Marine Atlantic, the ferry operator has 4 vessels: Caribou, Joseph, Ericson, Vision.

"The flagship of Marine Atlantic's Newfoundland and Labrador fleet, MV Caribou perpetuates the memory of the original SS Caribou, a vessel that served with distinction in the Cabot Strait and became a casualty of war in 1942. Newfoundland and Labrador's rich history and culture are further reflected in the names of public areas on board ship. MV Caribou is a powerful ferry of the highest commercial ice class. The vessel, which entered service in 1986 as Canada's largest ferry, is designed to provide year-round service. "

"MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood was christened in honour of Joseph R. Smallwood (a former premier of Newfoundland and Labrador and a Father of Confederation) and his wife Clara. This ferry of the highest commercial ice class, sister ship to Marine Atlantic's flagship, MV Caribou, covers the 280-nautical mile Argentia route to North Sydney in approximately 14 hours and the 96-nautical mile crossing from Port aux Basques, N. L. to North Sydney, N. S. in just five hours on daytime summer sailings. MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood was commissioned in 1990, four years after the MV Caribou, from the same builder, MIL Davie of Lauzon, Quebec."

"MV Leif Ericson was built in Fosen, Norway in 1991 and operated between Dover, England and Calais, France, prior to operation between Holyhead, Wales and Dublin, Ireland by Stena Lines shipping company. She sailed under the name of the Stena Challenger prior to being purchased by Marine Atlantic in 2001, to operate between Port aux Basques, N. L. and North Sydney, N. S. She was renamed the MV Leif Ericson in honour of the 1000th anniversary of the explorer Leif Ericson landing in the New World."

"MV Atlantic Vision was built in Kiel, Germany in 2002. The vessel operated between Scotland and Belgium from 2002 to 2004, then between Estonia, Finland and Germany, before being chartered by Marine Atlantic in 2008. The vessel will operate on Marine Atlantic's Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia ferry routes until 2013. She is 203 metres long with a capacity for up to 531 cars, and can travel at speeds upto 27 knots."

 

I don't believe in counting all the deadhead miles OUT OF the delivery point. There's always a new load and I'll look for one where the rate on ALL miles (from my location to pickup to delivery) is decent. For this trip I'd count the 500 miles I did to Chicago (empty), then 1,800 to North Sydney, NS, and the 1,000 miles on the island (ferry - consignee - ferry). All miles after that - once I'm on solid ground in NS - will be accounted for in the next trip.

 

Tracer, you are doing the same thing I did with Landstar. You really need to stop looking at the loads paying the most, and start going to heavy freight areas. There is no reason you can't find 5 days worth of run to equal your 1 load to no-where and still be home. Granted u living in Canada hurts BIG TIME!!!

Here's to hoping everything works out for you tho buddy

 

I see a big number at the top of the board ... I like the bull you know I can't help it. But I guess you're right ... the money seems okay at first, but then you take into the account the deadhead and lost time and you end up making less than what you could have made by choosing a busy area.

 

With the island you simply have to build it into your rate. There's simply nothing coming out of there, and your next load certainly won't pay for the deadhead. Unfortunately a lot of Canada is like that, you need a premium going in.

 

I wish I would have read today's updates sooner. You're only 45 minutes away from me in Napanee. We were in NS ~ 6 times this year and we deadheaded all the way back to ON every time. Your tandem axle trailer will kill you out there in the maritimes.....you're only allowed 20,000 IIRC.

 

i figured it out to you getting 1.37 a mile to the truck, assuming you can get that load in quebec and only have to DH 800 miles from the ferry. and paying 650 each way on the ferry

that does not look to good to me

you might end up waiting alot to even get on the ferry, since they are so busy

 

Care to elaborate? I'm not aware of any such limitations ...

 

I left the Flying J in Montreal QC this morning planning to do 800-900 km (500-560 mi) but fate threw a monkey wrench in my plans in the little town of Degelis, QC (pronounced 'de j e l ee). I stopped at the Esso truck stop here to get some coffee and whlie walking around the trailer noticed one of the trailer tires looked suspiciously low on air. I poked my head in between axles then kicked it - it was flat! No nails or cuts as far as I could see - it must have just happened... So, I had to suspend my journey after doing only 500 km. Found a tire guy 15 minutes away but he doesn't have my 17.5" tire in stock and said to call him tomorrow. Even if he had it in stock, a service call on a Sunday would cost a fortune, so I'm stuck till the morning. The chairs and the couch in the drivers room are very comfy and coffee is only $1.25. They have one of those machines where you put a plastic SEALED mini-container with coffee inside the special pocket, put the cup under it, drop 1.25 in the slot and .... the machine makes the drink.

The R184 Bridgestone tires I have on my trailer (245/70R17.5) are only designed to handle 65 MPH. I am thinking maybe the flat tire was caused by a higher speed on a downhill. I know the pressure is fine: I had all tires checked before the trip.

 

To tell you the truth - before accepting the load I did my homework, well sort of. I looked at the miles, at the route I'd have to take but the only thing I overlooked was the 1,000 miles I had to do on the island! If that summer ferry was running now, I'd unload 25 miles away from my destination on the island. I became aware of this ferry NOT RUNNING only after I accepted the load. That extra 1,000 miles is what brings the factual rate down so much.