Wednesday 4 March 2009

My last trip

My last trip was to do a trailer change in Ontario. I was supposed to swap in Nipigon but I was out of time so it was changed to swap at Ignace with a team but when I parked up I got a macro telling me the team had broken down at Hearst and would I swap there. So the next day a quick trip to Hearst (lol 500 miles) then do the swap I wanted to get back to Nipigon but the weather started to turn bad it started to snow and the visibility was getting poor I thought if it stayed this way when I got to Longlac then I would stop there for the night.

I got within 20kms of Longlac when I saw a truck with his flashers on I was just about to go around himwhen I saw a long line of trucks in front so I turned on my CB and asked what the problem was and was told there was a head on smash with 2 trucks and one of the drivers was killed so I was parked on the 11 for 13 hours. I was listening to some drivers moaning on the CB about how late they were going to be.... I grabbed the mic and said why don't you stop moaning and think of the poor drivers family its about the time they were being told they lost their husband or dad in a road accident. I know only to well what that's like my wife was at work when she got the phone call saying I had been in a very bad accident and the police wanted my next of kin at the hospital asap. Its been 6 years since my accident and when I speak to my wife about that phone call she got it still upsets her now.

I just layed on the bunk thinking of that drivers family then at 7am it came over the CB that they had opened part of the road so we could get through. There was hundreds of trucks in the queue so when you let them all loose you get the mad drivers still over taking you on bends and across solid lines in the road. Because my truck has had the speed limiter turned down she is one of the slowest trucks out there and all the idiots wanted to pass me. Not a single thought that a driver had just been killed because of w***kers trying to over take on bends.

As I've said before the standard of driving over here for truck drivers is very poor its a real eye opener. There are passing lanes but some of the truckers will overtake you at the last moment and force you off the road and if you flash them in they don't flash you back and if I over take someone they don't flash me in, all the courtesey on the road has gone.

I remember many years ago the film 'Convoy' I was 13. All I ever wanted to do after watching it hundreds of times was go to America and drive a truck. I tried many times to get a job there but not a chance! When I got a chance to drive for a Canadian company I was over the moon finally after 30 years of wanting to drive over here but boy was I surprised. I thought it was all buddy buddy with the drivers and they look after their own (truck driver) lol but they don't. If you drive along and just want a chat on the CB no one bothers chatting unless you are running with someone you know. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of sound Canadian and American truck drivers out here but they are far and few between. So there you go, my childhood dream in tatters and not one woman wrapping herself up in a ribbon for me like in the film lol.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Mike,
We had 'em overtaking us at what must have been 70mph in freezing fog with about 2 sec visibility in Saskatchewan yesterday, and that is the twin 53' trailers!
Drive safe mate.