Steve's Trucking Big Canadian Adventure

Happy 2012 from P.E.I. I have managed to access my Blog.

2012-01-24T22:03:00.000-04:00

A lot of people have asked am I going to carry on with this Blog, I have to appologise to those of you who were following it and have not had an update, the reason is simple, Truck Driver - Yes, Bill Gates - NO!!!!!!! I had managed to lock myself out of my own account! I have now managed to now sort this problem and will bring this blog up to speed as quickly as possible, there has been a lot going on since my last post, this includes a change in Employers plus the arrival of my family.

I am looking forward to updating and sharing my exploits since July/August 2010, there's been quite a bit going on.

Overdue Update.

2010-08-09T22:57:00.001-03:00

Hey Guys, its been a while since my last post so time to bring you up to speed with the events of the past 3 months, and there has been a lot going on, so back we go to May.

As many will know there was a period of great unrest and frustration with the the way the company were expecting us to run. I am happy to say that I had a meeting with management and pointed out the concerns I had regarding the treatmant and lack of regard displayed towards us drivers. I will say it got a little heated in exchanges at times and I made my feelings known some times with a very forcefull approach. At the end we had agreed on several points and I hope to see a marked improvement over the coming months.

The company also had the small matter of a court case to deal with and were lucky to get away with an absolute discharge despite pleading guilty to misrepresentation. A $2000 donation to a local charity was ordered! Canadian Justice, a joke just like the UK. This was a perfect opportunity to send a clear message to companies employing immigrant labour that malpractice will not be tolarated. This judicial system has basically said to companies yes go ahead treat your staff any way you want we won't peanalise you.

Anyway on to a more happier note I got to fly home to the UK on May 27th for a well deserved vacation with my long suffering family. But before I left I witnessed a sight that ranks alongside the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot.

Kent Washing His Truck. A sight never before seen.

A couple of hours later I arrive at Charlottetown Airport to get my crop duster to Halifax NS and my connection to Heathrow.

The Crop Duster. 23 minute flight to Halifax.

Looking Back at Charlottetown Airport.

The Coastline of PEI heading west towards Nova Scotia.

On arrival at Halifax I had a 3.5 hour layover before my connection to London. We were advised upon arrival at Halifax that the flight to London was delayed by 2 hours. Oh well only one thing for it.

5 Hours of this was murder. LOL

Eventually took off at 02.30 local time and arrived in Heathrow just after noon local time. By now I had sobered up and went looking for my lift home. My Brother, Sister in law and Nephew were picking me up and after an hour of wandering Terminal 3 I found them. So off we head for a long overdue reunion with my lovely wife. Forgot one small detail, it was a friday and a bank holiday weekend. Longest drive of my life. Welcome Home my brother announced. Bollocks I replied.

When I left for Canada on October 29th 2009 I had a puppy that was 10 weeks old and could sit in my hand. 7 months later this is Finlay.

Well I had a fabulous time. My wife cooked all my favorite food, I got to see my family & friends. This is my Sister and her family.

Back Row. Maddy, Tudor, Molly and my boy Elliott. Front Row. Me, Lucie Anne, Maxine my wife and Louise my sister.

My Sister the big kid!!!!!

Me and my Niece's, L to R. Lucie Anne, Molly & Maddy.

Well after 10 fantastic days it was time to return to Canada, for those of you who have read this blog at the very start will know I said how hard it was for me to say goodbye to my wife and son. That was nothing compared to how hard it was to leave a second time. I was lucky in that my best mate Pete had offered to take me back to Heathrow. So I saw Maxine off to work and then Elliott off to school, said bye to our dogs, loaded the cases into the car and Me, Pete and our other buddy spike who was along for the ride headed east for Heathrow.

Me and Spike at Heathrow

Me and Mr Pete " Slinky " Evans upon arrival at Heathrow.

My transport back to Canada standing at the gate at Heathrow.

Windsor Castle through the clouds just after take off from Heathrow

The Fontaine Tunnel in Montreal.

Passing Montreal Airport to line up with the runway, landing from the West

Canada's Secret is out, they have invented and are testing Underwater Planes!!!!!!!

Transport for the last leg to PEI.

Many thanks to Mr Alan Douglas for collecting me from Charlottetown Airport upon my return and back to the reality of life back in Canada and the continuing quest to start the new life for my family. The only hurdle left is to sell our house in Pontarddulais. The housing market in this part of South West Wales has died and shows no sign of picking up in the near future, so the outlook for a sale looks bleak to say the least.

Well after a day off it was back to work. A fairly uneventful triangle and back to the Island. My next dispatch was a slightly more interesting one. I was sent to Caraquet in north east New Brunnswick to clooect a split load of frozen lobster and snow crab for Elizabeth in New Jersey. Nothing special there, so off we go, collected the load and run to Woodstock NB for the night. Next morning through to the USA at Houlton ME, and the long drive to NJ.

I had just reached the I495 when the qualcom beeped. " Steve change of delivery address, please take the load through to Vernon CA." I sent one back asking had they got this right or did they mean Vernon MA?

The reply was not what I expected, the delivery address was Vernon, East Los Angeles, California!

At last a chance to see a bit more of the USA, so I punched in the address to the GPS and from where I was it told me it was 3341 miles. Well with this information it was hammer down to LA :-))))))))))

After a few text messages to some close friends and experienced USA drivers I had decided on my route. Down through Mass, into Pennsylvania, into Maryland then West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and into California. I left Caraquet on Monday and finally arrived in Vernon LA the following Monday evening. To describe the journey on here would take days to write so I will just give you the photos instead with little notes of location and any interesting comments.

Flag of the Boston Celtics Basketball team opposite the TD Garden arena.

One of the underground roads in Boston.

Philidelphia's famous sporting teams stadiums.

Photos From Tennessee

Crossing into Tennessee.

Early morning low mist in the distance.

Chooo Chooo

Calling Elvis

Memphis.

Pictures from Arkansas

To Be Continued - Bed Time!

Break with tradition.

2010-05-15T00:42:00.000-03:00

When I decided to write this blog, It was with the intention of telling the story of my life on the road and not to discuss the company be it good or bad, however, after the conversation I had with a senior member of management today I have decided to break with that rule and let you know what I have had to deal with this past few days

As I have outlined below I am at present in a Hotel in Buffalo as a result of my truck breaking down again, I get a phone call from said member of Management this afternoon to discuss the next move as the repair shop confirmed it will be mid to end of next week before my truck is ready.

I was asked if I would contact one of the drivers passing Buffalo to pick me up and I was to ride shotgun back to to PEI. From there I was told if a trainee driver was going out I could jump in with him then jump out in Buffalo to collect my truck on the way up to Ontario! Basically nurse maid them around free of charge for a week!

During this conversation I requested a new truck due to the amount of time mine has been in the shop over recent months, I was told NO, there are drivers who have been there longer than I and they would take priority, which is a direct crock of crap as a driver from another company joined us a few weeks ago and he got straight into a brand new truck.  Never mind the fact that my truck is costing me in earnings, and the company in repair bills, hotel costs, etc. They still have half a dozen brand new trucks parked up at the shop doing sweet F/A but we are expected to continue with unreliable equipment. That really pisses me off, I hate being lied to. So I am now expected to share trucks with other drivers while all my gear is in my truck, so I'm expected to live like a frigging tramp for the next week or until I can get back to buffalo to collect my truck. Great way to look after your staff, they are really going to get a lot out of me in future! NOT!!!!!!!!!
I have tried to let things like this go over my head and tell myself this is how it is, but this has crossed my line of decency. Christ this is how life on the road was 20 years ago.  I will not name the individual with whom I had the conversation however those who work with me will know exactly who I am referring to.

Its quite clear and has been for quite some time this individual does not give a shit about the drivers or their welfare. Its all about making $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.   We make the sacrifice put in the effort go beyond the limits and what is our thanks? Sweet F*** All. It seems we have a 3 tier workforce here,

New drivers who have next to nothing expect the desire to succeed and want to earn a living and who get pushed and pressured into running long hours and delivery schedules which are nigh on impossible to achieve legally.
Drivers who have obtained their PR who are not pressured so much as they can go to any other company they want if they are pushed too far and are treated like the new drivers above.
Canadian or American drivers or drivers who come from other companies who demand they get a new truck and from what I have seen get preferential treatment of equipment, loads, etc etc.

Its not sour grapes on my part and I accept there is a seniority tree in any company, but when there are drivers having to use equipment past its best and new equipment standing idle, well there is a serious problem which needs to be addressed. I came here to earn a living and create A FUTURE for my family however its becoming clearer by the day us European drivers are a dime a dozen and our welfare, feelings or driver comfort are completely ignored so long as the trucks move that's all that this company representative cares about.

I'm sure that representative's from the company will at some point read this and I would welcome the opportunity to discuss the content of above in greater detail.

However if such a invite is not forthcoming then I know that they really don't give a damn.

If this post ends up being my demise with this company so be it, I will no longer be treated as a commodity. I have standards and I have a right to speak my mind, this is my personal blog. To my understanding free speech has not been outlawed and therefore I will exercise my right to free speech. And if I upset or offend any individual or party, well tough shit, I have always spoken my mind and will continue to do so when I feel the need to do so.

I hope the next post will be on a more positive note and topic. Time will tell.

Sorry its been a while, but to bring you all up to date, we have had a bit of fun.

2010-05-14T22:49:00.000-03:00

Well guys and gals, its been a while since my last update, that in part to the fact I have been so busy and now living out of the truck, makes getting a good wi-fi signal near immpossible.

I am at present sat in a hotel in Buffalo NY, as my truck decided to twist a shaft in the transmission just as i was going up the bridge that links Buffalo to Grand Island in Niagra. Result, no low range gears, picture the scene, its rush hour, a 10 lane toll booth that reduces to two to go over the grand island bridge and a tractor trailer broken down in one of the two lanes. Some very unhappy motorists. Well after much fishing for a gear with no success, I made a 911 emergency call to the NEW YORK State police department to advise of the situation and resulting chaos i was causing, the officer I spoke to said "we will despatch a state trooper to you straight away" this was at 3pm local time, The wrecker arrived an hour later and hooked up to my truck. An hour later we were ready to leave and guess what, still no sign of a trooper!!!! I bet if I told him I had a bomb there would have been hundreds of the buggers, but hey its only a truck blocking a major route.

Looking Back at the bridge which I broke down on

The recovery truck hooking up to my Truck.

Recovery complete, arrived at International at Buffalo

Its a sad sight, again my truck behind a wrecker

You have to admire the guys that do this job, over a 100 feet of trucks.

Now not all my time over the last several weeks has been spent broken down in repair shops, I have managed to do some work, mainly on the Triangle which did include back to back deliveries to the Evil Twins down in Goshen! However I have had a little more interesting work including, deliveries of plants and trees from a nursery in Ontario to Canadian Tire Garden Centers in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Message To Russell's Grandma. Did he tell you he locked his keys in his truck when fuelling at the Flying J in Napanee a few weeks ago. 7.30 in the morning the two of us trying to get into his truck on the fuel island. Funny as hell. Bet he kept that quiet. lol.

All in All not a great deal to write about over the last few weeks just same old as you were, but I have taken a load of photos to show my travels.

One point of interest was I got to try my first PEI lobster last week. My good friend Donny one of our fitters was passing the shop and saw me and Dominic fitting a new fridge to his truck so called over for a chat and presented us both with a freshly cooked lobster each, caught that morning. I have to say it was beautiful despite having to crack the claws with a rock.

Anyway Photo Gallery.

Unloading fresh fish at a company in Rochester NY

Heading east towards Boston on the I90 saw this on a hillside, made me laugh.

Hope I never need to use one of these.

Its not an island!

Van on fire southbound on the I95 heading towards New York City

In the process of putting it out

Rear ended in the traffic from the fire.

Nova Scotia with 3 drops, Truro, New Glasgow & Port Hawkesbury.

Heading into the countryside of Nova Scotia

Crossing the causeway into Cape Bretton

Swing Bridge going into Cape Breton

Caribou Ferry Harbour waiting for the ferry back to Wood Island, PEI

Caribou Harbour from the ferry

Leaving the port

Islands just outside the port

Passing the Island outside the port

Looking back at the port

Another part of the island leaving the port

Guess who was first off the Boat.

Nursery collections and deliveries plus a new friend

Toronto airport with leaving flight

Crossing the bridge from the US back to Canada at Queenston.

My new friend at the loading point

This is the view i wake up to at the Nursery in Southwold, Ontario.

One of the roads to the nursery loading point

As if they dont have enough trees in Canada.

Who said the Americans don't have a sense of humor!

Finally a run that gets me away from the Triangle (And Goshen).

2010-03-17T00:18:00.000-03:00

Monday 8th March, Got a call to go in to work at 10.00am, not sure on the destination, but had a pleasant surprise when I arrived, you got a load to Morehead, Kentucky. At last I thought I finally get to see somewhere different to the Triangle. I had to go load 42000lb of seed potatoes from a farm near Summerside on the Island. So after washing the truck and my pre trip checks I hooked up to my trailer and set off to load. At 2.30pm fully loaded I wished I had not bothered washing the truck

Loaded ready to leave for Kentucky.

So off we go I am really looking forward to this run as I did not have to be at the delivery point until Thursday morning, I can have a relaxing 1400 mile run and eat and sleep normally on the way there.

YEAH RIGHT.

I had not gone a mile down the road and disaster! A huge jolt and total power loss, what the ...............?

I coasted down the hill to a safe parking place and set about trying to find the problem, now the truck would turn over but not fire up. There is fuel in the tanks, no sign of any fluid leaks, under the hood everything looked ok, so standing there scratching my head her comes Greg and Mr Henson in another truck on route to load, so they stop and a phone call to the shop it seems to be a chaffed wire from the battery. Well after some yanking and tugging on wires the truck bursts back into life. Ok I thought, problem solved so I was advised to return to the shop and get the problem fixed. Now the shop is about Half hours drive, so I thought ok we might loose an hour but no major problem. Wrong again, I got half way back and cough cough splutter came to a grinding hault half way up Boneshaw Hill. So I jumped out the truck, off with the battery box cover and after muck yanking and tugging of the wires, nothing despite all best efforts, I gave up, called Blaine and was told sit tight and he would be there soon. So out with the warning triangles and sit and wait for help.

A sorry sight on Boneshaw Hill

Blaine arrives with a new connection wire for the truck and despite several attempts to breath life into the truck, no joy, oh well call for another truck to drag mine from under the trailer and call a wrecker to take mine back to the shop.

Pete wrecker hooking up to my truck

Reversing my Truck into the shop.

Now the time is 5.30pm and eveyones gone home its just me and Blaine, so he hooks the computer up to the truck and starts reading the fault codes but no joy nothing is making sense so after a lot of head scratching and checking of various patrs of the truck he finally locates the problem. Its a corroded wire in the wiring harness over the top of the engine block! So a quick snip here and a connector there and............ VROOM

We have life. So a few extra checks and replacing of the protective covering for the wires, we get the "your good to go" now its 7.30pm, Oh well we still got plenty of time to get there so as I'm hooking back up to my trailer, Frank one of the German drivers turns up and he is also delivering to the same place as me, so now I have company for the trip. So after hooking up to his trailer off we go finally some 8+ hours since I started this run and i'm not off the Island yet. So I decided I was going to run as far as Woodstock and Frank would go through to Bangor in Maine where I would catch up with him the following Morning for breakfast.

Well the following morning I'm up and into the USA via Houlton, Maine and a couple of hours later pull up next to Frank in Dysarts Trucksop in Bangor. After a very nice breakfast off we set south. Now during the run down we stopped a few times for groceries and coffee and food, and during the trip got to get to know Frank a lot better, and during our conversatons found out his surname translated means Lord, so for the remainder of the trip we will now refer to him as Lord Frank of Germany, he thought this was hilarious and will now stick for the future. We decided to stop the night at the Super 8 motel by the TA truckstop near Newburgh NY on the I84, why you may ask? Easy answer, free wi-fi from the Super 8 and a lot quieter than the TA. Next morning grabbed some fuel in the TA, a shower and A great breakfast buffet!

In beautiful sunshine we cross into Maryland and into some serious mountains with climbs upto 2000 feet

Amazing views across Maryland on one of the many climbs.

What goes up must come down!

Highway cut through the mountain

First time I've seen bears on warning signs over here.

Yabba Dabba Doo....................

So after a hard drive through the mountains we enter West Virginia

Now what I was enjoying the most beside the stunning countryside was watching the temperature gague going up and up and up the further west we were going.

Here was something I was totally un-prepared for,

These were just two of many dotted along the highway grazing, just feet from traffic!

You gotta love West Virginia, 70mph for trucks as well!

So on we go through West Virginia stopping for fuel and food at a Pilot then on towards Kentucky.

Entering the state of Kentucky Home of Burbon and some bloke's fried chicken!

So a little later we are parking at the Flying J for the night after a nice days drive some stunning scenery.

Next mornin after a lovely shower and a great breakfast buffet the biggest surprise todate of being in North America, Kentucky is one of the only states where its still legal to smoke indoors.... There is a GOD.

Well we only got another 50 mile to drive so off we go.

Coming off the highway at Morehead following Lord Frank of Germany

Journeys end and another little surprise is in store, not only is the address wrong, but when we finally find the delivery point, we are greeted with sorry guys we have not ordered these potatoes and were not expecting them today or here, you might have to go somewhere else with them. Well we see the funny side of this and go park the trucks while the guys go try and sort this out.

Journeys end time to let them have a rest

Lord Frank of Germany

Yours truly enjoying a bit of R&R

17 degrees a lovely warm day in Kentucky.

Well it took 2 hours but we got the ok to unload our spuds and Lord Frank gets a message to head up to Ohio to reload and I get a message, we are working on your re-load, translated this means we dont have anything yet! That was to be true for the next 4 hours!

At 3.30pm I get the message get on your way to Huntingdon West Virginia ASAP, collection details to follow!

On route the collection details arrive, collect a load of Carbon in 1000lb tote bags for Mississagua. Now Huntingdon is only 70 miles away so so at 5pm I'm on a loading dock and 20 mins later I have 20000lb of Carbon on board and after completing the paperwork I'm heading for Canada. The weather by now had turned to rain and heading out of Huntingdon I spotted this rainbow.

So off back towards the mountains in West Virginia, then up through Pennsylvania and into New York state, skirting Lake Eire crossing at Fort Eire adnd onwards towards Toronto. I was empty by 1.30pm and sent my message saying I was empty. A couple of hours later my re-load came through, head to Loblaws at Cambridge there is a loaded trailer for Moncton New Brunswick, Tidy thought this trip is getting better, so I arrived at Loblaws and thats when the wheels of this trip fell off, went to see Maria in the cross dock and was told " sorry Steve half the produce has not arrived yet, it will be sometime tomorrow before its loaded"

Well at least I got a good nights sleep!

19 hours later I am checking out at security for a 6am delivery on Monday, this is now Saturday afternoon and after leaving and heading towards Toronto and straight into this.

You can do nothing but have patience!

Parked up for the night at the Flying J in Montreal and had a very nice run on Sunday Parking up in Salisbury NB an hour later than I had planned as I forgot the clocks went forward an hour early hours Sunday morning!
I meet up with Dallas in Salisbury and spent the evening drinking coffee and putting the world to rights.
I get a message asking me to tip another trailer whilst i'm in Moncton Monday morning, ok I'm not happy about doing other peoples work, but I'm a team player and agree to do this. Dallas then says I'm going solo to Moncton I'll pick up the trailer and put it on a bay for you. You come down later with yours then take the other trailer back to PEI when its empty. He is a top man, and an excellent cook as we had dinner with him and his wife Monday night, first home cooked meal I have had since I got here.

Anyway 4am Monday my cell phone rings, its Dallas, "you better get over here there is a problem with this trailer" what nobody told me was that the trailer is for the freezer warehouse and you can't drop it. So I dressed grabbed a Timmys and head off to Moncton 15 mins away. I dropped my trailer on a bay hook up to the other trailer and off to the freezer warehouse on the other end of the industrial estate. 6am I am allocated a bay, 7am I am empty, 10.30am I get my bills and can leave!!!
So I am then asked due to a vehicle breakdown can I put another trailer on a door and then drop it back to the City Cross Dock pick up my original trailer and fetch it back to PEI, like I said I'm a team player so off I go to find the other trailer only to spend half an hour looking for a trailer that has dissapeared of the face of the earth. A message to the office to that effect, I go hook back up to my original trailer and at 1pm am pulling up back at the yard. All in all a great trip except for the Loblaws farce, but thats part of trucking here in North America, so I'm now just waiting for a call to let me know when I'm going back out.

These photo's are for my Nephew - Moggsy. He is a big fan of Mack the truck in the film Cars and I could not pass up the chance of a few shots, so thanks to the driver for waiting while I took them. Had this been a Uk truck and driver chances are he would have told me to P**S Off, get a life then run me over!

On a more positive note I got the ok to buy my car and have been to insure it today and hope I can collect it on Wednesday 17th before I ship out.

Russell left for Goshen again tonight poor sod, another trip to those Evil Twins.

February was all Goshen.

2010-03-07T18:01:00.000-04:00

It was a very boring month in terms of destinations this month, Goshen - Goshen - Goshen! 3 weeks on the trott. It felt as if I was being punished having to do this but at least the wheels are turning. After unloading there it was straight down to New Jersey loading fruit for Toronto. The only event of any note was the second trip to Goshen, having tipped there I get a message to head to Pennsylvania to collect a load of Mushrooms for Montreal, so i decided to head for New York City then turn off for New Jersey. Well I set off and not realising how tired I was I was driving along and before I knew it I had passed my exit, Now being tired I was not thinking straight and decided to take another way to Jersey. BIG Mistake. I should have back tracked but carried on regardless well things go from bad to worse, I found my way to the Cross Bronx Expressway then turned onto the wrong ramp and headed straight into the Bronx, this place was never designed for big rigs, so not being able to turn around I carry on into Queens and eventually end up at the last exit for the Midtown Tunnel for Manhattan. Its a 12' 1" headroom and the Truck is 13' 6" so I threw a big U-turn at this intersection and stopped on the on Ramp to try and find my bearings. I eventually found where I went wrong and kicked myself for the soft mistake I made. You dont realise how much fatigue catches up with you and how it effects your judgement in these situations. well this little excursion cost me over 2 hours and eventually cost me the backload as I could not make it to my shippers before they closed, so that resulted in stopping In Carneys Point for the weekend, which was great cos I managed to catch up on some sleep.
So now I have to call dispatch Monday at 8.30 to see what they have for me, My buddy Russell gets the honour of going to Goshen this week and leaves Sunday Night (today)

Its now starting to thaw in most places I go and the Northumberland straight which seperates PEI from Mainland Canada Is now thawing at a rate of knots and its making a nice change to see grass and water around the place instead of snow. Now with any luck I might get a change of destination monday so I will have more to write about in my next Post.

One highlight this week was my first night out in Charlottetown to see a friend playing with his band, so me, Russ and Dave who just arrived from the UK jumped in a cab and headed for what we hoped would be a good night out, we were not dissapointed, the band were fantastic, the company was great and 1 or 2 pints of Coors light were consumed.

March is going to be a busy month now our House is on the Market back in the UK, i have been to see various people about mortgages, houses etc, etc. Its very difficult to arrange these meetings when you don't know when you will be back on the Island and due to work volumes the company want to turn you straight around with another run. I dont like turning work down but I also don't like facing the prospect of living out of the truck 24/7 if I don't sort out some housing as its only 3 weeks before Russells family arrive here.
The people I am dealing with are fantastic, they are trying to organise things based on the information I have given them while I'm off the Island and all communication is done via e-mail. So for now its back to the house hunting and I hope to have more to tell you next week. In the meantime here are some photos I took on my travels in February.

Nice and clean for 5 mins

Northumberland Straight with the Sea Ice Melting

Entering Bangor, Maine

Hell of a Sandwich for $2.50

Thanks!

One of the Coaches that run from Boston to New York

Manhattan Skyline on my little excursion

Heading back towards the Canadian Border.

Appartment blocks on way into Toronto.

Double deck commuter train heading for Toronto

Double deck Container train heading out of Toronto

Super power for a freight train leaving Quebec City area

Volvo FL6 rigid just outside Goshen NY

Chatting to my brother while travelling through Toronto

The Big Apple pie factory in between Toronto and Montreal

Entering the Province of Quebec.

Its been a very busy January!

2010-02-07T17:39:00.004-04:00

Well as the title says it has been a very busy start to the year, after my new year trip to Sacramento PA I got back to PEI on Jan 5th. 46 hours later I was on my way back out this time for the evil twins in Goshen NY, they are called evil for a very good reason, two of the most ignorant, unpleasant, misirable, ungrateful, rude individuals you could ever wish to meet. I had to tone down what I actually wanted to say.

Well after bidding them a cheery goodbye!!! I set off for my re-load in Hammonton off the Atlantic City Expressway bound for Cambridge Ontario. Tip & re-load for Moncton NB. Back to PEI then after my reset back off for 2 drops in Massachussets and Connecticut reloading in Pennsylvania for Ontario but crossing this time at Detroit Michigan, a new crossing point for me, would have been fine except the shipping company forgot to send one important document which saw me turned back at the Canadian border at Windsor, so back over the Ambassador Bridge into Detroit where i had to wait all morning for the correct paperwork to be cleared then back over the bridge to Canada, this time with more success, into the meat inspection point then off to Mississagua. Why do companys ask you to arrive at a certain time then keep you waiting 5 hours before allocating you a door only to unload you in 15 mins?. It was up to Cambridge Ontario to collect a load for Moncton NB. Tipped that 23rd then a straight turn around back to Toronto, tip reload and back to Moncton NB for delivery for the 27th. Great I thought 2 hours back to PEI then a few days off. Yeah right, the message came, Steve driver called in sick can you turn round and take a delivery to Boston Market for us, now being a helpfull type of person I sain no problem but I have to do some laundry as i ran out of clothes only thinking I was away for a week, (I had to buy new boxer shorts while i was away!) So after doing some laundry back off I go for Boston MA. Tipped the following day then across to New Bedford to load Clementines for Milton ON, from there to Jordan Station near Niagra Falls then drop trailer in Moncton as it was loaded for Newfoundland. Eventually getting back to PEI two and a half weeks after I left! I needed to be back as I was moving into a new house sharing with my mate Russell until his wife and children arrive on April 1st then I'm homeless (only kidding). Must say a big HELLO to Russells nan who i know reads this blog, so thanks nan, hope your enjoying it.

Feb 3rd after getting the stuff to the new house and helping Russ get his new furniture etc for the house I got a call from dispatch, a 3 drop run to Massachussets and Connecticut, so off I go again, gets to the border at Calais ME, sorry driver your numbers dont match the paperwork, you need to go into the customs office, well after a full cab search and 1 hour later I was off heading for Boston Market again, arrived 3am tipped by 7am bed by 7.30. After my rest period! off i head for Hatfield MA where the wanted to charge me $70.00 to take TWO pallets off. Told them to sod off grabed a truck and took em off myself - 5 mins.
Wonder if I can pay myself? I wish. Off to Connecticut to tip out the rest of the load then across to the port of Wilmington in Deleware via New York City, I enjoy that route friggin nutters everwhere, I fit in well!!!!
Got loaded with Blueberries for Mississagua and parked up in Allentown for the night. went to sleep at 10pm and it was a nice clear dry night, woke at 4.30am to find 2 foot of snow outside! I just got out of Pennsylvania in time before the bad snow came down and crossed into Canada Sat 6th. Tipped Sunday 7th and am Sat in the 5th Wheel Truck Stop updating this waiting to load tomorrow the 8th as all the produce is delayed getting to Canada due to the snow in the Mid East States, I don't mind as its a beautiful day as you can see from the pictures of my truck and Dallas's truck at the bottom. Looks like I'm going to be loading for Moncton again but will be able to watch the superbowl tonight so thats a bonus. this is only a brief report as i got loads of photos to put on so I hope you enjoy them.

Having problems uploading photos will try again when I am back home. Sorry for the delay.

The Northumberland Straight neary frozen completely

Snowstorm entering New Brunswick

One of Keltics trucks caught out by the weather.

Back into the USA at Houlton Maine

The upper Hudson River freezing over

The Only Mountains in Maine

Bridge over the Upper Hudson

Philadelphia from the Walt Whitman Bridge

Philadelphia skyline from the ring road

Driving through Quebec

Another shot in quebec

Frozen lake in Quebec

-26 it was cold this morning in quebec.

Oil train leaving Quebec City

Guess what song is now in my head..... Day - O.

Ambassador Bridge in Detroit Crossing over to Canada.

Detroit city skyline from the Ambassador Bridge crossing to Canada

This was supposed to be a truck stop! Irving at Riviera Du Loup, Quebec

These Guys landed and went for breakfast! note the cop car in the entrance

Strange cloud formation In New Brunswick

Same cloud a bit closer, look at the base of the cloud, turned out to be from a cooling tower at a lumber mill.

Entering Grand Falls in New Brunswick

Hartland New Brunswick.

Russells New House

Rush hour in Boston.

Heading towards New York City.

Subway Train

Directions prior to George Washington Bridge

NYC in the distance

NYC from George Washington Bridge.

Close up of NYC skyline from George Washington Bridge.

Another approach shot towards New York.

Driving onto the George Washington Bridge.

New Jersey Turnpike towards Newark and the song in my head .......

Yep, BIG YELLOW TAXI.

Approaching Newark Airport

Read sign to know location!

I swear the pilot had his eyes shut!

Deleware Memorial Bridge

My Truck on Right enjoying the winter sunshine in Milton Ontario. Other truck belonged to Dallas.

Line up of trucks at the 5th Wheel truckstop in Milton, Ontario.

Xmas & New Year on the Road.

2010-01-06T23:47:00.000-04:00

Well dear friends may I wish you all the very best for 2010, it is with some sad news I start this post, as most of you will by now know, Ian Sayer (peterlee-flyer) has decided to return to the uk. Ian had been a huge help to me in getting here to PEI and Bulk Carriers with an endless supply of information and advice and will be grately missed not only by myself but from other drivers and staff alike. I wish Ian the very best for the future and hope one day he gets to return to Canada with his family to continue his dream.

I guess by now most of you will know that at present my family are still in the UK waiting for the housing market to show signs of improvement so we can get a realistic price and eventually sell up and get them over here. So I requested to work Xmas and New Year to limit the impact of being away from Maxine & Elliott.

It was with great delight I recieved a load offer leaving Xmas Eve bound for Goshen NY for a boxing day delivery. So after loading off I set for Woodstock NB for the night, thanks to the people at the irving as I managed to get a wi-fi signal so not only could I speak with family and friends Christmas Eve But I got up at 4am Xmas Day to see Elliott open his presents via Skype. That made for a very happy drive to Goshen. It was a fairly uneventful drive with no scales open but loads of traffic on the road which lead to this unfortunate accident on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Note the car on its side just between the 2nd & 3rd car. Not a happy xmas for these poor people.

One of the things that I had not thought of was what the hell was I going to have for Christmas Dinner?

No truck stops open serving food, even Dysarts in Maine were closed for food, fuel and coffee only, well at least the coffee was free. However salvation came in the form of two golden arches, yep McDonalds were open in a Service Plaza so Christmas Dinner consisted of a half pounder with cheese, large fries and a diet coke, I'm loving it - not!!!!! But it kept me going.

So after lunch! I headed off in the direction of New York State,

Not long now at least i'm i the right state!

Why is it every time I cross this state line all I can hear is Frank Sinatra singing New York, New York. any one else suffer from this?

Crossing the Hudson River

Crossing the Hudson

Eventually I arrived at my delivery point at 6pm and I got a wi-fi signal too, result, chance to speak to the family and friends again, all in all not a bad Christmas Day.

They were still using this old army truck to move crops around the farm

Up at 7am to speak to the family before the guys came in but I need not have bothered rushing they would not look at me before midday then the greedy b******s charged me $20.00 for the pleasure of unloading me. Merry Frickin Christmas yeah for them perhaps. So now running half a day late I set off empty for Loblaws in Cambridge nr Toronto, again a very uneventful run, arrived about 10.30pm got my loaded trailer and parked up for the night before setting out for Moncton NB some 18 hours drive away and doing battle with the christmas sales traffic in Toronto & Montreal.

Sunrise over New Brunswick.

Well arrived Moncton, tipped and back to PEI where I had to have some work done to the truck as it had developed an electrical short then grabbed a loaded trailer and headed for Amherst NS for the night tipping at 6am the following morning, from there to Summerside and dropping the rest of the load into Charlottetown.

Back to the yard with the weather getting worse by the minute, dispatched to Souris to pick up a load for Sacramento PA, thats went things went Pete Tong, The high winds on the Island were now joined with heavy snow which made driving near impossible, what have taken maximum 3 hours took 6! Arrived at the Confederation Bridge at 10.30pm to find it shut since 2.15pm that afternoon, so off to bed for a well deserved nights sleep. Woke next morning bridge still closed to trucks with no sign of it opening soon.

Here are some of the trucks waiting to get over the bridge, I counted over 30 that I could see.

Well at 2pm the shout came across the CB, the bridge was open so all hell broke loose and we were off and running, my load was booked for the 31st December, this was 2pm on the 30th, no way in hell was I going to be there in time so a quick message to dispatch and appointment changed to the 2nd Jan 2010 @ 6am. Great over 2 days to get there, so with some banging tunes on the sqwark box off I headed for the Border at Holton, ME, decided as I was in no rush I would have dinner at Murrays in Woodstock.

New Years Eve, saw temperature down to -21 so off I go not sure how far I will get but not going to rush, stopped in Newport maine to stock up on groceries and get my TV&DVD player, so continued on through Maine into New Hampshire and into Masachusetts, decided at 7pm to park up and try to contact Maxine & Elliott to wish them Happy New Year, crap Wi-Fi signal so tried calling they were out so after 3 hours of trying gave up then spotted German Joe over in the far side of the parking lot. After a quick chat off to bed, could not be bothered to wait for the new year.

Next morning me and joe head off for the Flying J truckstop round the corner, a quick wash, coffee and chat with the family off I set for Sacramento.

Arrived at 6pm and found a nice spot to park for the night, there were a few other trucks there already but my appointment was for 6am. At 7pm another Bulk driver George arrived then at 8pm the supervisor at the customer said we will unload you tonight as their line was running short of the potatoes we were carrying - RESULT! 9.30pm empty so we could get a flyer to

Gloucester City NJ to pick up our re-load and start for Canada, yeah right got to the outskirts of Philadelphia then sat for nearly 2 hours waiting for the re-load address. So eventually we got the address and headed for the Benjamin Franklin Bridge over to New Jersey.

Entering Philadelphia.

Benjamin Franklin Bridge

We arrived at the terminal and within 2 hourrs were loaded and on our way to Canada Via a fuel stop at Carneys Point and a well deserved dinner for George & myself.
We travelled north and stopped at the Flying J at New Milford and early next morning headed in to New York State and into some terrible weather all the way through Syracuse and Buffalo and into Niagra before crossing into Canada at Queenston ON.

Early Morning In New York State

Approaching Buffalo

Looks like I got some cleaning to do when I get back.

Well the rest of the journey was fairly straight forward, up to Cambridge ON, reload in Burlington then down to Moncton where I did a quick delivery to Dieppe NB before heading back to the yard for a well deserved reset, 2 weeks on the road 5751 miles and a very tired driver, sleep me thinks, called into see what they got for me next so looks as if i'm heading out again thursday afternoon, to where? who knows? who cares?

Its all part of my great adventure, I'll let you know where I end up.

Have a fantastic New Year everyone, and here's to more Trucking Great Adventures in 2010

coming to a P.C in front of you soon. 10-4 Good Buddies.

The tougher side of North American Truck Driving.

2009-12-23T15:01:00.001-04:00

I called the office on Wednesday 16th December to find out if I was being dispatched that day, I was asked if I could rescue a driver in Maine and take him and his truck through to its delivery point in Virginia, I agreed, but was not happy that I would not be in my truck as now all my kit was in it and i would have to live out of a bag for a week. Anyway I'm a flexible fella and agreed to meet up with my ride to Maine in the yard at 8.30 that evening.

Steve the other driver arrived and after stowing my gear in his truck we set off for Woodstock where we would spend the night, we left in quite bad weather with high winds snow flurries and -9 temperatures. The Confederation bridge that links PEI to mainland Canada was closed due to the high winds and after having our paperwork stamped at the potatoe inspection station at Bordon, we joined the ever growing que of trucks waiting to cross the bridge. After half an hour the shout came over the CB that the bridge was open and all hell broke loose with trucks wanting to get over the bridge before they closed it again, the scales were sending people around unless they had to get their papers stamped, so after getting ours stamped off we went. Now we were fully loaded crossing the bridge but the wind just shook us about like we were empty. We stopped at Sailsbury to fill up and by now the temperature had dropped to -20 and the wind chill made it feel like -30, I had never experienced temperatures like this before and my t-shirt and fleece did little to offer any resistence to the knife like winds, lesson # 1, get a winter coat!

So off we go to Woodstock a couple of hours up the road and parked up for the night last look at the temperature gague -21.

The following morning in near arctic conditions I grabbed a XL timmys and we headed for the border at Houlton, Maine.

We meet up with the other driver and after transfering my gear into Ben's truck and after a very large breakfast, with pancakes, we set off for Virginia, below is the route of our journey

I drove down through New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York City, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington DC, and finally into Virginia.
I got to realise a long time ambition of mine to see New York city, and this we did whilst crossing the George Washington Bridge, it was night time when we got there and NYC was all lit up, next time I go there it will be with Maxine & Elliott for a bit of sightseeing.
After tipping our load of Mussells we were told to load clementines out of Wilmington, Delaware for Cambridge Ontario. Then ran into the worst snow storm the Eastern Seaboard had seen for almost 80 years, it took me 7 hours to cover 276km thats an average speed of almost 40kmh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And below is part of the reason.

They are not used to this much snow in Virginia!!!!

Two trucks stuck on a slight hill, this was funny, they have no clue what to do in theses conditions.

We were empty but I showed them how to get going.

We eventually parked up about 50km from Wilmington and woke to find 2 feet of snow so I asked the nice man with the plough to cut me a path out.

What a nice man.

We collected our clementines eventually from the port in Wilmington after several hours delay then I headed for the border at Niagra running through the night, we were running with an Owner driver, Jason from New Brunswick who was heading for Toronto and chatting to him madethe time fly by, we arrived in Cambridge at 6am the following morning and were asked could we team run the load for Moncton back as they needed it ASAP although we had a booking time of 11am the following day. so ben jumped in the drivers seat as he could now drive again and at 10.30 am we set out for Moncton which is an 18 hour drive. I hit the bunk for some well deserved sleep. After loads of coffee and a few McDonalds BLT bagels and long stints of team driving we got to Moncton at 6.30 the following morning, we were empty and after getting the trailer dissinfected at the potatoe inspection station got back to the yard parked it up and headed home for a well deserved break and loads of sleep.

Christmas

I am heading out again Christmas Eve for New York as I have a delivery Boxing Morning, So I would like to wish all who are following this blog and your families the happiest of holidays, and please where ever you are and with whoever your with, stop, and spare a thought for all us who can not be with our loved ones this Christmas.

Please stay safe over the festive period and I look forward to bringing you my report from christmas on the road.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Steve.

View Larger Map

1st Solo Trip Completed.

2009-12-16T15:51:00.004-04:00

Well i guess i'm now a fully fledged North American Truck Driver. Not long back from my first solo trip and boy what a trip. 7 days and 3100 miles.Here is the map of my journey.

View Larger Map

There were two of us loading out of Souris in PEI on Monday 7th Dec going to the same place, so with our loads on board we set out for Sacramento - Pennsylvania as our delivery time was 7 & 7.30 am on Wednesday 9th Dec.

Yours truly behind the wheel at last.

As we did not load till late on Monday we crossed the border at Houlton, Maine the following morning, it was a pleasure driving through New Brunswick on such a lovely day

Thats Russell in front.

One of the many lakes in New Brunswick

Another view of the same lake.

So after crossing into the USA and having had our potato's inspected, we set off through Maine, clipped the corner of New Hampshire through Massachusetts and into Connecticut where we parked up for the night.

Woke early the following morning to this reading on the temperature gague

The wid chill made it feel even colder and not long after we set off it dropped to -11! Then the snow started, that made for really slow going, we crossed into New York State and finally into Pennsylvania. We arrived at our destination 5 hours late thanks to the snow and the crazy yanks who would fly by you at 50-60 mph then cause tailbacks because they spun off and had to be recovered.So while waiting to be unloaded in Sacramento we decided to take some photos,

Here is Russell posing infront of my truck.

My truck on the bay getting unloaded.

Man & Machine

We were then instructed to head for Wilmington in Delaware to load Clementines, mine going to Cambridge Ontario and Russells for Ajax Ontario, due to our late arrival and departure we had to load in the morning.

Now unless you have a TWIC card you are not allowed to enter any US port. So it had been arranged to have a escort company "baby sit us" as we loaded, now being the US nothing comes free so after parting with $99.00 each we were on our way. So finally loaded and cleared by the US Customs we said goodbye to our babysitters and headed off back towards Canada. I would be leaving Russ at Syracuse and crossing from Buffalo into Niagra. Took some more photos on the journey back.

Travelling back through Pennsylvania

See the mountain in the background, do we go over it or around it?

Nope, we go through it!

So on we travelled, stopped to fax the broker our paperwork, into New York State again and parted company at Syracuse. Then the weather turned nasty again with heavy snow on the I90 towards buffalo, top speed was 35mph and still the idiot yanks kept flying by and flying off the highway! I got tucked in behind a snow plough and had a safe ride to the Border at Niagra. After crossing back into Canada at 2am called it a day, only had another 70 miles to go but the weather was against me, better to be safe than sorry.

Next morning off I go skirting the shore of Lake Ontario and got within a half mile of my delivery point and then sat for 20 mins waiting for this to pass.

Finally reached the delivery point and was greeted with this

Well this was going to home for the next 24 hours whilst they tipped and reloaded me, in the meantime German Paul and Ian had crept in overnight.

Here's Ian loaded and ready to go, Paul and I would be ready soon too.

So after we had all cleared security we set off for Montreal for the night.

The express and collector roads make the M25 look like a country road!

So after a good nights sleep I left Ian and Paul sleeping and headed for my delivery point in Boucherville where I wasted another 8 hours of my life, then headed back across Montreal to collect a loaded trailer from Canadian Tire bound for Nova Scotia and PEI. Then the snow started again and brought Montreal to a virtual standstill, the snow by now had got much worse and once off the highway it was your best guess as to where the road was!

So with my loaded trailer behind me I set off to cross Montreal for the third time in 24 hours

Slow going through Montreal.

With time getting late called the office to advise on the problems and that I would not be in Nova Scotia for 6am I parked up and set the sat nav for Amherst, 10.25hrs to my destination. After having my hours off I could start at 3am which ment getting to Nova Scotia about 2.30-3pm.

So it was with a start the alarm went off at 2.45am. Pre-trip checks done an extra large coffee with double cream from Timmys I set off for a 683 mile drive! Went via Riviera Du Loup where i stopped for Steak & Eggs for breakfast then down into New Brunswick and despite there being some snow left on the roads I was able to maintain 65mph nearly all the way to Amherst. Had a lovely sunrise too through New Brunswick

Here is a sign that made me laugh.

Do they mean the cars or the Moose, (sizes are to scale!)

After 10.30 hours driving eventually :-

I wonder what they do there?

Well after helping the guys at Canadian Tire unload their half of the trailer I got a message to take the trailer back to the yard as it would be delivered by another driver the following day so a quick 1.5hr drive back to the yard I sorted my paperwork out parked the unit up and headed for a well deserved cold Bud.

All in all a fairly good start to my North American Trucking Career, just waiting to find out when I am off again, looks like Thursday morning now, so stay tuned for my next trucking big report on life as NA truck driver in words and pictures, coming to a PC near you soon.

10-4 Good Buddies.

First real snow on the Island today.

2009-12-06T12:11:00.000-04:00

Well I guess its the start of the winter now here on the Island, woke at 9.30am today looked out the window to this.

Yours truly on the balcony of the Motel.

At 3am it was raining steady and within a few hours we had had this. Its been a steady week so far getting the truck ready to ship out tomorrow, just waiting for work to confirm where I'm going.

Decided to take the camera out and take some photos this morning.

Looking out my bedroom window

Looking across the road

There is a road over there somewhere

A house across the street from the motel

Going off to wallmart and future shop looking for a cheap Microwave for the truck now, so will update this blog when I am out on the road.

First Mentor Trip Completed

2009-11-30T23:56:00.001-04:00

Well its been a busy first trip, with my mentor coach Ian we left from the yard Sunday 22nd November after the pre trip checks and headed bobtail for Moncton, New Brunswick to pick up our trailer.

A quiet Confederation Bridge heading west towards New Brunswick.

On arrival at the cross dock we found our trailer did the checks, hooked up and set sail for Massachusetts, not before grabbing a coffee from Tim Hortons! We decided that breakfast would be had at Woodstock and on the approach to the truckstop came across this.

Lesson number one, "don't come on and off the ramps (sliproads) too fast" Ian tells me, there are no long run off's like in the UK and the other thing is that there are no countdown markers, just the sign at the junction's. After breakfast we headed for the US border at Houlton, Maine. Now if you want to be made to feel like a criminal, the guards in the border gate are experts, I only went in for my I94 card which allows me to enter the USA (and must be renewed every 3 months @ $6 US), I came out feeling like I was on Parole!!

Anyway off we set for a fairly uneventful run through Maine, New Hampshire and into Massachusetts, we decided to call it a day about an hour from our first drop and parked up for the night.

Monday morning, up nice and early and remembering we were now on Eastern time headed for our first drop, Wallmart store to drop off 150 fresh christmas trees, Problem was no one at wallmart had advised they had closed the store down and moved it to the other side of town!!!!!

We were on to our second and Ian pointed out this place.

Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots NFL Team

After unloading all 800 trees we get the message to head for New Bedford to collect a load of Clementines for Toronto, so we reached our pick up point to be greeted with about 30 other trucks collecting for the same place. 10 hours after we arrived we finally get the call to go onto a bay! We ran for a few hours then parked it up for some sleep.

We headed for Toronto crossing at Buffalo and into Niagra Falls and up to Milton to tip the following morning, met up with two more drivers from Bulk who were also tipping the same place as us. Another early start and after a wait of a couple of hours we were empty and heading for Brampton to drop our trailer and wait for the call to collect a loaded trailer for Charlottetown, we arrived Brampton thursday morning

Time to relax and a bit of shopping

and finally left 9pm Friday night. We ran for a few hours clearing Montreal and parked up for the night. We decided the following morning to team run back to the Island. The return trip took us through Ontario into Quebec and into things to come.

It was just a light dusting of snow then as the miles went by turned to rain and that was the story all the way through New Brunswick and back on to the Island. We eventually arrived back 10.30 Saturday night.

Went into the office today and was passed off training and was allocated my own truck so on Tuesday I get my Hiring pack and all my gear to go out on my own. I would like to thank my brother and his wife as my new GPS arrived today as well so thats saved me a few hundred bucks, cheers guys. Well i'm off to bed now as I have to have my Drug and Alcohol test tomorrow, then, well who knows? Stay tuned to find out where I end up on my first solo run.

First Mentor Trip Confirmed

2009-11-21T12:27:00.000-04:00

Ok its official, my first mentor trip is a 5 drop to Massachusetts. I had a good day yesterday, got sent out on my own to collect a load of frozen lobster from Souris, it was nice to finally get out on my own and see how I measured up to driving alone. I was pleased that everything went ok, still can't get over the amount of dials and switches they have in the trucks here.

Just getting all my gear ready to leave at 7am tomorrow, So will detail the trip when I get back unless I can get free wi-fi out on the road.

Sorry its late but, Passed My Road Test Yesterday.

2009-11-19T21:51:00.001-04:00

Wednesday November 15th @ 12.15pm (local time) my examiner shook my hand and informed me I had passed the Class 1 roadtest.

Phew, was I glad to hear those words, I had done it I had achieved what I set out to do, become a fully qualified North American Truck Driver. I had forgotten how good the feeling was, its been 18 years since I passed my UK class 1. But to do the Canadian Class one in two and a half weeks was something else.

Now the real learning starts, I always remember a very close friend telling me after I passed my UK Class 1.
"well you have only satisfied an examiner in controlled conditions now you will start to learn for real" Those words were as true 18 years ago as they are today.

So after going in to the test centre and parting with $50 and my photo taken I walked out with my Canadian Class 1 license. Now here's a tip for those of you who don't check things when your given them, CHECK IT! and double check. It was only when I returned to the office was it pointed out to me that my air brake endorsement had not been added to the Class 1 license, I could still not drive a truck without it. Oh well another trip to the department of transportation. They were great and sorted that out within 15 mins. A very big thank you to all the people who have made this possible, there are too many to mention but you know who you are. But one person I must mention is my wonderful wife for believing in me, this is for you honey xxx.

Thursday 19th November.

Well its been a real busy day today getting things done around the shop, and then I get the news I've been waiting for "your off on your first mentor trip and your leaving Sunday morning", not sure where to yet but will find out Friday. Also heard that one of the other lads out on his mentor trip is on his way to Nevada!!

I only brought winter gear!

Well we'll know tomorrow, then this Trucking Big Adventure really gets into gear (sorry about the punn).

End of Week Two

2009-11-15T11:45:00.001-04:00

Its been a fairly uneventful week, got to do a fair bit of driving out with Greg.

I have to say this guy has nerves of steel, he must have when i'm driving! lol. This is him waiting for the guys to finish packing a load of spuds so we can take it back to the yard..

We have spent a fair bit of time out on the road this week and I have got to see a bit more of the Island, it truly is breathtaking, I have to say its on a par with the Welsh coast and countryside. Its been a beautiful week weather wise here on PEI this week, with clear blue skys, and very warm temperatures, even to the point where we were working in t-shirts outdoors.

Friday was a great day spent the morning doing some house keeping in the workshop (cleaning to me and you), also washing out the trailers ready for loading next week, took some photos of the trucks enjoying the sunshine,

A couple of the new Prostars I had been using to move trailers.

Old Meets new for a spot of sunbathing.

Well lunchtime came and Melvyn, Donny and I jumped in the truck and headed for the plaza to get lunch.

I grabed some chicken tenders (bonless pieces of chicken breast in a KFC type coating) and a large side of wedges and a honey and garlic dipping sauce, food in hand Donny said we were going to the woods to eat the food. Well nothing prepared me for what happened next. We drove back past the yard, past Donnys lot where he's building a house, on to a dirt track, ok I thought he must have his current house up here, then he turned through a gap in the fence into a field! so off we set over this field and started heading for the woodland, as we got closer to the treeline I could just see a small opening through the trees in we went and turned through some trees which opened out to reveal this.

Donny and his friend had cleared the trees and built this cabin.

Melvyn on the left, Donny on the right outside the cabin.

What a spectacular setting, you almost expected to see bears wandering past (we don't have them on the Island) and other wildlife, it felt as if you were miles from civilisation, but in reality we were only 10 mins away from it, so back to work we went, the most enjoyable lunch I have ever had. At 2pm we got a call to collect a load of lobster from a company up in Souris, so that was the rest of our day taken care of, we took one of the prostars, that was a nice change to drive after the 9400i.

Saturday 14th November.

Today was my first venture to the shopping mall in Charlottetown, Now its a real bugger when you don't have your own transport here, because some bright spark in the transit authority has decided not to run a bus service from Cornwall to Charlottetown on a saturday!!!!! So I had to take a cab, $12 each way compared to the bus during the week of $2 each way. Had to start buying the stuff for my truck like new bedding, satellite radio, towells,etc. Also bought a new mobile phone as the wankers at orange (no the future is not bright) have still not sent me my unlock code despite 2 requests. Now I just have to wait for my number from Rogers the phone company and can activate my phone. Had a nice time out shopping, had a Wendy burger for lunch, a little treat to myself then off to Canadian Tire, Old Navy & Wall-Mart. Called a cab about 7.30 and back home for a pizza and a few cold ones!

Sunday 15th November.

A drivers work is never done! Laundry day, I do enjoy this, put the washing liquid in, put clothes in, close lid, insert $1.25 and switch it on, simple, return an hour later transfer to dryer, insert $1.25 select crease free, switch on and walk away, return an hour later fold clothes, job done NO IRONING!!! love it. The wife will love that aspect when she gets here and we are in our own house. Going off to get some groceries and a pack of cold ones now so I can have a relaxing day watching TV. Hope to get a date for my road test tomorrow, so stay tunned for the next installment of Steves Trucking Big Canadian Adventure, comming soon to a screen in front of you! P.S. I would like to thank my wife for pointing out my spelling mistakes whilst writing this blog, love & miss you honey xxx

First Day Of Driving Training

2009-11-09T23:03:00.000-04:00

Well today was the day I finally got behind the wheel of a North American Rig for road training. After a bit of shunting in the yard, washing out of a reefer trailer and a bit more shunting, Greg rolled in and announced we're off to pick up a load of mussells, so off we went, pulled out of the yard turned left on to the TCH 1 and the tunes began, the gearbox was playing a whole host of tunes none of which I knew!

Ah the joys of a crash box, it brought back memories of 18 years ago when I first used one, I was crap with that one as well!!! Anyway as the drive proceeded I started to find gears without crunching the box and leaving a trail of stripped teeth from the gears all along the TCH. I really started getting the hang of changing up, its changing down and the split from 5th to 4th thats really f***king me up I just cant seem to get my revs right, oh well its only day one, Rome was not built in a day I thought.

Now before I carry on with todays report, I have to show these photo's to prove to my Wife that its not all burgers and doughnuts over here and eating healthy is possible.

It only just fitted in the pan

Could not believe the price on the steaks out here, this piece $4.50 or £2.81, try getting a steak like this in Tesco for that price!

Anyway we got to our collection point and one shunt and I was on the bay.

So with our load on board off we set back for the yard, an hour later and more tunes from the gearbox we arrived where we dropped the tailer put in a DP door and hooked up to another trailer this time heading to pick up 25 pallets of Potatoes from a farm in Mount Stewart. When we got there I put the trailer on the bay and both Greg and I had a walk round the potatoe store and watched how they prep the spuds ready for packing. We had a bit of a delay whilst we waited for them to finish bagging the last 2 pallets and paperwork in hand we set off back to the yard.

On reflection a good day but still a lot of practice needed to master the gearbox, oh well lets see what happens tomorrow.

Passed The Airbrake Test Today

2009-11-06T21:20:00.000-04:00

Well all the studdying paid off, today I passed the air brake test. Yippee. I was unhappy with about 5 of the 50 questions as they were not specific to the answers and you had a 50/50 chance of getting them right.
I pointed this out to the guys in the test centre, they agreed it was misleading and a new question sheet is to be introduced any day soon.

Well its the end of my first week with Bulk Carriers and I have to say i don't think I have enjoyed my first week anywhere as much as I have here in Canada. The guys in the workshop have been fantastic, Melvyn, Donny, Blaine & Greg have the patience of a saint. I have been helping out with the servicing of the trucks and getting to know a lot more on how North American trucks work in relation to the European ones I have been used to driving for the last 18 years. True there are many simularities between the two in the mechanics but operation is a different kettle of fish altogether. It has helped me no end in the passing of the Airbrake Test (have I mentioned that already :-) ?). If i had any questions these guys would stop what they were doing and spend the time explaining and showing me the answers, thanks fellas coffee's on me Monday.

After the test, Blaine and I headed off to Wall-Mart in Charlottetown so I could pick up some safety shoes, and coffee from Timmy's on the way back to the yard. No sooner had I put my overalls on Greg the Island Shunter calls me to say we had a trailer swop in Charlottetown, so off with the overalls and off we went. He asked if I wanted to drive and I declined saying that I would rather observe how the truck was driven properly, not spend the next 20 minutes playing him a tune on the gearbox and terrorising the locals on roads I was unfarmilliar with. He makes it look so easy, so with trailer hitched up off we go back to the yard, great lunchtime I'm starving.

Some of our International 9400i tractor units enjoying the rain in the yard

After dinner jumped back into my overalls and no sooner had I done this, yep you guessed it, Greg called me, "come on we got a call from dispatch to pick up two loads of potatoes from two different farms on the Island". Again I declined the chance to drive as I wanted to carry on observing and getting to know the roads. Got to the first collection (after stopping to pick up a coffee), one truck on the dock getting loaded. Waited 20 minutes then backed onto the dock.

Loading Spuds at our first collection point

45 minutes later spuds on board, then had to wait for the OK off the potatoe inspector (you need his clearance or the spuds don't go). All paperwork done off we go. A lovely drive up to the east coast of the Island, well it would have been if it was'nt for the howling wind, rain, sleet & snow flurries. Got to the second collection, backed on the dock and loaded in 15 minutes, then had to wait again for another spud inspector, ok all sorted and by now it was dark, thank god Greg was driving, If I had been driving I think we would still be out there somewhere! So different here in the dark, no street lighting in the sticks!!!
Back to the yard where the driver was waiting for our trailer, the destination for our spuds - Boston for 6am the next day!
With the unit parked up it was time for this taff to call it a day, off back to my motel for a well deserved coffee (cough, cough).

One week in, do I regret making the move across the pond? Not on your chuffing life! I do miss Maxine and Elliott especially the weekends cos thats when I would be home with them in the UK. But I'm not in the UK and I know why I'm/we are doing this. Its a small sacrifice for I hope a life time of happiness.

Off to enjoy my (cough cough) coffee now. 10-4 Good Buddies

First Day as a Bulk Carriers Employee.

2009-11-02T19:14:00.002-04:00

Mike picked me and Ian up at 8am and set off to my new career, It was a beautiful sunny morning here in Cornwall, I think the gods were looking after me today. Arrived and Helped Ian unload his bags as he was flying back to the UK to go on holiday to Florida with his family, have a great time mate, enjoy.

First thing after saying goodmorning to Mel, Donny & Blaine, ride shotgun with Blaine to change trailers at Canadian Tire (its like a Halfords Mega, Mega store) in Charlottetown. Took one of the new prostars with a 53' tandam, I was amazed just how smooth and agile these rigs were, in the right hands Blaine made it look so easy.

Spent the rest of the morning talking to them about various truck related issues, getting to know the layout in the engine compartment, running gear, braking systems etc. Ian was also a great help answering questions showing me things I would need to know, was introduced to a few of the other drivers, then off for lunch.

After lunch, got my head back into my air brake manual, then was asked to help Donny tourqe some trailer wheel nuts up, right he said thats the service finished can you go drop the trailer and park the unit up, well you did not have to ask me twice, so i jumped in the drivers seat, confirmed a few things about the controls etc, did not know they have their version of powered take off in the Prostars, nice, liked that. finally coaxed it in to low gear and off we went, now I have never driven a truck with a bonnet, sorry hood! so I was a bit cautious leaving the shop, mindfull of the 53' of trailer behind me. out into the yard swung round to the left and looked to put it in the last but one bay on the right. It was then my one and only brain cell decided to revert to European mode! I had now lined up to reverse in on my blind side!!!!!! Supid thick welsh......., Anyway, a quick move and I was ready to bend the trailer in on the correct angle, I am very pleased to say I only needed 1 shunt to get it in to a space with only 2 feet either side of the trailer, more important so was Donny who was watching from across the yard.
Dropped the trailer and parked the unit up and back to my study's feeling slightly pleased with my first experience behind the wheel of a north american rig.

This is just a quick update as I have to get my head back in the air brake book. As I have my air brake test 08.45 Friday.
Steve

From An Idea To A Reality

2009-11-01T00:48:00.000-03:00

June 26th 2009, the day that changed the direction of both mine and my family's future. Another job gone thanks to the recession. This can't go on any longer were the words I said to my wife that evening when I got home. Maxine my wife then said over dinner why don't we move to find work, I told her why move to somewhere in England to have this happen again at a later date. Then the Idea was born, not England she said, Canada!
That was me sold, the next 4 months have been a blur, research,research, applications for criminal record checks, driving history reports, research,research, job applications sent, phone calls made, very long days sat in front of my P.C, gallons of coffee, cigarettes, late nights, research, research, research. All applications were met with, "thanks for your interest, but we are not hiring right now". Brick wall after Brick wall.

We had finally decided on two locations we wanted to settle, Favorite:- PEI.
Last resort:- Lethbridge, Alberta.

September 2009. Breakthrough, interest from Bulk Carriers PEI & H&R in Lethbridge.
Spoke to both and the feedback was very positive, we had everything crossed for Bulk Carriers (did not like what I was reading about H&R). Got confirmation of the interview with H&R in Gateshead (there is another story in itself) September 27th 08.30. Ok so no news from Mike at Bulk Carriers in the meantime, so it was looking like H&R as the last resort, then out of the blue, an e-mail from Mike at Bulk a week before we were due to fly to Newcastle, a few phone calls to PEI and the deal was done, "How soon can you be here" was the question, my reply "how soon do you want me there!".

October 2009. The countdown was on, Thursday 29th was the agreed date to fly to Canada. The next few weeks were spent shopping for warm winter gear, finalising everything back home, goodbyes to say.

Thursday 29th October 2009. Started at 04.30am Everybody up after 3.5hrs sleep! on the road at 6.30 into Clapham first to drop off one of our puppies to its new Owners, 12.30 arrive at Heathrow, checked my baggage (23kg allowance, actual weight 33kg got away with that- tidy!) then the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life, 13.30pm say goodbye to my Wife and Son at the departure gate in Terminal 3 at Heathrow. I will never forget the look on their faces as I left them behind, but in the lead up to that point we kept reminding ourselves what we were doing it for, it still did not make it any easier, lots of hugs, kisses and tears, yes i'm not ashamed to admit it some of them were mine. A quick stop via duty free for my 200 cigarettes and to gate 26 with 5 minutes to spare, phew, nothing like cutting it fine!. Boarded the plane and at 14.30 we were off on route to Montreal, arrived 17.30 local time, through customs, then Immigration. half an hour and Cad$150.00 later, TWP was in hand, YES!!!!. Right have to kill 3 hours before my connection, first thing - a smoke, checked baggage again, then security, no problem, off to gate 21A. Some kind person had put a bar right in front of the gate, oh well when in Rome, so a few Buds later, well several actually we got a message, "The flight to Charlottetown has been delayed by 30 mins". Great I had been on the go for 21 hours and now a delay! 22.00 local we took off, I remember taking off then the flight attendant waking me on approach to Charlottetown.

12.05 the cab picked me up for the Motel and the driver was a bloody Croatian! They get everywhere! 12.30 got my key, 12.35 was met by a skunk outside my room, 01.30 unpacked, undressed and in Bed. 24 hours from Bed to Bed I was Knackered.

30th October. Surfaced about 10am, showered, shaved, dressed, Mike picked me up about 11am then off to meet the Guys at Bulk, its the most weird feeling actually seeing the company in real life after all the build up and just seeing pictures and phone calls.
The guys were great, off then for my Social Insurance Number, lunch at Harvey's then to Canada Trust to open my Bank Account. No appointment, No problem said the lady on the desk, 20 mins later account opened, bank card in hand, money deposited, and out the door, Jeff at the bank was a star, Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, etc you could learn a bit from these guys. Back to Bulk, all paperwork sorted, then had the last hour with the guys in the workshop. 5pm off home then grocery shopping, how many types of milk do you need?
Spent the rest of the evening reading my Air Brake Manual.

31st October. Happy Halloween everyone, spent a lazy day on the internet talking to my lovely wife on Skype, what a tremendous invention its going to save me a fortune, and the wife just loves to see me when talking to me, its made us both feel a hell of a lot better.
Well its 12.45 am Sunday November 1st and thats the story so far. Now the next chapter begins, Getting my licenses and getting behind the wheel, Stay tunned, for the next installment, comming soon to a computer screen in front of you. Lol.

The Trans Canada Highway runs through Cornwall.

An Old International in Cornwall, driver's gone to get Coffee!

My local shopping plaza in Cornwall