____ News: I have left Flying Eagle and gone to work for a family trucking company that has some trucks pulling for Penner International of Steinbach. Just over half a million miles in four years and four months. I don't think I have ever worked for a company that has gone through so many directional changes in such a short time. Mid-summer 2011 and things were on the up with the arrival of five new Peterbilt 386 and five new Freightliner Coronados. Half the work-force were recent arrivals from Europe; German, Swedish, English and plenty of Welsh. By August 2015, I was the only one left.
____ There was a fleet of 40 company trucks with a dozen owner/operators; split into Flatdeck and Van Divisions. Good work direct from several sources; oatmeal to the Eastern Seaboard, truck parts to Georgia, windows to Florida, quilting to the Mexican border and plenty of peat-moss to Texas. The dirt didn't pay so well but gave the chance of some better paying loads back to Canada. The office staff were first class in keeping the trucks rolling and the workshop took good care of the servicing and repairs.
____ For two years; things were as good as it gets at a trucking company. But the next two years showed a slow decline due to a multitude of different factors. By the time I separated my shoulder in October 2014; the truck count was in single figures and all the work was through Payne Transportation. When the new owners took over; all the old loads had gone and they were left with just the peat-moss. The arrival of ten new trucks has built up the fleet but with very little work, there has been a lot of unpaid waiting. Time for a change.
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| Freightliner Cascadia; newest of the Flying Eagle fleet. |
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| #557, when #26 was in the colours of Payne Transportation. |
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| Flying Eagle #26, the most powerful truck I have ever driven. |
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| On the road with Flying Eagle Heavy Haul Division. |
