Running produce to Alaska

Here is a little clip I made on the last trip on the top half of the Cassiar. It was a beautiful day and about -20 degrees.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h46nG2u5UhU&feature=youtu.be


I did not add any music so everybody gets to hear that annoying whine of the turbo and all the rattles in the cab I get to listen to all day long.

 

Yes, it does. We already lost two trucks and refrigerated trailers this season on the Cassiar. One of the trucks was an owner operator that has been doing that for a very long time. It seems to be a matter of time before ones number comes up. Between animals, mechanical failures and the weather there is plenty of stuff that can go wrong and ruin your day.

 

The Cassiar or also known as Highway 37. When I worked for Fairchild Freight they had a company policy for company drivers and leased on drivers not to run that road. It is about 90mls shorter than running the Alaska Highway, but time wise It is pretty much a wash. There are less scales to cross, but lots of surprise inspections along the way. Highway 37 takes about 9hrs to run from top to bottom and has some narrow stretches with pretty much no shoulders. You can be off the road quickly and happens all the time along that road. Some customers also did not want their freight on that road as well.
Right now I run it when the weather is good or when heading home and I am not in a hurry. I just talked to a guy yesterday in Whitehorse and they had spent 10 hrs waiting on a tow truck to get them back on the road after the truck slid sideways off the road due to ice while trying to chain up. I checked road conditions on Tuesday and it was compact snow with rain. I took the Alcan and had plenty of ice, cars and trucks off the road and two road closures. One was a fatality accident and the second was a tanker that went off the road and laid over. They had to pump it out at night to prevent a spill.
This trip I went to Anchorage which is close to 2500mls one way and I Probably ran about 1700mls on snow and ice covered roads. It took about 75hrs total in transit time to get to Anchorage.

 

We run strictly from Washington to Alaska, but since both are big in the oil and gas exploration there might be some flatbed loads. You could always check in with Carlisle and Lynden. They do a lot of flat bedding and I see a lot of drill pipe on their trailers. Both companies do a lot of switches. Beaver creek, Ft Nelson and Grand Prairie come to mind.

In the summer you see people showing up from all over to haul freight to Alaska. Right now everybody is scrambling for trucks. Looks like I will spending Christmas in the Yukon or somewhere along the Alcan again. The good part is Christmas will come early again at my house.

 

I finally listened to a good friend of mine and stopped at the Liard River Hot Springs in BC. It was kind of comical getting dressed for it. Obviously, I started with my swim trunks. Than it got funny insulated bib overalls insulated work jacket, Elmer Fudd hat and gloves. It is about a five minute walk from the rest area. Luckily the bears are hibernating so I only have to watch for Bison on the way in the dark. There is a dressing room and than it is a quick run for the natural pool. My outside temperature gauge showed minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit.
It felt great and you can feel the temperature going up the closer you get to the spring. The funniest part was my shower shoes freezing to the deck when heading back to change. My swim trunks were frozen by the time I got dried off and dressed.