Big RVs

 In the past few days I have seen several large European RVs in Halifax. These huge rigs are not uncommon - see many previous posts - but two of the recent ones were a little unusual.

MAN (part of Volswagen) is, not surprisingly, a popular choice for German travellers, and this shiny grey unit could be considered fairly typical. It was built as an RV by Actionmobil.com

 

From where it was parked it took on a reflection from an MSC container.

Although it was badged as a Steyr, this unit was also MAN, marketed to Austria under the name of the pioneering Austrian automobile and truck manufacturer. (But I think this one was Swiss.)

Today's rig was the biggest surprise.

Expecting to see another MAN or perhaps a Mercedes emblem, I was more than a little startled to see something more familiar between the driving lights.

That's because this is not a European RV at all. It was built by Global Expedition Vehicles of Springfield, Missouri on a Kenworth chassis. Comparing it with the previous two RVs it appears to be less rugged, and with a longer wheelbase than most of the Europeans. It does seem to be AWD but even the tires are smaller.

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Mack and Trout

 Interesting exports from Halifax in recent weeks include: some Trout River live bottom trailers. I have never seen a trailer with six axles before. Even with one axle air lifted they must be beasts to turn.

A nice Kenworth hauled the trailers to Halfax.

Trout River Industries is based in Coleman, Prince Edward Island.

A Freightliner from White City, Saskatchewan (near Regina) made the long trip to Halifax with a very rough looking load.

It is hard to believe that it would be worth hauling a very beat up Mack Model R all the way here and then export it to some third world country. Produced from 1966 to 2005, it was the longest production run of any North American truck.(Some were also built in Australia and Iran.) So this beast must be closing on twenty years of age or more, but apparenely still runs and has some value - perhaps as a rolling parts pile.

I hope the driver has a backhaul it's a long trip home.

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Scania en route

 Since I began the Truckfax blog in 2010 I have posted several photos of Scanias, but only three of them have been owned and operated in Canada. There rest were either European RVs on tour in Canada or were photos I took in Europe.

Today I was able to add a fourth to the Canadian owned roster when I spotted this red painted 2017 R560 model.

 The new owner, who is originally from Europe where he drove Scanias, now lives in western Canada and prefers tilt cabs. It is a typical European truck configuration with overhead sleeper and air lift axle.

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Sinotruk

 Sinotruk (Hong Kong) Ltd is part of CNHTC, the state-owned Chinese National Heavy Duty Truck Group. They produce a line of trucks called Howo some of which are exported. They are rarely seen in the overcrowded North American and European truck market, so it was a surprise to see one in Halifax today, June 18.

The Howo 266 model straight truck has been fitted with a stainless steel tank and pumping gear, for an unknown use. It arrived in the port area on a truck operated by Timewise Tilt-N-Load Inc of Mississauga, ON. It may be going to Newfoundland or to the French islands of St-Pierre et Miquelon.

 It seems likely then that the tanker body was installed by a Canadian company in order to ensure certification for Canadian use.

Timewise operates from the Greater Toronto area to Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and New Brunswick, but this is the first time I have seen one of their trucks here. The slick long wheelbase Kenworth carries the name "Hurricane" and is hauling a Trail King tiltbed trailer.

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No End in Sight

 The invasion of European RVs continues unabated. There also continues to be a high proportion of off road types, which continue to baffle observers. Where do they find places to run these heavy duty rigs?

The Mercedes I saw at the Walmart June 5 was another that would looks a bit like a Dakar racer, prepared to blast across the Sahara.It wears a license plate from France and the "box" appears to be demountable..

 

Of course there are more genteel looking RVs too, less likely to draw attention to themselves, but worth a second look. I believe this Carthago from Switzerland is built on a Fiat chassis.

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More Big Stuff

Several big loads came through the port this week. Only one of the three I saw was readily identifiable. It was an aircraft tail wing component - I didn't catch the name of the trucking company. The other two were transfer loads by Total Transport and Rigging.

TTR seems to have a new Western Star.

Well maybe not big - but funny:

VW pop top, with a droopy tail.

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Merc for an airport

 The Overaasen company from Norway specializes in building airport snow clearance vehicles. This includes sweepers and plows. Using Mercedes chassis they equip the rigs with separate rear mounted engines to power the devices. Usually they are built as truck / trailer combinations, but a recent arrival in Halifax was a straight truck. It was hauled away on a flatbed June 3, but I could not detect its destination.

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