do you get more $ for Canada /remote locations?

I've never understood the wailing and gnashing of teeth about Canada either. As far as I've seen, if you:

1. Have your papers in order
2. Don't tick off the Border Guards(remember, they all have their sense of humor surgically removed upon hire)
3. Aren't carrying guns, knives, Mace, pepper spray or TOW missiles
4. Declare everything you're supposed to(I smoke hard-to-find cigs, but I've carried a carton across without a hassle)

you won't have a problem.

The people are polite and friendly, the truck stops(while not as numerous or high-tech as ours)have great food, and they have the only grocery warehouses I've ever delivered to where I heard the phrase, "Grab a nap and we'll wake you up when we're done, eh." No lumpers, no nasty clerks, no nothing.

Man, I'll run Canada all day and night. No worries.

 

And #### big ones too!


Rod :smt039

 

I have been all over the US and Canada my home country, running across Canada is a whole lot different than running the US, The main problem drivers have about running Canada is crossing the border, and it can sometimes be a pain,

it is a lot quieter, you very rarely hear any BS on the CB radio, unless you are driving through Toronto during rush hour

Some of the roads are not as nice as in the US, a lot of 2 lane roads especially in the North, the only danger you might encounter is maybe the occasional moose, I've driven right across Canada in all kinds of weather, to some pretty remote places, and it doesn't bother me, although I have had to sit on the road in the middle of nowhere until they opened up the road because of the weather, because there was no where else to go

Truck stops are smaller and friendlier, we don't have many big huge truckstops like in the US,

 

I got a chuckle when I read the post about running the ice roads. A friend of my in-laws, Edith Iglauer, an American who has written for the New Yorker magazine, wrote an excellent book years back called Dennison's Ice Road. An excellent read! Having said that, the companies that are involved with the construction and operation of the ice roads are a pretty focused bunch, and have it down to a science--including the hiring & expertise/experience they would expect and need to have in truckers running the ice road. Hubby was recently talking to a chap in Alberta who has run the ice roads, and like everything else in the North, global warming is an issue that is taking its toll on ice formation on the lakes too. Anyhow, read Edith's book--it is still available, and is a grand adventure of the early days of the ice road.

 

There was an earlier thread on the Ice Roads program on the History Channel. I believe it was Burky who mentioned the book to which you refer... and since I don't get the History Channel, I found a used copy of the book on-line. I'm just getting into it, but I think it's gonna be a good read.

 

Yup, Edith is an excellent writer. She married my father-in-law's best friend when she was up here researching a book. She wrote a book about their romance and marriage, and it was made into a movie. The book was called Fishing With John, and it is still available as well. Got a chuckle when they cast the movie--Edith was no youngster when she met and married John-and in the movie they cast Jacqueline Smith as Edith. Imagine, a young svelte black haired gal is cast as Edith, who was gray-haired and on-in-years when she met John. And Tim Matheson was cast as John-young, handsome-when the real John was tall thin with grey thinning hair and as grizzled looking as they come from years fishing on the West Coast. Yup, the family sure got a kick out of that movie--might as well have been made on Mars, it was so far from reality! My father-in-law passed two years ago at 92, and I like to think there is a corner out there on the far side of forever, set aside for loggers, fishermen and truckers to try out their tall tales, and I like to think of John and my dad-in-law together again, trying to outdo one another.

 

Thomas M. Strah wrote a "tongue-in-cheek" article based on the fact that the U.S. Defense Department issued a warning in January, 2007 that coins containing tiny hidden radio transmitters posed a new espionage threat. The spy coins were apparently planted on U.S. contractors doing defense work in Canada. The Associated Press reported that China, France and Russia have the sophistication to produce such espionage technology and use it in their Canadian operations.

Mr. Strah went overboard with humor when he suggested the possibility that a trucker buys a cup of coffee north of the border, and his change is tracking his hours of service. Maybe there is a way of determining the driver's duty status by tracking the movements of climbing into the truck, maybe even sinking into the bunk. Of course, if the driver takes off his pants, the readings will be compromised. We can defeat this by changing our Canadian coins for American at the border.

 

Many of the job ads I see up here offer a couple cents per mile premium to run in areas of the US. Maybe this means it's nicer here and you guys from the US should actually take a pay cut to come here LOL. (I am kidding, by the way).

I'm not sure either what's referred to as "danger" up here. Convenience might be a factor if travelling to a remote area. It might be tough to find a truck stop or other place to park and rest, but I'm sure there are many places in the US like that. If travelling in the main population areas, especially from Detroit to Montreal, there are tons of trucks stops along the 401, including TA and Flying J that you guys are used to. And even further east in Quebec and into New Brunswick, there are many truck stops along the way. And if you are in Windsor Ontario (across the river from Detroit) you are further south than about 10 US states and at an equal latitude to the California-Oregon state line.

I think the main issue drivers from either side has is the border crossing hassle. If you could simply cross and be on your way, I don't think there'd be anywhere near the opposition to transborder trucking as there is.

 

I think the only "danger" is the 401 in and around Toronto. Oh... and the moose. My friend hit one some time ago, and now sports a big-### moose bumper on the front of this truck.

I Canada!