bias-ply tires and rubber block suspension as, glory years. Poppin pills and running for days on end, chaining up because you had no lockers or even differential lock. Shoving cardboard or plywood in front of your rad when it was freezing or holding the shutters open, running with your doors tied open, and guzzling water because it was so bloody hot outside. Sliding through the gears now with out so much as a thought is nothing like running twin sticks and possibly breaking an arm if you miss-judged with your arm through the steering wheel. Trips that we do in a few hours now, that used to take days to complete are not glory trips. Those guys did the best they could with the tools they had. Make no mistake, my old man gives me a hard time about truckin these days but I sure notice that when he climbs in and sits in the cab he loves the new stuff and doesn’t for one second miss his jurassic truck. *****
Thoughts for the Day
• You do not need a parachute to skydive – you only need a parachute to skydive twice. • Remember back when we were kids and every time it was below zero out they closed school? No? Me neither!
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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 Pepe and I Went South It was in January and I had just delivered a load in Toronto and they asked me if I wanted to go south to some warm weather and after thinking it over for a half second I decided to take the load. It was to New Orleans and it was all crated machine parts so it was easy to load and fairly light. They told me at the depot to take my time as the load was not scheduled for a full week so I could just ease along. Yep I am real good at that and ended up in New Orleans early as I figured I could unload early and then go hide somewhere and Pepe, (my pet skunk), and I could get a little vacation time in. Phoned the company when I got into town and despite being early they said they would take the load. Headed into the plant and got backed into the door and went inside. Big place, really busy and a lot of workers but the only white face I seen was mine. Not a problem to me so I checked in and had a good conversation with the receiver and some of the guys then while I was getting my bills signed I asked if there was any good seafood joints in the area. Everybody said there was a great one just a block away but I would not be welcome there because of my colour but the receiver said, if I wanted to try it, tell them that Slick from XYZ company recommended the place and I should be OK. Back to my rig and found a good quiet place to park, put Pepe into his harness, grabbed his leash and we started out down the street. Street was fairly busy and I was the only white guy around but the sight of Pepe walking along kinda had everybody wondering and no one said boo to me. Got down to the Sea Food joint and I picked Pepe up and shoved him inside my jacket and walked in the door. Ever walk into a place and not be able to see a darn thing. Thats how it was and so I kinda just stood there for a few seconds until my eyes adjusted to the light and I noticed that the noise level in the place had dropped to a whisper. Finally my eyes adjusted and I could see and I walked over to a little booth by the side wall slipped Pepe out and took my jacket off and half covered him up on the bench seat so he would feel safe and sat down. There must have been thirty people in there and not one of them was white or even light brown and no one was moving but every eye was watching me. Finally after a few moments a young lady walked over and asked me if I was crazy or what, walking into black soul food joint in the blackest part of New Orleans. Told her I was sane or at least most people thought I was but I junE 2017
was a Canadian and didn’t know the rules as to who could go where and that Slick down the road recommended this place. A guy joined her and man he was about the size of my truck and he wanted to know who the “Honky” (his word) with the death wish was. The little gal said that I was a Canadian and about that time Pepe decided to join the conversation by hopping up on my lap and growling. (He never did like bad mannered people). They both jumped back and I told them it was OK, he was friendly and since he was black and white that he did not discriminate and only attacked if he felt threatened. That calmed things down a bit and after Pepe got introduced to a few people who had never seen a Canadian Skunk before I finally got to order some food and a beer. Needless to say the food was beyond all expectations and Pepe and I cleaned our plate and I even shared a piece of Pecan pie with him. Talked to a bunch of people that night and when I got up to pay and leave my bill apparently disappeared. I had one of the best meals I had ever had and four big guys walked back to my truck with me just to make sure I was not bothered by any of the boys from the Hood. Pepe and I went a few miles out of town to a truck stop that the receiver had mentioned and we ended up sticking around for a few days holiday before finding a load back to the Great Frozen. Never really crossed my mind at the time but that little skunk probably did more for race relations that night than most lawmakers ever do. r
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The dieseL gyPsy By Bill Weatherstone This is an excerpt from Bill’s book, “The Life and Times of William John Weatherstone.” Love Life On The Road In The 1950’S While trucking for A & H in the 1950’s from Sarnia, Ontario to Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada) it was just run, run all the time and pretty rare to get any time off to socialize and meet people. Freight was booming all over. The only time you got to yourself was during any truck downtime, such as repairs, service or load delivery screw ups. The partner that I was driving with at the time will be referred as Griff (part of his last name) who was a wild man (in life, in driving, and a borderline nut case, but lots of wild fun). At this particular time we were hung up in Winnipeg waiting for a load and after the second day of waiting Griff became quite restless. Time to have a party...right? It just so happened that he had a girlfriend in town and so he gave her a call for a date. He also asked if a friend of hers would be available for a blind date for his driving
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CANYON CABLE 1988 LTD. 930-6th Ave., Hope, BC 604-869-9036 Toll Free 1-800-588-8868 partner? She came back with an okay. Her name was JB. (initials only for the story) After meeting we became really close but one problem was introduced, she was to leave Canada for Australia on a contract with a hospital as a registered nurse. We did have one hell of a good time for the next couple days. As usual all good things come to an end. But I learned something useful that hospitals have a nurses residences for the single women. And like drivers they were overworked with little time off. We were back on the road and doing the miles like crazy with little or no time off again when we gypsied a load into Montreal and had to lay over for 2 days. What now, two drivers in a foreign language area, what could we do for entertainment? Well as usual Griff got a brainstorm and said that we should check out the local hospitals for nurses residences. After a little research he came up with an address. He called and asked if he could speak to nurse JB, which returned the expected response that no nurse with that name was a resident. Griff then told the operator that we were here expecting to take JB out for dinner and entertainment with reservations already made. So what now? Rather than lose the evening he suggested that if any of your nurses would like to come in her place we would be very appreciative. She asked if anyone would like to take a chance and go out on a diner date and the response was overwhelming. I guess some of these women were tied up with career training and had such little social time, that it almost sounded like a small stampede to go out for dinner. Well the evening was a total success and the introduction was used in other cities as well...... One of the essential perks of a gypsy type traveller. *****
Langley, BC / May 19, 2017 SafetyDriven
Trucking Safety Council of BC (SafetyDriven – TSCBC) has honoured five companies for their commitment to keeping their workers and workplaces safe from injury, illness, and disease. PAGE 14
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All five companies earned their Certificate of Recognition (COR), a designation awarded to employers with a health and safety management system that exceeds regulatory requirements. They are certified after passing audits by third parties. This group of companies achieved the highest COR audit scores in 2016. “Getting COR strengthens morale and relationships within the organization and that can translate into higher productivity and a healthier workplace for everyone,” says Mark Donnelly, Executive Director of SafetyDriven - TSCBC. “COR has a positive influence on a company’s safety culture which, in turn, drives down injury rates and claims costs.” Phoenix Truck & Crane won SafetyDriven – TSCBC’s first-ever Health and Safety Innovation Award for mandating all of their owner-operators to become COR certified and providing them with the necessary tools and time to succeed. This Coquitlam-based company has been an active part of the Lower Mainland business community for more than 25 years. “Phoenix Truck & Crane, our client partner in development, testing, and launch of our integrated Health & Safety – Certificate of Recognition pilot program, deserves special recognition for both achieving their Certificate of Recognition and for helping us spearhead a new method of delivering safety certification for owner
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tion for more than 60 years. MasonLift Ltd. - This Delta-based company provides material handling solutions and support across BC. Established 70 years ago. MasonLift also earned the Best Overall award. Small Employer COR - Achievement of Excellence (4 – 19 employees) Len’s Transportation Group - Based in Surrey, this family-owned and operated firm started with unique solutions for lift trucks. They built a high level of service based on innovative solutions that now includes heavy haul of all descriptions.
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The Last Mile
A very successful and well respected man in the transportation industry, Chuck Keay, passed away from heart failure on Friday, February 3, 2017, at the age of 75. He is lovingly remembered by his mother Ethel; wife Jane; sons Sid (Leigh), Mike (Michelle), and Charlie (Lauren); brothers Jim (Lynn), Dan; and a large extended family, including five grandchildren, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. Chuck was born and raised in the Vancouver area. He and his first wife Linda were married in 1961 and had two sons, Sidney and Michael. He and his second wife Jane were married in 1983, and his third son Charlie followed. During the 1960’s Chuck was a proud member of the Vancouver Police Department, and the motorcycle drill team. Chuck and his family enjoyed summers at their home on Gabriola Island, and later boating in Desolation Sound and the Gulf Islands. He continued to ride his motorcycle and had some memorable trips with his brothers and close friends. Christmas holidays were often spent in Maui, and golfing became a favourite pastime while at the family home in Palm Springs.
After working in the transportation industry during the 1970’s, in 1981 he started his own company, Ocean Trailer, where he was soon joined by his sons Sid and Michael. Hard work and good business practice soon turned Ocean Trailer into one of the largest trailer sales, rentals, repairs and parts companies in Western Canada. Chuck’s oldest son, Sid, took over as CEO in 2003 and they now have offices in Delta, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Nanaimo, Prince George and Prince Rupert. Chuck had a largerthan-life persona. He drew people in with his magnetic storytelling and his bold sense of humour left everyone in stitches. He lived life to the fullest, and did it his way! Losing Chuck leaves his family and many friends in the transportation industry deeply saddened.
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Rig of the Month
By John White The story of Truk “R” Trev: Trevor Block’s life began Tammy. In 1980 the family moved to Abbotsford, BC in April of 1973 in Edson, AB. He lived there for 7 years where they still live today. with his parents Barb and Cricket and his younger sister This is Trevor’s story:
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My Mom, Barb, says that I was born with diesel in my blood as I spent so much time when I was young trucking with my dad, who is also known as Cricket. Dad hauled heavy equipment for both Worthing Transport and Steve’s Trucking out to the oil fields as well as construction sites all over Alberta, Northern BC and the Yukon. Before I was a year old, dad would grab some diapers, a handful of bottles and off we would go. On his shorter moves around Edson, Alberta, dad would put me on a blanket so I could sleep on the floor of his 1969 Kenworth that had a 335 Cummins and a 5x4 transmission. He said he knew I was going to be a trucker because I slept really well while listening to the rumble of the motor and the rattle of the transmission. Once the diapers and bottles were gone I was able to go on the longer trips, some as long as 2 weeks although Mom didn’t like it when I was gone for too long. Of course there was still no sleeper so dad would sleep on the seats and I’d still curl up on the floor. Sometimes if there were room at the bush camps they would let us sleep there. Every once in a while we would even get a motel, which I apparently called an apartment. One trip, we were moving some equipment off road into the bush of Northern Alberta. We hadn’t had a real bed in 3 days when I realised we were on a paved road. He tells me that when I saw some houses I asked if we were going home and he said not for a few more days. He said I got out of my seat and stood right in front of his face
junE 2017
Trevor & Tawnya Block and said, “Are we getting an apartment or what!” I guess I was tired of sleeping on that floor. I would always help Dad when I was with him. I learnt by experience, from the beginning, the right way to load a truck and then how to tie the load down properly. There were no shortcuts with dad, you did it right the first time. He knew his job and he did it well. No matter how tall I get, I will always look up to him. After moving to Abbotsford Dad got on a scheduled run from Vancouver to either Edmonton or Calgary. I
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would go with him anytime there was a school holiday and in the summer I would get dropped off at my Grandpa’s farm, “The Welcome Ranch,” in Edson. I’d help him with the haying and all the other farm work and when the trips were over and we were back home again I’d help wash and service the truck. Dad would always say, “There is more to trucking than driving. Even if you are just a driver for someone, you take care of the truck as if it’s your own.” That’s advice that I’ve stuck to my entire trucking life. After 6 years of being on the road, Dad bought a 1974 cabover Kenworth K100 with a gravel box. It stood out and was very easy to spot in Abbotsford because it had Native Chiefs painted on the cab and at the time cabovers were rarely used as gravel trucks. It was about that time that I started getting some driving experience. On all the off road construction sites Dad would let me drive. Learning to back up, how to get out again if I got stuck and knowing to watch for and not running over any, survey stakes, man holes or open trenches. He said I did well but not to get overconfident because in this job you never stop learning. I’ve found that he was right about that as I am still learning all the time. I decided to go to work in the shop for Fraser Valley Spring where I worked on all types of suspensions from cars to big rigs. Rick was a great teacher and good to work with. I learned a lot there but soon realized that I’d rather be driving equipment than fixing it. In 1990 I met my wife Tawnya when she lived in the Matsqui Prairies. We have three lovely daughters Catherine born in March of 1991, Desiree in April of 1992 and Alexis (Ally) was born in May of 1996. Ally is actually our niece. We took her in when she was two and she has been our daughter ever since. When I was still dating Tawnya I met Doug and Don Rennie and went to work for them on their father/ son dairy farm. They ran all John Deere equipment and everything was always washed and maintained. Playing is in my nature so we got along great! Don is so easy going and has a laid back nature so that it didn’t even feel like a job. I’ve learned a lot from him and he’s like an older brother to me. To this day I’d do anything for him. It was because of Don that I got my Class 3 license. He bought a 1975 White-Freightliner cabover with a 318 Detroit and a 15 over transmission from Otter Co-op. We turned it into a silage truck and I used it for my road test. For the “added touch” on the day of my test, I put a shovel of rotten silage under the passenger seat. You should have seen the look on the examiner’s face when I showed up with this truck. Dad asked, “Did you get your test all right or did the examiner not want to do another exam in a silage truck?” Either way, I got my Class 3 and there began the journey of Truck “R” Trev. The nick name came from when I was working there at the farm. Any job that came up for the cab over I would jump in it right PAGE 24
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away before anyone else had the chance so the owners son would laugh and call me that and it just stuck. September 1999, I got a job with a building supply company driving a 1994 Ford Louisville 7000 single axel delivering building supplies in the Lower Mainland and some Interior runs. In 2001 the old Ford was taking its toll on maintenance costs. The owners must of thought I was doing a good enough job and had the knowledge as they let me spec out a new truck. With the help of dad and Inland Kenworth, they bought a 2002 T300 ISC Cummins 10 speed. This truck had no problem making that 7000 Louisville look bad. While working here, in 2003, we met the White family at my first Pro-Trucker Show and Shine in Mission BC, since then we have grown very close and consider them family. In 2006 my wife and I decided that Alberta would be a better fit so I filled 2 suitcases, jumped on a Greyhound and headed to Edson Alberta for a new beginning. Thanks to my Aunt, I landed a job at a lumber mill where she worked. But there was an accident at the mill before I could move my wife and kids out. I was driving a fork lift when a chunk of dunnage got caught in the feeder chain. When it let go it flew about 200 feet across the mill and hit me in the face just below my right eye. It shattered my cheek bone and cracked my eye socket in 3 places. As if that was not bad enough, that is also the day that I found out I was allergic to Demerol. I flat-lined on the table and apparently it took the doctors 5 minutes to get my heart
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going again. It turned out that my new beginning was not starting out so well. It took over a year for me to recover and by then I decided that I was pretty well done with anything that had to do with lumber. I ended up getting hired at Coal Valley Mine, just south of Edson, running a 789 haul truck, hauling raw coal from the pit to the plant. The haul was so long and boring that after a short time I bid on the clean coal pile dozer position. I got the posting and it turned out to be a good move. I was running a brand new D10T loading the train and pushing raw coal to the loaders, feeding the plant. I met some great guys there like Dan Lehman he was the lowboy operator and Dave Anderson, he was an old cowboy but one of the best cat skinners I have ever met. Things were good there except for the winters. My wife and kids soon had enough of the -30 degree Alberta winters so after 5 years they decided to move back to Abbotsford while I stayed on at the coal mine. Long distance relationships are difficult enough but even more so with a 4 day on 4 day off shift rotation. After my last shift I would get in my truck and drive straight from the mine to Abbotsford. I’d be there for 2 days then drive straight back to the mine just in time for my next shift. That long commute got old real fast and a year later, in 2010, I pulled the plug and moved back to Abbotsford. I figured with all the driving I was doing I might as
The
well start trucking again. It didn’t take long to get hired on at Vedder Transport with their Wastech division hauling garbage up to Cache Creek and then picking up a load of chips for the return trip. After a year a of doing that on straight nights I finally had had enough and went to work for my friend Terry Goddard. I hauled gravel for Terry with a T800 high hood with an ISX Cummins and 18 speed pulling a 4 axel transfer on a tridem pony. Terry and his brother Robbie ran the company and out of 4 trucks, 3 were signed with Triple West and I was one of them. They were great guys to work for but after a little over a year the traffic in the Lower Mainland was driving me crazy. I was ready to lose my mind and start running over 4 wheelers so it was obvious I needed a change. It just so happened that my good friend Don Rennie, with Legendairy Farms, was looking at doing some major changes to his dairy farm, which is still a father/ son operation - just another generation. Working for Don and his son Tyler wasn’t even a job, it was like hanging out with two friends. Between building a new automated barn, hauling hay and doing all the field work, I was in my glory. No traffic, no scales although there was one drawback - I had to drive a Peterbilt. For those that know me, I’ve always said that a Peterbilt looks best thought the rear view mirror of a Kenworth! It was while I had that Pete, during the 2014 Big Rig Weekend Show and Shine in Chilliwack, that I met Mike Stobbe. While having our
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steak dinner and talking trucks with Mike, my wife told him he should hire me and 6 months later he did just that. Mike is an amazing guy and it turned out he was a mechanic with Can-Am Transport when my dad was still working there – it’s a small world! When I started driving for Mike he had 2 trucks on with Pacific Coast and we hauled dry van freight from Vancouver to Alberta. In January 2014, our oldest daughter, Catherine, gave us a grandson, Landon, and we are incredibly close. We are best friends and inseparable. That same year on my wife’s birthday, I lost my mom to cancer. It was my best year and my worst year. It hit my dad really hard as they had been high school sweethearts. Things at Pacific Coast weren’t going well and Mike and I both knew I wasn’t going to fit in so he sold one truck and signed mine with Grant Transport. Terry was an amazing guy to work for and going from dry vans to step decks was right up my alley. Hauling equipment, glass and granite was good until the Alberta crash after which Mike and I were on the hunt again. That is when Mike introduced me to Paul Knox from Lenox Logistics. Even though it was dry van work again, I didn’t mind. Anyone who has had to deal with tarping in -30C and 20 km/h winds will understand why! Pulling for Lenox has been good, we haul craft beer to Edmonton and Calgary and either beer or empty kegs back to Vancouver. I’ve hauled a lot of different loads over the
PAGE 28
years but alcohol has to be the most difficult. I can’t believe the amount of B.S. that Lenox has to go through for each and every load. Aside from that it’s a good gig, I work 4 days on, 3 days off. In May 2016 Catherine gave us a beautiful granddaughter, Reneyah and my grandson Landon goes trucking with me just like I did with my dad. As I write this, he is on his first out of Province run with me! I have to say that not having to raise a child in over 25 years, then having a 3 year old in a truck for two and a half days, really separates the men from the boys, lol! When we got back to town Tawnya asked how the trip went, I
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.com Enjoy Back issues of Pro-Trucker Magazine anywhere you are from the comfort of your smart phone!
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looked her straight in the eye and jokingly said, “No more questions, I’ve had enough in the last two and a half days to last me a lifetime.” Other than the constant questions, he was an awesome boy and he turned all the guys at the card lock into pudding! All in all trucking has been a great life. It has allowed me to spend more time with my dad than most people ever get the chance to and it has enabled me to raise a family and to watch as my family continues to grow. Like any trucking family it is the love and support at home that makes it all possible.
My Life Through A Broken Windshield By Mel McConaghy
Mel is a retired veteran driver who has spent 40 years on the road. A Nasty Trip Late one spring, in the late 1970’s after having returned from Grand Isle, where I had picked up a D-8 Cat at the mine and then chewed up my chains while getting onto the barge, I was immediately dispatched to take a couple of small back hoes west. One to Prince Rupert and the other to Dease Lake, up the StewartCassiar Highway. It was my plan to take the one to Rupert first and then run light to Dease Lake. From all reports, both highways were in good shape so I decided, rather than take the time to repair my chains, I would run with the one I had left. The old ‘Mean Machine’ had a Posi-trac in the back diff and with the diff-lock in and one triple on it would almost climb a telephone pole. It was the first of the week and we were having a big family dinner on Sunday but no sweat, I figured I would have lots of time, so I loaded up and headed out. The trip was going good and I got to Rupert and unloaded the first machine and went to Dease Lake and unloaded the second machine. I then phoned my dispatcher which turned out to be my first mistake. “I want you to go about ten miles up the highway and pick up a D-6-C and drop it off at Finning Tractor in Terrace,” the dispatcher informed me so I picked up the Cat and headed south. I might add this was the time before they upgraded the road from a goat trail to a better goat trail. I pulled into Meziadin Junction to eat around seven that evening. With the wind blowing hard and the temperature rising, it was obvious a Chinook was moving in. There was another low-bed parked in the lot so when I got inside I introduced myself to the driver. Through conversation, I learned his name was ‘Topo’ and he had been trucking this road out of Terrace almost since its PAGE 30
NEW Extended Hours Mon-Fri 8 am- Midnight • Sat 8 am- 5pm conception. Considering we were packing almost the same weight and he knew the road so well it was agreed that I would follow him. By the time we left camp the temperature was about plus 10 degrees and it was already taking its toll on the road as it was getting soft and very wet. After we had been traveling down the road a bit Topo called me on the radio and said. “I just spun out up here on a hill so you better slow down as we’ll have to chain up.” I stopped on a little knoll just before a straight stretch that was leading to the hill and put on my one remaining triple chain. All the time thinking, “Snow is one thing but deep mud with only one triple is another thing altogether…truck, don’t fail me now’. Topo dug his way up the hill and I followed, driving like a mad man. It was touch and go as I chomped and chewed my way up the hill but I finally made it. We were working our way farther down the road when Topo got back to me again on the radio and said, “I’m stopping, there is a big tree across the road.” As I pulled in behind him he was pulling a small chain saw and an axe out of his jockey box. It took us most of the night but we finally bucked up the tree and cleared enough of the road to get by. We got to highway 16 at seven o’clock in the morning and then went on to Terrace where we unloaded. This is when I made my second mistake - I phoned my dispatcher again and was told to pick up an old International crawler. That alone wouldn’t have been too bad but he went on to say that it didn’t run and they would have to push it on my trailer. Needless to say by this time my butt was dragging on the ground so I loaded the Cat, phoned my wife, told her I would be late and crawled into the bunk, quickly falling sound asleep. I never got home until late Sunday evening where I got a semi-warmed up dinner and an extra helping of cold shoulder. I did learn my lesson though as I never ever left on a trip again without fixing my tire chains. You can only be lucky so many times and if I hadn’t been running with an old hand like Topo I might still be on that road. r
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Alberta Big Rig Weekend July 14-16 in Nisku, Alberta
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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.
Accidents I was saddened to read on social media of a tragic accident that resulted in the death of the driver. There didn’t seem to be any other vehicles involved according to the story, so we’ll never know what made that driver brake so hard that it sent part of his load of girders through the cab. Maybe a car cut him off and then disappeared, or a pedestrian not paying attention walked out in front of him. I think this is the thing pedestrians and car drivers don’t think about when they step out in front of a truck, or cut one off because they’re about to miss an off slip on the highway. It brought back memories of problems truckers over here were having many years ago, although I don’t remember any fatalities. Local haulage companies were running loads of heavy pipe, forty feet long and maybe 9 inches in diameter. Their route took them along a docklands road in the middle of Glasgow through an area called Finniston. All the riverside warehouses are long since knocked down, replaced by an exhibition centre, a big concert hall and upmarket yuppie flats. But back then it was part of a busy city centre dockside, frequented by down and outs and drunks. The loaded trucks were usually heading west, and where the accidents happened there was only a sidewalk on one side of the road. The left hand side of the trucks had no sidewalk, just a white line to mark where the road stopped and the warehouse loading/unloading area began. The lack of a sidewalk could’ve been one of the reasons for the accidents. Drunks would stagger out from behind parked trucks or freight and straight into the path of the loaded trucks. Probably heading for the pubs on the other side of the road to get topped up with more cheap drink. The haulage companies tried various solutions to stop the heavy pipes from shooting forward through the cabs, nets made from wire rope round the front of the load and such like. But the only thing that worked was a double height trailer headboard made of steel, you guys call them headache racks. Back then our flatbed trailers usually had headboards only two or three feet tall and made of the same timber as the trailer floor. Although it added some weight to the unladen tare of the trailer the tall steel headboard did the job of keeping the drivers a bit safer. I had a very strange and frightening thing happen to me many years ago, I was driving a 17 ton GVW curtainsider on a narrow country road. And just like the dock side road in Glasgow there was only one narrow sidewalk on my left. An old woman came out of a housing estate and started to PAGE 32
BLACKJACKS Roadhouse is expanding its services to the Transportation Industry.
BLACJACKS Roadhouse & Games Room is pleased to announce they have received all the approvals necessary to expand the services they provide to the Transportation Industry. They plan to expand their services by adding a shower facility, laundry mat, business center, convenience store, weight scale and additional seating to their 24hr restaurant. “With significant changes to the Trucking Industry starting in January of 2018, there will be an increased demand for full service truck stop facilities. This will be a great complement to our present services, we look forward to completing renovations by the fall,” said Clarence Shields, the owner. Blackjacks Roadhouse is located along highway 2, western Canada’s busiest transportation corridor at the intersection of Highway 19 & 625, adjacent to the Edmonton International Airport and the entrance to Nisku, Canada’s largest oilfield industrial park. This 20,000 sqft facility includes 12 acres of truck parking (140 stalls), 24 hour restaurant, 500 seat saloon, games room, ATM’s and business services. Their sister property which is located next door, the Airways County Inn, offers newly renovated rooms, off sales, and a 12 acre 1,600 stall car/truck parking facility with 24hr shuttle service to the Edmonton International Airport and surrounding hotels.
Clarence Shields, President, Blackjacks Roadhouse & Games Room 2110 Sparrow Drive, Nisku, Alberta Canada T9E 8A2 1-780-701-7293 Clarence@blackjacksroadhouse.com www.blackjacksroadhouse.com
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Alberta Big Rig Weekend July 14-16 in Nisku, Alberta
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i n fo @ t im s t r a i l e r re p a i r. c o m walk towards me, she had a dog on a leash and was holding an umbrella. As the sidewalk was so narrow I thought I better give her some room, there was no traffic coming towards me so I had a quick check in my mirror before moving over the centre line. In the split second it took to look in my mirror and look back ahead, the old woman had dropped her dogs leash and the umbrella and was standing in the road in front of the truck with her arms outstretched. I yanked the wheel to the right till my mirror was brushing the high hedge on the other side of the road, a quick look in my nearside mirror showed the old woman rolling along the side of the truck, still upright. I got out of the truck and walked over to her, behind me was chaos, the car on my tail was broadside across the road but thankfully nobody had hit anybody. The old woman just picked up her battered umbrella and her dogs lead and, without a word, walked off the way she had come.
deLiVering The goods, sAfeLy By Lane Kranenburg Lane is a former driver, fleet owner and former Executive Director of the AMTA Our Electricity and Coal The cost of electricity in Western Canada is about to increase significantly. Why you say? Well our geniuses in government have dictated that the current source of our power gas and coal fired generators, will be replaced by solar panels and windmills. The methods of producing our electric needs will require many thousands more windmills, and the Chinese had better start making solar panels very quickly. We have all read about the power costs in Ontario and Quebec, due to very faulty legislation introduced by both governments, people have had to remortgage their homes, take out loans, and the less fortunate have had to choose between feeding their families or have power to heat and light up their homes. PAGE 34
The Alberta politicians have decided that all coal fired generating plants close and be replaced by alternate means as they have decided that these coal fired plants are damaging our environment. I have been told that the emissions by the Alberta coal plants are at a minimum due to the filtering of the emissions, and converting them to gas powered plants would virtually eliminate harmful output. Now just a bit of information about what is happening in the rest of the world regarding coal fired generating plants: • The European Union has 468 plants building 27 more to a total of 495 plants • Turkey has 56 plants and building 93 more to a total of 149 • South Africa has 79 plants building 24 more to a total of 103 • India has 589 plants and building 446 more to a total of 1036 • Philippines has 19 plants building 60 more to a total of 79 • South Korea has 58 and building 26 more to a total of 84 • Japan has 90 plants and building 45 more to a total of 135 • China has 2363 plants and building 1171 more to a total of 3534 • United States of America as of 2012 has 557 plants and according to President Trump there could be many more coming. But in Alberta the NDP will shut down our 5 plants to save the planet!!! What do the Alberta NDP think, that our five plants shut down will really matter on a global scale? It will however result in a massive increase in the cost of the
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JUNE 2017
Alberta Big Rig Weekend July 14-16 in Nisku, Alberta
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delivery of power to all the homes and businesses that are depending on this very needed natural resource. It is interesting that our politicians listen to the so-called experts on our environment that back in the late eighties and early nineties predicted a global cooling that would result an ice age, several years later when the climate warmed slightly they called it global warming, now with the changes being unpredictable they make their case on the current term “climate change” WOW what brilliance we are subject to! As indicated before it takes very much training to become a truck driver, however it takes no training to become a politician, and it certainly shows in the product of their work! *****
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2017-04-21 4:21 PM
2017-04-21 4:21 PM
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On The Road I travel down the highway and I do the best I can, Not a knight in shining armor, just a diesel-driving man. When there is an accident, we’re usually at the scene, Helping pull the people from their broken-up machines. When you break down on the highway, we’re the ones you flag down, We will help to change a tire or drive you into town. When you merge on the highway, we try to let you in We will also call the troopers if you had too much gin. Out there on the highways, pulling our heavy loads, We see so many things as we travel down the roads. All we ask is some respect, and maybe a little smile, As we pull all the things you need across these lonely miles. Give us just some room to breathe, in our shiny steeds of steel, That could be your son or daughter that sits behind the wheel.
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 or amazon.com PAGE 38
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junE 2017
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USE LESS. TREAT MORE. Treats 100 gallons of fuel
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PAGE 40
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