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thank you to those who make the miles count
In honour of National Trucking Week we are celebrating our Dispatchers, Mechanics, Drivers and all the people in the Trucking Industry that keep our freight moving. A salute to the Trucking Industry!
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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK BY JOHN WHITE While most Show and Shines and transportation trade shows have cancelled their 2020 programs due to concerns for Covid-19, the Chrome for Kids team once again managed to put together an event to raise money for Vancouver’s Children’s Hospital. All, for the most part, while maintaining social distancing. This was the 7th year for Chrome for Kids, and although it was wisely scaled back for safety sake, the team still managed to continue the good work that they have always done. This year’s event was in the form of a truck convoy that started at the ZZChrome outlet in Langley BC and travelled approximately 40 kilometres to Mission Raceways. After taking pictures, it then returned to ZZChrome for a silent auction. Altogether over 80 truckers participated, and over $58,000 was raised to buy new equipment for Vancouver’s Children’s Hospital. Chrome for Kids has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years all of which has gone to this charity. Every year, from coast to coast, the Transportation industry raises money for their communities through truck shows, food runs, golf tournaments, lighted truck parades, toy runs and auctions, to name just a few. This money flows back into their communities and is a big part of how local and national charities are able to do the very necessary work that they do. There is a tremendous amount of work involved in organizing each of these events, and they can only be successful when a group of dedicated volunteers put in many hours finding venues, organizing food and entertainment and, of course, the generosity of the sponsors. Then it is up to the drivers to show up, which they do with great enthusiasm because each one has family and friends in the community and with that comes a great sense of community spirit. I doubt if there is any other group of people, joined by career choice, that gives so much back to their community. You should all be very proud of what you do.
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RIG OF THE MONTH
Over the years we have seen fewer and fewer young people train to become truck drivers. It seems the majority come from a trucking family and have grown up on diesel smoke like our September/October Rig of the Month driver. This is his story:
M
y name is Spencer Stewart and I am 24 years old. I was born, and currently live in Kamloops, BC. I haul logs under my company name, SS Logging. I was raised in Merritt, British Columbia, where I became interested in logging at a very young age. I can remember scrubbing logging truck wheels on the farm before I was old enough to go to elementary school. That is how and where it all started. Since then, I haven’t been very far away from a logging truck. For as long as I can remember, there has always been one parked in the driveway. My mother, Tiara Seitz, has been an owner/operator of Woodrow Trucking
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Ltd. almost my entire life. My Uncle Terry, Uncle Baron, and cousin, Dean Quaife, were owner/operators in Cranbrook, BC. When I was young, I would jump in the logging truck beside my mom every chance I got. It wasn’t always easy, sometimes I would be squished in, side by side with my sister, DeLayla. Those early years were when I started to learn the ins and outs of log hauling almost by osmosis. Growing up, listening to the rhythm of the engine, and watching mom shift gears made it so that it was second nature to me when it came time to get my license and start driving on my own. Sometimes, when we were
in the bush, my mom would let me sit on her lap and drive the logging truck. I couldn’t reach the peddles but I thought it was the coolest thing ever, as I got older she also taught me how to put tire chains on. At the time, I was excited to learn, but when I think back now, I think she was more excited by the fact that she now had a swamper who could do it for her. I clearly remember my mom’s red 2008 Western Star decked out with a jeep and pull trailer for hauling long logs. It was the very first truck I drove. I always wanted to be behind the wheel, so I was eager to learn not only how to drive but how to be a successful SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2020
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Kelsey and Spencer
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2020
owner/operator. After what felt like forever, at 19 years old, I got my Class 1 license. Although by this time, I had already been hauling logs off-highway for what felt like years. It’s a good thing I didn’t fail! There are many people in the industry that I admire and look up to, and my mom is at the top of that list. Because of the high regard, she holds in the industry, I have also been fortunate to have a number of people directly reach out to, and support me. I have learned valuable things from all of them. People like Barron Quaife, Jed & Tiffany Fryer, Dennis Westad, Shelley Stewart, Dale Vanderhook, Greg Ware, Craig Lebeau, and James McNaney are several but not all the people who have helped me along the way. Learning is an ongoing process - I don’t think anyone stops. There is always something new around the next corner. Not only have these individuals helped me out by providing shop space, giving advice and answering questions, but they have also given me opportunities that have been essential to my success to date. I really believe that without these people, I wouldn’t be where I am today, with a continued passion for the logging industry. Each of these individuals has a world of knowledge. They have set the bar high while continuing to raise it and showing me that the sky is the limit. When I started my logging career, I was lucky enough to do it with the best sidekick I could have, a blue heeler that my mom brought home in her logging truck when I was ten years old, named Hunter. We have had many great memories trucking together and he has been there for most of my learning curves. He continues to come with me every day, most mornings beating me to the door tail wagging, waiting to go. However, I suspect that besides liking to ride in the truck, a good part of his enthusiasm probably has to do with wanting to get his morning treat from
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the loader man. One time, Hunter and I were out on the highway, in the dead of winter, when our truck puked all its oil out on the road. It was well below -30 degrees Celsius, and we were stuck. The truck obviously couldn’t be idled to keep the heater going, so with just a thin blanket, and my dog, we laid across the bench seat in the truck and huddled up. Thanks to Hunter, I was able to keep warm for a few hours until help arrived. I started my career in the logging industry as an employee hauling short logs in the southern interior of BC. Still, in the back of my mind, I always knew that this was only a step in my journey to become an owner/operator. I hauled logs for approximately 4 years before, at 22 years old, I purchased my very own 2019 Western Star truck with a 2018 Peerless quad trailer. Before buying my logging truck, I made some of my closest friends while trucking together. One time my truck caught on fire. Let’s blame it on the summer heat and not my new driving skills, so I had to drop my loaded trailer. One of my coworkers hooked up to it, and I jumped in the passenger seat. We headed off to town, but we didn’t exactly make it there. To this day, he says his service line wasn’t hooked up, but personally, I think we may have been going a wee bit too fast, haha! Next thing I know, I was wiping dirt off my face. Thankfully, our pride was the only thing that was hurt that day, and oddly enough, a solid friendship was made. Throughout my logging career, I have worked mainly in the southern interior of BC, with the summer of 2017 spent hauling logs in the northern interior. A few of my favourite and most memorable hauls have been in the Lillooet and Gold Bridge area, where I started my owner/operator adventure with Dale Vanderhook of Dicebox Pro-Trucker Driver’s Choice Magazine
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Ventures Ltd. This area was also where I got to experience some of the most unusual loads. One time, when we were low on short logs, the loader man asked me if it would be possible for me to haul a load of long longs on my trailer in addition to a bundle of short logs on my truck. I am always up for a challenge, and for those that know me, it probably isn’t a surprise that I didn’t say no. This country also produces some of the biggest wood I have seen in the southern interior. It wasn’t unusual to get bundles made up of only four logs! The majority of my work now has been in the ThompsonOkanagan region with Triple G Logging Ltd. owned by Greg and Glen Ware. I have been enjoying my time with Triple G, as I get to haul every day with my mom and all of the older boys that watched me grow up in the passenger seat of her logging truck. A few of my good buddies for Triple G also, operating equipment and driving trucks. It is an excellent job because I get to go to work and haul logs side by side with family and friends every day. Although I have driven quite a few trucks, all I have ever known are Western Stars. I have driven some nice Western Stars and some not so nice Western Stars, and I may be a bit partial, but none of them have been as nice as my Western Star! In all honesty, though, I am a firm believer that any truck can be a good truck if it is well maintained and driven with respect. Pro-Trucker Driver’s Choice Magazine
With these trucks, I have driven a variety of logging configurations, like jeep and pull trailer long loggers, super-B and B-train short loggers, and quad trailers. For the terrain I haul in, a quad configuration has been my favourite, as it is the most versatile for a variety of wood lengths, and it trails nicely behind the truck. I have a lot of respect for Commercial Vehicle Safety Enforcement (CVSE) officers and appreciate what they do to make a dangerous job a little safer. They gladly answered many of my questions when I was starting up my business, and I continue to learn more from them with every interaction. Log hauling has not just been a job for me, but my entire life. As drivers know, the life of a trucker is not always the easiest or understood, which makes me even more thankful for the support, love and patience I receive from my family. In addition to everything my mom has done for me in both logging and my personal life, my partner Kelsey has believed in my dream to own logging trucks from day one. At the time we met, buying a logging truck was still just a dream. I was nervous about stepping away from the security of employment, but with her support, we made my dream a reality in just a few short months. If only she knew what she was getting herself into! Since then, she has continued to provide unfailing
support and understanding, all the while learning to change steer tires and read load slips. As many of you know, driving the truck is only half of the battle, and repairs and maintenance is the other half. While I was in high school, my part-time job was working as a logging truck mechanic for Borderline Trucking Ltd. in Merritt, BC. This experience has greatly benefited me as an owner/operator; however, I also receive a lot of help from Ernie Yurkowski. He goes above and beyond to help me have the truck ready for the following work week, even if that means working from sunrise past sundown. I can’t express how much his help is appreciated. From the time that I was very young, the trucking industry has put food on the table and a roof over my head. The fact that it continues to do that now that Kelsey and I have our own truck makes me very grateful. It has provided us with the opportunity to live the life we want while ensuring we always have everything we need. It has been a wonderful life thus far. This industry has taught me a lot, like how important it is not to stress the little things because they could always be worse. It has allowed me to see the incredible scenery that people from all over the world pay to see, and I’ve met a lot of good people, some who I now consider family. If I could start all over again, I don’t think I would change a single thing. Of all the things I have learned from my family and friends, if I were to pass anything on to another young person starting out in the industry, it would be to take your time and respect your truck and equipment. Ensure you do regular maintenance and keep your trucks clean, inside and out; it’s your home away from home. Most importantly though is, when an old boy is talking, shut up and listen; they know things you will be lucky ever to learn. And remember everyone once hauled his or her first load. Don’t be afraid to ask questions – the answer may save your life. SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2020
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Dreams
Tenderly I touch you as we lie there in our bed, Gently you cuddle closer, my arm beneath your head. Slowly we move together surrounded by the night, Together we share a love that makes the whole world right. The clamor of the alarm clock. I awake all alone, Another lonely truck stop a thousand miles from home. As I drive away I wonder, do you also dream of me? When you are alone in bed, do your thoughts run wild and free? Do we really lie together somewhere up above Do people share their dreams, could this be part of love? I’d like to believe that we meet up in the night, So we can dream together until the morning light. Dave Madill SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2020
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Letters to the Editor Hello John, Reading Scott Casey’s article in your last issue where he helped some badly hurt tourists whose car had gone off the road and over an embankment brought back some memories of my Dad. He gets your magazine and then passes it on to me. Dad drove truck for over 40 years and like many driver’s he was first on the scene of too many accidents. It wasn’t until years later that I found out he always downplayed them in front of us kids and my mother so we would not worry about him. He only told me some stories when I was getting my driver’s license to let me know how I always had to be vigilant and expect the unexpected in order to be safe. He could only hide so much though because when I was 13 we had a knock on the door and a young lady stood there holding about a one-year-old child. She hugged my Dad and thanked him for helping her when she had been in a bad accident. She said that did not know it at the time but she was pregnant when the accident happened and she wanted to thank him in person and introduce him to her daughter. It was one of the few times I saw my father cry. I just want to give a big thank you to all the truck drivers out there and let you know how appreciated you are. Denise Marsen Editors note: Thank you Denise, there are hundreds of stories like yours and Scott’s. I recently saw pictures on our Facebook page of a beautiful truck-trailer combination that was making its first run when a car pulled out in front then slammed on the brake to make a left-hand turn. The driver took the ditch and laid that beautiful truck over instead of killing someone. Luckily, (and hopefully) I believe he walked away. This is not always the case though, many times drivers have been seriously hurt or killed while avoiding killing someone else. It just goes to show that in many cases, truckers are still the White Knights of The Highway. Hello John, I am hopeful that you will be able to help my wife resolve a 30-year problem with Revenue Canada. In an article in the Pro Trucker magazine in about 2008 or so, I am not sure of the year or month. The article was about a truck driver who went to court against Revenue Canada concerning overdue taxes. The truck driver won the case because at that time the statute of limitations on collecting overdue taxes was 6 years, and since Revenue Canada had not attempted to collect those taxes, for what I think was 8 or 9 years the case was dismissed. My wife is in a similar situation with a Revenue Canada letter received today notifying her that she owed taxes from 1989 to 1991. This is the only time they have contacted her concerning this matter in 29 years. I think the statute of limitations in BC is now 10 years. I would like to be able to produce that article to our accountant and lawyer. SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2020
cker azine Pro-Tru Choice Mag s Driver’
My wife and I own and operate our truck stop,”Buckinghorse River Lodge” on the Alaska Highway and have been receiving complimentary copies of Pro-Trucker for many years. Thank You. We are hoping you can find the article. With Best Regards Howard & Vel Shannon Editor’s note: I have not been able to find the article that you refer to, but I do remember it. The first thing that comes to mind is that this may be a scam. When I did a little research I found that according to subsection 221(3) of the Income Tax Act, “the CRA may not commence or continue to collect a tax debt after the end of the limitations period for the collection of the debt, which is 10 years.” This means that, after 10 years, the CRA is legally prohibited from collecting a tax debt. I hope this helps but don’t take my word for it (or the word of your best friend’s uncle’s brother who swears to be an expert – advice is cheap but cheap advice gets you in nothing but trouble.) Talk to a lawyer before doing anything. If you do not mind, I will print your letter so that others who may face a similar situation concerning the tax department will know their rights. John, Thank you for the reply. Our next move is to talk to a lawyer. What you found is what we also found. The statute also states that if you acknowledge the debt in anyway or request an appeal the 10 year limitation restarts. So it is best not to reply in any way to a CRA assessment of this kind. If you receive a demand for payment the CRA can do nothing for 90 days from the date of the letter. We will likely seek the advice of a tax lawyer before we do anything else. This situation all stated in 1989 with an accountant not submitting Vel’s tax return for that year and then conveniently losing all our books for that year. In early 1990 we explained the situation to the CRA and they basically said it sucks to be you, pay up. Without our books we could not prove Vel’s real income of about $7,000.00. The original assessment was for$26,000.00. The CRA assessed Vel that as her income because they did not receive her return and that amount was exactly what my total income was for that year. After 29+ years of interest, today’s assessment is for $121,000. You can definitely print our letters. Hopefully it will inform others. Regards Howard & Vel Shannon To our readers: Do you have a story about a trip you have made that will interest our readers? If so you can contact me at john@ptmag.ca Pro-Trucker Driver’s Choice Magazine
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ELD’s and Speed Limiters – Are They Really Safe?
E
LD’s and Speed Limiters have probably garnered more publicity than any other trucking issues in recent history. I am a proponent of safety and really want trucking portrayed in the most positive light, which is why I can only half-heartedly endorse one of these two measures. While those lobbying for these electronic babysitters will quote numbers cherrypicked from studies, I will give you real-world factual accounts of why neither is a 100 percent safety solution. Let me start with the ELD or Electronic Logging Device if you didn’t know. The reason I started with the ELD is that I run one. Yes, I am one of the guys who was early into the electronic age of logbooks. I started with one of the phone apps, which I can honestly say I loved. After learning the quirks of it, I quickly decided never to go back to the world of paper logs. When I was selling trucks at Mack, I recommended it to my dad when he went to Quebec to pick up a truck for me. Dad hadn’t driven anywhere in some time, so he needed to fill out the requisite 14 days previous. Not to worry I said, put a few bits of info in here and click a few times, and it’s all there for you. He was on board until I got a call from him somewhere in Northern Ontario. The night before, he had forgotten to log off-duty and now had run out of hours! He was chapped and was sure he was going to run afoul of the OPP and end up in trucking jail in Dryden or Thunder Bay. “Whoa there, dad,” I said, “it’s no big deal; there’s that little edit button… go in there, drag your timeline back and fix it up.” “ Really? That’s it?” he said. “Yup, it will show up all normal in the inspection mode,” I assured him, and that was it.
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A day and a half or so later, I called dad to see how he was doing. “Oh, I’m doing fine, just driving,” he stated, “Yeah, I should be home to see your mother in half an hour or so. I dropped the truck off at Mack, and I’m heading home in the pick-up. Wished you would’ve shown me that edit thing to start with, I’d be home by now!” Not sure about the statute of limitations, so I’ll just say that dad made it back from Montreal in a timeframe that would have made most truckers of the early 80’s proud! Allegedly! Yes, being able to edit on those early apps made them friendly and also easy to abuse from a safety perspective. The one I use now is, of course, connected directly to the ECM, and while I can’t cheat, I still can’t qualify it as safe and here’s why. Plan as well as you can on your route where you will stop for the night and take into account the breaks you need personally and for fuel etc. Then you set off on your trip, and early on, you encounter an accident and maybe some construction no worries, right? But then you look at the clock counting down. You need to be in Toronto at 7 am 2 days from now, and so to ensure you have the time you need tomorrow, you have to reach your goal today. So you push your truck a little harder, you skip breaks that would otherwise give you rest from the crazy traffic and soon you are driving in a less than professional manner. I know. I catch myself doing it from time to time. This leads to what I feel about speed limiters as well. When trucks are governed, especially when they all are, the problem becomes speed differential. When everyday traffic can roll along at 120 km/h or more, but trucks are kept to 105 or less,
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.
there’s a major flow problem with traffic. Take any place where traffic is merging in or out, and there’s a major speed differential. You create congestion, which in turn creates more chances for a collision. Trucks will also create their own congestion when both are driving at their limited speed when one is marginally quicker than the other but has a heavy load. We’ve all been stuck behind the two trucks doing the slow race. Again it creates an unsafe condition through congestion and how it aggravates the motoring public. One other observation on limiters that is fresh in my mind is from trucks I observed during this trip to Ontario. These trucks were equipped with both speed limiters and ELD’s and participated in some of the most unsafe passing manoeuvres I have seen in my 2 million+ miles. I was driving 92km/h in a 90 zone, no less than four times I had trucks pull up on me near the end of a passing lane and just keep going forcing me to pile on the brakes so as not to drive off the road. Another attempted to pass me on a hill, and when he couldn’t, he wound it up from 6 truck lengths back on the downhill so he could use gravity to pass on a double solid line. The proponents of these methods will say that if these drivers were not governed that they would be making these same moves, and I will concede they may be. The point is they haven’t stopped, and if we are in favour of making legislation for safety, we need to start by getting behind initiatives that will make roads safer. Keep pushing for better training and programs to bring drivers in at a younger age and graduate them to bigger units. I don’t have all the answers but can tell you for sure that from the driver’s seat, these two ain’t it! SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2020
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The Dream (July 2005)
R
emember when getting behind the wheel of a rig was all that you ever wanted to do? How do you feel now? It can be easy to dwell on the negative if you listen to the continual banter on the VHF and or C.B. radios in regards to the state of our industry today. And of course, the negative bombardments by the media can also feed the unhappy sentiments. I have been fortunate enough to have my thoughts published here between the covers of Pro-Trucker, and I feel it is time to reflect on why many of us are out on the highway. Remember the Dream of the open road? Think back to the way you felt when you first climbed into a truck. The smell of the dusty parking lot as you approach your ride. You have to squint from the glare of the hot sun reflecting off the chrome as you do a casual visual inspection. It’s hot today. A bird, off to your right, calls to its mate, who is somewhere close by. Like them, you too will be flying soon. The familiar sound of the key slipping into the lock, followed by the clunk as the tumblers turn and the door unlocks. The vacuum seal of the
cab as the door opens to reveal the view of the pedals and gazing upward you see the rest of the interior. Placing your things aside, you perform your pre-trip inspection. The cab creaks as you climb up into place in the driver’s seat. Ah, yes, the moment you’ve been waiting for, you turn the key, and the power plant barks to life, the high pitch beep of the lowair warning chirps away. “Click, click, click” sounds as you check your turn signals. The feeling of the gravel on your back while you adjust your brakes, and then it’s time to get rolling. Swinging out of the yard, the suspension on the trailer groans it’s displeasure with the sudden shift in weight. Maneuvering through the city streets out to the highway, you are constantly vigilant for the “what ifs” of driving. All the while thinking of where you are going, what time you should be arriving at your destination and that the load you are hauling is somewhat fragile. Cracking your window open, the wind refreshingly rushes into the cab and across your face and down your back. The sun reflects off of the hood
By Scott Casey
Scott, our Rig of The Month for May 2003 has written “Ghostkeepers” a book about his years as a gun toting truck driver while serving as a Canadian Peacekeeper in the former Yugoslavia.
as the engine purrs while you bring er’ up to highway speed. In your mirror, you notice the trees are all moving in the breeze of your rig, and they seem to want to go with you, to be travelling and seeing different sights. “Ahhhh,” you sigh. This is what it’s all about. Just you, your truck and the open road. No one to listen to, no one telling you what to do, no one looking over your shoulder. Sure there are rules and enforcement people out there, but no worries, you are a pro, and all is well. I don’t know about you, but I am on the road because I like it. Driving a truck is one of the things I love doing in this world, and I am taking the time to enjoy it. I don’t necessarily like a lot of the nonsense that we are exposed to out on the highway, but I am making the most of my time out there. My life out on the highway is like the Ronnie Milsap song says, “I’m imprisoned by the freedom of the road.” Perhaps your days will be brighter if you can re-connect with why you’re out here.
Memoirs of Constable Wayne, a Newfie Cop: Two men are driving through Newfoundland when they get pulled over by a Mountie. The Mountie walks up and taps on the window with his nightstick, driver rolls down the window and, “WHACK”, the Mountie smacks him in the head with the stick. The driver says, “What the hell was THAT for?” The Mountie says, “You’re in Newfoundland my son. When we pulls you over, you better have your license ready when we get to your car.” The driver says. “I’m sorry, Officer, I’m not from around here.” The Mountie runs a check on the guy’s license and he’s clean. He gives the guy his license back and walks around to the passenger side and taps on the window. The passenger rolls down the window and “WHACK!”, the Mountie smacks him upside the head with the nightstick too. The passenger says, “What did you do that for now?” The Mountie says, “Just makin’ your wish come true.” The Passenger says, “Huh?!?!?” The Mountie says, “I know that two miles down the road you’re gonna say, ‘I wish that jerk had of tried that crap with me!” Pro-Trucker Driver’s Choice Magazine
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The Lonesome Camaraderie of the Transportation Industry
L
ike some of you, many a trucking day has started for me around 3:30 am, doing a pre-trip inspection in an industrial part of some city or town. Whether winter or summer, the work must be done, and those of us in the transportation industry do our jobs to keep our world working the way we like it to. Many times, I have spent the night in my sleeper berth close to rail yards and worked on my truck silently alongside railroaders. The roar of my engine fan and the hiss of my airbrakes makes a nice harmony with the echoing clank of a locomotive taking up a train’s slack. We are all part of a global transfer that is almost incomprehensible to the average person in its scale and complexity. I find it difficult to get angry at a late shipment like I might have in the past before I was a trucker. Now, I’m surprised that supply chains work as well as they do, as often as they do, and I’m proud to be a part of it. When I haul freight, I know that my efforts create a tangible, measurable benefit to others. Those who work in the yards, docks, ships, trains, trucks, planes, and do their work at whatever hours society needs them, are all members of a tired, weary, dusty club. I feel a connection to the rail workers who are working hard to ensure their train runs on time, and although none of us have the time to stop and talk about it, I feel a sense of fellowship and camaraderie with everyone who works in transportation. It’s a lonesome sort of camaraderie.
Pro-Trucker Driver’s Choice Magazine
By Dave Elniski
Dave Elinski lives in Lethbridge, Alberta. Like most drivers he started out driving smaller trucks and then got his Class 1 license six years ago. Since then, he has mostly done flatbed work in western Canada, and the U.S. He is also in the army reserves and has driven various military trucks over the past seven years.
There is ever-present competition, tight profit margins, labour disputes, and sometimes the trucks curse the trains and the trains the trucks as we wrestle for the right of way and compete for freight. But in all of this, I feel that different transportation industries are bound together at some level. Maybe it’s because such an industry is poorly understood and taken for granted - I won’t say unappreciated - by most people, like a tired nurse getting off night shift who just finished caring for the terminally ill. Maybe it’s because the industry works so well most of the time that most people don’t pay it much attention, making for a behindthe-scenes feeling shared amongst its workers. For me, this bond is the result of a feeling of kinship I have with all those throughout history who have taken up the ancient trade of moving products from one place to another. I’ve trucked from Fort Benton, MT to Lethbridge, AB and felt a connection to the bullwhackers and steamboaters who shipped freight east to west in the 1800s travelling that same route. While chaining up in a winter storm, I’ve felt a connection to those railroaders who worked hard to clear snow from the tracks in the Roger’s Pass in British Columbia before the snow sheds and tunnels were built. There is honour and dignity in any occupation, and I certainly feel this way about my career in the transportation industry. There is also a deep sense of working towards a
common goal and a sense of service in transportation and trucking. It’s just a little bit lonesome sometimes. Like some of you, many a trucking day has started for me around 3:30 am, doing a pre-trip inspection in an industrial part of some city or town. Whether winter or summer, the work must be done, and those of us in the transportation industry do our jobs to keep our world working the way we like it to. Many times, I have spent the night in my sleeper berth close to rail yards and worked on my truck silently alongside railroaders. The roar of my engine fan and the hiss of my airbrakes makes a nice harmony with the echoing clank of a locomotive taking up a train’s slack. We are all part of a global transfer that is almost incomprehensible to the average person in its scale and complexity. I find it difficult to get angry at a late shipment like I might have in the past before I was a trucker. Now, I’m surprised that supply chains work as well as they do, as often as they do, and I’m proud to be a part of it. When I haul freight, I know that my efforts create a tangible, measurable benefit to others. Those who work in the yards, docks, ships, trains, trucks, planes, and do their work at whatever hours society needs them, are all members of a tired, weary, dusty club. I feel a connection to the rail workers who are working hard to ensure their train runs on time, and although none of us have the time to stop and talk about it, I feel a sense of fellowship and camaraderie with SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2020
www.driverschoice.ca 27 everyone who works in transportation. It’s a lonesome sort of camaraderie. There is ever-present competition, tight profit margins, labour disputes, and sometimes the trucks curse the trains and the trains the trucks as we wrestle for the right of way and compete for freight. But in all of this, I feel that different transportation industries are bound together at some level. Maybe it’s because such an industry is poorly understood and taken for granted - I won’t say unappreciated - by most people, like a tired nurse getting off night shift who
just finished caring for the terminally ill. Maybe it’s because the industry works so well most of the time that most people don’t pay it much attention, making for a behind-the-scenes feeling shared amongst its workers. For me, this bond is the result of a feeling of kinship I have with all those throughout history who have taken up the ancient trade of moving products from one place to another. I’ve trucked from Fort Benton, MT to Lethbridge, AB and felt a connection to the bullwhackers and steamboaters who shipped freight east to west in the
1800s travelling that same route. While chaining up in a winter storm, I’ve felt a connection to those railroaders who worked hard to clear snow from the tracks in the Roger’s Pass in British Columbia before the snow sheds and tunnels were built. There is honour and dignity in any occupation, and I certainly feel this way about my career in the transportation industry. There is also a deep sense of working towards a common goal and a sense of service in transportation and trucking. It’s just a little bit lonesome sometimes.
Good Magician: A magician worked on a cruise ship. The audience was different each week, so he did the same tricks over and over again. One problem: The captain’s parrot saw the shows each week and began to figure out how the magician did every trick. Once he understood, he started shouting in the middle of the show: “Look, it’s not the same hat!” “Look, he’s hiding the flowers under the table!” “Hey, why are all the cards the ace of spades?” The magician was furious but couldn’t do anything. It was, after all, the captain’s parrot. Then, during a fierce storm, the ship sank. The magician found himself on a piece of wood in the middle of the sea with, as fate would have it, the parrot. They stared at each other with hatred but didn’t utter a word. This went on for a day, and then another and then another. Finally on the fourth day, the parrot couldn’t hold back: “OK, I give up. Where’s the damn ship?”
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Strange Times B
ob Dylan said it best when he titled a song, “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” I never thought in a million years that I was going to have to try and determine someone’s facial expressions with their face being covered. I think I’ve heard the term, “smizing” being used, which apparently means smiling with your eyes. I don’t think I’ve mastered it yet because I tried it once, and the person on the receiving end asked if I was constipated! I’m guessing my efforts looked “forced” to say the least. This gives me a new task to work on because it seems like this “new normal” won’t be going away any time soon. I’ve also noticed more people have started winking now, which I assumed is used in place of smiling, but at the same time, I can’t determine whether it’s endearing or creepy! I’m finding my patience is running very low these days, and I’m sure I can’t be the only one based on the exasperated reactions from others that I see. From being corralled through the supermarkets following arrows, to having to remember to keep a facecovering available, to new checkin procedures at customers, it is all getting tiring. I feel like I’ve always had a fair amount of patience since I work in the trucking industry, and “hurry up and wait” is all too often the motto, but I’m a creature of habit, and I don’t like these new changes. I’m finding I also have a very hard time finding a healthy balance between working, socializing and personal rest and relaxation. These last few months have been so busy with work, which has been great, but I don’t want to turn any trips down in such uncertain times. Then when friends want to get
Pro-Trucker Driver’s Choice Magazine
together, I don’t want to turn any of those visits down either because I don’t get to visit with them too often. In turn, my personal rest time gets pushed to the wayside, and it’s a vicious cycle. I can never decide what to take a pass on, so I don’t pass on either, then I get to the point where I just get played out and force myself into some personal time. My parents have always said, “Work while the works there,” and I think I ultimately put that before anything else. In the last few months, it hasn’t been easy trying to get any personal care done because so many places have turned me away from their services because I cross the border weekly. I understand why they have chosen to do so, but being turned away from such services that help to make sure that I’m staying healthy in order to do my job in the best way I can, is terribly unfair. To quote my parents again, the quote that I’m sure every parent has used is, “Life isn’t fair!” Through social media, I was able to find new places that provide massage and chiropractic services that would accept patients that cross the border regularly. A year ago, I was given a pink shifter at a truck show in Minnesota. For height reference, you can say that when I’m sitting in my driver’s seat, the top of the shifter is in line with my ear. I get a few comments on it from time to time, and a few times I have had someone say that it makes me look like a real big rigger! Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, so I just smile and giggle. I pulled into a truck stop the other night, and this driver who had just helped another driver back into a spot came and asked me if I needed a hand. I said that I should
By Myrna Chartrand Myrna was born and raised in Oak Point, Manitoba and was our April 2019 Rig of the Month driver.
be ok. Well, another driver overheard this, and he starts telling the driver who offered the help that anyone who drives with a shifter that tall surely doesn’t need any help. “My goodness,” I think to myself. “I better do a good job now because that guy just set the standards as tall as the shifter!” For the record, I didn’t disappoint, and I say this sheepishly because, in all honesty, he just caught me on a good day. I never realized how much I enjoyed writing until I started with Pro-Trucker Magazine, even though I wait until the very last day that it is due to submit it. English was never one of my strong subjects in school, but procrastination was! My dad must have had a lot of faith in my writing abilities because recently, he asked me to write an obituary and a eulogy for my aunt that passed away in June. If anyone knew my aunt, you would know that she was cheap. Before she passed, she said she wanted the obituary to read, “Sharon Died and the date.” Of course, anyone reading this in the newspaper would probably think we hated her. So one morning I went to town, tapping out a good life description of her, and I didn’t even bother to word count. I sent it to my family to proofread, and they all said it sounded great. We were not concerned with the length of it one bit. Well, when the final bill came for the price of the obituary in the newspaper, you could say we were all stunned. It was far more than expected, but we kind of chuckled a bit because we could see why my aunt only wanted to pay for two words and a date. I have a strange feeling my aunt might be looking down on me thinking karma will get me yet for this one!
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Lockdown Toilets J
ust like a lot of other people, I’ve not been getting out much over the last three months or so. In fact, I keep a small notebook in the glove box of my car to work out my MPG on a full tank to full tank basis. When I checked it the other day, while on a run to stock up with more food, I discovered the car had only covered 222 miles since I last filled it up on the 15th of March. So, at least this lockdown business has been good for one thing, I filled the car when the diesel was at the cheapest it’s been in a long, long time, and I’ve still got three-quarters of a tank left, four months on a quarter of a tank! Now I’m starting to wonder if I can get a full year from a full tank. But while I’m getting itchy feet sitting around and only getting out of the house to exercise, walking or maybe cycling in the local area. The things I read on trucker’s forums, and videos I watch on YouTube and such like make me glad I’m retired from trucking. A video posted by a young Welsh trucker caught my eye, this young man was driving a very nice Man diesel truck. He had decked it out with fancy curtains with tassels on them that hung across the top corner of the door windows, (a personal
By Colin Black 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.
dislike of mine) and an illuminated sign on the back wall of the sleeper had the company name above a Welsh dragon. So it was obvious he had pride in his truck and the job he was doing. As I watched the video, I could see the truck was a top-spec model with leather upholstery, chrome air horns on the roof, and 580hp. It was the kind truck some companies over here use to tempt young drivers in. Usually, the pay is not the best, but this young man seemed to be using it the way it should be used, to get experience. He was parked in an old-looking truck stop just off the M25, the ring road around London, the truck park was just a pot-holed patch of dirt. Just before he left to do his delivery, he described the toilets and showers as looking like a cattle shed. The inside toilets/showers were closed because of the COVID pandemic, and the truck stop had erected these, hopefully temporary, facilities. In a short clip, he showed a large slab of newly laid concrete in the corner of the truck park where showers were constructed of corrugated steel sheets. Toilet facilities were a long stainless-steel trough to urinate in, but not elbow to elbow with your fellow drivers, keep your distance. Hopefully, the sit-down
Yeah, But: A priest walked into the local truck stop for his morning coffee and as usual he struck up a conversation with a trucker sitting at the counter. “Tell me son, do you drink, smoke or cuss?” he asked. A little embarrassed, the trucker admitted, “Yes father, sometimes I do.” “Well,” said the priest, “I don’t drink, smoke or cuss.” “That may be true father,” the trucker said, “But you don’t drive a truck either.”
toilets were less out in the open. The young driver said the water in the showers was very warm, and it had been a warm night, but hopefully, things will be back to normal before the winter sets in, and a cold breeze is blowing around your nether regions. I asked myself if it would it have cost so much more to put a roof and walls around that slab of concrete. The sides of the shower stalls only came up chest height and stopped about two feet from the floor. So, you could have a conversation with the guys in the next stalls, or if the wind was coming from the wrong direction, you’d be continually washing the dust off as trucks leaving the parking lot passed just ten feet away. Was it a case of, oh well, it’s good enough for drivers? On another trucker’s forum, a driver wrote about going into a big truck stop to use the facilities. After doing his business, he looked about for the hand sanitizers the signs on the walls had told him to use. Every one of them had been ripped off the walls. Obviously it was done by one of those guys who feel they are much more important that the average guy. Possibly just a low life individual hoarder adding sanitizer to their stock of toilet rolls?
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Life goes on S
ometimes our trucking life and the interaction with people we meet along the way have unexpected consequences - this is that type of a story. I came home off the road to find Dad and Pop in the shop with a van trailer that they were modifying by welding tie-downs into the frame. A company in Toronto that we did a lot of work for had come up with a contract to supply thirty pieces of heavy manufacturing equipment to a company in Japan, and they had contacted Dad about hauling it all to a warehouse in Vancouver to be sent by ship to Japan. Dad explained that the equipment had to be kept dry, thus the van, and we could haul four pieces at a time, (24,000 lbs), which they could make every three weeks. Dad figured we could haul it there and find something coming east and still make a good profit, but we had to start next week, and he was just getting the van ready. I was all for it and Dad decided that I should run double with this to give us time between loads to service the truck and trailer on each round, so I ended up pulling Al, (not his real name), off one of our gravel trucks and on Saturday we headed to Toronto to load. Loading was fine, and Dad’s tie-downs were spot on, so away we went Sunday night. Al and I ran six on six off across Canada, and our big old R model Mack loved the light load. We pulled into the warehouse in Vancouver Friday morning, unloaded and proceeded to take a weekend off thinking we would reload on Monday and head back. Now, this is where things went bad. Al was an alright guy, but he was married, and he still did have a roving eye. I noticed he paid a lot of attention to a waitress at the diner we frequented, but I did not say or do anything. I went back to the truck, pulled out my grease gun and proceeded to do some service work on the truck. Al did not come back until Sunday night, but
Pro-Trucker Driver’s Choice Magazine
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.
we reloaded Monday morning and took a leisurely trip back to Toronto and then to the yard. This went on for every trip, but Al would leave right after unloading in Vancouver and not show up until Monday morning, and I noticed that the waitress, (Cindy - not her real name), was also missing from the diner. Finally, after the seventh trip, we pulled into the yard, and while I was putting the truck away, Al went to talk to Dad and left before I got into the house. That was when Dad told me that Al had just quit and wanted to know what had happened. As far as I knew, nothing had happened, but I had my suspicions. The eighth and final trip of this contract had Len and me running double with only two machines in the box. The trip was easier than before, and we made great time. We unloaded at the warehouse and headed over to the diner and then to the motel. Saturday morning and as we were walking across to the diner, I noticed a car parked by my truck and a young lady knocking on the door, so I walked over, and there was Cindy, wanting to know where Al was. When I told her that he had quit, she told me that was impossible as that was his truck and he had promised to take her back home with him on this trip. I invited her over to the diner where we could sit down, and I could find out the whole story. It seemed that Al had told her that he was the owner of the company, this was his truck, and he was single. Apparently, they had been shacking up on every trip, and she was supposed to move to Ontario with him on this trip. Then she said that she was also two months pregnant. I had to tell her that I was the company owner’s son, Al was married, and he had already left our company and we did not know where he was. Len confirmed all this, and the poor young lady was in tears by the time we had explained everything. I
managed to get her full name and phone number and also the phone number of her parents in Chilliwack and told her I would keep in touch with her and try to find Al and get things figured out. Len and I reloaded and headed back Monday, and when we got home, I tried to find Al, but he had headed out somewhere, and nobody knew where except maybe his parents and they were not even talking to us as Al had told them some pretty tall tales. Al did have some vacation pay coming, so I took it upon myself to ship that money to Cindy along with a letter that I would keep in touch and try to help out wherever I could. I stopped in to see Cindy every time I got out to the coast. The day after her daughter was born I was there and drove her home to her parent’s place in Chilliwack. After spending a weekend with them, I made sure that she and the baby were fine and being taken care of and I also left her Dad with a fairly large sum of cash for Cindy and the baby. Over the next three years, I kept in touch with Cindy and dropped off grocery money whenever I got to the coast and made sure she was OK. Finally, about three years later, Cindy found a good man, got married to him and moved with him to Vancouver Island. Except for a Christmas card now and then, we lost touch with her, but I knew she and the child were safe and happy. Al – well I found out later that his wife finally left him, he lost his licence due to a DWI, and he moved into his parent’s basement and became the local town bum. The trucking on this run was great, and even though I was not responsible for anything that happened, there were consequences, but everything worked out in the end. Cindy – I know you married a log trucker, so if by chance you happen to read this, remember that we still think of you and wish you all the best. SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2020
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The Czech Invasion I
n 1985, while driving a gravel truck, I decided to look for a new job. A car hauling friend said, “Come work with us. They are looking for drivers, and you will get plenty of exercise.” I applied, and they hired me. I told them that I knew nothing about hauling cars, but they said that was okay, they would train me. At that time, you could only haul cars within the province you were licensed for, and since they were all over height and length, you could not haul from Friday midnight to Monday midnight. Great! That meant I had every weekend off! So I learned on company time, and while training, they paid for damages if I had an “oops moment.” I enjoyed the work and drove for them for five years before buying my own truck and trailer. All in all, I drove car hauler for 30 years. We all have had one trip that starts
out great and then does a complete 180 by noon. This is one of those. In 1987 Canadian Auto Carriers asked me to haul a load of cars from Calgary to a new dealership in Taber, Alberta. I was excited. New dealerships aren’t usually too picky if you have the odd paint chip, a missing floor mat or just a single set of keys. This always made my trips that much easier. I parked the truck and went looking for the first car and was confused when I saw the odd shape. On the grill, it said SKODA. It was a very small car, and when I finally pried all six foot four of me into the driver’s seat, I immediately Pro-Trucker Driver’s Choice Magazine
By Glen Millard
Glen was born in Saskatchewan. He has driven trucks for 50 years, mostly long hauling. He’s now retired, that is until another adventure comes along.
looked around for the zipper to hold me in. The motor was a rear-engine, threecylinder, water-cooled powerhouse with the radiator in the front. And, you probably guessed it, the rad hoses ran underneath and were the lowest points of the car. The choke was just a lever sticking out of the floor behind the driver’s seat. The little round clutch, brake, and gas pedals were so close together that my boot could depress all of them at the same time. It was obvious to me that it was designed by someone who had never seen or driven a car before. I finally got it started and drove it over to the loading area. This was a thrill in itself. The old trailers top deck only lowered to about 4 feet above the ground, which put the ramps on a steep angle uphill. The car was extremely narrow, so I brought the ramps as close together as they would go. The tire width was the same as the inside rail of the deck. Any miscalculation and it would fall between the rails onto the lower deck. The next ten minutes taught me a lot about a SKODA. I got back into the rocket, pulled the choke, but nothing happened. I got some cables and found the battery behind the engine up against the rear seat, lending credence to my theory that the designer had never seen a car before. After boosting the engine, it roared to life, and I started up the ramp only to learn that it did not have enough power to climb it. So I decided to back up and hit it with speed. I felt like this was a one-shot deal. The motor was screaming, and I felt about as safe as Evil Knievel jumping the Snake River when I let her rip and headed for the trailer at mach nothing. (About 35mph). As I headed up the ramp, the hood lifted up and disappeared in a flash, and there was a disturbing noise from under the car as I transitioned from the ramp to the deck. I was careful not to stop before I got to where I needed to be, then after wiggling out, I saw the hood down on the asphalt.
Unlike a cat, that supposedly always lands on its feet, the hood landed paint side down. It was going to be a chore to buff those scratches out. What a job it was to get the hood up onto the deck. Since it was already scratched and I didn’t want to lose it, I threw a ratchet strap over the hood and attached it to the fenders. After I got down, I saw a strange liquid (you knew this was coming) leaking from the car onto the hood of the truck. I guess the rad hoses were not as sturdy as the designer thought they were. The next wonderful thing I found out about the SKODA was that unlike North American cars that have specific holes in the frame for tying down a car – the SKODA has none. So I got creative and tied it down with anything that looked more sturdy than the rad hoses. After getting all seven cars loaded, I headed for Taber. Arriving in town, I asked at the gas station where the new dealership was, and he laughed and said it was the lawnmower shop just up the road. I drove to the shop, and the owner told me how excited he was to get these cars. I told him of the problems, but he said that was alright, he expected to do some touch-ups. He took the bills of lading from me and signed them clean and clear. The unload went much better, mainly because it was all downhill. After cinching everything down, I headed back to Calgary to see what my next adventure would be. About three years later, SKODA closed all their so-called dealerships and sent the remaining unsold stock back to the manufacturer. I was lucky enough to haul a full load of these unsold cars from Calgary to Vancouver docks. The dust that rose when these cars were started was unbelievable. They had been sitting for so long. The most mileage on any that I loaded was 385 miles of test drives over 3 years. Not a big seller, and with all my years on the road, I can’t remember ever seeing one. SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2020
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A Steep Learning Curve B
ack in the late 70s, I worked in an industrial area of Vancouver and occasionally had coffee with an old trucker who worked at a nearby terminal. I was interested in the big rigs and was always happy to listen to his stories. He even offered to teach me and help me get my licence (I should have taken him up on it). But I had a busy full-time job with a steady paycheck, and besides, his trembling hands told me this was not an easy life. Fast forward to 2004 (yup, it sure went by fast), and I got my Freedom 55. My wife still had years to go before retirement, so I was free to dust off the old dream and try my hand at trucking. Armed with a learner’s licence, I enrolled with a moderately priced local driving school. The theory went well, but when it was time to hit the road, I was paired up with a truly miserable individual. Short-tempered and excitable, he was avoided by one and all – not a perfect guy to be a driving instructor! In our first lesson, I was given a short demonstration of how it was done and then turned loose on a fairly busy street in a bobtail. Now, I have never owned an automatic, but this was my first encounter with an unsynchronized transmission. And it didn’t go well. I did manage to shift up, but when I was told to downshift, the grinding noises had pedestrians turning their heads. And all the while, the great teacher was yelling “gimme sixteen hundred”! Things did not improve, and I began dreading going to school. All the other instructors were tied up except the bus guy who happily took me under his wing, but the bus was an automatic! So I got my bus licence and even got a job with a local company. At $10 an hour,
Pro-Trucker Driver’s Choice Magazine
By Dennis Sova I was always interested in the big rigs, so when a chance to retire early from my lifetime career came up, I took the gold watch, got my class 1 and hit the road. For the next ten years, I hauled everything from potatoes to Zambonis in Western Canada and the U.S., acquiring many (mostly) happy memories along the way.
they were happy to see me. But the joke was on me - their buses were all manual unsynchronized, albeit only five-speed. They did their best training us fledglings, and then it was time to hit the road. With all my experience, it was obvious that I would not be taking wealthy tipsters to Yellowstone anytime soon, and most of my work consisted of school field trips and airport runs. One of my first trips was taking a kindergarten class to the Grouse Mountain Gondola in North Vancouver. As we neared our destination, the road narrowed and got steeper and steeper. I missed the downshift and stalled it. Like a frog pond, the cacophony of primal screams behind me went instantly silent - except for one little guy who, with a penchant for stating the obvious, loudly proclaimed “BUS DEAD!” I was starting to feel that maybe boisterous children and testy tour guides were not my cup of tea when salvation appeared in the form of Gordie, a retired airline pilot who kept busy helping out on a local Ladner, BC potato farm. Gordie invited me to keep him company while he delivered seed potatoes and other produce in an International 9400 tractor with a 48’ reefer or a self- unloading potato trailer. It was self - unloading all except for the guy who stood in the bottom of the trailer and pulled 40 some odd boards that allowed the spuds to drop onto the conveyor belt. That would be me, Gordie is no dummy! We delivered produce and seed potatoes to the Pemberton Valley and Washington State and Oregon. This was summertime, and some of the places in the interior of Washington State make Kamloops in August look positively
balmy. But the best part was that I got to practice driving on the quiet country roads while Gordie offered advice. Soon I was ready to go back to finish the Class 1 course, this time with a different driving instructor. Old George was laid back and told me that I was a natural-born trucker; I later found out that he said that to all his students. And so it was that I passed the ICBC driving test and got my licence without once backing to a loading dock- it was not in the curriculum. The potato farm needed another parttime driver, and I was offered the job with virtually no experience - little did I realize my luck at the time. The farms that we delivered to were usually quite roomy, but some of the produce warehouses in Seattle were truly frightening to someone so lacking in experience. One time I was hopelessly stuck, and when one of the other drivers offered to dock it for me, I gladly excepted. Much to my surprise, he needed several tries before the job was done. As I thanked him, he muttered something about “the turning radius of the Queen Mary.” That made me feel a bit better.... After only a couple of months, the farm owners sold the truck, but somehow I lucked out again and quickly found a job with a small, family-owned company. Paul was the boss and main driver, while his wife Ivana was the dispatcher and problem fixer, and as a bonus, they are genuinely nice people. Theirs is a tough business, the competition fierce. The days (and nights) were long and busy, and I was about to get a real taste of the trucking business. But that, as they say, is another story...
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INDEX ASL Global Logistics ........................................................................................ 43
TRUCKING SERVICES
Berry & Smith ..................................................................................................... 27 Centurion Trucking Inc. .............................................................................. 48 Golden Express Trucking Inc. ..................................................................... 04 Grant Transport Inc. ......................................................................................... 35 Jagged Edge Enterprises Ltd. ..................................................................... 38
Accelerated Mechanical ...................................................................... 09 BD Diesel ................................................................................................... 23 B & W insurance ............................................................................. 02 & 06 Blue Capital Equipment Finance .................................................... 20 Cool Heat Truck Parts .......................................................................... 17
Key West Express Ltd. .................................................................................... 22
Cool-It Highway Services .................................................................. 41
Light Speed Logistics Inc. ........................................................................... 05
Diamond Insurance ............................................................................ 45
New Malwa Express ....................................................................................... 39
First Truck Centre ............................................................................. 29
North Coast Trucking Ltd. ........................................................................... 46 Select Classic Carriers ..................................................................................... 21 Shadow Group of Companies ............................................................ 24 & 25
Howes Lubricator ......................................................................... 32 & 33 Mobalign Services Inc. ......................................................................... 09 Norris & Co. ............................................................................................... 38 Ocean Trailer ......................................................................................... 14
Shergill Transport Ltd. ................................................................................. 19
SKIDDD ........................................................................................................ 30
Siemens Transportation .................................................................................. 03
The Gear Centre ...................................................................................... 13
Transam Carriers Inc. .................................................................................... 47
The Safety Gurus ................................................................................... 31
Transworld Xpress Inc. .................................................................................. 08 Watt & Stewart Trucking Inc. ........................................................................ 37
16
Top Line Truck Parts ........................................................................... 34 Truck West Collision .............................................................................. 45
28
40
Myrna Chartrand
THE CZECH INVASION
ELD’S AND SPEED LIMITERS – ARE THEY REALLY SAFE?
STRANGE TIMES
18
35
(JULY 2005)
Colin Black
Glen Millard
Greg Evasiuk
THE DREAM
LOCKDOWN TOILETS
Scott Casey
26 THE LONESOME CAMARADERIE OF THE TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY Dave Elniski
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A STEEP LEARNING CURVE Dennis Sova
36
10
LIFE GOES ON Dave Madill
RIG OF THE MONTH Kelsey and Spencer
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