COEs and Droms

 Moving season is a big deal in the Halifax area because many military families are being transferred to new postings before the start of the school year. Moving vans are traditionally the most frequent users of COEs, and dromedary boxes to maximize cubic capacity within the length limits.

Tippet-Richardson is one of the longest standing names in Canada's moving industry. This Freightliner COE is an appropriate representative for the company, particularity with the nice drom box. I am not sure what is going on with the high-rise side window. The unit is from Surrey, British Columbia.

Despite the United Van Lines trailer, the Freightliner COE cab unit is labeled "operated by United  AlliedVan Lines". However there is evidence that some stripes have been peeled off, so the label may be obsolete.

The cab is well worn, with lots of bug stains, rust and an Ontario plate secured with wire ties.

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One for the Mines

 The Municipal Group of companies, based in Halifax, has wide ranging interests in construction, quarrying and mining. As part of those operations they have many trucks including trucking and courier companies. One of the latter is TDR Transport and Logistics. 

TDR is a "for hire" operation, but they also have considerable in house business, including moving equipment to their mines in Quebec. Today I spotted a TDR Peterbilt with a Sandvik mine truck.

The underground loader has a huge bucket, and very cramped looking, but well protected cab.

The road-ready load was accompanied by escort vehicles ahead and following.

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Internationals make a mark

 I am noticing more Internationals, particularly the heavy duty HX model, which is going head to head with the other big names.

Total Transport + Rigging of Halifax have Macks and Western Stars too, but this Inter seems to be the truck of choice for some of the odd loads such as this aircraft tail wing. It arrived from Ireland by ship and will be headed to Quebec for assembly by Bombardier.

With the increase in demand come more deliveries to the dealers, and as usual these are by "piggy back".

These three HX models include  a sleeper / tractor and a pair of day cabs. Truck Movers, based in Kansas City, deliver trucks all over North America, many in this type of configuration.

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New, Oldie and Used

 There are still some remarkably old trucks on the road, and some late model used vehicles, with lots of life left in them.

It is hard to tell how old many trucks may be because manufacturers tend to produce the same model for many years. However it is possible to establish a minimum age based on when a model was discontinued. One of the best known truck models of the 20th century was the Ford Louisville produced from 1970 to 1998.

This L8000 may well date from the late years of the model. Aside from the bumper (!) it appears to be in good original condition.

A newer vehicle - possibly year 2000 based on the fleet number, this Western Star is likely en route to Newfoundland. Dutton Transport of Moncton, NB had a sleek looking mid-rise Freightliner hauling the step deck trailer.

A "less used" pair of Western Star day cab tractors were waiting for their next assignments down on the waterfront:

I think they were involved with set up for this Grove 5250L crane:

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Freightliner - Brandt R4 Power Unit

 The Brandt Group, based in Regina, Saskatchewan, operates world wide with a huge range of custom engineered products for many industries. Brandt Railroad Equipment is one of their divisions, and it produces Road Rail equipment including the Brandt R4 Power Unit, marketed as "the most powerful and versatile railcar mover on the market and the only highway-capable switching unit in the world". In other words a truck that can work as a railway locomotive.

This unit spotted today in Dartmouth, NS appears to be the "Railcar Mover" model (there is also a crane equipped model and a maintenance of way model). Using Freightliner chassis and a tridem drive axle, and with engine options up to 600 hp, can give a tractive effort of 50,000 pounds and highway speeds of 65 mph. Note the retractable coupler housed in the front bumper.

CN Rail has several scattered spurs in Dartmouth that require car sorting, but are fairly remote from their regular switcher engine locations, and so I could see this unit being dispatched over the road for a few moves in one part of town them relocating quickly to another area for a few moves. It would seem to be an economical alternative to a railway locomotive, or maintaining a small railcar mover at each location.

Brandt has an excellent web site with much interesting information: https://www.brandt.ca/

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Boom Trucks

 Boom trucks seem to be increasingly popular these days - I see a lot more of them on the streets.

The Elliott Equipment Company 50105 has a 50 ton lifting capacity and a 105 foot, four section, telescopic boom. Elliott's founder built the first truck-mounted telescoping aerial work platform and crane in 1948. They now have a range of forty products to chose from, and will mount on pretty much any chassis including Western Star. Headquarters is in Omaha, Nebraska.

Local steel fabricator Marid Industries has been running this Peterbilt for many years, as a tractor semi-trailer rig. It is very handy for delivering their products directly to construction sites and placing them in position.

National Crane is a subsidiary of Manitowoc, known also for its large crawler and truck mounted cranes, and the Grove and Potain trade names. The 600H model boom crane has a 20 tons (US) / 18.1 tonne capacity and comes in a variety of boom lengths ranging from 38 to 90 feet.

A European manufacturer, Fassi, produced this F800XF articulating type knuckle boom crane mounted on a tractor chassis. The cab appears to be a reconditioned International Transtar, and the forward most of the three rear axles has been added on.

Fassi is an Italian company represented in Canada by Strongco, but the F800XF does not appear in its current product line. 

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A Mixed Bag

 Catching up on several days worth of photos, I realized it is a bit of a mixed bag.

As usual I have some outsize loads. There are lots of farm equipment imports these days, as harvest season is fast approaching.

S+M Trucking from Sydney, NS has their big Freightliner lashed up with a four axle trailer (fourth axle is folded up on the deck) to haul a Massey Ferguson tractor.

[Massey, the Canadian company founded in 1847, later called Massey-Harris, joined with the British company Ferguson in 1953, forming Massey-Harris-Ferguson. They dropped Harris from the name in 1958. With numerous bailouts, international mergers and takeovers, ownership moved to the US, but it is still the largest tractor manufacturer in the world. It has manufacturing facilities in Jackson, Minnesota. This particular unit has a European license plate, so may be used.]

Forestry companies are also buying new equipment, much of which is imported from Scandinavia. XLR Transport from Terrebonne, QC had this sharp Peterbilt in Halifax to pick up a Komatsu loader.

Komatsu is headquartered in Japan, but is a multi-national company, and has its forestry division, based in Sweden, where it took over Partek (formerly Valtra and Valmet). This unit is a good fit on the Manac 35 tonne capacity trailer.

The biggest traffic generator in Halifax is container hauling, and there are hundreds of trucks involved on a daily basis. They are also usually on the move, making picture taking difficult. Occasionally I am in the right place at the right time:

This Navistar International Eagle model is a bit more high specification than most of the "sea can" haulers.

One of the over the road haulers that I seldom see, but is active running in and out of Halifax is C.A.T. The Coteau-du-Lac (near Montreal) based company took over the Sears Canada owned SLH in 2017.

This big Western Star is a bit of a departure from its usual Freightliners. The copmany also has some compressed natural gas (CNG) fueled tractors. Seven of them were destroyed in a fire in February, but have since been replaced. They also have some hybrid CNG assisted electric vehicles.

 When I see a load like this I wonder if Big Box Stores get their merchandise in Big Boxes? In this case however these crates are headed for Stelia Aerospace, a Lunenburg, NS based manufacturer of aircraft components made of "advanced composites".

I didn't catch the name of the operator of this handsome Peterbilt, due to the fog and rain, but it is likely from the local area. He also has a 35 tonne Manac trailer. The yellow spray painted "HAL SUN" means the crates were transported to HALifax on the ship Atlantic SUN.

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