My story of trucking in North America: Safety inspection in Edmonton

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Safety inspection in Edmonton

Hope you have eaten !!

Hi all, Happy New Year to you all.

The trip north was ok and although we hit some bad weather it didnt slow us down too much. New Years Eve was spent in Regina Sasketchewan and at the stroke of midnight we saw one firework go off which didnt exactly bring the New Year in with a bang.

Arrived in Edmonton, dropped the trailer and watched a film before calling it a day.
Friday involved running the truck to Penske (lease company) who were going to have the MOT (inspect) done. Last time I had the truck serviced it was reccommended that I have a wheel alignment done so I ran the truck to Freightliner who carried this out and then round to a glass repair shop to have a new screen put in as a small crack I had was now huge due to the changes in temperature.

Left the truck there and booked a room as Penske estimated the truck wont be ready until tomorrow which is Sunday providing the inspect goes well.

So today is mine to do with as I like and I plan on taking Tom to the Edmonton Mall which according to its website is the biggest in the world. Its one of the places I have driven past loads of times but have never visited.

4 comments:

Palyniam said...: eh up.
My brother Mick and sis in Law Cath(Cath In Canada) are over there and I was looking at the blogs they have saved, some stunning shots matey...take more and take care.
Paul; January 3, 2009 at 2:24 PM
Montedarlo said...: Hi Palyniam, good to hear from you. I still have to meet Mick and Cath yet but I regularly check out there blog.
Thanks for the comments about the pics, I enjoy taking them and playing with them on Photoshop.
Cheers and best wishes for 2009.
All the best,Phil; January 4, 2009 at 9:16 AM
Bert Bucket said...: Phil,

How often do you need to have a safety MoT type inspection? Is it twice a year? The lorries must take a right good hammering this time of year. What about the trailers, do they need the inspection as well, must do.

Happy New Year anyway to you and Tom.; January 5, 2009 at 11:23 AM
Montedarlo said...: Hi Bert, the truck has the inspection done once a year and it seems as if mine goes in for a service every 3 months. Its the same for trailers regarding the inspection but not sure about servicing.
They do take a hammering in the winter and things like greasing the fifth wheel need doing on a regular basis.
Happy 2009 to you too !!; January 5, 2009 at 2:20 PM

Your bank, its your choice.

I have already covered a bit about credit here but something has come to light.
When you arrive in Canada you will be taken to a bank and an account will be opened for you.
You are no way obliged to open an account at a branch you dont want.
I have had a few hiccups lately with ATB, the latest being having to wait 2.5hrs to have it authorised for me to be able to but my new laptop as I was going over my daily withdrawl limit.
If you are not happy with your bank then you can always change it, just as I am about to do

Rubbish pic but I have seen it

The Salton Sea is an inland saline lake, occupying the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink, part of the larger Colorado Desert in Southern California, north of the Imperial Valley. The lake covers a surface area of approximately 376 square miles (974 km²), the largest in California. While it varies in dimensions and area due to changes in agricultural runoff and rain, it averages 15 by 35 miles (24 by 56 km), with a maximum depth of 51 feet (15½ m), giving a total volume of about 7.5 million acre-feet (9.3 km³). Sea inflow averages 1.36 million acre-feet per year (53.2 m³/s).

Facts about Canada

Canada invented the baseball glove in 1883
Canada does not own the North Pole.
Santa Claus does !!
Its population equates to 3 people per square Km
Canadians rank 6th in the worlds standard of living
Canada has almost 2 million lakes
Cigarettes and Alcohol are cheaper in the UK
Hockey is the national sport
The word Canada translates as "Village"
it has the longest highway,7604km long
Canada has 42 National parks
25% of the worlds fresh water is in Canada
Second largest country in the world
There are 3 oceans on 3 sides
Canada hs the worlds longest coastline
population is roughly 33 million
6 million of those speak french
It has six time zones

Winter is coming and its serious

A few weeks ago my night heater packed in through the night. I woke at 2am and the temp in the cab was -2. I was freezing in my pants and summer quilt. I told a canadian lad about it and received the biggest bollocking. How was I to survive if I got stuck somewhere for a few days in temps as low as -30 ? Basically I would die so the need for proper winter clothing is essential and needs to be in the front of the mind of lads coming over in the winter time. I have added a list of what I consider essentials and a rough guide to the prices.

Bank accounts and Credit

When you arrive in Canada you will be taken to open a bank account which is easy enough. Unless you can prove your credit worthyness from the UK its unlikely you will be offered a credit card. You will need one in the USA unless you pay cash for everything. The answer is to put cash up front. Mastercard/visa will give you a card if you put say $500 up front so in theory you are spending your own money but it will build you a credit history in Canada. Its worth budgeting for this before you arrive over here.