Central Oregon Truck Co...the fun begins

Glad to see you're enjoying the thread. A quad is a tractor trailer combination with 8 axles. Four on the tractor, four on the trailer, with each vehicle having a tag/drop axle as one of their axles.

 

Delivered Wednesday afternoon in Calgary without a hitch. Getting there was a little tricky, wind was blowing snow and my trailer, all over the road. That's the one issue I have with these foam insulation loads out of Gresham; they are high and light, but are real nice for fuel mileage. Had some pretty good gusts all the way back to the BC/AB line on the Crowsnest Highway. Once you got to the line there were a couple of good snow drifts too. Must have seen about a dozen or so elk in/near the road way, I really would not like to see what those would do to the truck. Don't even get me started on the moose.

Picked up in Kettle Falls the next day, strapped and tarped, and drove down to the yard in Redmond for the night so they could do a chassis lube on my truck, update my permits, IFTA, and my plates. I picked up some more anti gel and some oversize banners with lights. Once I got that all done, I slid up to Madras to deliver. I was in and out of there in about an hour and then went up and over Hood to Gresham where I was the only one loading. Was in and out of there in about 2 hours, just time consuming putting those edge protectors up there and then smoke tarping it.

I'll be leaving sometime Sunday around noon to head for a camp about 75 km north of Fort McMurray. The plan is to get up there Monday night and deliver Tuesday morning and start out with a fresh clock. From there I'll be picking up 65' steel I-Beams in Edmonton, thus the need for the oversize banners and lights. I'll have about 9 feet of over hang in the back and 4 up front. That load will be going to Spokane and from there I don't know. Dispatcher said maybe a load out of Kettle Falls again, who knows.

Miles will be good again this week, around 3300 once I deliver in Fort McMurray, along with 2.5 tarps and 2 Canada crossings. Hope everyone has a great weekend and be safe out there.

 

No doubt, Oregon loves their scales. Big win for the Packers tonight, another win for the Blazers. All is good in the world. Need Baltimore to win tomorrow night and we are right back in the driver's seat.

Taking my union mandated break in Spokane, and then it's off to cross the border. Won't be back on here until probably Wednesday. Have a safe and productive week everyone.

 

Wow, it's been a while since I've written. First off, Merry Christmas to everyone. Hope Santa brought everybody everything that they wanted.

Last week, had to chain up to get out of Fort McMurray, snow started coming down real hard, real fast. I was empty and we came to a complete stop halfway up a good sized hill. Made it down to Edmonton that night and slept across from my next shipper.

Picked up Wednesday morning in Edmonton. Strapped down and tarped in the snow and single digits, wasn't all that bad. Drove through some real heavy snow through Calgary and along the Crowsnest Highway. Once you made it to the BC border it let up. Drove down to my receiver in Coeur d'Alene, ID.

Delivered the next morning and then went up to Kettle Falls to pick up and tarp. Finished that up and drove down to the last rest area before Baker City, OR. Delivered the next morning and headed to LaGrande, OR. Show up to the shipper and it's just pouring snow. By the time I get all 68,500 lb strapped down, there was at least 3-4 inches of snow on top of the load. Tarped that and then chained up since I knew the law was up. Ended up rolling with chains on until the scales at the top of Cabbage. They ended up closing 84 at LaGrande about a half hour after I got on. After that, it got really windy going through the Gorge. Even with all that weight, I was still blowing around the road.

Took the other half up to Tacoma to deliver with me, and then went and picked up drywall in Seattle. Secured and tarped that and went home for Christmas. I'll deliver this load in Eugene on Thursday and then head down to Medford to pick up a load of lumber going to Prineville. Need a few things taken care of on the truck so I'll do that tonight and go home for the weekend tomorrow.

Let's finish 2013 strong.

 

Happy Holidays to you as well. May next year be better than the last. Be safe my friend.