Driver Dave Trucking in Canada: Slip seating

surprise....

twice in the same month. Ain't you the lucky ones.... well reason I'm here again so soon is the slip seating business. Its great to be able to see the family more. The down side is we can not arrange things or know what I'm doing from one day to the next. I get into a truck kind of knowing when I'm getting out of it, but that can change at any time. Least when I had my own truck I decided when I was going home and when I wanted to go back on the road. With slip seating. You have to wait till the drivers decide when they want to go home and how long you get to spend in the truck depends on the time they want off.

So they kicked me out of 833 on the Saturday. It was Wednesday night before I was in another truck. 871.

Meet 871 a 2007 International Eagle 9900. looks like a 1957 truck, and has done one and half million KM's on it. About ready for trading in.

The main problem with the old eagles is the size of the hood (bonnet) in this picture you can see im sat at some traffic lights. What you cant see from my eye line is there is a car in front of me. One big blind spot.

It should have been the Monday i got in the truck, but the driver came back on the Sunday night and parked the truck at the truck stop, went home then expected to go out again on the Monday. Joe was not a happy bunny. So he went out again till the Wednesday getting back really late. They did line me up for other trucks but every time one came in, Joe wanted a team in it.By the time the truck had been through the shop, it was midnight so I had to set off then. I parked up about 4am. My load was going to Oxford, Pennsylvania. Which is the very south of PA. I got there the following night about 11pm, just as they was going home for the night. So I backed up to the bay ready and went to sleep. They woke me up in the morning as they was driving on and off the trailer with the fork lift. Then I got my reload which was still in PA but 3 hours drive north. Got that collected and off I went. The load was going to Nova Scotia. But they wanted me to take it to Woodstock. I got back to Woodstock 72 hours after leaving, which was not too bad to say I had covered over 1600 miles in that time. My new reload was going to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. I had to drop my trailer. Drive 100yds up the road for my reload, which I was bringing back to Woodstock, stopping off at Moncton for them to take some things off and add more on. It was a team load but I was just bringing it to Woodstock to meet another truck that was taking it to be delivered in Quebec. Like a tag team, so it would get there just as fast as a team would take. I got back the early hours again so stayed in the truck as getting Emma up and the kids just to fetch me in the night would be a pain. That morning when I was ready to go, I went in to dispatch to let them know I was ready to go, which is where I was told I was getting out of the truck as the assigned driver wanted to go back out again, three days premature. There was another truck just got in which I said I could take. but to share the work a driver that had been at home a couple of days had to take that instead. So im sat at home waiting for another truck which is on its way back. Prob the morning before I get into it though. That's if Joe does not want a team out in it again, like a couple of other truck I have been lined up for. At the moment Ayr are running twice as many teams than we normally do, as we have gained a lot of extra team work. That's why I was chucked out of 833 in the first place to put the team in. One reason is we are doing a really good job. The second is the rail was on strike, so all loads are having to go by road creating more work. We just need more trucks to cope with the demand now. With Ayr I have always noticed that while you are in a truck, you are flat out, not getting round fast enough. But when you are not... its hard to get into a truck. Hopefully I will get my own truck soon, as I already cant stand this slip seating business not knowing from one day to the next whats happening, but I can not see it at the mo with Joe mainly wanting teams out in spare trucks. We will just have to wait and see.

One good thing that came out of getting out of the truck yesterday, was been able to see my oldest Kirk at his school Christmas concert, which was held in the high school to fit all the families in to watch, then it was off back to his school for a little party in the class room.

The snow is very much here to stay now. It has not stopped today at all. Emma does a good job shoveling the drive though ...lol maybe next year I will save up to buy her a snow blower. :-) or when we finally get the lawn done, I will get a ride on mower with the plow attachment on. So summer she can cut the grass and winter plow the drive.

Anyway here are some more pics for you to take a look at.

This was taken last week.