Pro-Trucker Magazine September 2017

Proudly September 2017

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September 2017

From the Editor’s desk... by John White

VOLUME 19, ISSUE 08 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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Truckers have a number of pet peeves concerning driving. Like the lack of overnight truck parking and rest stops, cars that don’t signal until the last moment, cars that don’t consider how long it takes a loaded truck to stop or cars that drive at 80kph on the highway and then speed up to 120kph when there is a passing lane.

Any of these irritants will garner a quick response and conversation in a group of drivers but none are as divisive John White as the mention of electronic logs. The opinions on them vary from “I love mine” to “I’ll quit driving when they are made mandatory.”

The first is usually from a company driver and the second by and owner operator. Change is difficult at any time especially when the change means so many different things to different drivers. It is a given that electronic logs are going to reduce the number of miles some owner operators will be able to run as there will no longer be that mysterious 2nd log. In the long run electronic logs could create an advantage for large fleets and a loss of income to small fleets and owner operators. Large fleets do not have to make as much on a run as small fleets and the owner operator’s ability to run an extra hour or two here or there has kept some of them competitive. That does not mean that large fleets are always operating inside the regulations but large fleets have more sources of income so they can do the jobs for less money. Take Swift for instance, the largest carrier in the U.S. They have approximately 20,000 trucks. This is an extreme example and there are other factors to the equation but if each of their trucks averaged just 300 miles a day and Swift’s profit margin was just 2 cents a mile they would make a profit of $120,000 a day. Is it any wonder then that there seemed to be a surge in fleets taking over smaller fleets a few years ago at about the time that electronic logs were first being talked about? Then of course there is the expense of changing over to electronic logs. Many small fleets and owner operators will not be able to afford them.

There are many other concerns that are more common in Canada than the States. The difference in hours of service being one. Where if you have 10 hours in when you reach the border you will have to park on the Canadian side to reset before you cross. There is also the variances in regulation from province to province and even within the provinces themselves that electronic logs will have to take into consideration before they can be implemented. This is something that does not concern U.S. truckers as the vast majority of their regulations fall under national regulators – something that Canada should have done long ago.

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thank you to those who make the miles count Siemens Transportation Group Inc.

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LETTERS EDITOR

places to stop to eat. As you know we have done a number of truck shows and the planning of them pales in come t i h parison to what putting this ride must have taken to put W e John agazin M r together. Concerning Scott’s writing he is a 2nd generake to the Truc Protion trucker which has given him a great sense of humour, John White r Magazine Pro-Trucke a flair for sarcasm and in-depth knowledge of the industry.

One of my favourite stories of his was from a number of years back when he was coming down a long hill and saw Hello John, in the distance a family camping for lunch at the base of a Thanks for the heads up on the locations of the stops for run-off lane. He hit his air horn long and hard as he came the Rolling Barrage. I was too busy to join in the ride but down the hill and watched with glee as they scrambled in I was able to catch up to them at Blackjacks Roadhouse in a mad panic and then waved as he drove by.

Nisku. The music was great and it kept the place rocking but best of all I finally got to meet Scott Casey. I have been Hello John, wanting to do that ever since he started writing for you and As most drivers know, finding a parking space in the I wasn’t disappointed. His strong dedication to the cause is U.S. when you are from out of town is difficult at best. I admirable. I’ve already started to plan to join the ride next have come across an app that tells you what truck stops year. I’ve talked to my boss and told him what it is all about have open spots. My question is how well do these apps and luckily he has friends in the military because he didn’t work and how reliable are they. hesitate to let me know I could get time off next year.

Gurjit Singh, BC Gary “Gears” Edmonton AB Editor’s note: There are a few apps out there like Trucker Path and Park My Truck and there are pros and cons for Editor’s note: Scott is a great guy and he knows firsthand all of them. Some are very basic with little more than the what the people Military Minds helps, are going through. spaces available at truck stops. Others have many addiThis ride took a tremendous amount of planning to find tional areas that they cover like fuel costs, truck washes, accommodations at the stops as well as rest spots and open weigh scales and even load boards. Most of them are

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free and of course they all require internet service as well as your location turned on in order for you to get the latest information.

Some rely on the truck stops to update the number of parking spots they have open while others are interactive and allow truckers to update the information. This type is probably more accurate than having to rely on an employee to update the site. Some have also added Facebook pages where, if for instance, you arrive at a truck stop to find that it is full you can post it and you may find a trucker who can give you another location close by where you can park.

If any of our readers have used these apps please let us know which one you use and how well they work. ***** The Last Word A lawyer was reading out the will of a rich man to the people mentioned in the will: “To you, my loving wife Rose, who stood by me in rough times, as well as good, I leave her the house and $2 million.”

The lawyer continued, “To my daughter Jessica, who looked after me in sickness and kept the business going, I leave her the yacht, the business and $1 million.”

The lawyer concluded, “And, to my cousin Dan, who hated me, argued with me, and thought that I would never mention him in my will - well you are wrong. Hi Dan!”

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.

Communication, arguably one the most important words in the English language. From the communication within you moving thoughts from your brain, to the conversations you have with others throughout the day, to the words and numbers you write, everything you do involves communication. You’re probably also very familiar with its evil brother… miscommunication. Sometimes it’s an accident, other times people use it to get you to do something you may not want to. There’s also those times you’re just not listening or not actively listening. What do I mean by active listening? I’ll explain.

My trucking business was in its infancy and I was more than determined to grow it. As anyone who has or is an owner knows this means long hours. What it also meant to me was taking as many jobs as I could. One of the things I had branched out into was equipment hauling. I already had the contacts and once I was able to borrow a lowboy, work started to roll in. Of course not the gravy daytime easy loads but the after midnight, chained up, mud up to

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your you know what’s kinda jobs. I was heading out to one such job just after supper one night when the phone rang.

“Kegger I need that 450 over by KA moved across the highway to the other job, can you handle it for me?” Well it didn’t take me long to say you-betcha! Then he added that I could bill to and from town even though I’d already be there. Well I’d be a fool not to run over and do that little move, a little dozer like that weighs nothing and I was billing about 10 hours that night and working 7!

Well I ripped over and did the first move and for once it went just bang up, no chains, no bubbles no troubles.

It was just after Midnight when I got to location #2 and I couldn’t find my little cat? I looked all over the lease, double checked my directions, hmmm. Make a phone call.

“Hey there Mark I’m out at location and I can’t find the 450?” He replied nonchalantly, “You must be in the wrong place it’s pretty hard to miss a 450 Hitachi.” Well my jaw dropped slightly, while I had been combing the area looking for a little 450 case dozer he had hired me to move the massive track hoe sitting right in front of me. “Kegger, you still there?”

“Yeah I am.”

“Why didn’t you say 450 excavator?”

“You never asked.”

Ah… he was right. In my excitement to get the work I stopped asking questions. Now Here I sat with a machine that needed several more than my measly 6 axles to move legal and no time to get more.

I believe the statute of limitations has run out so I’ll tell you that my little tri axle peerless got the job done.

Thank God it was late and dark when I hit the Highway for those 10 long kms! The thing is if I had just asked a few simple questions I would’ve been prepared for the job or not taken it at all. Lesson learned and easily remedied.

What is not so easy to fix is when someone else distorts the truth to get you to do something.

I got the call early one Thursday night. “Hey there young fella do you think you can do me a favor tomorrow?” I thought about it, my wife had made dinner plans for a friends birthday but other than that I was free.

“Sure as long as I’m back by 5:30, what’s the job?”

“I just need you to run the lowbed in Swan Hills for SEPtEmbEr 2017

a couple of infield moves in the morning and grab a machine on the way back” Sounded easy enough.

“That’s it, don’t need the jeep or anything?” I wasn’t forgetting to ask questions this time!

“That’s it easy day, just the skidder to come home” I accepted and got up and at’er the next day and ran up to Swan Hills for 7 am, met with the spread boss for the pipeline and it was as advertised. Three infield moves, all off highway and no chains! By noon I was on the way out thinking about Miller time, maybe even earlier than I thought… Time to make the call to the contractor to find this skidder.

“Hey there it’s Greg just looking to find that skidder to bring back to town”

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“Well the skidder isn’t coming all the way to town it’s just goin’ 3 klicks down the Freeman road.” Well this is getting better and better. Now I wouldn’t even have to worry about crossing the scales loaded because I was dropping the skidder way north of town. The contractor continued “It’s back in House Mountain and before you grab it you need to move the mulchers and bring the buncher out to the highway.”

“Pardon?” This ain’t right. “What do you mean and why are you adding all this other stuff to move?”

“I’m not adding anything, it’s exactly as I laid it out to Jay last night. I’m surprised he didn’t give you the maps and equipment list I dropped off?”

Now if I was a different kind of guy I would have said this ain’t what I signed up for but I stayed on the line got the directions for what was another 9 or 10 hours of work. Surprisingly, I couldn’t get Jay on the phone, my wife however was readily available and not impressed! To make a long story short I worked my ass off and may or may not have doubled up a couple of machines to make it back to town by 7:30. Needless to say when Jay asks me for a “favor” I now book at least double the time or I don’t do it at all.

We’ve all had it, the dispatcher/manager who paints you a picture of the perfect load or leaves out that critical detail that would make you refuse it or the contract that you get rushed to sign that has that little clause that

ensures you can never get your holdback. Unfortunately, we have no control over those people who are going to omit details like that but we can make sure it doesn’t happen often. I ask more questions, take more time reading things over or do my research on who we’re dealing with.

When I know someone has a history of being shady I’m cautious. I try to plan ahead to keep myself out of situations that require a snap decision dealing with someone I don’t know. There is no sure fire way to prevent miscommunication but if you can make it happen less, I guarantee life will be much easier! ***** He Said, She Said.

After 10 years a woman started to think that their child looked kind of strange so she decided to do a DNA test.

She found out that the child is actually from completely different parents.

Wife: “Honey, I have something very serious to tell you.”

Husband: “What’s up?”

Wife: “According to DNA test results, this is not our kid...”

Husband: “You don’t remember, do you? When we were leaving the hospital, we noticed that our baby had pooped.

You said, ‘Please go change the baby, I’ll wait for you here.’ So I went inside, got a clean one and left the dirty one there.”

Moral: Never give a man a job that doesn’t belong to him.

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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.”

John Grant – First Trip For part of a season in 1957/58 A friend of mine wanted to go out on his own in business. There was this gas station he wanted to take over, on the Burlington Beach strip, at Hamilton Ontario; it was a strip of land, like a causeway, separating Lake Ontario, with the Hamilton Bay. It was a very new field for him, but he was determined to try it anyway. During one of my between job travels I stopped in for a visit. Before I had a chance he had me talked into staying on and giving him a hand to get started.

Well eventually things did not go to well and he put it up for sale. A few days later a fellow showed up, who was interested in the place. It was Jack Grant, and he was looking for a location near Clarkson, Ontario. He was in the cement hauling business and had about 5 tractors and an assortment of trailers. I think it was 3 Fruehauf cement tanker tri-axels, that were equipped with the Wisconsin V-4 air cooled engine driving twin augers for self-unload-

The

ing. In addition, he had two or three flat decks for hauling bagged cement and a full set of dump trailer, “A” Trains, for bulk loading.

The location was great for his purpose, plenty of parking in the rear, and he could get a truck and trailer in the drive through bay for servicing. His brother was a licensed mechanic coming in from Cornwall, Ontario, to look after the servicing and repairing of the equipment but it would be 6 weeks before he could get away and be there.

Jack took over the garage and talked me into staying on and running it until his brother could get here. After his brother arrived, I was given a single axle, Diamond “T”, with a Turbocharged, JT Cummins Engine, (Rated at 165 hp.) The transmission was a 5 speed main with a short 4th, coupled to a 2 speed axle. It was to be my dedicated tractor.

The main customer was St. Lawrence Cement. It was a good product to haul in the 1950’s, with the Trans Canada Pipeline, and the St. Lawrence Seaway construction, going full blast. The demand for cement was incredible.

My first trip was a load of bagged cement going to Pembroke Ontario. I grabbed the map and made my way to Kaladar, Ontario where I stopped and phoned ahead to give them an estimated time of arrival. Well as we all know, it being a straight line, and only a couple inches on the map, I gave them a 3-hour estimate, of around 5:00pm.

I then had lunch and took off.

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I started up the first hill on highway 41, and never gave it a thought. I was grossing out at over 75,000 lbs. with 165 little horses, (more like pony’s) to power it. The grades were starting to get a lot higher and my speed was getting slower as I went farther along. I was down to the bottom gear, when an empty tandem dump truck caught up to me. I seemed to pick up all of a sudden. I then broke over and roared down the narrow, twisty road on the other side of the hill with the brakes starting to smoke. I was either crawling along, an inch at a time or was flying down the hill almost out of control. When climbing the other side of the hill I found I was holding up the dump truck again. I was just crawling along, almost running out of gears and RPM. I finally pulled over at the top of the next hard climb, and waved the other truck on. He pulled up beside me and rolled down his window. I yelled at him to go ahead, as I am running too slow on these hills and I did not want to hold him up. He said, “No way, stay ahead of me or you will never make it to Pembroke.” Well every time I was down and out of gears, he would catch up and then push me up over the hills. I would then be flying down the other side so fast that he could not keep up and my brakes would barely hold me back.

The tri-axle trailer only had brakes on two axels. They had tried brakes on all 3 axles, but when running empty or light, the front axle would grab and bounce up and down.

This would screw up the tires as well as viciously vibrate

the whole truck, and sometimes drift into a jackknife, or break a spring. In the 1950’s, there were no engine brakes, air suspension or high horsepower to hold a heavy load back. No maxi brakes, as we know them today, or any safety device to help you live longer. Ah, but it did have a metal WIG-WAG hanging from the top left corner of the windshield. It is part of the air system to be a warning device. If, and when your air pressure was below 60 lbs, it would stay hanging down. When it is over 60 lbs it will fold and stay up. Then you were, supposedly safe to travel. If the pressure dropped down, it would drop and that would tell you to start dragging your feet, and start pulling on the mechanical hand brake, because you were totally on your own to stop. It is a great device to have, as you were running away on a long hill with your brakes on fire. I may as well mention too, about the inevitable right angle turn at the bottom of the hill that you were just approaching – that’s when all the praying and the swearing start to get mixed together. It was one long process, trying to get to Pembroke, especially in one piece. Being pushed over another, four or five hills, and there was still a worse one to go. The driver told me how to get around it on a dirt road but this was as far as he could go, as his final destination was in another direction. I really thanked him for his help and sticking with me. It could have turned into a real disaster had I been on my own. I offered him some money, (what little I had) but he would not accept

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anything. He just said that I owed some other driver help, if and when needed.

Well, I finally pulled into Pembroke, 3 hours late. It was getting dark out and I met the crew walking down the street, heading for home. They thought that I was not coming, but turned back and got me unloaded. They were 100 lb. bags, and had to be manually lifted, off the floor of the trailer, and stacked one at a time, in the warehouse.

When we were finished, they asked what took so long.

I explained what happened. Very surprised, they told me that no one comes up 41 – it is too dangerous. They all go around the hills and travel about 60 miles farther to get here, and they do it in better time. They said I was lucky to have even made it.

NOTE: The bumpers on the trailers in the1950’s, were real bumpers, built with a purpose, not like the tissue crap of today. ***** An elderly gentleman, (mid-nineties) well dressed, well groomed, great looking suit, flower in his lapel, smelling slightly of a good aftershave, presenting a well lookedafter image, walks into an upscale cocktail lounge.

Seated at the bar is an elderly elegant-looking lady (mid-eighties).

The gentleman walks over, sits alongside of her, orders a drink, takes a sip, turns to her and says, “So tell me, do I come here often?”

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.

Education A few years ago I stopped off at my favorite watering hole for a cup of hot brew. This particular java stop is regularly frequented by night time truckers. Its usually pretty quiet at about 0300, but this night there was a convoy there belonging to a rather popular roadshow. It was a pretty busy place for the 2 folks behind the counter. I figured I was about number 25 as my back rested against the entrance door. There I stood for about 10 minutes not moving. As I was standing in line the conversation of the two behind me caught my attention.

Him.... “OMG this place is slow.”

Her...”It’s because of all these truckers”.

Him...”They should just ban truckers from working at night”.

I turned to find 2 people dressed in the brightest high visibility outfits I have ever seen. So assuming they probably worked on a night crew somewhere I returned to my mental happy spot while inching forward. All was going

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great in my mental beach hut on some exotic beach until I heard...

“Truckers are filthy and dirty and the world doesn’t need em.”

Well I felt like something out of the Exorcist movie given how fast my head snapped around from my hut on the beach. I mean how dare they function with such ignorance?

Me: “The world needs trucks”.

Him: “For what?”

Her: “Nothing. Trucks just make pollution and the drivers kill people, they are bad people.”

Him: “None are educated.”

Completely shocked I calmly replied to the high viser sipping a bottle of water, “Nestle Water, that’s pretty good stuff” Her: “It’s the only water I drink. City water is too horrible with all the additives.”

Me: “Yeah, that water comes from British Columbia in recycled bottles!”

Him: “Oh wow those are long pipes through the mountains...I didn’t know that. I thought it came from the Superstore” Me: “Oh yeah, the good ole Superstore, it gets there by truck. Do you recycle that bottle?”

Her: “Of course.”

So that’s when I turned around and focused on them

SEPtEmbEr 2017

and said, “Just out of curiosity do you know how many trucks and truck drivers along with how many people it takes to get that bottle of water to you?”

They both looked at each other and just kinda shrugged.

I pointed out the process from the moment the recycling outside was picked up all the way through to it arriving at Nestle to be refilled with water. They were astonished to realize it just touched 4 different trucks and affected over 20 people employment wise. Then I went on to explain how it went from the assembly line at the water plant to being in her hand and the amount of people it employs to reach her. She, like most people are simply unaware of what the process is. To them that bottle gets recycled. Yet they can’t seem to connect the dots in between. She just couldn’t grasp that movement of that bottle involved, trucks, planners, dispatchers, sales people, recycle personal. From designers, molding personnel, label (and of course the indirect persons from loggers to paper plants) makers, to the assembly line.

Let alone to the water plant, its employees, shippers, receivers, office personnel, and up to 4 or 5 companies, the store receivers, shelf stock people, cashiers or counter person – just to get that bottle of water to her.

Then it was my turn to get to the counter and I picked up the tab for a couple of large coffees I sent their way.

They thanked me and in doing so said I had given them a bit to think about. I simply smiled and was out the door.

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I got seated in my rig and pulled out. As I pulled up beside a paving truck just ahead (yes parked the wrong way on the shoulder) I slowed and did my window down.

The guy who was behind me in the line looked up in utter astonishment and exclaimed, “YOU’RE A TRUCKER!!!”

I smiled, nodded and carried on.

As I cruised down the road, drinking some pretty horrible coffee, I chuckled because mile after mile two people will have a better appreciation for just how they get what they have. So until replicators are invented for all the people who frown on truckers, fellow drivers of the highways, please remember, we as truckers hold the key to showing the world our worth.

Take a moment - that’s all it takes - to show how great we can be....

pull in the lot. The guy got out and went over and started to bang on the door of my truck. The driver next to me told him I was inside so he came in and asked “Who is driving the Mack with the equipment trailer?” I confessed it was me and he asked if he could sit down as he had a proposition for me. He explained that he had just bought a D6 Cat at the auction and needed it taken up to a mine in Northern British Columbia up near Fireside just off the Alaska Highway. After I ate lunch I went out to my truck, pulled out my maps and figured out a price for the guy and he and I shook hands and he said he would meet me at the equipment yard at 8 in the morning.

Morning came round and I went over to the yard and looked at the unit then started it up and rolled it up on my trailer. I was just finishing tying it all down when eflections hru y indshield one of the locals came up to me and told me I was a fool

By Dave Madill for taking that load and that with what was happening Dave Madill was Pro-Trucker Magazine’s up at that mine I would be lucky to get out alive. Seems Rig of the Month in June of 2001 and he like one company had found some Gold on the claim has been entertaining us with his poetry ever since. Dave has published three books and then they were booted off by the owner and he had of poems that are available by special moved in himself cutting the little guy out and apparorder through Chapters Book Stores. ently there had been quite a bit of trouble. I listened and then went over to the office to see my guy and told him Gunfire at Fireside I was having lunch at the old Husky on the south side we needed to rethink the rate after what I had just heard. of Edmonton after delivering a load of Massey Harris Ended up I got almost double my original quote and an Tractors to a dealer and town when I noticed a pickup assurance in writing that any damage to my unit would

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be covered.

Well I headed out and took my time. After following very detailed instructions and a good map a few days later I found myself on a bush road. Halfway into the mine I was forced to unload the Cat to clear the road where a landslide had buried it. I rebuild the road so that it was good enough for me to pass and carried on.

I finally pulled into the mine site to find it completely deserted and every window in the mine shacks broken and with bullet holes in the walls. Not my problem so I turned my truck around, untied the Cat and was just about to climb up on it when a bullet ricocheted of the Cat. Needless to say as a Vet I was under cover ASAP and worked my way up to the cab of my truck, grabbed my shotgun and took cover behind the Cat. Now when I grabbed the shotgun and ammo I had also grabbed my binoculars and I carefully searched the area where I had heard the first shot come from. What I saw was another road and some big boulders where I assumed the shooters where and further down the road what looked like a blue pickup truck.

Now I was raised on a farm and I had been trained as a hunter by some of the very best so I figured I could get behind my “friends” and maybe force them out and make them run if I was careful. I went back to my truck and grabbed the 20 feet of fence wire I always kept and a pair of pliers then I slipped into the bush. It took me

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a while but I made it around to where the pickup was parked and slipped under it. I put one wrap of wire around the universal and then wrapped the other end around the fuel line to the engine. I slipped out again, regained my shotgun and slipped in behind where the shooters were. By this time they had found their courage and were out in the open hollering insults at the driver of the truck. Since I didn’t want to be bothered burying them about that time I fired a couple of OO buckshot load into the road beside them and watched them scurry down the road toward their truck. Just to help speed them up I fired a couple more rounds into the trees.

They hopped into their truck, fired it up and were gone in seconds. They made it almost a mile before the wire ripped the gasoline line off and the engine quit.

Quickly I went back, unloaded and was about to head out when the mine owner showed up. I told him what had happened and he was mad as a hatter when he saw his camp but was happy that I had put the run on them and said he would be into town ASAP and notify the law. I told him that unless they had some tools and a bit of mechanical knowledge they would likely be hoofing it back to the main road. I ended up bouncing my way back to Edmonton empty but I had been well paid for the trip so it was no problem. I never did hear if the RCMP ever got involved but at least two idiots found out it was not a good idea to mess with a truck driver. r

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Driving Through my Memories

By Ed Murdoch

Ed has held a commercial drivers license for 65 years and has spent the better part of 50 years on the road. You can get Ed’s new book at www.drivingthroughmymemories.ca Technology The older I get the more intrigued I am with the latest automotive technology and the more determined to live long enough to see some of it in actual practice. If I am ‘called’ too soon to the final inspection station to see if I’m fit to continue to the next level of my development then I want to reserve a decent viewpoint from the bleachers in the next dimension.

The Cummins Engine Company has played a dominant role since 1919 when it was established in Columbus, Indiana by Clessie Cummins, a local mechanic. By the end of World War 2, Cummins had a grip on more than 50% of diesel engines in big rigs and other equipment. Then by 2013 they were conducting operations in 197 countries and territories. The company recently announced that an all-electric powertrain will become available in 2019 and that a “range-extended electric vehicle will be coming in 2020.” The chairman and CEO of Cummins admitted that

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NEW Extended Hours Mon-Fri 8 am- Midnight • Sat 8 am- 5pm the transportation industry is at a, “critical juncture, with electrification coming, the world is changing. Regulations and a technological point of view are driving these changes and we think that means opportunity.”

The executive director of Cummins’ electrification department predicts, “In the short term, we believe electrification will come to transit bus, P&D and material handling segments. In the long term this technology will come to all of the markets we serve in one form or another.

Environmental and noise reduction regulations along with social pressure for environmental sustainability will drive the adoption. As a leading provider of this technology, Cummins must make sure the cost and performance perspectives of this technology are viable so the long-term economics are in place for favorable cost of ownership later on, as trucks, off-highway and mining equipment as well as stationary power segments turn to electrification.”

Owner-operator interest in electrified trucks has spiked also and Nikola Motors expects to have its first fully electric truck on the road by 2020 but Tesla expects to unveil its all-electric truck this month. Lease costs will be in the range of $5 to $7,000 monthly which includes fuel ...

I repeat, INCLUDES FUEL! I know many of you whose fuel bills alone are greater than $8,000/month and with a truck payment of say $3,500 on top of that, who wouldn’t be interested in an electric truck?

So there you have it folks … possibly within my lifetime and certainly within many of yours, we will witness an enormous switch from petroleum gasoline and diesel powered vehicles … forget natural gas it’s already passé … to electrification which will have a huge impact on not just how we conduct business locally but at a global level not seen before in history, it will be right up there with the invention of chewing gum.

Okay … now chew on this … Michelin unveiled its new Visionary Concept Tire in June in Montreal. It is a wheel that does not require air as a cushion, will last as long as the vehicle … goodbye rubber tires … and the tread can be renewed using 3D printing technology and adjusted to suit current road conditions. The wheel itself is made of recycled material, is biodegradable … hmmm … does

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that mean it will melt while roaring down the turnpike at breakneck speed? Well no actually … it is extremely durable due to its honeycomb structure … imagine no blowouts, flat tires or vandals slashing one’s brand new Good Years … and it communicates with the vehicle as to tread wear, duration and suitability for real-time use. And at the end of its useful life it just goes away, 100% recyclable. The mind boggles. Michelin states, “Because we believe that mobility is essential for human development, we innovate passionately to make it safer, more efficient and more environmentally friendly.” Nice!

You’ve all seen the exhortation on the back door of many semi-trailers, “How’s my driving? Call 1-800-4385678.” “438-5678” if you look it up on the corresponding letters on the numbers on your phone, it reads ‘get-lost’, my joke, but many a trucker’s sentiment.

Now there is a GPS tracking device that follows a unit in real time and alerts supervisors concerning a driver’s harsh braking, excessive idling, cornering, acceleration, etc. Use of this protocol has resulted in up to a 70% reduction in aggressive driving incidents, up to 30% savings on fuel consumption and a dramatic reduction in workers’ compensation and vehicle insurance. Of course ‘invasion of privacy’ crops up with this as with all initiatives aimed at improving a driver’s performance but if a reward is attached to evidence of good behaviour by responsible carriers, drivers may just welcome such surveillance.

Personally I would welcome any means of enhancing safety and performance which leads to more efficient use of work time and the possibility of increased revenue and sharing a portion of that profit and savings, say as a quarterly bonus program, would provide all the incentive needed to make the strategy totally acceptable. Right guys? You ‘bet your sweet bippy’.

Well drivers, schools are back in session. The highways will be awash with bright yellow school buses and scholarly speed zones are all activated once again. Young lads and lasses will be skipping, running, wheeling and sometimes falling down the Streets and Avenues if they aren’t all nose to screen texting their friends who are walking, running and falling along with them. So be even more wary, alert and safe than you would be normally and keep smiling …

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My Life Through A Broken Windshield

By Mel McConaghy

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

Angels & Skill Back in the 80s, Val Enders was hauling logs offhighway, past Purden Lake, east of Prince George and it was the middle of the winter. The landing was at the september 2017

bottom of a long, hairpin hill and the weather had been ugly. The road reflected this with its miserable icy conditions. Creeping down the slippery slope a number of trucks had made their way to the landing. As the loader worked stacking logs on their trailers several drivers put their heads, and concerns, together. After some good jawing and opinion comparing, a unanimous decision was made that the hill was too dangerous to climb back out. They found the foreman and stated their case. They said there would be no trucks leaving the landing until the hill conditions improved.

In the distance came the rumble of another truck coming down the hill. It was Val. Her colleagues watched as she inched her way to the landing. They continued to watch and wait as her truck and trailer was loaded.

“Turn that butt around please,” she radioed from the cab, watching her instrument panel carefully to ensure a balanced load. All eyes stayed focused, as she secured

her load. Their unified voice of concern at this point was silent. Not one said a word as Val climbed back into her cab. Her male co-workers watched and listened as Val climbed out of the low lying landing area, then crept safely up the hill and headed to her destination.

The foreman turned and looked at the collection of drivers and, with a bit of a smirk, said, “I guess it’s time to go back to work, boys!” And they did. Val used her exceptional judgment skills and was always grateful for the angel on her shoulder. She drove professionally for over thirty accident-free years.

Then six years ago, on a Sunday morning, while riding her motor-cycle down the old Caribou highway, all the skill she had acquired over the many years of driving could not save her, nor could the Angel she had on her shoulder. A van ran a stop sign and they collided. She died that faithless day, six years ago, ending many years of driving. But she did it doing one of the things she loved to do, riding her big Yamaha motor cycle.

Rest in Peace Val. One day we will all meet again, in that special place all young and old professionals go when they pass on. r

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Rig of the Month

By John White

I received a phone call a while back from Kylee Laird, who wanted to donate a painting to Alberta Big Rig Weekend to raise money for Military Minds’, “Rolling

Barrage.” The painting is 48”x 26” and was painted from a winning picture of the contest she held on her website for night shots of lighted trucks. The accomplished artist

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who did the painting is Tiffany Jorgensen from Williams Lake, BC. Kylee is our September 2017 Rig of the Month driver and this is her story: I was born in Prince George BC. but spent my early years in Alberta. When I was nine years old we moved back to BC and lived in the small lumber town of Quesnel where we stayed until I was sixteen years old. I guess I was about 10 when I first really started getting into trucking. My Dad, who adopted me when I was nine, was a bull hauler at that time and my Mom used to let me miss school so that I could go with him on his runs to the Alberta Stock Yards.

I can still remember sitting in the jump seat at night and being mesmerized by all the lit up rigs that went by.

It was both memorizing and a bit terrifying at the same time. I still love seeing those trucks go by as I’m running down the road, only now I do it as a driver myself. Those lit up trucks never fail to put a smile on my face as they bring back some great memories of my early years with my Dad. I can remember sitting at the truck stops with my Dad listening to all the trucker’s stories and seeing the battle scars. It was a completely different world. My Dad (Jamie Laird) has been someone I have looked up to my whole life, and the more time I was able to spend with him, the happier I was. I’m sure that my strong work ethic and drive stems from him but my stubbornness and determination is

SEPtEmbEr 2017

definitely from my mother.

When I called my mother to tell her that I had been asked to be the Rig of The Month and to ask for her help in putting this together she said, “You were a beautiful cross between a Princess and a Tom Boy, your journey in those trucks has helped you find out who you really are but you wouldn’t have come this far without being a trucker.”

Unlike a lot of trucker’s kids I didn’t start out driving, but in 2012 I hit a plateau in my life. I wasn’t enjoying my job at the time, which was being a paramedic in the oilfield. While researching some college programs to make

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some changes I came across one that, for three months, trained you as a driver as well as a heavy equipment operator. I thought about how happy I had always been while in Dad’s truck so it didn’t take long to make the decision to go for it. I jumped on board and enrolled with Mike Fiddler from Fiddler Driving Solutions in Prince George. Mike was an old school logger back in the day who had turned instructor. It was the middle of winter when I took the program. It consisted of 2 to 4 hours driving truck every second day and the rest of the time I went to O’Brian Heavy Equipment Training. O’Brian has a big training facility outside Prince George. They have FellerBunchers, Rock Trucks, Cats, Skidders, Excavators and just about every other piece of equipment you can name.

I specialized in Excavators, as they are always in demand, but I had the opportunity to run all the rest too.

When I took my Class 1 test my pre-trip was not as good as it could be but I passed my road test with just 1 demerit. I’m a real country fan and for a lark I took my driver’s test to a concert and had Aaron Pritchett sign it for me.

In December 2012 I got my first driving job. It was in Spirit River Alberta hauling B-train grain trailers. There was only one other driver in the company. His name was Bill and he was one of the toughest old boys I have ever met. There we were, at -30 degrees, vacuuming out grain silos and bombing down the road in an old 1993

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Kenworth. I have to say that they don’t warn you nearly as much as they should about hauling trains when you are in school. At the beginning of my career there were a couple time times that I almost had to change my shorts. After a few months of hauling trains and learning as much as I could, I made the jump to oilfield work.

I got a job hauling tankers in Dawson Creek, B.C. with a 1997 Western Star. I quickly found that tanks really change the way you drive. Hauling fluid can be a little nerve racking, especially in the winter. I had a very close call when I had only been hauling tankers for about 2 weeks. It was winter and I had my Jake set on 3 - which I soon learned was too high. I was only going about 50kph and just touched the brakes when the fluid in the tank kept pushing me forward into the oncoming lane where I almost had a head on with a Lomak truck. I quickly learned to whoa-up way ahead of where I normally would, hauling tankers is definitely a good way to teach a driver to slow down.

When tank work was slow I’d run Combo Vac and Shuffle Floor. I spent three years running northern BC and Alberta and being a Vac Operator was one of the toughest jobs I’ve had. If the hours weren’t hard enough, slugging those hoses and shovelling out tanks sure were.

There were times when you were only able to get a three hour nap here and there and that was if you were lucky.

Often when it was finally time to go home you looked

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like something that had just climbed out of the pond. The smell of crude never really leaves you after that job.

Right from the beginning I was bound and determined to grab experience hauling anything I could get my hands on. My goal was to be as diversified as possible so that if times got tough in one sector I could take whatever job was available in another. With that in mind, two years ago I moved back home and started logging. This is where it got to be fun as my Dad had also gone back to logging quite a few years before that. At first it was tough for me to get a job in the logging industry, however two local loggers, Craig Lepitich and Dan Ratcliff, both gave me a shot. I ran a 2007 Western Star Tri Drive with trains and a hay rack for Craig , and Ratcliff had a 2015 Kenworth with trains. I learned real quick to not fear the road but to respect it.

There’s quite the difference between bush hauling and highway hauling. At times I would clam up and question myself about what the heck was I doing sliding down the side of a mountain. Then I’d hear Dad on the radio, “Get that ‘bleep’ moving, she’ll stand up!” He really did push me to be a better driver and forget the bad habits I had learned. He phones me every day to see how I’m making out and is constantly talking about trucking, helping me learn as much as I can. I guess that when you have one daughter and two sons, and your daughter wants to be a trucker, you make sure she has learned as much as she can from you. I know he’s proud of me and sometimes brags about my driving which makes me chase my goals even harder.

This spring I broke my foot while logging for Lobar Logging in Prince George. For two stubborn weeks I kept hauling out of the bush which was not so easy with a cast and 18 speed. Once again I felt pretty lucky to have been given the chance to go out there and prove myself but my injury was proving to be more and more difficult to deal with so I hit the highway and started hauling flat deck coast to coast. I was running a 2007 Pete 388 hauling step deck and flat deck from Vancouver as far as Nova Scotia.

My career as a trucker has had lot of ups and downs.

There were times where finding employment was tough,

PAGE 28

especially since I was always going after the, “tougher,” jobs. I have run into the odd arrogant man and woman through the years who refused to help or teach me anything but that has also made me very grateful for the ones that did take the time to help me along the way.

Trucking in itself, as I said before, is a whole world of its own. And it’s not for everyone. It’s hard on the home life, you miss out on family and life events but I wouldn’t change what I do for the world. It’s hard to explain, to someone that doesn’t drive, that feeling you get from it, but once you’ve stepped into that iron you don’t want to get back out. You see the world and you meet the people who make it turn.

Having stories to tell about driving through that storm

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that made you question yourself or hauling that piece of machinery into a spot you had no business going into.

Even stopping to help a fellow driver who has wrecked, and staying with them until help arrives. Last winter there was a team that had smashed their truck and were in the ditch on highway 11, in Ontario. One driver was in the sleeper when the truck went off the road and when the reefer smashed into the back of the cab it sent the sleeping driver flying forward into the dash. The sad part was that it had happened an hour before I arrived and the driver told me that no one else had bothered to stop. No load should be more important than your life or someone else’s.

I’ve had scary moments like when I was stranded in the middle of Ontario in -33 weather. It was in the middle of the night and there was no cell service. The truck was puking out oil and I had to make the call to let it run and blow-up or shut it off and let it freeze-up which would result in me having no heat. I shut the truck off and then bundled up while I waited for a service truck. It was the longest three hour wait of my life .

There have been moments of pure self-pride like when I was the only truck to make it up the side of the mountain to get a load and then remembering once I was up there that I had to make it back down - silly woman… Or moments where I have had my sons in the truck with me and looked over to see the smile on their faces. Or when they would sit on my lap in the bush and they would think they were going so fast in second gear while I let them steer. Everyone with a child has done this…lol. Those are just a few memories and moments that only a few will ever experience. When you ask your 8 year old son what he wants to be when he is older, and he says, “A truck driver like my Mumma,” you know you’re doing something right.

Currently I am employed with Sharp Oilfield Services which is a family run company based out of Edmonton, Alberta. They operate primarily in Western Canada and the Territories. Sharp has been in business since 2011 and Marc Craddock, the owner, is third generation in the industry. Marc’s grandfather Cliff started Craddock Trucking then his father Murray became involved in the

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Right now I drive right alongside my best friend, and supportive boyfriend, Dustin. Dustin and I met through Cavendish Cartel, a Facebook Trucking group. It is a private select group of truckers from across the country that are all about looking after each other and ensuring, as the originator of the group says, “You’ll never truck alone.” It is a great concept as I broke down just the other day and did not know how to fix it so I posted the problem to the group. Within two minutes I had someone come online and tell me what to do to get me further down the road.

Truck Drivers, Ian Murray, Catlin Rogers and Neil Marrow, from the east coast, started this group in 2015 and when they meet a trucker or see one on Facebook that

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they feel will be a good fit they invite them to join the group. They look for good drivers who are compassionate, willing to help others and like to give back to their community. Since it is a Facebook group most of us have not physically met. But when we do meet up we have what we call a “Cartel Meet-up” and we take pictures together so we can post it to the group.

I met Dustin when I was broke down in Dryden, Ontario. I needed some oil so I made a post on the group website and Dustin showed up to help me. He was hauling cattle at the time for a company based out of Ontario and I was running coast to coast out of Vancouver. After that we met up a few more times for Cartel meet-ups whenever we crossed paths. One day he asked me if I wanted to go on a houseboat trip on Lake Temagami, in north eastern Ontario. After that we decided we wanted to spend more time together. He decided he didn’t want me to move to Ontario, because I have two boys, so he moved Edmonton where he had a job waiting. We now live together and work for the same company hauling all over Saskatchewan, Alberta and BC, as well as up into the Territories and Yukon.

We often run as a team in a 2014 lime green 389 long nose Pete with a 550 Cummins. When we aren’t running together Dustin drives the Pete and I’m either in a white 2015 Kenworth T880 or a white 2016 Kenworth W900 which I have just been told in my designated truck. It’s a

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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 good feeling to have nice rides that you can have pride in, and knowing you run some of the toughest roads.

Just like many female truckers out there, I’ve had to work hard to get to where I’m at and I like to encourage other women to look at driving as a career. There is a lot more out there than getting minimum wage, or close to it, doing retail sales or sitting behind a desk all day watching as the world goes by. A woman can earn good money and travel all across North America while doing it. With that in mind I started a support group for female truckers called “Silk and Iron.” Our Facebook Group ( Silk & Iron ) is full of wonderful women from all over the world who support and encourage each other. They provide posts to help teach other women and posts of encouragement

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.com Enjoy Back issues of Pro-Trucker Magazine anywhere you are from the comfort of your smart phone!

Enjoy our Rig of The Month Archives on the go!

Stay up-to-date with Pro-Trucker news and events on our Facebook page & group! Cool truck pictures, jokes, contests and live chat with Pro-Trucker Magazine’s contributing writers! www.facebook.com/groups/7374383222/ and www.facebook.com/ProTruckerMagazine SEPtEmbEr 2017

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or even just posts of their families that they leave to go haul. Our Facebook page is full of supporters and truckers alike – all people who stand behind women in the trucking industry. The same support can be found on our Instagram Page “silk_and _iron”. It is full of people from all over that are rocking a “Silk & Iron” sticker on their rigs in support of women truckers. One of the main things that makes these women stand out, is what we call the “True Heart of Trucking.” We give back to those in need through donations and charities. We hold auctions and events to raise money for those that are in desperate need.

Children and adults alike. It is a small community of women from across the world working together to educate and encourage new and old driver’s. The goal is to provide a place where the ladies can be themselves and learn.

We also give back to the communities we are from, and to other ones that could just use an extra hand. Recently we donated a painting to the “Chrome for Kids” truck show held in Mission BC, that raises money for Children’s Hospital. We also donated one to support Military Minds a non-profit that gives support to military, police officers and first responders that are suffering from PTSD. Military minds have just completed the 15 day Rolling Barrage motorcycle ride across Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific to raise money for their cause. We also now have a clothing line that we use to raise money for charities. The line is also popular with men who support

women drivers. Our website is www.silkniron.com All in all I love my life, my family and my job and I wouldn’t change anything for the world. If I have my way I’ll be doing this until I’m 80 years old. It’s not a passion it’s an obsession, c’mon!

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.

Alberta Bound Well, that was a trip and a half, a round trip of 3084 km from Vancouver up through Kamloops to Edmonton, and if it hadn’t been for the GPS I might never have found Nisku and Blackjacks Roadhouse. The thunder, lightning and rain storm when I arrived on Thursday evening, although spectacular on the approach to Edmonton, made it nearly impossible to see the lane markings on the road at times.

I was all alone for my visit to the Pro-Trucker Big Rig weekend this year, which was a shame, because when you leave behind the chaos of the Vancouver suburbs and hit the long straight highways you see in the ads it’s completely different. I know my wife would’ve enjoyed the run up

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through Jasper National Park, the scenery was stunning. It was suggested to me by one of my online friends I met at Nisku, that I had put too much pressure on my good lady wife last year. As canny Scot, i.e. tight wad, when the guy at the car rental desk asked if I wanted the GPS at $16 a day, I said, GPS! NO THANK YOU, I’m an old school map reading trucker. Then, each night in our hotel, via the free Wi-Fi and studying my $25 map, I got directions to wherever we were going the next day and wrote it down on the hotel note paper for my wife to read out as we went along.

So last year was a bit of a baptism by fire for her, maybe it’s not surprising she almost had a nervous breakdown in downtown Vancouver when we missed a turn-off on the way back to drop off the rental car and catch our homeward flight.

But I never felt alone when I was there, the Pro-Trucker family treated me as one of their own, just as they did last year at Chilliwack. And, of course there were all the drivers who couldn’t make the Chilliwack show so I could meet them. Drivers like West Cole, Rob Urquhart, Kevin Lennie and all the rest of the people who I only knew from online communication, a list too long to name them individually. It was great to meet the drivers who read, and apparently enjoy, the ramblings from this old Scottish truckers memories.

After the Edmonton thunder storm had cleared, it

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was as hot as it was last year in Chilliwack, so having Blackjacks Roadhouse to retire to was ideal. Blackjacks also came in very handy for breakfast and lunch, as I was by myself I’d booked a room in a small guest house five minutes’ walk from the show. Nothing fancy, just somewhere to lay my head at the end of the day, and not too far to walk back after a few beers.

The effort and detail the drivers put into their trucks for these shows is fantastic, not to mention the cost of all the extra lights and chrome. Some drivers though, had the foresight to increase the size of their family to help with the pre-show polishing. With five kids and a lovely wife all bringing the truck up to prize winning show standard, the only job left was supervisory, eh Rob? After the Big Rig show I called in to see the man responsible for my being in the magazine and in Canada, Mel McConaghy in Prince George. I spent four days cruising the streets of Prince George in his big block one ton truck. Just me and an 81 year old teenager on the prowl for chicks. Then it was on to Agassiz to spend a couple of days with another old online friend, Werner.

Because of an accident on the way north, highway 5 was closed, so all traffic was diverted onto a very scenic highway 5A, but it ran me into Kamloops for my first overnight stay just the same. On the way south highway 5 was open, WOW, what a hill, stunning in the summer, but a nightmare when it’s freezing and covered in snow I would think.

So that’s my memory of this, maybe my last trip to Canada, great roads, fantastic scenery, and very friendly people, a young man in one of my motels gave me his cell phone to use when I wanted to call Agassiz.

There was, however, a sad end to my trip, my wife and I met Big Rig regulars, Lynda and Bob Richardson at the Chilliwack show last year and have remained in contact through e-mail ever since. I’m especially glad now I went to the Alberta show and met them both again, because Bob passed away at home peacefully in his sleep, just the way he wanted. R.I.P. Bob. r

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september 2017

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deliveRing the goods, safely

By Lane Kranenburg Lane is a former driver, fleet owner and former Executive Director of the AMTA Suicide by Truck Suicide by truck is not reported very often and it is not commonly known as a means of killing one self, however it happens much more often than the public is aware of.

Just this week in Calgary a man beat his wife nearly to death, then proceeded to Highway two (Queen Elizabeth) where he pulled his car over to the shoulder, got out and stepped in front of a semi travelling down the road at highway speed. This very selfish act leaves many to suffer the consequences. Not only to clean up the mess, but can you imagine the shock and stress that the driver of the truck will have to endure for the rest of his life? Not only the driver of the truck, but witnesses to the event, first on the scene, and then the first responders, police officers, fire fighters, and medical responders who are there to clean up the mess. Another side effect of this incident would be the highway closure that affects all motorists using that road having to detour and the disruption of

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As former police officer, I’ve had the task of investigating several suicides, and it happens much more than the public is aware of. Although the individual is obviously deeply troubled I feel that it is a very selfish act and the family of the suicide must live with the fact that the death was a self-inflicted and they are left with the task of cleaning up all his or her affairs. Not to mention continually questioning themselves about what they may have been able to do to prevent it.

Many of the collisions that occur on our highways are reported as mistakes that a four wheel driver makes on the roads, but some of those crashes are in fact suicide by truck.

Many years ago, my driver put his truck in the ditch near Valleyview, Alberta, and upon my arrival I checked the evidence left by the tracks that were left just before the vehicle entered the ditch, and I thought that the driver had dozed off. My driver insisted that a green colored half ton truck had entered his lane and he swerved to avoid a collision. After transferring the load onto a second truck the doors of the trailer were closed and there was in fact green paint on the rear drivers’ side of the trailer, the same color as the driver described.

After I apologized to my driver for suggesting he may have dozed off we took the goods to the customer, pulled the truck and trailer out of the ditch and left with no more information.

However, I stopped at the RCMP office in the area to ask if there had been any reports of incidents involving a green half ton. The officer on duty said that there had in fact been several calls about this small truck and that there had been a fatal collision involving a half ton and one of Economy Carriers Transport trucks. This was an example of individuals using transport trucks to commit suicide, a very sad fact but true.

It happens much more often then we think, often the event is written off as a collision where the driver of the four-wheeler made a mistake and a collision resulted but it would be extremely difficult to call it a suicide as there is no proof to indicate an suicide as opposed to a traffic violation. r

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CALLING ALL

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BABY, CHILD AND MAN Rockets fell upon the city, a newborn baby cried.

New life came to England, around him others died.

Soon a ship to Canada, a place he would call home.

Raised on a working farm, room for a child to roam.

A little one-room schoolhouse, a church among the trees.

He grew to be a young man, running wild and free.

Raised by a loving family, knowing right from wrong.

Taught love of God and country, this helped to make him strong.

Grown, now he joined the service, there he learned to fight.

Then trips to many foreign lands, he did what he thought was right.

Next a return to Canada, shunned for what he had done.

He started driving big rigs, found peace on the endless runs.

A chance meeting with a lady, she soon became his wife.

Children followed later, the start of his new life.

Still he drove the big trucks, across the endless land.

North and south, east and west, guided by his steady hand.

Somehow he kept his family fed, taught his children wrong and right.

Now in his later years, he takes the time to write.

Tales of where he wandered, people he has known.

The family that he cares for, this land that he calls home.

Somehow he must make a mark, pass on the lesson that he has learned.

Freedom is not given, it’s something that you earn.

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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