My story of trucking in North America: Is this H&R's new yard ?

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Is this H&R's new yard ?

Went out for a meal tonight and this is the sight I came back to. The gas station is a very busy place and its a regular stop for drivers as it has a Subway, a Burger King and is only a few miles from our yard. Looks like work might still be a bit quiet judging by the number of trucks in here considering that there are 3 trucks which cannot be seen in the picture.

6 comments:

andy said...: hi phil.i hope work isnt that quiet; April 16, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Montedarlo said...: Hi Andy, Delta is always a bit of a bitch to get away from. I have never seen this many trucks parked up here...its 11am now and there is still 8 trucks here.

Cheers for now, Phil; April 16, 2009 at 10:56 AM
Bill Gould said...: Hi Andy
Love the photos. Certainly true that a picture is worth a thousand words.
I certainly enjoy a look see at your blog every now and then.
Visitors always welcome at my blog too:
http://GrumpyOldTrucker.com; April 17, 2009 at 7:18 PM
Montedarlo said...: Hi Bill, its Phil hahaha; April 17, 2009 at 8:38 PM
Martin said...: Is that your Photoshop trickery again or had all of the trucks just been through the wash?? ;-); April 18, 2009 at 12:46 PM
Montedarlo said...: Hi Andy, no trickery..just rain the day before I think.
Good job Piglet is mainly hidden as she hasn't been washed since I got her which must be coming on a year now.

All the best,
Phil; April 18, 2009 at 10:06 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.