Already its on the slippery downhill slope.

Not long after I posted the previous entry I received a satellite message dispatching me for the load, bear in mind it isn't loaded yet. When I informed the dispatcher my reset would be up in the morning which would be approx 2hrs after the trailer would be put on the dock and could I go in for it then the reply was basically no. I asked if the trailer had been loaded early, if so seeing as how I had already had 24hrs off I would run a few hours tonight so I could be in Calgary the following day, once again the answer was no..it wasn't loaded but I would be in Calgary tomorrow anyway !!

So, I throw out an open challenge. I will pay $100 to anyone who can travel 825 miles in 13hrs when limited to 62 mph (even in a car). The "average" speed needed is 63.5 mph

The good news is that I am dropping the trailer in Calgary,the bad news is I don't know whats happening when I get there.

Oh well !!

More pics and whats coming next.

Hi all, more pics as promised along with a few new ones from Las Vegas. Stopped off there for a few hours on my way back from Mecca CA.
Coming up is something that is not new but I have not done it for a long time. Its a detailed diary of what happens to me, how long I drive and where I am and so on and so on. I am on a reset in Winnipeg MB so I will be starting a fresh week and will log in as often as I can. Doing this type of thing really shows both how good the job can be and vice versa.

So to start, I parked up at 1930 last night which was Saturday 28th and am due to reset until 07.30 on Monday 30th. A reset wipes out any hours that I have previously used and in effect wipes the slate clean so its a fresh start.
The plan so far is to load out of Winnipeg or rather pick up a loaded trailer and head across to Surrey BC for delivery on Wednesday 1st at 7pm. Its roughly a 2271km (1420 mile) trip and I will have 3 shifts to do it in, easy enough if things go to plan.
We will see what happens, so enjoy the pictures. I have put a link on this page to my Flickr page, this holds all of the pics I have uploaded and a lot my blog readers will not have seen.
Speak soon. Any feedback would be welcome regarding the larger picture sizes, do you prefer them or not. Cheers

A busy bee

Hi all, lots of miles and no internet have made my posts a little scarce.
I think I was in Washington state when I last posted, no I was in Vancouver (after looking in logbook). Well I got across to Calgary, had a quick reset and ran with an empty trailer to Lethbridge and since then the reason I love this job took over.
A load to Nogales which is on the Mexican border but its the drive down I enjoy. You take in Montana, Idaho, Utah and Arizona, going through cities like Salt Lake, Phoenix and Tuscon as well as driving through the Grand Canyon National Park.
Arrived at Nogales, unloaded and since my reload wasn't until later that night I nipped across the border on foot and spent a few hours in Mexico which was an eye opener to say the least. There was a lot of poverty but the people were great and everywhere is bursting with colour.
Anyway, loaded and headed back in 80f temps until I hit Flagstaff AZ when the temps plummeted to 34f and hail and snow fell like it was going out of fashion. Once out of the Grand canyon National Park it warmed up again to the 60's until I was a short distance into Utah and the snow fell like it was December. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.
At the minute I am in a place called Mecca California waiting to load watermelons back up north,. For some reason I have been routed the backroads but I wont complain as you get to see things you wouldnt normally and thats a bonus.
So, I have loads of pics of Arizona, Mexico and a cool place called Cliff Dwellers to upload when I have a faster connection.
Speak soon

The Californian Dream

Piglet 4th is The California Dream.
California has some of the most stringent green policies regarding trucks in N.America and piglet isn’t fazed by them one little bit. Pulling the latest of H&R’s trailers she is super eco-friendly.
If we start at the back and work forward we have super wide single tyres, somehow they reduce rolling resistance which results in better mpg and tyre wear. If anyone is interested in the size they are 455x55/22.5
Next up are the long and low side skirts. When travelling at speed these flap frantically in the wind and in very much the same way a hovercraft works they provide a down draft which helps to raise the trailer and alleviate the weight which once again results in better mpg. ;-) The eagle eyed amongst you may also have spotted that the truck side skirts are longer than on previous Piglets. This hinders access to the tyre chains which are hung behind them but looks better.
Neither in the pictures nor on the truck is the Tripak. This was used to monitor and charge the truck batteries as well as to supply power to the inverter so mains powered appliances could be used. Very handy but noisy, this has been replaced by an additional bank of batteries which I don’t think will be a success but I will no doubt be proven wrong.
The reefer unit or fridge motor. Now it’s whisper quite and I think that’s about it. Probably had some sound deadening materials fitted….very nice though when you are sleeping.
Now onto the engine bit. Piglet 4th has a Detroit DD15 engine and that’s about the only facts I know.
DEF fluid is a liquid which is expensive, stinks and goes into a tank with the blue cap next to the battery box. I understand that it is injected into the hot exhaust system and does wonderful things to the gases. I really don’t know.
DPF. A filter which filters out particles in the diesel (hence diesel particulate filter). The cool thing about this is that every once in a while it needs “Regenerating” which sounds like something like from Star Trek.
Anti-idle. Or anti tick-over, after a few minutes the engine will shut down to save fuel and cut down on emissions.
Some have said that piglet 4th is so eco-friendly that you could fill the fuel tanks with horse piss and spring water will jet from the exhaust stack like the Bellagio fountains, watering the crops while she cuts through the air and drives on by.

No lights make my job difficult.

Just imagine you are going out for the day, the weather is bad but that hasn’t put a downer on it. If it was night time you would have your lights on, why bother at 2pm in the afternoon ? This is what I see when its raining and the spray is getting kicked up.
Can you spot the vehicles?
Headlights are not only to see in the dark with, they are so others can see you.
Click on the images to enlarge them then click back on your browser otherwise you will close my blog.

Playing the waiting game.

Sat in calgary, have been planned to run into Idaho for a load but its all gone a bit wrong.
Had to reset as didn't have enough hours for the States, so far the reset was completed 6hrs ago.
My load was supposed to be ready yesterday morning but has been put on "test" whatever that is and I have heard no news since 3am....yes I was up that early.
Its now getting to the point where I will not be able to deliver the load ontime so basically I have lost it as well as the cash I could of earned running in Canada as I had hours available and only needed to reset for my US hours. If I am honest the trip wasn't really worth the reset as it was only 1000 miles which isn't a lot when you consider how its turned out.
Its annoying, frustrating, call it what you want, personally I would call it something a bit stronger but this is a family blog.