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november 2017
VOLUME 19, ISSUE 10 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 • 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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PRO-TRUCKER MAGAZINEe From the Editor’s desk... by John White A week of playing ball with my men’s team. Huge tournament, over 600 teams, beautiful weather, great competition, great people. Second place finish, not bad for a Canadian team competing with 19 teams in our division from all across the U.S. Not the finish we wanted but we got our money’s worth. Rushed drive to the airport for a flight home punctuated by hundreds of people crossing the streets going to a John White concert. Comment to my wife Donna that had I known of the concert we could have stayed a couple more days to take it in. Arrive home, wake up Monday morning to the devastating news of the shooting in Las Vegas and the possibility that the very people who held us up while crossing the street may have been maimed or killed. Silent reflection as we had our morning coffee realizing the terror, devastation and hurt that was brought on by one deranged man – and the thought that it could have been us… I am not going too far down that road on gun control. It has been beaten to death. But I will say that I own guns and at one time was an avid hunter. In a country with over 300 million guns in private hands you are never going to control them. The only comment I have is that it takes a prescription to get a Tylenol 3 in the U.S. but some states will not pass a law that will stop a fully certified mentally insane individual from buying a gun… Fast forward to a recent visit to my Dr. and a conversation about travel insurance. He told me that most of the Canadians who flew down to that concert did not have travel insurance because they were, “only going for a couple days.” Which brings me to why this is important to you. We have all heard the horror stories about Canadians traveling in the U.S. without insurance, getting hurt or sick, and then facing horrendous bills. The thought that as a driver, “I only run to Seattle and back” or “just a quick trip to California” or “I’m only gone a couple days. If I get sick I’ll just come home…” Doesn’t take into consideration accidents or emergencies. You are only covered by Worker’s Compensation if you are injured while on duty. It does not cover you for sickness. Travel insurance is the only thing that will cover illness and even then there are many pitfalls. You are not covered for pre-existing conditions unless you have a rider for that condition. You are not covered if you slip and fall while impaired. You are not even fully covered in Canada when going from province to province. But my Doctor said the most common cause of claims being denied is that ANY error on your part while filling out your form, no matter how small, or whether it is related to your current medical problem, can and will be used as an excuse to deny your claim. Remember you are signing a contract and it is up to you to ensure that everything is correct or it is null and void. When asked the consequences of going anyway he asked how much I liked my home…That is a question we should all ask ourselves before taking that gamble.
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LETTERS to the EDITOR
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and all the weekend maintenance. Says he’s going fishing. Tim Blakey Sarnia, ON
e Whit ine John Magaz
ker Truc Prohn Jo White
r Magazine Pro-Trucke
John, Thank you for the great magazine. I read your comments in your September issue about E-logs and thought I would put in my two cents worth. I sold my truck and went to work for a company about 6 months ago that uses E-logs. I was really hesitant to go to work for them because I’m lost when it comes to electronics and all the negative chatter on the radio didn’t help. The good news is it was real easy to learn how to use it and now I love it. I probably would not go back to a company that uses paper logs. One big bonus it that it keeps my dispatch honest. When I was an owner/op I would occasionally get an impossible delivery time and dispatch wouldn’t tell me to drive straight through he would just say that it had to be there - and we all know what that means. Now I just login and I get there when I get there. Not all my buddies are willing to try them though. I have one friend who is near retirement and he has put his truck up for sale because of them. He says he’ll finish off his career as a company driver and let them worry about the equipment expense
Editor’s note: I have received quite a few emails and phone calls about E-logs in response to that editorial Tim and positive ones like yours outweigh the negative ones 10 to 1. Ten were much like yours while the other ones I could not print word for word… It is always hard to make changes especially when it concerns electronics and older drivers who did not grow up with computers. You would be surprised at how many guys still have flipphones. John, I have been driving for over 35 years now and I am originally from Edmonton. I moved to New Brunswick about 20 years ago and just moved back home in June. I still drive and have been picking up your magazine every month since I got back. What a great read. They are all good stories that a guy can relate to and best of all they are from out here. I didn’t know what I was missing. I love the older writers as they talk about some of the trucks and roads I can relate to from my early days but it is also great to hear from the younger drivers. And Colin Black from Scotland shows how small the world really is
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when it comes to driving. I missed your truck show this year but the guys that I have talked to said it was great. I will try for next year. Do you have a date yet? Spencer Andrews Edmonton Editor’s note: Glad you like the mag Spencer - welcome The Bear’s View Constable Tim Schewe (Retired) back. As far as Big Rig Weekends go we are working on a date that does not conflict with any other shows. We hope The following story happened before photo radar use to be able to make an announcement in our December ended in 2001. For those of you who are curious, the issue. area mentioned is on Highway 4, The Hump, near Port ***** Alberni. The sharp corners on the east side of it were the site of frequent collisions, especially when the road was wet. Final Payment Last year I replaced all the windows in my house with those expensive, double-pane, energy-efficient kind. Traffic Enforcement Supervisor for a Day I had stopped a speeding driver and was serving Today, I got a call from Home Depot who installed them. a copy of the violation ticket to her when I noticed a The caller complained that the work had been completed pickup truck pull in behind my police vehicle. When the a year ago and I still hadn’t paid for them. Well just ticket recipient pulled away the male driver exited his because I’m a Senior Citizen doesn’t mean that I am pickup and approached me. “You can’t write speeding automatically mentally challenged. So, I told him just tickets here.” he stated. what his fast-talking sales guy told me last year - that I didn’t recognize him as a ranking member of the these windows would pay for themselves in a year. It’s RCMP who had the authority to give me such an order been a year, so they’re paid for, I told him. There was only so I suggested that he may have been confused by photo silence at the other end of the line, so I finally hung up. radar policy. He responded that he wasn’t and repeated He never called back. I bet he felt like an idiot.
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his opening statement. Yes, this is an old story, but I think it’s a good one that is still valid today. I asked him to put himself in my place and tell me what speed a driver would have to be traveling before he would write a speeding ticket in this location. It was a fairly steep downhill leading into a set of sharp, winding corners with an advisory speed of 30 km/h. He suggested that 95 km/h in the 80 zone would be his trigger. The vehicle I had just finished up with was doing 103 km/h. “Oh.” he said. I asked if he browsed the web and when he said that he did, I gave him a handout on our unit’s web site.
I explained that this was a high collision area and that he could satisfy himself of that by checking data on the web site. “Oh.” he said. “How would you like to spend a day with me and see how traffic enforcement is done?” I asked him. He lit up. “Can I?” When I told him yes, he ran to his truck and retrieved a business card to give me. I promised to call the next day. When I arrived in town the next morning I checked with the detachment commander. The man that I had met was a local businessman with a good reputation. I called him and said that I was waiting at the detachment. Within 5 minutes he was seated in the right front seat of my police car, ready to go.
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“There’s nothing secret” I said, “if you have a question, ask it.” We spent about 5 hours together doing what I did on an average day’s traffic enforcement. I stopped a variety of vehicles, had conversations with drivers and wrote tickets and warnings. In each case I explained why I had handled the situation the way I did. He commented on what he was seeing and how he felt some of the issues we faced could have been dealt with. I had the chance to learn too. From my perspective, it was a routine shift as we were not called on to handle a crash, deal with an impaired driver or find something else criminal that would tie us up for a long period of time. At the end of the tour I mentioned that I had stopped a lot of speeding drivers but had done a lot more than just write speeding tickets. He agreed, thanked me for the opportunity to ride along and headed for home. The following day I checked my e-mail and found a message from this gentleman. It never hurts to eat some crow he wrote. I thought that all you guys did was write speeding tickets and now understand more about what you really do. Thanks for allowing me to spend the day learning about it. By the end of my policing service this was no longer possible. A policy change had forbidden taking
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Idle Time
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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.
Sunset over Poppies my Friend When my eyes behold the sunset in the West, my mind also sets softly on the memory of comrades who, through their duty, gave all. I wrote my first Will & Testament when I was just 18 years old. As many of them did. Often, the sun will set, with me still sitting and thinking about that, the fact that my Will is still in place and unfulfilled, whilst they have long since passed. A singular line from Lawrence Binyon, “They shall not grow old, as we who are left shall grow old,” plays in my mind. It’s at that moment that I see their smiles and recall their jocularity, as though they were in front of me, egging me to play along with them, as we did so long ago. November 11th is one day of the year that exists for remembrance of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, for common good and world freedom. Of late, there is now Remembrance week, which leads up to the 11th. Battles are recounted, sacrifices are honoured, and families come together in thanks for those brave souls who stepped up. Flags are lowered, bagpipes and bugles sound Amazing Grace, Reveille, and The Last Post. Jets roar by in a salute to those who we lament. Wreaths are laid with care at the base of Cenotaphs across the country, and tears are shed by those who understand the loss. After the memorials, and long after the crowds gather to toast their fallen family members in establishments around their towns, if you stop and look, in the distance you’ll see them. Their shadows marching in the fields. They are my friends, my comrades, from wars long since past, and from those so recent, we can still smell their cologne. Because those who have served and know the cost, have a kindred family like no other. They will sacrifice their very lives to save the other. If you have been so fortunate to have known them, then you have been blessed to know some of the most gracious people to ever have lived. For in that time, they gave to you, their life. This November 11th, if you return to the cenotaph and look to the west, you will see the most beautiful sunset over poppies my friend.
I
n 1992, while the world’s eyes were on the Persian Gulf, 900 Canadians were exposed to acts of barbarism, ethnic cleansing, and genocide on a scale not seen since the Second World War. They found themselves grossly outnumbered, completely surrounded, and regularly engaging in close infantry combat. To Canadians at home this was called a “peacekeeping mission,” that could not have been farther from the truth. Many war stories are told from an officer’s point of view. In this 100,582 word true account I, Corporal Scott Casey, expose the truth that was Operation Harmony. I dare you to feel my feelings and to see the Balkans War through my eyes at the ground level frontline perspective. Follow me, a member of November Company, The Royal Canadian Regiment into the depths of Hell. It will be a challenge not to change the way you look at humanity. Whether you are a Canadian or not, this gripping tale of GHOSTKEEPERS, will give you a new respect for the soldiers who put their lives on the line “In the Service of Peace.”
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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.
Me and Eloise A little while back, before we had all these automatic trucks, there was a heck of a storm that I was trying to outrun through Saskatchewan. It was in the dead of night and clear as a bell ahead of my girl, who, by the way, I named Eloise. Eloise was my 1985 359 flat top. She shone like a star running nights. Her twin stacks hammering behind me mile after mile. But this night I could hardly hear them as the wind had picked up and her low rumble was being drowned out by the howl. I was beginning to feel the winds resistance and Eloise, as tough as she was, didn’t handle dead head winds too well. Then it hit us, right in my direct line of vision, and over and above all the wind and Eloise’s stacks, I heard the unmistakable sound of hail on the windshield. I think Eloise heard it too cause suddenly she was pushing coal like I had never seen her push. We pushed on, the ole girl and I, looking for the lights of any safe haven, yet each sleeping town I passed
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tired. As I had been driving for 9 hours already. Then.... LIGHTS!!!!! Way ahead. I felt an instant relief as I hadn’t seen another vehicle for the last few eerie hours. There she was, Saskatoon! I felt such relief as now the wind was pushing me around pretty good . My wagon seemed to have a mind of its own yet I knew that If I didn’t look back, I was comfortable in my ignorance as to her true location. Onward slowly I crawled...but wait...those lights. They just don’t look right…headlight sideways on something? A truck had laid over. I somehow got stopped - I don’t really know how, but I did. I threw on my 4 ways, grabbed my flash light and slid across the road into the median where this set of super B’s were relaxing. I banged on the roof, and this dog started barking, up I climbed and looked inside. I expected to see someone hurt but all I could do was chuckle and ask, “you folks need a ride?” A middle aged couple had found their bbq and were cooking up dinner. I went back to my truck and they soon followed. He told me that the wind had caught him and just pushed him right across the highway. He was thankful to see me because they had been there almost 3 hours and they were certain they would have frozen to death. Shrugging it off, on to Saskatoon we went. We got there safely and I dropped them off at the hotel by the Husky and I then went inside for a meal.
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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. The F-Word The other day I was thinking back on an earlier time in my life and the F-word popped into my head. Such a low point in my life, there was nothing else to say. No other word would work. You know what I’m talking about...FAILURE! Yup it’s a dirty f-word that no one wants to be associated with, that none of us wants to have on our records or even acknowledge. There was a time I felt the same way but I know now it’s actually necessary for success. I can remember my first winter logging - now that was a lot of failure. The first two days PAGE 12
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it was all I could do to throw the wrappers over my load. After being scooped for what felt like the 20th time I learned to take three steps away from the load and that cable would just sing over the top! Being twenty-two and thinking I was God’s gift to an eighteen speed, I spent a good part of the first month backing down some big ugly hills. Then I figured out that you find a lot less “busy” gears if you grab them 2 or 3 at a time! I kept on failing and sometimes succeeding and made it through that first winter even managing to make a little money in the end. I know everyone reading this has their own stories of failure, trucking is full of them and always will be. What we need to do is change the way we think of failure. Instead of beating ourselves up when we run into it we need to give it a hug. I know it sounds farfetched but embracing failure is the only way to keep it from coming back again. I use the word hug because you need to get up close and personal with your failures. Each and every one of them has a lesson in it if you get close enough. If I would have given up on log hauling because I failed to get to the top of the hill that first week that would have been a defeat. There’s a difference, if you’re defeated you stop trying, whereas you can soldier on after failure. You can become even more successful if you decide to learn from it.
“I don’t have failures, I win at everything.“ If this is your attitude I’ll try to be nice about this - you’re being a wimp. Seriously if you never lose you just aren’t challenging yourself. “Ya I didn’t finish that but it wasn’t my fault.“ If this is you, again I mean this in the nicest way possible... you’re delusional! Yes by not taking responsibility for what you don’t accomplish you are living in a dream world. “I’m never trying that again, I came up short once it’ll be the same if I try again.” If this is you, guess what? If you don’t try it I can guarantee you won’t succeed again! What I’m not asking you to do is to revel in your failures. You’re not supposed to enjoy them, just find that lesson in them and move on. Beyond that, help other people learn to move beyond their failures. We can’t change how the past went but we stand a pretty damn good chance of not repeating it if we’re willing to look at what went wrong. The high tech industry has done a fantastic job of adopting this philosophy. In an interview I listened to with some of the great minds of Microsoft, Google, Apple, Adobe, etc. speaking to what type of people they look for when either investing or hiring, they all listed previous failed start-ups as a prerequisite. The interviewer seemed quite surprised that having
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failed at a business would make the person more likely to get investment in their new venture. The reasons are no different than what I’ve laid out here. Every failure is a chance to learn. Whether a missed shift on a hill, a failed business plan or a missed pass in a hockey game they are all chances to come back smarter. Every time we miss the mark it’s a chance to come back stronger. If you look in the biography of any successful person you’ll find a ton of failure before they achieved their dreams. So looking back now I should be in for a whole lotta success!
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 Back when I began my long-haul trucking career in the early 1950s most diesel big rigs were naturally aspirated and pumped out lots of black smoke and pollutants from their single stacks and no one thought anything of it. I even knew some drivers who put hockey sticks down their vertical exhaust pipes in order to cause flame or sparks to
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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 shoot out, it was dramatically visible at night. And I also heard stories of B61 Macks with curved stacks passing a load of hay and setting it on fire. Well we’ve come a long way since then haven’t we … well … haven’t we? With all the technological advancement that has occurred in the 65 years or so since those pioneer days and with all the regulations controlling fuel consumption and emissions one would think that the situation would be well under control. Well some of you may have noticed a recent publication of a report that claims 9,000,000 people experienced an untimely death from toxic exposure to environmental pollution worldwide in 2015 – that’s just two years ago. That’s way more people than those who expired from smoking, natural disasters, war and violence, hunger and all other social diseases combined. And the cost to the global economy is enormous, some researchers stating the loss to be more than 4.6 trillion U.S. dollars. That figure doesn’t even begin to cover the toll of human suffering. Now before one gets all smug and patriotic thinking that Canada leads the world with the fewest pollutionrelated deaths per 100,000 of population, hang on ‘cause it just ain’t so…but Canada’s record is still very good in comparison. There are only 6 countries that fare better and all are smaller. There’s Trinidad and Tobago, Brunei, a tiny nation on the South China Sea, Finland, Sweden, the Barbados and New Zealand. India, one of the most populated countries on the planet, not surprisingly had the highest death rate due to pollution followed by China. Russia has the 7th highest rate followed by the USA. Pollution is a gargantuan problem globally but is largely invisible and we, the populace only see little bits and pieces of it in our daily travels and tend to ignore its implications. “So what has this to do with me?” you may well ask as you move down the super slab toward your destination. “Well,” I may respond, “the writing is on the wall. Fossil fuels are passé.” The age of electronic vehicles is on the cusp and about to explode into every facet of the movement of freight and people. For over 100 years the automotive industry, including big rigs, has been polluting the air we breathe and on occasion spilling product into the
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Falls are a leading cause of injury for truck drivers Reduce your risk 1 Always use 3 points of contact 2 Face the truck and climb slowly 3 Wear proper footwear
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water we drink. According to General Motors, the largest producer of internal combustion powered conveyances to date, that is all about to come to a screeching halt as that giant corporation plans to go 100% with zero emission, electric and fuel cell-powered vehicles and has already entered the market with the popular Chevy Bolt. Now just imagine, if you will, a big rig with 2,000 available horsepower and torque to match. Well some manufacturers like Tesla and Nikola are testing just such highway tractors as this goes to press. Remember electric motors don’t lose any power to heat like a diesel which normally gives away up to 80% of its energy production to that nasty element. Even the Cummins Engine Company of Columbus IN, that has produced heavy duty diesel engines for just under a century, is going electric as it sees electrification as the way of the future. Cummins unveiled its all electric yard tractor this fall and will produce about 15 million engines this year among which will be a choice of electric power. Cummins mantra is, “We are in the long-haul market for the long haul!” The huge automotive parts manufacturer Meritor, of Troy MI, is also climbing on board the electric wagon. Its CEO Jay Craig points out that China is already producing 4% of the world’s fully electronic trucks and is aiming at 15% within the next 7 years. China produces around 800,000 commercial vehicles annually. Full flow bat-
NEW Extended Hours Mon-Fri 8 am- Midnight • Sat 8 am- 5pm teries are currently being developed which will not only reduce the initial capital cost of EVs but will also extend range and require about the same amount of refueling time as traditional gasoline and diesel powered vehicles. Maintenance costs for electric locomotion are next-tonothing-at-all because of the dramatically fewer number of moving parts, wear and tear. So what’s not to like? DHL, the supply chain giant, uses 2 electric yard trucks in one of its facilities running 21 hours a day and has experienced no issues at all. Its maintenance supervisor said that the process to procure a government subsidy was much less cumbersome and decidedly quicker than that to obtain a similar grant for natural gas powered vehicles. Driver training is also easier once a driver understands the basic principles involved in the operating and recharging procedures. The cost savings for the two trucks in DHL’s stable amounts to about $20,292 each annually! As battery power density increases and weights drop vehicles will become more attractive to freighthaulers too. Also current cost-per-mile runs about$.40/mi for an EV as opposed to $1.00/mi for a diesel unit which is good news for the autonomous and ecommerce boosters. So buckle up Pilgrim, the inevitable is happening right now ... 10-4!
The Blanket
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A man and a woman who have never met before, find themselves assigned to the same sleeping room on a transcontinental train. Although initially embarrassed and uneasy over sharing a room, the two are tired and fall asleep quickly he in the upper bunk and she in the lower. At 2:00 a.m., he leans over and gently wakes the woman, saying, “Ma’am, I’m sorry to bother you, but would you be willing to reach into the closet to get me a second blanket? I’m awfully cold.” “I have a better idea,” she replies. “Just for tonight, let’s pretend that we’re married.” “Wow! That’s a great idea!!” he exclaims. “Good,” she replies. “Get your own damn blanket.”
PAGE 18
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1968 Western Star Holds Place of Honor
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You know a truck is special when it gets carried around by other trucks. Doug Small’s 1968 Western Star WD4964 truck has earned the rides. Manufactured in the second year of the brand’s existence, it might be the oldest Western Star truck in existence. Its home base is The Truck Shop dealership in Auburn, Wash., but, it has spent time on display at the Daimler Trucks North America corporate headquarters in Portland, Oregon. Earlier this year, it rode cross-continent on the back of a flatbed from Auburn to Quebec City, where it was the star of the 2017 Western Star Dealer Meeting. It’s not that the 49-year-old truck couldn’t have made the trip on its own, though. “It runs like a top. I would drive this truck anywhere. We just want to protect it,” said Small, who, with his brothers Steve and Dan, bought the truck for their dealership in December 2015. Its current life of leisure is new for the truck, which, true to Western Star’s reputation for legendary awesomeness, put in more than 45 years of hard labor. Built in Western Star’s former plant in Kelowna, British Columbia, the truck hauled logs and poles for 10 years. Its then-owners started a building truss company and the truck was converted to a crane tractor. It delivered trusses in and around Washington’s Skagit Valley from 1978 until the company closed its doors in 2015 and the Smalls bought the truck. “We bought it because we love old trucks,” said Doug Small. “It’s got sentimental value because we’re a sentimental dealer.” Though the truck is largely original, there have been a november 2017
few changes over the years. In 1980, the original Cummins 335 engine was swapped out for a Cummins Big Cam II with 400 hp. Around 1994, the 5-speed main box and 4-speed auxiliary transmissions were changed out for an Eaton Fuller 18-speed transmission. Since buying it, the Smalls have only polished it up. Now, its’ on display, its working days over. “It’s a beautiful truck. Customers come in, particularly the older ones, and they can’t stop oohing and aahing over it,” Small said. For more information, go to WesternStarTrucks.com. Western Star Truck Sales, Inc., headquartered in Portland, Ore., produces tough custom trucks for highway and vocational applications. Western Star is a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America LLC. Daimler Trucks North America produces and markets Class 5-8 vehicles and is a Daimler company, the world’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer.
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Rig of the Month
By John White My name is Rafail Proios. I was born and raised in mother’s name is Kaliopi and I have an older brother, Alexandreia, a small town in the province of Imathia, in Aposolos and a younger sister, Sophia. northern Greece. My father’s name is Nikos (Nick), my I caught what I call the trucking “virus” back when I
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was a toddler. This was probably due to the fact that my father is a trucker who had already been driving for over 25 years. By the time I was in elementary school I had firmly decided what direction I wanted to go in life. While all the other kids in the class were talking about which camp they wanted to go to, during the summer, I was already packing up my clothes for another adventure filled summer in the truck with my Dad. As the years went by, and I got older, the “virus” kept getting stronger. The more time I spent around my father and my uncles, Stelios and Tassos, who were also truck drivers, the more convinced I was that I would be a trucker myself. The discussions between my mother and my father about my future where frequent and this led to conversations between my father and me. At the age of 14 we had talks about what I wanted to do. He had it in his mind that around the time I reached junior high school I should decide what I wanted to do and then have plans to make it happen. He explained to me that the age I was at was a turning point in every man’s life where they should be focusing on the things that they wanted to do and accomplish. When he sat me down and asked what I wanted to do I told him that I wanted to be a truck driver but it was easy to see that this was not the answer that he wanted to hear. He gave me a lot of reasons why I shouldn’t go into truck-
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ing and instead of being a trucker he suggested that I go to school and become a heavy duty mechanic or an automotive electrician. I told him that wasn’t going to happen. I explained that even though I liked to work and fix things around the truck I liked driving it even more. When he finally realized that I was not going to change my mind he said, “Well then it’s time for you to start learning the trade.” Even though I was already helping him, and learning about trucking every day, his realization that I was determined to be a truck driver changed everything. That is when things got serious. First I learned how to change the oil and grease the truck and how to maintain it up to his standards. My father always said that a driver who doesn’t know how to take care of his equipment is not a real trucker. Although I had been watching him for years and had a fairly good idea about trucking he started to teach me the finer things. One thing that he did while teaching me to drive was to constantly drill into me the importance of proper load securement. At that time my father was working as a lowbed driver moving equipment and things like bridge beams so he had plenty of experience in load securement. He also ran a picker truck that traveled all around Greece and after working with him with the lowbed, he also trained me on the picker truck. It was a Volvo cabover flat top with a 16 litre engine that pushed
out about 650 hp. I was learning and operating that truck by helping with the crane moves within the construction site. Meanwhile he was on his Man 8x4 v10 twin turbo the beast he used for the heavy loads . While I was helping him the company offered me a job being a swamper for my father. That way I would be able to help him while I learned about the rest of the equipment which were cranes that ranged from 25 ton right up to 450 ton. It was the good old school of hard knocks. After working as a swamper for 3 summers I finally got a full time job with them. I stayed for about 6 months but unfortunately the economy crashed and since I was the lowest man on the totem pole, I had to be let go. That slowed me down a bit but didn’t stop me because I soon got a job as a pilot car driver and swamper at a company with modular, multi-axle trailers. It was a whole new learning curve with different people and new scenery. Then, at the age of 19, it was time for me to go do my compulsory service in the Greek military. There was only one problem, as soon as I entered and got everything squared away something didn’t feel right. Even though they wanted me to be a driver, at the normal rank, I wasn’t happy. I figured that since I had to be there anyway I wanted to push myself to see exactly what I could do. I wanted to learn my strengths and my endurance limits so when the recruiter from the green berets came to evaluate,
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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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and pick those who were able to join their ranks, I filled out the form and did the test. I passed the test and just a few days later was transferred to the special base for my basic training. There were about 50 of us guys that went at the same time and we joined a much larger group of the recruits at the base. We numbered about 1200 recruits when we started and out of that 1200, only about 750 of us passed. The others quit and went back to the regular army. After that basic training each of us went on to specialized training which determined what units each of us would serve in. Because I wanted to find my limits, I volunteered to serve with a unit in Cyprus. That was the biggest learning curve for me and it really helped me achieve better and stronger mental health. We had very strict training on everything from handguns to weapons to explosives. Each soldier was also required to take 2 or 3 additional types of specialized training. I was a medic and trained to escort the demolition team. It’s kind of funny now when I think about the training and all the days and nights we spent out in the wind, rain and cold. Looking back I can now say that the military was one of the best experiences I have had. It made me grow up fast and definitely changed me for the better. I learned self-respect, discipline and to just be me. But and most importantly I learned to respect every single military
person who fought and died for their kids future. After I got out of the military I was looking for a job but couldn’t find anything at first so I worked on and off at a car wash in order to make some money. Then one day I got a job at a father and son company where I was hired as a pilot car driver. I was the “young kid” of the company who was expected to do everything. I was on call 24/7 and did everything from oil changes to truck washes. The trained me to be a heavy haul driver and although I did not have a license when they needed someone to do a local haul, and did not have another driver, they would call me. I learned to haul their 16 wheeler with their heavy haul, flat top Scania 143. It had a 16 litre V8 engine whose 450hp engine was racked up to about 800hp. I also learned to run their lighter duty truck, a Volvo FH12 with a 13 litre engine, 420hp. pulling a tridem step-deck with hydraulic ramps. I also ran a body job for them that had a 10 ton picker on it. All that came into an end in 2012 when I took the plane and moved to Canada. You might ask why I would pack up and travel half way around the world and I would have to say because there was no future at home. I realized that if I stayed in Greece that whatever goals, dreams, or ambitions I had couldn’t be accomplished any time soon. It was a very hard decision to make because I was basically throwing everything away and starting all over again. I was leaving my parents and sister behind and even though my
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brother was already here it was still not an easy choice. In August of 2012 I arrived in Edmonton to be met by my brother who is an IT architect for Telus cable TV. I’m glad I arrived in the summer because it allowed me to get settled in before my first Canadian winter because it was just brutal. My only had the bus or taxi to get around and I sure appreciate my car now, After I got myself settled in I started working as a server in a Greek restaurant in town. It was while I was working at the restaurant that I met my girlfriend, Jen. While working there I was also getting ready to take my Class 1. I finally took the test, passed it, and then started searching for job. It took me over a year before I finally found a company that would take a chance on me. The company is Priority One Transport. Three years later I am still working there with no thoughts of leaving. When I first started for the company I drove a day cab Mack Pinnacle pulling vans and decks mostly doing local pickup and delivery with some highway runs to Ft. McMurray. Within 6 months I was trained and transferred to the off-road division of the company which is 330 kilometres north of Edmonton in Wabasca, AB. I took the position but at the same time I felt kind of lost because I really didn’t know what to expect. That’s when I met Larry, one of my coworkers, who stepped in and basically became the second person
The
in my life to be my mentor – my father was my first. Larry and I have been running night shift together for almost 6 months now and while Larry modestly claims that he hasn’t done anything for me I know different. He has helped me be a better all-round driver. He helped me to push away the fear of the icy roads while remembering to respect them at the same time. He also pushed me to find my trucks limits and helped me out a lot by showing me a few tricks when pulling super b trailers. Garry is another coworker within the company who helped me a lot with driving tips and knowledge. He also helped more on other things like understanding the laws and the regulations. He also educated me on English work terms and definitions but most importantly he helped me to improve myself. My brother is a secret mentor of mine. He won’t come right out and say anything but in his own way he helps me see and understand my mistakes and he is always there for me. But on a day to day basis my girlfriend Jen is my rock. She has been on my side since day one. She patiently waits for me at home and has always been there with words of encouragement for every decision or move I have made. I consider myself very lucky for having so many people around me from coworkers to family, and especially Jen, who have helped me without asking anything
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in return. They have offered help and support when I needed them and have thankfully let it slide if I have done something that they may have warned me about. (Nobody likes I told you so’s) Last December the company had a position they needed filled so they moved me into a sleeper truck. After a while Jen and I had a long talk about our future and the direction we wanted to go and we both agreed it would be best if I took over the truck. So my mistress is a 2012 Mack Pinnacle with a 13 litre, 505 horse, mp8 engine. It has a 62 inch bunk and a 14,600 lb. front axle with 46,000 lb. rears. It is super b rated which is pretty much like every one of the trucks that I have driven for this company. I have always liked a good looking truck so when I got this truck I already knew what was coming. I just didn’t know how much I would be doing or to what level. While I was giving some TLC to the truck I joined a group called Alberta Large Cars. It is a bunch of amazing people who welcomed me on board and quickly made me feel at home. These people (I am not mentioning names) came into my life and gave me hope for the future because trucking, or at least career truckers, seem to be a dying breed. The same people got my interest up in doing some changes, so much so that I start talking to management and over a period of 9 months we transformed the truck into the company’s first show truck. These were kind of tricky months for me due to the limited time I had between work and personal responsibilities. That didn’t stop me though. With Jen’s whole-hearted support I got the truck ready for its first ever show and shine and my first truck show in Canada. That show was Alberta Big Rig Weekend that Pro-Trucker Magazine hosted at Black Jacks Roadhouse in Nisku this summer. It was a blast and I can assure you that it won’t be my last show. I call the truck The Mistress because I seem to spend more time (and money) on her than I do with Jen. I have to admit that Jen has been very patient and supportive concerning my decision to show the truck. Between the two of us, Jen would have to be described as having the quieter character, but she is also mentally strong and stubborn, so yeah she is my better half and also my biggest reason to work even harder. Work harder so we can accomplish our dreams and goals but first we need to establish ourselves and then everything will line up . One of the things that Larry said when I first met him was, “It takes a special woman to be a truckers wife.” And he was right. So that is my story so far with its good and bad moments. I have no regrets for my choices and lots of love for the people around me. See ya down the road… novEmbEr 2017
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.
Fire Fight Southeast Asia... summer of 1969... on patrol in the God forsaken jungle. You don’t usually have a sniper on point but Frank is wounded, Jim is on leave. The sniper is the only one who has more than six weeks in country and knows what to look for, while some of the squad behind him are still cherry. Slowly they move through the dappled green hell, every sense alert until they come to the edge of a jungle river, then motionless inside the last covering of trees he surveys the area. “Torch,” he hears the whisper from behind, “The L.T. Wants to know if we are at the ford?” He raises his hand with a clenched fist, then points left, holds up five fingers and then pumps his fist once slowly as he scans the far side of the river. The squad reads the hand signals and freezes in place, then parallels him as he moves left five meters then holds his fist aloft again. Slowly, carefully he scans the other bank of the river not wanting to step
A
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into the open yet knowing that he must. He takes one pace forward and is exposed and catches a flicker of movement seventy yards away on the other bank as a man dressed in black steps out at the same time. Time stands still as his muscles react to his training but why is he so slow. The other man raises an AK47 rifle and begins to fire on full automatic and he sees the muzzle flash, hears bullets whip through the branches beside him, then hears the roar of the rifle. His M14 comes to his shoulder and as his cheek hits the stock he looks through the sights and notices that the other man’s rifle muzzle is climbing from the recoil. His finger pushes the safety forward, then touches the trigger and slowly he squeezes off his shot. The recoil from the large caliber round rocks him and he brings the rifle back on target as his enemy falls on the opposite bank. Now he takes one step back into cover and motions the rest of the squad to the tree line edge and tells them open fire as enemy fire begins to break out from across the river. The squad begins to fire their M16’s and the roar of a fire fight rings across the jungle. Yells are heard from across the river and then as the enemy fire dies the sniper crosses the river with the squad following him at five meter intervals. As he reaches the man he shot he grabs the empty rifle beside the body and takes
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cover as the other members of his squad take position then begin to search for the enemy. The dead man had fired twenty rounds and he has fired once. He shakes his head in wonderment. Slowly, once more he leads the squad back into the jungle.
mY lIFe THROUGH A BROKeN WINdSHIeld By Mel McConaghy
Mel is a retired veteran driver who has spent 40 years on the road. H.M.C.S Cedarwood The H.M.C.S. Cedarwood was a warship, not that she looked like a Warship or acted like a warship, but she was in fact a warship. It was a ship made out of wood, which was a novelty in a Navy of steel ships. She was 120 feet long, pointed at both ends, and looked like a fish packer. She always reminded me of the boat in Farley Mowat’s story, “The Boat That Wouldn’t Float.” She was a little different but she was a blast to serve on, a comedy on water. The Cedarwood was launched in 1941 in Lunenburg Nova Scotia; the same place as that other famous Canadian boat, “The Blue Nose”. Only she was more of a red arse than a blue nose. She was christened the motor vessel J.E. Kinney and then the ship was taken up for war service with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps and renamed General Schmidlin. Her duties were to supply Army detachments at scattered harbours in the Maritimes and Newfoundland. She was commissioned in the RCN on September 22, 1948, for oceanographic survey duties on the West Coast and once again renamed to the H.M.C.S. Cedarwood. The Captain was a Lieutenant Commander with quite a bit of seniority. The problem was, as far as I was concerned, he didn’t seem to have all his oars in the water so he was constantly being passed over for the command of bigger and more glamorous ships. The ship had quirks that made it quite unique when it came to handling. One real bad one was the engine. It had been put in the ship in 1944 and was what was called a direct reverse six-cylinder diesel engine. What made it unique was that the propeller shaft was hooked directly to the engine. When you wanted to stop the ship you had to reverse the engine. To do this you had change the cam sitting on the engine by pulling a lever. The problem was that in order to do this the engine had to be stopped but when the ship was still moving, the momentum of the ship turned the propeller, which turned the propeller shaft, which turned the engine.
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They partially rectified this little problem by putting a 1500-pound flywheel on the back of the engine with an air-operated brake on it. The routine was to stop the engine with the brake on the flywheel then change it to reverse mode. You would then start the engine again, rotating in the opposite direction. This worked pretty well, but it took a certain amount of time. The old Man, thinking he was piloting a destroyer, would come into the jetty a little bit hot, putting on our show for anybody that happened to be watching and then at the last minute call for reverse main engine. But with the old Cedarwood it didn’t happen that quickly. We had a habit of running into things especially the dry dock gate in Dock Yard. Any time that we were coming in to our normal berth, in front of the dry dock and there was a ship in it high and dry, it caused a certain amount of concern. They would instead try and have the dry dock flooded, so we wouldn’t damage anything. Old Jim was an old Chief Petty Officer Second Class Motor Mechanic. He was a throwback from the old Royal Canadian Naval Reserve and should have retired after the Second World War when the Naval Reserve was disbanded, but somehow he slipped through the cracks in the bureaucracy and seemed to
have a permanent birth on the old Cedarwood. He had been on board forever and when we entered and left the harbour, he was always the special sea duty man in charge of the engine room. When we were entering or leaving harbour with crazy old Jim on the bridge operating the engine room telegraph behind his back, not looking at it, the old Chief would look at the engine room telegraph and say, “He doesn’t want, ‘Finished with Main Engines,’ he wants, ‘Slow Astern.’” This used to make for some pretty exciting manoeuvres and I was always glad that I didn’t have to be on the upper deck while these were going on as it was very embarrassing for everyone concerned. When I sailed on her, she was used as an oceanographic survey ship. We would sail up and down the inside passage on the West Coast with the Oceanographers onboard and their scientific equipment. We would sail into Inlets and Sounds, testing sea currents, temperatures and whatever else the eggheads, (as we called them,) wanted. This was pretty good duty and it gave us lots of time to lie around the upper deck taking in the sun and the beauty of the inside passage. I remember one time we were going to tie up at Alert Bay. The wharf we were tying up at was right in the channel and the
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tide was running fast. The old man, instead of coming into the jetty against the tide, came in with the tide and when they put out a spring line to a piling on the jetty, the Stern of the ship pulled away from the wharf and pulled the piling loose. This happened another time tying up to the CPR jetty in Vancouver. He just never seemed to learn.
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.
Speed Limiters I’ve been watching with interest through my window on the world, i.e. the computer screen, how my colonial friends are reacting to the proposed legislation to bring in speed limiters and E-logs for all. Well, good luck with your efforts my friends, I hope your slow moving convoys and demonstrations to show solidarity bring results. We’ve had them since 2005/6, and all new trucks built after that time had to have them fitted by law. I don’t know if it would’ve made any difference if we’d kicked up a fuss back then but it is too late now, we’re stuck with
them. Our limiters are set at 90kph, that’s 56 mph to us old school drivers, although I think the old limit of 60 mph is still legal. Of course with a country the size of Canada and the United States, 90kph would be totally unworkable in my opinion. At the very least, with today’s technology and using GPS, it should be easy enough to have variable speed limits. Going west to east, there is a big difference between the speed that should be used when crossing the Rockies compared to crossing the flat land of the prairies. I hope that for the benefit of my many Canadian friends that, if the legislation does go through, the suits will see it that way too. From photographs I’ve seen, the E-Logs on the other side of the pond look better than ours, it’s a large screen, and the layout looks easier to keep track of work done and driving hours left to use. If you’ve got to have some way of recording a driver’s working day, well, that looks like a more user friendly way than ours. Over here the E-Logs are called digital tachographs and are about the size of a car radio. Just like a radio they’re set into the dash with only a small facia and buttons to work with. To be able to use the machine, you need to insert your driver card, if you don’t have the card, you can’t drive, so don’t leave it in your wallet on the table at home. The driver card is a credit card size thing with a memory chip in it, the memory chip records and stores two weeks’
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worth of work. At regular intervals you have to download the information onto a hard drive, in my last company the card was downloaded at the end of every shift. It’s an offence to drive a truck without a card inserted, but in case of a card malfunction during the working day, the digital tacho’s also have a backup paper roll in them. The paper roll has a graph on it just like the old log books, so you can write on the graph for the rest of the day. If you get stopped at a checkpoint and you don’t have two spare paper rolls in your possession, that’s another offence. Why does a driver who will only be away from his depot for maybe ten hours need two spare rolls, you may ask. Well, a buddy of mine found out one day, he got stopped for a check by a VOSA officer who for reasons best known to herself, printed out what the machine had in its memory multiple times. She used up the paper that was in the machine and also the spare roll of paper my buddy gave her. That left my buddy with no paper to put in his machine, and that’s an offence. I’m glad I got out when I did, pretty soon just being a truck driver will be an offence. You can see why the suits behind the desks want to bring in speed limiters though, can’t you? Just like me, they’re sitting all day looking at computer screens. When their buddy e-mails them a clip from, “The World’s Worst Truck Accidents,” maybe involving a low bedder pulling
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some big piece of machinery which is now embedded into an overpass. Or even worse, has dislodged the overpass from its mountings, the typical desk jockey response is to assume that everybody is a cowboy that they need to shut down. It’s certainly my first thought when I see photos of those kind of accidents, what speed was he doing when he hit that! And why didn’t he check the height of his load. But hopefully common sense will prevail, and if speed limiters do become law they will set a sensible limit taking the size of the country and various roads conditions into account. *****
Politics
I told my son, “You will marry the girl I choose.” He said, “No!” I told him, “She is Bill Gates daughter.” He said, “Yes!” I called Bill Gates and said, I want your daughter to marry my son.” He said, “No!” I told him, “My son is the C.E.O. of the World Bank.” He said, “Okay.” I called the President of the World Bank and asked him to make my son the C.E.O. He said, “No!” I told him my son is Bill Gates’ son-inlaw.” He said, “Okay.” This is exactly how politics work! Ronald Reagan said, “Both Politicians and diapers have to be changed often, and for the same reason.
delIVeRING THe GOOdS, SAFelY By Lane Kranenburg Lane is a former driver, fleet owner and former Executive Director of the AMTA Tokin’ and/or Truckin’ No Tokes for Truckers Marijuana, Cannabis, Weed are all the subject of great debate at all levels of government. Once it is legal nationwide, what happens when the provinces decide how to distribute this very controversial product? Although it may be legal, use of cannabis is still controversial and testing roadside is being developed. Remember it is not only roadside testing that you must consider, because the professional driver is also subject to testing at border crossings and scales as well. Testing done at border crossings and scales can result in an immediate on the spot suspension and the possibility of commercial licence suspension. A positive test may result in losing your job as well. There are examples of drivers who have tested positive, being let go, and having no recourse. An example I read about was a driver, that had a perfect driving record, had been with the same company for eighteen years, and then let go because of a positive drug test.
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One of the concerns that I have is that the testing may reveal use of this drug as far as thirty (30) days after consumption. Or there have been cases where the individual attended a party where weed smoke was heavy in the room and a few hours of exposure may well result in a positive test, even though he or she did not partake. Or if a driver happened to be at a party and toked up on the weekend and now operates his or her rig even in a responsible manner and at a random stop gets tested the stigma of this test and the subsequent loss of licence and employment can result in a very difficult time getting employment with any or possibley all transport companies. The famous Canadian snowboarder and Olympic gold medal winner, Ross Rebagliati, may have been able to convince the Olympic Committee of his innocence but do not expect law enforcement or border guards to be as lenient. Speaking of the border if you are caught there it will result in you no longer being welcome in the U.S. To date there has been no mechanism for roadside testing to determine a level of cannabis impairment however a blood test after an incident could and would determine that level. Thank goodness that alcohol and drugs have played a very minor part in incidents involving commercial vehicles and that is very positive, however the legalization of marijuana may present a problem, because along with this we may see an increase in the testing of
drivers. What about a driver that holds a Commercial Drivers Licence and a Medical Marijuana Card? Marijuana for medical purposes has been touted a great product for the release of pain as well as a good relaxant. However, the use, even for medical purposes, does not release a driver from the responsibility of use and driving. Medical marijuana will have positive results should a driver be tested, and now the penalties are the same as for the recreational user. Transport companies have not delved into this issue too much as the regulation are very vague and until regulations are set, it will be difficult to set policy therefore a lot of wait and see, however there are a lot of transport companies that have in place very comprehensive rules as they pertain to employees and the use of recreational drugs. What an interesting subject, and the press have done a lot of speculation, even to the extent of what Provincial methods for distribution will be. Ontario has indicated that liquor stores will sell marijuana. Remember all liquor stores in Ontario are still government run. Alberta liquor stores are private and distribution ramifications of either have not been thought through. Isn’t our National Government under the “leadership” of Mr. Trudeau just wonderful, legalizing the use of marijuana and not thinking through with the Provinces distribution and many other issues related to this interesting subject.
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Who Choose I have stood among the crosses of those who went before, I have stood amid the carnage and heard the cannons roar. The crying of the wounded, the silence of the dead It made me stop and wonder; it could be me instead. Who is it that does the choosing; one to live and one to die. I know among the fallen are much better men than I. So I salute the heroes who have paid the final price, Some day I hope to join them around the throne of Jesus Christ.
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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