Tracer..hang onto your hat when you go through this area on the island.


Transportation Minister Tom Hedderson says several truckers who ignored warnings not to pass through the Wreckhouse area in southwestern Newfoundland Wednesday were "dangerously irresponsible."

Read more: CBC News - Nfld. & Labrador - Truckers who ignored wind warnings 'irresponsible': minister

 

One thing I know that might help in high winds is to keep the RPM higher than normal and maybe drop a gear. Also, I have a low profile stepdeck, loaded with 46,000 lbs of metal. Winds are mostly dangerous to empty dry van trailers.

 

hopefully all you need is a plug or patch in that tire, i really doubt you will need too buy a new tire.

 

Well, I have no idea why that tire lost air! I crawled all around it with the flashlight yesterday and moved the truck a couple of times and I wasn't able to find anything. It looks perfect - it's a Bridgestone R184 and it came with the trailer in September 2009. Maybe it's just a valve or maybe it's a small nail that can only be found from inside - once the tire is taken off. The tire guy is on his way now (7:30 am) and they said they'd try to fix the tire first. They only sell Michelin tires and a tire of my size (245/70R17.5) is priced at $281 on our LCAPP site (the national account through Landstar).

 

I just found out the numbers are split a bit more in my favor: out of the $9,300 it's $850 for fuel, $1,200 the ferry fee, and the rest is the line haul (paid out at 72%). My tire has been fixed - it has a small puncture in it, probably from a nail, and I'm now sitting at the tire shop where I got by following the tire guy. I complained that he damaged slightly the part of the trailer under which he put his jack (he chose a wrong position) so now they are bending that part back. The original invoice they showed had the number "$200" on it, but maybe they'll cut me some slack because of the damage. I also called Landstar and they agreed to load the ferry money on my Comdata card, so I'm all set.

 

You have a 121" tandem spread on you trailer right? One of our drivers got pulled into a NB scale (empty) and they gave us a break....let us permit the spread instead of fining us.

New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland have agreed to a set of standards that are expected to come into force on July 1:

- Tandem axles will be limited to 18,000 kilograms, with wide-spread tandems being limited to single-axle weights starting in 2010. Wide spread, in Canadian terms, means over 1.85 metres (73 inches). This would effectively ban the 10-foot spreads seen on flatdeck trailers from the United States, where they are treated as two singles under the U.S. bridge formula.

- Tridems will be held to 21,000 kg for a narrow spread, 24,000 kg for a medium spread (10 feet), and 26,000 kg for a wide spread (12 feet). Atlantic Canada will also allow, as Quebec does, the "equivalent to a tridem" axle-three equally spaced axles with the lead being a lift, as long as the suspension distributes the weight uniformly. This configuration would be carrying the same 26,000-kg weight limit as a tridem. Quebec's tridem equivalent with a lift has a 25,000-kg limit, a 1000-kg penalty.

 

f*ck canada !!!!!!!

 

No, that's not me. I have a Canadian friendly SHORT spread: 61" between the axles only. I can go to Alberta, BC and all other Canadian provinces. I do only 34,000 lbs on the rear in US but this short spread allows me to compete with our American drivers. Most of them have 10'1" spreads.

 

My trip became interesting on Monday, Dec-20nd. Around noon I learned that the construction site on the island where my load is going is shutting down for the holidays on Dec-22 at 2 pm and reopens on January 4th. And I was still 8 hours away from the ferry and there's 500 miles distance from the ferry on the island to the drop... Another news I got was that no big truck stops in Nova Scotia take my Comdata for fuel: neither PetroPass nor Irving, so I had to refuel in New Brunswick. After getting the fuel and some cash advance I hit the road determined to catch either the late night ferry (leaves North Sydney, NS at 11:30 pm) or the one leaving next morning... Then I"d have a chance of getting to the consignee on time. It got dark early and for what seemed like forever I drove through darkness, hurricane winds and constant rain through Nova Scotia to the ferry port in North Sydney. The road was constantly going up and down and with 47,000 lbs on the trailer I had to watch my speed ALL THE TIME. It's good that I got a step. Had I had a van, I wouldn't be able to get to North Sydney: the wind gusts would probably put me in the ditch.

Anyway, I got to North Sydney around 11 pm local time and the sign said, "Toll booths ahead". ?! What toll booths? Then I pull forward and the system they got for this ferry service is the same as when we pay tolls on Interstate 90 in New York or 294 in Chicago: you have 3 or 4 booths and you pull up and the lady in the window gets all your information, takes the $550 and gives you the boarding pass to the ferry.

While she was working on my ticket, I asked why so many trucks were sitting in the parking lot, on the other side of the toll booth. She replied, "The ferry service has been suspended for 72 hours due to high winds"!!!! O-oh....

So, I'm stuck here till Thursday morning, Dec -23rd. Good thing they have a coffee shop, bathrooms, showers, and a TV lounge and it's +5C outside (41F). I called the consignee and they said they are aware of the ferry situation and trying to find a place where I can get unloaded on the island once I'm there.

I then emailed the agent and asked if they can get extra money from their customer/shipper as I started this trip on Dec-15 and it looks like the load will be off only on Dec-24th. My message in part said, "I don't care about Xmas. I care about me sitting and not making any money." He replied, "Lets see what happens today. We will go from there."

 

If this forum has a best-threads-of-the-year competition then I nominate this one. Very cool stuff watching this play out in real time Tracer. I applaud your going-for-it attitude and I hope you end up with a mountain of cash for your troubles.

And like a wise man once said - it didn't happen if we don't see some pics. :smokin: