The Truckers Lair

Took a steel bridge deck to a golf course in Calgary.  Along the way I came across an accident about two km west of Rogers Pass where a big rig jackknifed and slammed into a concrete no-post and burst into flames.  The driver was walking around with his cell phone in his ear so I guess he was alright.  There were a couple of cars stopped to help.  When I drove through the cab was burning pretty good and by the time I got to the bottom of the pass I heard on the radio that the fuel tanks caught fire and the van was just starting to burn.  Sorry no photos because I didn’t want to risk it.  Delivered my load and picked up a container for delivery to Edmonton.  From there I loaded some crushed cars in Spruce Grove for delivery to Richmond.  Bye for now.

Hauled a load with a pump jack to Lampman Sask, and then up to Regina to load 2 steel coils for delivery to Calgary.  From Calgary I loaded crushed cars to deliver to Richmond, BC.  In Richmond, I loaded some wooden crates with valves inside for the oil patch to be delivered to Edmonton.  Along the way I ran into some freezing rain between Blue River and Valmount.  I also ran into freezing rain inside Mount Robson Park.  There I heard of a major accident on the radio and decided to pull over and get some sleep.  When I awoke in the morning they were still cleaning up the accident (see photos) so I got stuck in a line up of big trucks waiting for the okay to move on.  We were made to chain up for 20 km to help break up the ice on the road.  This was a first for me but you gotta do what you gotta do.   After removing my chains I continued on into Hinton where the scale was open and I was held up for two hours while they did an inspection on my rig.  Because of some air fresheners hanging from my sun visor they decided to call in the RCMP to search my truck and load for drugs or weapons.  After leaving with clean bill of health I continued on to Edmonton and unloaded the crates.  I then drove to Nisku to load another pump jack to be delivered to Mission, BC.  First time I’ve hauled a pump jack to BC instead of to Alberta.  Bye for now.

Finally got through the holidays which aren’t my favorite time of the year.  Too much money spent and not enough earned.  I didn’t do much after spending Christmas with my sister and her two boys but sit in Abbottsford.  Got to take a load of pump jacks for an oil well to Lampman, Sask.  From there I loaded two stainless coils (48k) from Regina and delivered them to Calgary, AB.  Then I had the pleasure (not) of loading crushed cars from Calgary to deliver to Richmond.  I’m sitting in Kamloops as we speak getting ready to head for the lower mainland where I’ll have to reset my log before delivery on Monday.  The rates are sure taking a beating it seems these days.   Definately not much money to be made in hauling decks these days.  May as well be a company driver as the money is about the same now.  Might look at hauling vans or new cars, not sure yet though.  Depends on how long this set back with the rates continues.  By for now.

After unloading the rebar under the Port Mann bridge for the new bridge, I headed to Delta to load some huge tires (see pic) to deliver to Red Deer.  This of course means that I had to travel the “highway of death” as it is known.  The trans canada highway between Kamloops and Golden is the worst stretch of highway in western canada with the exception of the Fort MacMurray highway maybe.  This is because it is narrow and winds through the mountains.  The maintenance on this highway during the winter months is poor for some reason.   All drivers seem to speed also which doesn’t help much.  Things were going pretty good for a while even though the road was icy in some spots traffic seemed to be driving cautiously.  Another rig with a load of tires was a few kilometers in front of me and we were talking every now and then on the radio about the road conditions etc.  Then the other driver was involved in an accident on the corners next to Summit Lake.  It seems that a mini van lost control on a corner and bounced off the cement no post then veered into on coming traffic hitting a SUV head on and then bouncing off of the rig hauling the tires.  The rig driver tried to ditch his rig to avoid the mini van but it hit him in the fuel tank rupturing it and then coming to a stop a few feet away.  The rig ended up in the snow bank (see pic) off the road and there were three seriously injured people in the two vehicles.  I got stopped about half a km away but could see the mayhem and listened to the other rig drivers who witnessed the whole thing describe how the accident occurred.  Two hours later I was able to resume my trip to Red Deer.  The driver of the rig was okay but couldn’t get his truck pulled out because of the ruptured fuel tank (environmental issues) until morning, so he was going home.  I wished him a Merry Christmas before heading on my way.  I kept thinking that if I had left before him that could have been me involved in the crash.  Not his fault in any way but just bad luck I suppose.  I must have counted 5-10 vehicles in the ditch between Kamloops and Golden because of icy road conditions.  Oh by the way, the sand trucks showed up while they were cleaning up the accident (figures).  Delivered the load in Red Deer and drove to Edmonton to load a John Deere excavator for the return trip home only this time I’m going down Highway 5.  Get to spend Christmas with my sister and nephews in Red Deer though.  Bye for now.

After leaving Dawson Creek, last week I picked up a load of lumber from MacKenzie and delivered it in the pouring rain to North Vancouver.  From there I went to the port and loaded up some 50′ steel pipe with an outside diameter of 48 inches and delivered it to Nisku, Alberta.  I had to take the canyon as the Coqihalla was closed and the roads through the canyon were a little slick also.  At least the temps warmed up to where I could shut my truck off at  night to conserve fuel.  From Nisku I drove to Fort Saskatchewan to load some rebar to deliver to the Port Mann bridge project in Surrey, BC.  I am currently sitting in Kamloops waiting for my log book to reset so I can drive the rest of the way.  Bye for now.

Delivered the container this morning and had to use two pickers as one couldn’t lift it. See the pics below.  I also added another pic of Mt. Robson, sorry I just can’t resist shooting that rock when the sun hits it just right.  On my way to Dawson Creek, BC I almost hit two moose who thought they’d drag race me in the ditch and then decided to try the other side at which time I had slowed down to about 30 km so I was able to stop.  Too fast to take a pic however.  Right now I’m sitting in Dawson Creek waiting to get loaded tomorrow and the temp is minus 41 degrees celcius.  When I first arrived and went to fuel up I turned too sharp and severed my air line to the trailer.  My hands almost froze off when I made the repairs.  I think I’ll be buying the softer rubber lines instead of the hard plastic I have now when I get back to the land of the living. Bye for now.

After sitting in Fort McMurray for 36 hours I drove to Edmonton and picked up a load of 60′ rebar to deliver to Surrey, BC.  After delivery on Thursday I loaded up a 40′ container on Friday for Monday delivery.  I left this morning and I am now sitting in Whitecourt Alberta where it is minus 32 degrees celcius.  Drove my 13 hours so I have to wait until morning to drive the rest of the way to Wabasca which is another 3 or 4 hours north east.  I almost smoked a few big horn sheep in Jasper Park that were licking the salt off the middle of the road and I didn’t see them until the last minute.  Of course they’re so dumb they just stood there and looked at me sliding towards them.  I managed to drive through a hole in the herd without hitting any of them.  Good thing too because if you get caught hitting one of them you are liable for the replacement cost of the sheep.  I hear it’s very expensive.  Good thing I was only doing the speed limit other wise I may be fixing my truck and purchasing a sheep…Yikes… Talk to you later.

Well I’m still sitting in Fort McMurray, Alberta waiting to get loaded.  It seems that because of the cold weather no one can get the machines started that are needed to load the crushed cars onto my step deck trailer.  Minus 28 degrees celcius this morning and minus 21 right now.  Have to leave the truck running and I shudder to think of my fuel bill by the time this one is said and done.  Might have to go to Edmonton to load in the morning, we’ll see.  Bye for now.

Right now as I speak it is minus 23 in Fort McMurray, Alberta.  I arrived today for tomorrow delivery of some steel tire rims for the big ore trucks.  The drive up from Grassland was good and the traffic was excellent.  I am assuming everyone was either in Edmonton already or it was too cold to venture out.  Anyone who has travelled hwy 63 knows that it is a dangerous drive as the average speed limit for most four wheelers is about 137 km per hour.  The posted speed is 110.  I always do 100 km to save fuel so usually I see some strange things indeed.  Below are some photos of my load tarped and after I removed the tarps.  Bye for now.

Almost forgot what it is like to drive in white out conditions.  Sitting in Grassland Alberta waiting for the snow storm to subside so I can deliver a load of steel tire rims for the big ore trucks used in the tar sands.  Drove through snow storm after snow storm all the way from Valemount, BC to my current position where it got too dangerous to drive anymore.  Saw a few rigs in the ditch but figured I’d better keep my eyes on the road instead of taking pics.  Talk to you later.