The Truckers Lair

I have to wonder why the Coquihalla from Hope to Merritt is so bad (especially since I plowed and sanded/salted roads myself for over five years) when the temp is hovering around 0 to plus one degrees celcius.  Salt can be applied up to -2 degrees celcius so there was lots of room to wiggle on this one.  All they had to do is salt the be jesus out of the compact and use the blades to remove it or at least take it down to a thinner layer that the traffic could remove over time.  Oh well must be a money thing.  The same thing can be said from Blue River to Valemount also as the compact there could be removed even easier as the traffic is not as heavy so it wouldn’t blow off the material before it has a chance to do its job.  I realize it isn’t as cut and dried as I make it out, but it can be done with the right amount of manpower and dollars.  Maybe we should go back to having the government take over the role, at least the taxpayer will be getting his/her moneys worth. My two cents…

Happy New Year everyone!  Finally got to start on my way to deliver the load that got left behind in December.  No problems other than the road conditions over the Coquihalla and the trip went well.  Once I unloaded in Acheson, I headed down to Calgary to pick up a 70′ load of steel roof trusses to deliver to Burnaby.  That adventure didn’t go as easy as the trip out to Alberta however.  I ran into a snow storm from Field, B.C. to Revelstoke, B.C. and it was a white out.  She was slow going for a few hours and I ended up spending the night at Salmon Arm, B.C.  On my way back over the Coquihalla I came accross two accidents involving four wheelers (see photo), one was a four wheel drive pickup upside down in the median and the other was a one ton dura max with a trailer on it’s side in the hammer lane.  As I arrived on scene for the dura max, there was a crowd trying to get the driver out of his crumbled truck.  I learned later on the radio that he was alright and that they had to put out a fire as well.  Bye for now.

Loaded some vessels in Richmond for an incineration plant in Alberta.  Wasn’t told I had to tarp the load until after I arrived at the shop and unfortunately I didn’t bring any tarps with me.  The other driver also had to pick up two vessels and he found out the same thing I did.  They finally let us take the load back to our yard after shrink wrapping it.  Once back at the yard we discovered that the stands fabricated to place the vessels on had lost most of the bolts and we would deliver the loads in the New Year.  Yahoo, I’m off until New Years Day.  See you then. 

Loaded some more bent pipe to deliver to Nisku for coating.  Trip went well with icy road conditions outside of Blue River all the way to Valemount.  Unloaded in Nisku and headed for Fort Saskatchewan to load some more foam for deliver to Langley.  Roads were good all the way to Kamloops where the snow was falling and the roads became slippery.  Passed a rolled over car on “smasher” hill while driving the Coquihalla (see photos).  Bye for now.

Loaded some pipe and had to create a special brace to hold one piece on the deck and secure it properly.  Along the way I was informed that one of our drivers was involved in a head on (see photo) outside of Kamloops and was instructed to take photos.  Unloaded in Nisku and headed to Calgary to load for Cold Lake.  After unloading in Cold Lake I headed for Acheson.  Took 24 hours off to reset my hours in the log book and bobtailed to Kamloops to pick up the trailer that was involved in the accident to deliver the load to Edmonton.  After unloading in Edmonton I headed to Wainwright to load some jeeps.  Along the way just outside of Edmonton the weather turned for a worse with white out conditions.  Made it to Wainwright and got loaded then headed back into the storm and arrived in Edmonton to fuel up and head for the lower mainland.  At Tijion scale, I got pulled in for my first inspection and passed with flying colours.   Got my sticker for the windsheild and headed on my way. Bye for now.

After chaining down my preloaded trailer in Langley, I headed for Edmonton with two new lowbed trailers on my step deck. The trip went great and I made good time.  After unloading in Edmonton and Acheson, I headed to Fort Saskatchewan to load some foam.  On the way home I stopped in Jasper National Park to take some pics of the Big Horn Sheep as they were in the rutting season and bunched up (see photos).    I then continued on my way and when I got close to Avola, B.C. I came accross another truck accident (see photo).  It was the second one in less than a week in this area.  Everything went fine all the way back to Aldergrove.  Bye for now.

I had to make two drops in Alberta, one at Nakoda and the other at Innisfail.  The first one was for a sewage treatment plant on the Nakoda reserve outside of Calgary and the other was a water storage reservoir at Innisfail.  The roads were a bit slick going through Roger’s Pass (see photos) and the temps were very cold once inside Alberta (-18 celcius).  After loading in Edmonton, I headed back to the lower mainland as I had a load waiting for me in Langley, B.C.  On my way into Chilliwack, B.C. there was an accident on the freeway involving a rollover (see photo).  Bye for now.

Just finished hauling a sissor neck and fixed neck lowbed to Edmonton Alberta from Langley, BC.  Roads were good and weather was normal for winter.  Temperatures were very cold in Alberta (-15 Celcius) and also cold in BC (-4 to -7 Celcius) had to run the truck to stay warm while I slept in Kamloops, BC.  Once I arrived in Edmonton, I hooked onto a trailer that was preloaded with two 1 ton GMCs from last week ( I dropped off) and headed back to Penticton, BC.  Along the way it snowed from Edmonton to Wildwood Alberta and I ran into a snow storm just outside of Hinton, Alberta where I spent the night.  The next day I also drove through a snow storm between Valemount, BC and Avola, BC.  Arrived in Penticton later that day and it was starting to snow there also.  Had to spend the night and unload in the morning.  After that I will be heading to Kelowna, BC to load for Fort McMurray, Alberta.  Bye for now.

Left Edmonton with a load of foam destined for Surrey, British Columbia.  Along the way I ran into a good snow storm between Seba Beach, Alberta and Edson, Alberta.  Could only see a few feet in front of you so I slowed down quite a bit in case someone was stalled in the lane I would have a chance to stop without hitting them.  Once I got past Edson the weather was very cold but clear with bare roads all the way to BC.  Stopped in Hinton to get a refund on one of the three starters I’ve put in my truck since June.  Renewed my faith in Napa somewhat as they gave me a full refund after bench testing it to confirm it was indeed hooped. 

Because of the cold weather (-5 to -15 celcius) I left my truck running for a couple of nights and was shocked at the amount of fuel I burned by the time I got to the lower mainland.  Guess I’ll be doing some research into some alternatives for sleeping at night in Alberta and BC as it can get into the minus 40+ range on some occasions.  Was looking at something called the rig master with great interest, however it is quite expensive.  Will have to crunch some numbers to see how much I’ll save over time.  I’m sure the savings are there, but it is hard to part with that much cash up front when anything can go wrong with your truck in this business.  Oh well, have to bite the bullet I guess. 

I’m pretty impressed with my new Sony DSC H9 digital camera (see photo) I took a shot through my windshield while travelling through Jasper National Park and except for the dirty windshield it looks real good.  Bye for now.

After a day off and picking up my peterbilt from Peterbilt who completed a MVI and full service to it, I loaded a couple of trailers onto a step deck and headed for Edmonton, Alberta.  I ran into some snow up on the Coquihalla summit and some icy road conditions on Cardeau Hill outside of Kamloops, BC.  The icy hill was interesting as I spun the tires off and on all the way up it.  After spending the night in Kamloops, I headed once again for Edmonton and drove by an accident (see photo) just outside of Avola, BC.  Black ice seemed to be the cause (other than speed of course).  Just before Blue River, BC on the north side of Messiter hill, I encountered some more black ice which slowed me down again.  In Edson, Alberta a pickup truck decided to cut me off and I had to hit my brakes hard which caused my load to shift.  Thank god for cross chains.  Spent the night in Acheson, Alberta for early morning delivery. Bye for now.