29th April 2008

I wasn't the only one that didn't know where my reload was, neither did BFS. Neil and I were both empty Monday morning and then sat for 3 hours waiting for instructions. When we eventually got them we had 280km to cover in less than 2 1/2hrs, an impossible task but told to do our best. Arrived at Neepawa, Manitoba 30 minutes late and told to come back at 08.00, all this for a trip of 119 miles to Winnipeg.
Loaded Tuesday morning and tipped Winnipeg in the afternoon and reloaded train wheels for my 3rd trip in 3 weeks to Chicago. They have managed to separate Neil and I at last.
Taking Wednesday off and will leave Thursday morning.

26th April 2008

The temperatures were in the low 20's this week so we decided it was time to buy a bbq and patio furniture. I spent the best part of Saturday hunting the shops and then trying to put the bbq together and guess what? Yes, you got it, it snowed and reached a low of -14 so no bbq this week.

It was great to see Jason and Jen again when they called round for coffee, especially as they brought it with them from Tim Hortons.

Neil and I are leaving tomorrow afternoon at 14.00 to go to Carnduff but don't know where my reload is from yet.

25th April 2008

Neil and I didn't get our reloads until 16.00, another 4 hours wasted, head to Sheboygen, Wisconsin to load 5 generators to go to Carnduff, Saskatchewan for Monday morning. Neil got the same message. We went to Racine, Wisconsin for the night and then went to load Thursday morning. "Your at the wrong address" the shipper told us and then gave us the wrong directions to the warehouse.

We eventually turned up 1 hour later to discover we were not due to load until 13.00 and the shipper had faxed a map to BFS. They agreed to load us straight away as they were quiet.

Generators loaded and chained we got as far as Rogers on Thursday then made it back to Steinbach Friday afternoon for another couple of days at home without pay.

I sent a couple of messages on Thursday and a couple more on Friday but as yet have not received any replies. The annoying part about all this is that BFS are always preaching about communication and how important keeping in touch is, shame they don't explain this to one of my dispatchers. We have two delivery addresses and I still don't know which one to deliver to on Monday, trial and error I think.

23rd April 2008

I tipped in Winnipeg Monday morning and went round to the scrap yard to load the train wheels, 3 in front of me waiting to load in the pouring rain. Got loaded and chained down by which time there were 3 of us from BFS all bound for the same delivery again.
We decided to go home for the night to dry off and clean up then leave early Tuesday morning. Tuesday night found Neil, Darren and myself parked in Black River Falls, Wisconsin.
Wednesday lunch time ad we were all empty, Darren had a reload from Iowa and Neil and I are parked in Gary, Indiana waiting for the satellite message.

19th April 208

Not a lot to say about this week. Tipped the load of lumber Monday morning at South Junction and ran back to the yard. C495 went in for service Tuesday morning and I eventually got it back Wednesday afternoon. I picked up an empty trailer and went to Winnipeg to load 18 sets of scrap train wheels bound for Burnham, Illinois and then came home for the night.
Three of us bound for the same delivery address left Thursday morning and were tipped by Friday lunch time. My reload was a load of steel from Chicago back to Winnipeg to tip Monday morning and then reload the scrap train wheels again back to Illinois.

13th April 2008

Sue and Craig took me out for a drive yesterday and we ended up at Sandilands Provincial Forest, only about 15 minutes from where we live.
http://www.mbforestryassoc.ca/forest%20centres/sandilands_forest_centre.htm

SANDILANDS PROVINCIAL FOREST HISTORY
Twelve thousand years ago, during the Ice Age, Eastern Manitoba was completely covered beneath a glacier. The ensuing glacial lake, Lake Agassiz, covered the province.
The soil is still a reminder of its ancient beaches but is now covered with a rich forest of mixed hardwoods and majestic pine trees. During spring and summer, wild strawberries, blueberries, and mushrooms abound along with the natural wildlife.
Sandilands is situated below Suicide Hill, the second highest point above sea level in Manitoba.
The countryside is ideally suited for hiking, cross country skiing, mountain biking, and snowmobiling. Trails are nestled within the surrounding forest and are mapped out and maintained by the Provincial Government
The high sand ridges of the Sandilands area, known as Bedford Hills and Cypress Mountains, are the second highest point of elevation in Manitoba and Spans nearly 3,000 square kilometers.

There are trails to be hiked, driven through on ATV, or ridden over on horseback.

12th April 2008

Got up on Sunday morning to find we were caught in the middle of a snow storm. I decided to leave the truck stop anyway as there were still trucks using the road. The roads were pretty bad and I had the wiper on the drivers side decide to pack up and not work.
We eventually ran out of the storm at Ignace and made it safely back to Steinbach.
I left again Tuesday morning and made my delivery Wednesday morning. My reload was to hook a loaded trailer in Edmonton, tip Red Deer Thursday morning, reload Acheson and tip South Junction, Manitoba on Monday morning.
The loaded trailer was ready and I met Brian there who was picking up another loaded trailer to Red Deer so we helped each other to strap and tarp. Brian was loading at the same place on Thursday so we ran together till Friday afternoon. I get on really well with Brian, we ran together for a couple of days last year (see 15th November 2007), so the time passed very quickly.
I got home at tea time on Friday and don't need to tip till Monday at 07.00 and it's only 60 miles away then it's back to the yard and back home till Tuesday afternnon, my truck is in for a service Tuesday morning.

6th April 2008

I wasn't due to tip till Friday morning but we had made good time and I called the customer to arrange delivery for Thursday afternoon. Updated my ETA on the satellite and got my reload message, 18 quads and jet skis from Valcourt, Quebec to go to St. Paul, Alberta. A nice little run.

Got tipped no problem and got another load header message, drop my loaded trailer in Dorval, pick up an empty to load at St. Mathias, Quebec then drop that back in Dorval and carry on with my load.

Got all that done by 14.00 on Friday and made it to Noth Bay, Ontario for the night, a long day but we will now make it home Sunday afternoon.

3rd April 2008

Phoned Chad Tuesday morning and was told I was going to Quebec with 18 Arctic Cat quads. Craig is on holiday from school this week so I decided to take him with me. Went in and got my trailer, strapped it and got my paperwork, only 1 drop in Sherbrook.
Met up with Nigel and Dean Wednesday morning in Nipigon, Ontario. They were both going to Quebec so we ran together the next couple of days. We split up at Montreal Thursday afternoon with the other two going further north than me.