The Truckers Lair

Well it seems that days off are never long enough to accomplish everything that needs to get accomplished are they?  Got to spend some time with my family, but didn’t get to see any of my friends without my pickup for transportation.  The down fall of taking a load home instead of driving my pickup I guess.  Hooked onto a trailer loaded with a 100 ton lowbed to deliver to Edmonton.  The drive was good until I got into Edmonton where it was minus 10 and snowing.  I had to sit for four days waiting for the winds and driving snow to subside before I could be loaded with foam for the trip home.  Got to visit with my neice for a few hours while I was there which was good.  Other than that I burned a lot of fuel trying to stay warm.  On the way to pick up the foam, highway 21 was like a skating rink with over twenty cars in the ditch.  I was too afraid to take my hands off of the wheel to grab a few photos.  I did however get a couple of shots (see photos) on the way out of Edmonton where there were a few vehicles in the ditch including a plow truck.  It was good to get back to the land of the living where rain was a welcome site.  Bye for now.

For those of you who have been emailing me regarding the load photos and their whereabouts, I’ve been told by my employer whom I contract for to remove them from my blog as in their view it violates the privacy of their clients.  I will continue to upload photos that pertain to my trips they just won’t show any of my loads that I haul.  Talk to you later.

Hauled a couple of boosters and one jeep to Acheson, Alberta.  The drive was good and weather likewise.  Unloaded in Acheson and Edmonton then headed for Fort Sask, Alberta to load some more foam for the trip home.  Along the way I had an idiot truck driver get impatient driving through the 50 km zone where they are putting in the pipeline within Jasper National Park by passing me on the right and nearly hitting a construction worker in the process.  He gained one spot in front of me for his efforts.  Got to wonder! Gives the rest of us a bad name.  Oh well, made it home without incident and unloaded in Surrey, BC.  Then I went back to the yard and hooked onto a preloaded trailer of steel joists bound for Victoria and Nanaimo, BC.  Unloaded in Victoria and on my way up to Nanaimo, I had a woman pull out in front of me at a set of lights outside of Duncan.  I had to swerve into the hammer lane and narrowly missed hitting her.  Luckily there was no one in the hammer lane when I swerved.  I changed lanes again into the slow lane, and she pulled up along side of me and gave me the finger.  Go figure, should of hit her I guess.   After unloading in Nanaimo I had some days off (wahoo!!).  Bye for now.

Loaded up with a split load of rebar destined for Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta.  The drive to Calgary went good for a change with no weather issues to speak of and no accidents to witness.  Arrived in Calgary in the evening of the first (sorry no April Fools) and stayed at the old Petro Pass truck stop.  In the morning I had to make my way right down town to Center Street before traffic got too bad.  Unloaded and reloaded with some rebar from the job site to deliver to another job site a few blocks away.  Unloaded that and headed for Edmonton to deliver another bundle of rebar.  After unloading I went to the local truck stop in Fort Sask, Alberta and took 24 hours off until my load of foam was ready and then headed for Aldergrove, B.C.  Along the way my rear strap came loose and I had to stop outside of Hinton to retie the load and then head on my way again.  Bye for now. 

I grabbed a load of steel construction forms to be delivered to Nisku, Alberta and along the way I ran into some snow flurries here and there, but nothing serious.  The RCMP were checking log books in Little Fort, BC, which I’ve never seen before so I guess they’re mixing it up a little.  I think a few truckers got caught with their pants down as a few miles before and a few miles after there were trucks in pullouts with drivers working on log books.  Good thing they had their radios to rely on.  After delivering the load in Nisku, I headed for Edmonton to load a winch and some pipe and then off to load a large lathe and conveyor to be delivered to the lower mainland by Monday.  The lathe and conveyor had to be tarped and of course I didn’t have any with me so I had to borrow some.  Good thing as on the way home I ran into a wicked snow storm between Edson and Jasper which forced me to spend the night at a rest area outside of Hinton.  When I awoke in the morning it was still snowing (lighter though) and there was three inches on the hood of my truck and the same on the two tarped crates.  After Jasper the skies cleared and the trip the rest of the way was a good one until I hit the lower mainland where it was raining a little.  Bye for now. 

Picked up four jeeps to deliver to Edmonton, Alberta.  The drive was a good one as the roads and weather were excellent.  After delivering I picked up a lowbed trailer and booster to be delivered back to Langley, BC for repairs. The drive back went good until I arrived in Kamloops, where I learned via my radio that the hill on the connector below the brake check was covered in ice from freezing rain.  I took the lower road with no problems. After dropping my trailer in the yard I hooked onto another one and went to Chilliwack to load some lumber wrap for deliver in Merritt, BC.  Got back into town around 9:00 pm and dropped off my truck at Finning for a full service and grease job.  Bye for now. 

After arriving in the yard, I transferred over another Hino tow truck and a small excavator onto the trailer with the Hino truck I picked up in Vernon and headed back out on the road.  My first stop was Whitecourt, Alberta where I unloaded the small excavator and headed for Legal, Alberta to drop off the tow truck.  I spent the night in a parking lot of the local pub in Bon Accord, Alberta and when I awoke the next morning I discovered the parking lot was all ice covered.  Needless to say I had to chain up one set of wheels to get out (lesson learned).  After delivering the tow truck, I headed for Camrose, Alberta to drop off the last Hino truck and pick up a small engine for delivery from the same company.  I then headed for Nisku, Alberta to pick up another engine (diesel) before heading into Edmonton to transfer the two engines onto a preloaded trailer for delivery at a later date.  I then dropped the trailer that I was hooked onto in the same yard and bobtailed for Sherwood Park, Alberta to hook onto a 45′ van with a load of personal belongings to a family who was moving to Vancouver Island.  I ran into some snow in Blue River and Little Fort, but it wasn’t sticking to the road.  A sign that spring is just around the corner I hope.  Delivered the van to the barge in Surrey, BC where it will be picked up on the island for delivery to Lake Cowichan.  Bye for now.

When I got back from Edmonton, I delivered my load of pipe that I had to leave behind last trip and then I took a day off to recoup (log book issues).  I loaded up with 12 pieces of 18″ x 60′ pipe (61,742 lbs) bound for Nisku, Alberta.   Again the weather cooperated all the way and the roads were good.  After unloading, I headed to Fort Sask, Alberta where I got two days off while waiting for a load of foam to materialize for delivery to Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C.  This meant that I could head home after visiting with a couple of very close friends of mine in Duncan whom I hadn’t seen in a while. It was great to be home for a couple of days to straighten out a few things that I let go for a while.  Stopped in to visit with my parents also.  Couldn’t get to visit with everyone I wanted to, but I will get to eventually I guess.  Bye for now.

Wow everyone wants their stuff yesterday!  Had to leave a load of pipe in the yard to deliver later and hook onto a load of lowbeds bound for Edmonton.  The drive was a good one with sunshine all the way, whew!  Of course I cannot pass Mount Robson in the clear blue skies without taking some shots (see photos) a weak moment I guess.  After unloading in Edmonton I headed to Sherwood Park for two 20′ pieces of 4″ pipe that had to be in Langley, BC for the next day (right).  At least it didn’t cost me much in fuel ha ha.  Bye for now.

Sorry folks for my delay in posting, however I’ve been pretty busy and got a little lazy with my blog.  As I am suffering from “Old Timers Disease” I’ll have to skip to the end of February as that’s all I can remember.  Took a load of misc equipment from a company who is moving most of their stock to their Edmonton branch.  Had to tarp it as there were some stainless steel items and a couple of lathes etc.  Once I unloaded in Nisku, AB, I headed to Edmonton to load some pipe for the trip home. Sorry that’s all I got.