Driver Dave Trucking in Canada: No Air-con

We had a great Friday and Saturday after my son got back from school. We went down to Fredericton to Toys r Us for him to pick his own birthday presents, then onto a themed restaurant for our diner. Even though he came home from school with a note from his teacher saying he had only written eight words in half an hour due to chatting all the time. Nothing new there lol kids are great at his age. He is so honest. It is hard to tell him off when he drops himself in it lol

Has we was celebrating his birthday a week early with me going back out on the road, I let him off.

My truck came back to Woodstock a day early, so I went out on the Sunday. My first trip was straight down to Laurens, South Carolina. One I had done many times before, and has usual, only two days to do over 1300 miles again. Ayr do it all the time. We are so busy with work. Lots of trailers sit around waiting to be delivered in all our yards due to the fact we do not have enough trucks to cover the work we have. I’m told we have 256 trucks on the road, including owner operators, and going on 400 trailers. Most of them are full at any one time, so some have to wait to be delivered. Its great for us drivers for miles, as we never have to wait for reloads. We are kept rolling all the time, but sometimes it can be a push to get there on time. Like my load got picked up on the Friday. Sat in our yard till Sunday evening when I got my truck back. For delivery Tuesday morning. I had to drive throughout Sunday and Monday night to get there on time. Luckily it was just a drop and switch, so it didn’t matter that I got there at 3am. I had max-ed my hours out so had to park up at this crappy truck stop just across the road from my drop. I only like stopping at the big chain truck stops. They are nice and clean and the drivers get well looked after. Little crappy ones are not normally open 24hr and the showers, well you need another shower after you have used them. So I try to stay clear, but your hours don’t always let you get to the big ones, so I just have to make do. Dispatch then woke me up early sending me a question over the satellite. One that I had already answered without been asked before going to sleep. So I sent a sarcastic message back a couple of hours later, when I finally got up to go for my reload. I’m very laid back so don’t rush. I don’t bother with an alarm in less I really have to I just wake up naturally, you get the best rest then. My reload was an hour down the road in Lexington, SC going back to Ontario. The weather was red hot, about 25 degrees. Emma said it was the same in Woodstock. All the kids ended up with red faces while they was playing outside, even though they had sun cream on. I put the air con on for the first time this year to find it blowing warm, so I had to drive with the windows open all day to keep cool. It was a pain as I had to turn the stereo up so I could still listen to Howard Stern. Brilliant guy, the five hours he is on each day, I could not tell you where I had been driving, I’m that engrossed lol

listening to his show is one reason why I can drive for hours without stopping. The air con is the first thing I need to be sorted when I get back to Woodstock. My load was another drop and switch for an empty then they wanted me to go to the Mississauga yard for my reload, But I was already running out of hours fast, so I got a day cab to meet me with my reload, and I drove straight back into the states to Falconer, New York. It was only just over 2hrs away so I went straight there arriving early hours again. The customer woke me for the paperwork, off loaded me then I went shopping in Walmart, which was right near my reload, 5mins down the road. With me been so close to the border, I had to wait for my load to clear customs before I could cross back into Canada. That took a couple of hours but it was not a problem. It gave my hours chance to catch up again. My delivery point was near Niagara Falls. I have been past many times but never have time to call in, plus Emma would kill me if I went without her lol.

Once off loaded. I had to take my empty to one of our big customers and then bobtail down the road for my next loaded trailer. That was going over to Winnipeg. It was nice going along the 17 again. It had been five months since I had been along that road, where all those lakes are. We are not allowed to take that route in the winter, as it is really bad. At Winnipeg, I then swapped for a load going to Plano, Illinois. My hours would not let me get there the night before like I normally do. So this morning, I had to set off at 3am local time. On the way down it rained so hard, I’m surprised I still had paint on the truck. Saved me washing it lol.

The lightning just made it like daylight each time it went off. After I made the delivery, the day started to get hotter as it went on. By the time I had made my collection in Mount Morris, Illinois, it was 25 degrees outside and 35 in the truck. I should be back Friday, so will get the air-con fixed then. I’m delivering in Toronto tomorrow. Then I’m picking a driver up and taking him over to Woodstock, which should get us there Thursday morning. I’m told I will probably be going to Nova Scotia or something till Friday. Emma wants me back for then so she can go party again. lol She deserves the brake though. Anyway my cab has cooled to 28 so I think I better get some sleep. Bye for now.

The last of the ice floating down the St John river behind our house

These are fields flooding the roads now the snow has melted

same here

That little hut is found at alot of houses. It is for the kids to stand in, in Winter while waiting for the school bus. they come in all shapes and sizes. this was Thunder Bay where they have real bad weather.