Oregon Upset : Round The Clock.

Load 1 - Peat Moss

____ Load 1: An early Sunday morning departure from the Flying Eagle yard with peat-moss; destined for the Knoxville town of Illinois. A full eleven hours at the wheel; getting down to Center Point in Iowa just as the sun is setting on a dry day of 1100 kilometres. Ten hours later and the Cummins fires again. Interstates 380, 80 and 74 to a small family run plant nursery with a newly installed unloading ramp. Bill of lading signed and off for a reload; just 50 miles west. Across the Mississippi, back into Iowa and the city of Burlington. The Burlington from BNSF.

Load 2 - Balsa Wood

____ Load 2: Balsa wood wasn't a big part of my childhood but I can remember making model airplanes with the light-weight sheets of the easily carved wood. I cant remember having carried any balsa in the truck before. The lightest lumber load ever; four pallets of shaped pieces, carefully packed in card board boxes. A dedicated trailer load; no other freight allowed and the shipper pays the full rate for the job. Going to Tillsonburg, Ontario, Siemens Blades Division. But is that razor blades or circular-saw blades? On to Sawyer in Michigan for a night at the Travel-centre of America, better known as the TA.

Crossing back into Canada at the Bluewater Bridge that joins Port Huron with Sarnia. Then on to the delivery for a 2 pm appointment. The shaped balsa wood is used in the manufacture of wind turbine blades, the biggest blades of all; not sure where, why or how. No re-load instructions after unloading, so back to the Flying 'J at London.

Load 3 - Coffee

____Load 3: Brampton, Ontario, to Portland, Oregon. But the 2659 mile trek doesn't start off too well. Most shippers of high-value cargo require a driver to give them some sort of coded number; to identify themselves as the genuine carrier of that load. This is known as the pick-up number and my number for the load of one-serving coffee pods means nothing to the warehouse clerks. Ninety minutes later, I get the right number. Then the faxed customs papers go astray and I have to stop and re-fax. Then when I get the all-clear to cross the border; some-one cancels my customs entry. Three hour delay and all the blame goes to the broker: Livingston.

Things can only get better and they do as I reach the TA at Lake Station; minutes before closing time at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. Chicken and biscuits. Tuesday night and I am loaded for a Monday morning delivery, but a long way to go and careful planning is needed. Wednesday morning plans include a two hour visit to the Iowa 80 trucking Museum; then push-on for the rest of the day. Thursday: get a stamp-on. Friday: more of the same. Interstate 80 all the way. All the States that begin with the letter "I" are on this route. East to West: Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Idaho, But I finish on Friday night in Utah. Ogden, home of the original Flying'J and my home for 36 hours as I take a log-hours reset. A bit scruffy and run-down, but with the Big Z Restaurant and Tavern just across the road.

Eleven hours driving on the Sunday, at 65 miles per hour, cruise control on Interstate 84, should put me on the doorstep of the coffee supply company; 8 o'clock Monday morning. But that was before I came to the scale-house at Farewell Bend. Oregon, along with New Mexico and Alaska, are the only States that require independant licencing of all trucks that come into their territory. A blanket permit covers all the other 46 States except Hawaii. I knew this fact but didn't know Flying Eagle had not bought a yearly permit for #26 to run in Oregon. It was the first time I had been to Oregon with Flying Eagle and I pleaded ignorance and English. The scale lady let me off with a warning and no fine.

However, Flying Eagle still had to buy a one-trip permit. The State has a 24/7 phone line or it can be done on-line, but the offending truck cannot leave the scale until the permit has been bought and faxed to the scale-house from the DoT Oregon head-office. Flying Eagle wanted to leave it until Monday morning but a short sharp text made it quite plain that I wasn't prepared to sit at an isolated scale-site for 16 hours. Especially as it wasn't my mistake that had brought the job to a halt. Three and three-quarter hours later, I was under way again.

I finished the day at the Arrowhead Truckstop, just outside Pendleton. It was an early morning run along the south bank of the Columbia River but I was never going to make Portland by 8 o'clock. An over-whelming sense of disappointment; after I put so much effort into getting it right. but plenty of free coffee to drink whist I was being unloaded.



Load 4 - Seeds

____ Load 4: The Oregon permit system stated that I needed to buy another one-trip permit before I could go off to get my reload. Another delay which cut down the time I needed to race round to a couple of seed-merchants at Silverton and Tangent. I was loaded with minutes to spare before I ran out of time at the Pilot Truckstop at Biggs. Overnight over-looking the mighty Columbia.

Tuesday and a big driving day; Washington State and Idaho with the newly by-passed Sandpoint. Into British Columbia at Eastgate, then the Crowsnest Pass into Alberta with all the scales open. Finishing at Nanton; just a couple of hours short of Crossfield on the top side of Calgary. Next morning it doesn't take long to unload the various grass-seeds as I wield the pallet jack in the trailer as an Australian fork-lift driver puts them away.



Load 5 - Guar Gum

____Load 5: Tell any truck-driver that he will be delivering a dry-freight van load to Montana and the first thing he will say is,

"What are you going to get as a re-load?"

"Fuck-all."

Was the reply by my despatcher, the first time I had ever heard her use the F-word. The place is a notorious black-hole for van-loads going to Canada. But the load-planner had taken on the job and I had to load 20 ton of guar gum in Calgary and take it to Miles City. Big ton bags of an organic powder used in the oil industry to make a slippery paste when mixed with water. They had eleven loads going to Midland, Texas, but I had one of the two going to Montana. So back south of the border in the late afternoon, through Sweetgrass and down to Great Falls on the Missouri River for the night. Across Montana on deserted two-lane highways surrounded by wide-open grassland and even some hill-tops with-out wind-turbines. Quick and easy un-load before holding my breath for the reload.



Load 6 - Bentonite

____Load 6: Drivers have been known to sit and wait for days as their office staff frantically search for a load out of Montana; usually they have  to bite the bullet and run an empty truck hundreds of miles. But the Flying Eagle office does come up with a load; quickly and with a reasonable dead-head. Good miles for me too; Lovell in Wyoming to Burlington, the one in Ontario. On to Billings for the night before going up to the Bentonite mine in the foot-hills on the Bighorn Mountains.

There are plenty of trucks waiting to load; which gives me chance to plan a route eastwards. Three choices, Interstates 94, 90 or 80. But before I get to the four-lane highways, there are the mountains and three choices of mountain pass: Bald Mountain, 10,042 feet, Granite Pass, 9033 feet or Powder River Pass, 9,666 feet. Sod that! It's 5 degees C and raining at the mine; it will be snowing on the mountain tops. I opt for the slightly longer southerly route that follows the Bighorn River and am rewarded with the stunning scenery of the gorge between Thermopolis and Shoshoni. It takes the rest of the day just to get out of Wyoming, picking up Intertsate 25 at Casper before turning east along the 80 at Cheyenne.

There might just be a slight difference between their driving hours regulations; but the US regs force me to have another re-set before I can get back into Canada. This time I aim for the Worlds Largest Truckstop at Walcott, Iowa, and another look-round the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum. It's Mothering Sunday or Mother's Day or as it's known in Iowa: "Take Your Mother To A Truckstop Day." I give the restaurant a swerve, do some laundry and wander about amongst the old trucks; something that didn't appear to be on any mum's bucket list.

Away early Monday morning but with still more than a day's driving to do. The wet weather that started in the mountains has followed, everthing from downpours to drizzle. Across the border at Bluewater again and to Cambridge, Ontario, where I know if I get out the cab I will get soaked to the skin just going for a shower. Burlington, Tuesday morning discharge with the Bentonite, the same stuff that comes out of Cowboy Mining Company pit down in Texas.



Load 7 - Wire and Plastic Bags

 ____Load 7: Instructions for the first part of a LTL run-round; eight pallets from a Brampton card-board box maker who has only 2 pallets ready for shipment. Loaded-up and away to Simcoe for part two when the phone goes; take those two pallets back and we will collect the full order when it is ready next week. U-turn and a lot of lost time in the heavy traffic of the Golden Horseshoe. Eventually down to Simcoe, only to find that I have goods to collect from both their warehouses in the town. One of those days; the last consignment at Woodbridge close at 4 o'clock and congestion only gets worse. Load Wednesday morning and make tracks for home; to Hearst before the driving hours and daylight run out together. Another full day at the wheel follows and five moose are sighted; a record.[1 pair and 3 singles] It takes just a couple of hours to get off the two deliveries in Winnipeg; then back to the yard. Twenty days, seven loads, four time-zones, two resets and 15,973 kilometres after I left.

The whole trip. Click on any map or picture for a wide-screen enlargement.

Amish in Ontario; five horse power.

New Argosy looks better with a painted grill and less chrome.

Mostly flat -beds loading Bentonite at Lovell in Wyoming.

Smart big-sleeper Kenworth; typical of the custom trucks that frequent Iowa 80 Truckstop.

Interstate 84 East-bound beside the Columbia River in the evening.

Cowboy and the Cross; Montana.

Oregon troubles started here, by the Snake River.

Michigan grain hauler; I bet he gets a Christmas card from the Michelin Man.

Thermopolis, Wyoming.

US Highway 20; the Bighorn River Gorge.

The scenic Highway 20 between Thermopolis and Shoshoni in Wyoming.

Statue beside Interstate 80 in Wyoming; Abe Lincoln.

Longlac Church survives another winter, good to see it hanging-on.

13th May 2015; Flying Eagle #26 went round the clock; 24 kilometres before Hearst on Hwy 11, eastbound, in Ontario.

Brampton, Ontario, to Portland, Oregon, with a load of coffee and didn't change down for a single hill.

First re-set of the trip at the first-ever Flying'J at Ogden, Utah.

Red loco-yellow loco-red loco-yellow loco.

Random red tanker.

Still dazzling - the trucking super-store at Iowa 80.

Spot the moose?

Stern-wheeler on the Columbia in the early morning light.

System of Spokane pole hauling : What no over-hang?

Good looking Western Star at the World's Largest Truckstop.

Off to sow: air-seeder going down an Interstate.

Iowa 80 Trucking Museum.

The Trucking Museum is part of Iowa 80, the World's Biggest Truckstop, at Walcott in Iowa.

The Museum is about 3 hours West of Chicago and 3 hours East of Des Moines.

Free entry and open from 9am to 9pm in the Summer. [9 to 5 in Winter.]

An old AC Mack, similar to some that are still in use in Cuba.

B87 Mack, the most powerful of the B-Series and used in Heavy-Haul Operations.

Solid-Tyred Packard Tipper from the company that also made the luxury Straight-8 Saloon.

Nicely restored BM Mack with flat-bed and fifth-wheel.

 Solid-tyred Mack Truck and Trailer, made long before the Bulldog hood emblem.

5 ton International Flatbed, looking as good as it did when it was built.

Brockway Tractor Unit, formally used on the Eastern Sea-Board.

Recovery-Crane-Truck by White, with serious tread on the drive axle tyres.

Sleeper-cab Kenworth from 1954; with matching trailer.

Superb Diamond T Tractor Unit in two-tone blue with gold.

White Super-Mustang Tractor Unit; the same model as used by the Nairn Brothers in the Middle-East in the 1950s.

Autocar Tipper with the luxury of a fully-enclosed cab.

Most of the trucks were fully restored but some were on display in their barn-find condition.

Some trucks were restored after years of neglect; some like this International came straight from service and just needed a bit of tidying-up.

The Kenworth Cab-Over of Highway hank Good. He replaced it with a Kenworth Conventional.

A one-owner driver, five-million mile rig donated to the museum after 35 years of service.

1954 Diamond-T Tractor Unit; my favorite truck in the whole museum. Gorgeous!

Most of the trucks looked like they could still go out and do a day's work.

Studebaker Tractor Unit. The only one I have ever seen.

B-Series Double-drive Mack; very similar to the old one in the Flying Eagle yard.

I would happily go off and do a weeks work in this Integral-Sleeper B61 Mack.

Mack Pump Truck; low-mileage, specialised equipment always survives better than over-the-road stuff.

Saurer truck from the Swiss town of Arbon; of course, one of my favorite makes.

Mack Winch Truck that was working on the Iowa 80 Recovery Fleet before coming to rest in the museum.

Kenworth Flatbed with solid rear tyres; it wouldn't need the axle-stand if it had them on the front.

Fageol Flat-bed Truck from the factory that went on to produce the first Peterbilts some years later.

Looking better than new and a whole lot better than the many others like it that are still working hard in Central America.



____West-bound on Interstate 80; running from Toronto to Portland, Oregon, I had a couple of hours to spare. So, what better place to spend it than in a trucking museum. Free entry and I saved even more money by avoiding all the chrome goodies in the truckstop store. There was only about half-a-dozen people in there, so they didn't get in the way of my photographic activity. But the little chain fences and all the other trucks did make things difficult. It is a bit over-crowded with exhibits and not enough room to stand-back and admire the splendid restoration work. But I am being picky; the place is well worth visiting and has to be commended for saving some of this one-of-a-kind machinery.

Now Two Trips In One Week.

First Trip of the Week.

____ Day 1: I could have gone away on the Sunday but there was nothing for me. So it is a Monday midday departure with an empty trailer. A six hour drive down to Cold Spring, Minnesota, to collect a load of soft drinks. Afternoon tea at Fargo and I arrive at seven for the eight o'clock loading appointment. Loaded by nine and I decide to stay on-site over-night. I have to have a ten hour break some where on the way back and it makes no difference to my arrival time back at the yard.

The elusive new red Volvos: #47, #48, #49.

____Day 2: The load is going to Calgary but my orders are to take it to Niverville. I get back at two in the afternoon. Next job; take an empty trailer to the peat-moss packing plant at Vassar, one and a half hours drive down towards the US border. The place is busy and I'm one of the last to be loaded; too late to get customs clearance for the dirt going to Germantown, near Milwaukee in Wisconsin. Any-way; someone cuts the corner exiting from the plant and nearly tips the whole lot over, saved only by the landing-leg of the trailer. Everybody has to wait until a wrecker comes to drag the trailer wheels out of the ditch. Another night on another company's property.

It doesn't look too bad until....

....you go round the other side and see the drive wheels up in the air.

____Day 3: The necessary customs clearance fax arrives and I am away early. My worries about the peat-moss being too heavy are eased when I get a green light at the Minnesota DoT scale. Understandably, I am deeply upset when the Wisconsin DoT at Superior pull me into their scale house to tell me that I am 1535 lbs overweight on the drive-axles. Fortunately, the whole rig is within the 80,000 lbs legal limit. By sliding the trailer axles forward, I am able to get the drive-axles down to their limit of 34,000 lbs. Because the overweight was less than 2000 lbs and I was able to correct the problem; I escape with just a warning and no fine. Curses on all peat-moss plants with no truck weighing facilities. It turns into a longer day than expected; finishing at the Petro Truckstop at Portage.

Second trip of the week.

____Day 4: The reload after the peat-moss delivery is another load of soft drinks from Cold Spring, Minnesota, again at 8 o'clock in the evening. So if I start too soon, I will be out of hours before I get loaded. It is a fourteen hour maximum day, so I reckon if I start at 7 then I can go on until 9 at night and another sleep at the pop factory. It all works out much as I had planned, out of Germantown by noon and then a non-stop thrash of 671 kilometres, with just the Minneapolis/St. Paul rush-hour to hold me up.

Custom truck loading at soft drinks factory. How does he see out of that thing?

____Day 5: An easy day back to the yard with a load that somebody else was going to take to Richmond, near Vancouver in B.C. I did have enough time to get it there by 07.00 hours on Monday morning but the office had other plans. I think most drivers don't like it when they load trailers and the majority of the miles for that load then go to some one else; I am no different. It is early-days but it seems the new management has a new way of doing things at Flying Eagle. I know I am supposed to be on light duties until June because of my injury but the only thing that seems to be light is my pay-packet.

____Overall Distance: 2391 miles.

Running empty with a tailwind.

Figures for the week: a little faster when loaded.

Fucked About.

____Waiting Days. After logging-off on March 21st; the next log sheet was started on April 13th. So what the hell was going on? The same question I was asking the office; every other day for over three weeks. No new Volvos turned up and no idea when they would. I was getting fucked about by the office. The office was getting fucked about by the Volvo dealer and the dealer was getting fucked about by the factory. The only thing that I could figure out for the delay was the colour of the trucks. White and they would have arrived on time; but the special order for dark red metallic paint caused the problem. I did think about taking my services else-where but when the office said they would pay me $100 a day for waiting; I didn't even have to throw any toys out the pram. Only! I didn't get a new Volvo; I got #26, the 2011, Peterbilt 386 to drive [again]. In the Good Old Days; getting bumped-off a new motor would have been a major issue. But with all the clean-idle DEF emissions' crap and automatic transmissions of modern trucks; an older vehicle can be a better option. Any-way; I have to drive what I'm given and #26 is not a bad motor.

High winds caught out this empty Cascadia of Gordons from Washington.

____Day 1: Out the yard on a Monday morning after a swift pass with the vacuum cleaner in the cab and sleeper. Then down to the border and a place on the end of  along line of trucks heading into the States on Cargo Monday. I have a load of 6 foot-high cedar trees from a tree farm in British Columbia; so I was expecting the load examination that all living things have when they enter the US. I didn't expect that they would find a rogue beetle in the trailer. It was three hours before I  could leave. Invasive Species is a hot-topic at borders now. My beetle was photographed and the image e-mailed to an insect expert in Seattle  for identification. Luckily, the beetle already had some relatives in Indiana and wasn't considered a threat to the ecology. Strong side-winds accompanied me for the rest of the day as I tried to make up for lost time but only reached Wilson just before mid-night.

Jack's Tires, South Beloit, Illinois. Fitted new tyre without taking the wheel off. Saves on re-torqueing.

____Day 2: A thousand kilometres to the first drop of three and all goes well until South Beloit, Illinois. After fuel and a shower, I come out to find I have a flat tyre. Why don't I ever see these things when I arrive at a truckstop? The nice lady behind the counter of the Flying'J gives me directions to Jack's Tires, five miles across town. I bobtail there and back inside an hour; but the tyre is un-repairable and I have to buy a part-used replacement. Then it's another late finish as I park outside my first customer at Columbus, Indiana.

Menards Store with Garden Centre on the left.

____Day 3: Menards are a big chain of hardware, building product and gardening superstores. All three of my drops are for Menards in Indiana; Columbus, Bloomington and Evansville. I am empty by midday and would normally have gone in one of the stores for a wander-round; great tool section. But after coughing-up $250 for the tyre, cash is short and the re-load is four hours away on the south-side of Nashville. The Lewisburg factory loads trailers 24/7 and operates a system where the driver drops his trailer and a factory shunter takes it away to be loaded. It is a two hour wait but I have enough time to get back north of Nashville and a night at the Oak Grove Pilot.

Norbert Dentressangle Mack operated by Jacobson Transportation.

____Day 4: A thunderstorm wakes me up at dawn; rain, heavy enough, to postpone a parking-lot dash for coffee. But in one way the rain through-out the day is a blessing. My used re-cap drive tyre is a barely-legal tread-depth mis-match and had been running very hot; the cooling wet roads will stop a blow-out, I hope. A big day is needed if I am to get home Friday night. Black River Falls arrives just as 11 hours ticks round on the driving-hours clock.

Stop posing and clean that wind-shield.

____Day 5: Only 20,000 lbs in the trailer, which is just as well because there are head-winds all the way home. I meet Mr. Ramsden and his brand-new Volvo in Grand Forks. The latest Brit to pull the trigger on a new truck and start life as an owner/operator. He is swearing about the head-winds ruining his fuel consumption figures; pulling an 11 foot 9 inch oversize load is not helping either. Funny how he never used to mention this sort of thing when he was a company driver.

____Overall Distance: 4737 km.

The start of the planting season for the air-seeders is the earliest since records began in the Red River Valley thanks to an early thaw and very little snowfall.