ROAD TRIP

Now that it is summer, I will be hitting the road. Not in a big rig, but in my modest Ford Ranger.

Therefore I may not be posting to this blog very much during July and August.

Convoi agricole

Transport RPM of Mirabel, QC runs this International Pro Star and low bed trailer. On this trip they are carrying this cumbersome FMC combine harvester, which surprisingly comes from the Société tunisienne d'agricole et industrie (Tunisian Agricultural and Industrial Corporation)

FMC has evolved through countless iterations, and as far as I can tell spun of the agricultural machinery division to the John Bean Technologies Corp, but I haven't traced them beyond that, nor what exactly this combine is built to harvest.

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A truck...........

This 2010 Western Star, with lots of chrome, works for Priority Environmental and sports a Beau-Roc dump body.

Beau-Roc, located in Vars, Ontario, just east of Ottawa has a big chunk of the dump body market.

http://www.beauroc.com/en/default.aspx

The Western Star is powered by a Mercedes Benz engine (surprise) since Western Star is part of the Volvo* Truck Div. of Daimler.

[OOPS! Meant to./should have said Freightliner Div.- Volvo is a competitor- thanks for the correction!]

Not a truck..........

Ever heard of a Lewis automobile? Built in Racine, Wisconsin for a brief time from 1913 to 1916, the 135 inch wheelbase 60 hp, 6 cylinder Lewis Touring Car, was "Monarch of the Road" according to advertising.

The car still survivies in part because it had a poorly designed engine lubrication system. Previous owners "barned" the car and it was not until the present owner devised a chain driven lube pump that it could be driven reliably. Since then he has logged thousands of miles touring and is now part of a 1400 mile New England/ Nova Scotia tour.

It may be the only Lewis on the road.

http://www.american-automobiles.com/Lewis.html

To my knowledge Lewis never built a truck.

Another boat move

There was another boat move on the waterfront yesterday. Don Atkinson Trucking Ltd of Jordan Falls, NS got the nod to use this "class" Peterbilt to haul away a new Coast Guard boat. The Atkinson company will haul any kind of boat and coast to coast!

Export and Import takes on a new meaning

Mystery export or import?

As reported on May 1 trucks are exported an imported though Halifax: http://truckfax.blogspot.com/2011/05/export-and-import.html

and showed a pair of Intrernationals bound for Mersin, Turkey.

Today I spotted the same two Internationals (with numbers 1108 and 1109) in the parking lot at the Fairview Cove container terminal. Have they been hiding inside the terminal for six weeks? Did they leave and come back? Or was there some glitch which has prevented them from being exported at all - perhaps political unrest somewhere? Or settlement of payment?

I don't know and may never know. However I got some better pictures of the trucks and discovered that they were built by DynaWinch Ltd, a Canadian OEM, with a very interesting line of vehicles: http://www.dynawinch.net/

The rear mount National Cranes (a Manitowoc company) are apparently set up to lift off the van body. They may well be intended for oil field work, which DynaWinch supplies, or for utility work. The company apparently has substantial export business, according to their excellent web site, and so may be bound anywhere in the world, beyond Mersin - say Syria?

However the fact that they are outside the terminal gates, indicates to me that they may not be going anywhere unless it is back where they came from.

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Halifax Regional Municipality Fire and Emergency Services

The name of the Halifax fire service is a mouthful, and so it should be for it covers a huge geographical area. With 56 engines, 62 tankers, 7 quints, 1 ladder, 2 platforms, 27 rescues, and 11 tactical squads it is a large operation.
As befitting a force of its size it has a website, which has recently been upgraded: http://www.halifax.ca/fire/fleet/
It lists all apparatus, including antiques, trailers, boats, cars, vans and photos of most and specifications.
Elsewhere on the site is information about the various fire districts and fire stations.
It is also the oldest fire service in Canada, tracing its roots to 1754.

One of the above noted 62 tankers is this Freightliner/ American LaFrance dating from 2002. It has an 1800 gallon tank, 1750 gpm Hale pump and 200 gallon foam tank.

Back in 2002 Freightliner (part of Daimler) owned American LaFrance. Those days are gone, but American LaFrance is still in business, now owned by Patriarch Partners, a Lynn Tilton company. http://www.americanlafrance.com/

ALF, as it is known, also produces the Condor truck which it got from the ruins of Sterling I guess, for vocational and fire apparatus use, but also produces its own Eagle chassis for fire apparatus. The company still has some ties to Freightliner as the Condor is sold and serviced through FL dealers, and ALF builds apparatus on Freightliner commercial chassis.

http://www.condortrucks.com/condor.asp

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Mitsubishi Fuso back in production.

The disastrous earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11 resulted in a halt in production by Mitsubishi Fuso at Kawasaki, Japan. The truck maker was able to resume limited production March 29 and 30 and has now resumed regular manufacturing of parts and complete vehicles, with the first units reaching North America June 1.

Mitsubishi Bus and Truck Corp sells it vehicles world wide and is part of the Daimler Trucks Div. The evolution of that ownership is contorted: Chrysler acquired a stake in 1970 but that was dissolved in 1993. Volvo bought a portion in 1999 (becoming Daimler Chrysler in 2001). When Daimler got out of Chrysler, it increased its share in Mitsubishi Fuso to the current 89.29%.

Therefore to see a brand new Fuso FE 160 crew cab parked amongst the Western Stars on Saturday was not that much of a surprise, except that Lockhart's are not listed as a dealer on M-F's web site.

For the curious, the word "fuso" means "hibiscus" a flower that has symbolized Japan for centuries.

Where were all those trucks going?

Most of the trucks disappeared in the wee hours of Sunday morning after the arrival of a ship carrying an entire gravel processing plant for Carrières Bob-Son Inc of Baie Comeau, QC. A few stragglers were left by Sunday afternoon however, and this is a sample of loads they were hauling:
1. Les Transports Jenkins of Amqui, QC has a control room and a drum on this trailer. The KW looks like it can handle the job.

2. Pete with moose bar, also with Jenkins is about to re-set the trailer axle spread before hitting the road with another drum.

3. The Jules Savard KW has an even bigger drum, and he will be waiting until midnight to leave with this over length unit.

To reach Baie Comeau, QC, these trucks have two alternatives: to follow the Trans Canada to Quebec City then Route 138 east on the North Shore of the St.Lawrence or if their loads are not too big, to use the ferry from Matane.

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Quebec Fleet

A score of Quebec trucks are lined up outside the Fairview Cove container terminal, waiting to load a project cargo. They have been there for two days, so there must be some holdup with the boxes clearing the pier.
As usual for Quebec, a nice lot of Kenworths, with some other types mixed in.

1. Some of the fleet lined up and waiting.

2. Transport Rodrique Normand Inc of Baie Comeau runs these red KWs.

3. Les Transports Jenkins of Amqui, Quebec has a stand out Pete.

4. More of the same.

5. Another Rodrigue Normand.

6. One of 138 trucks in the Jules Savard Inc fleet from Jonquière, QC.

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Dual Use Volvos

G&R Kelly of Bedford, NS keep their trucks running all year. Since there are only two seasons in Halifax, winter and paving, these Volvos earn their keep.

We are presently in paving season, and the trucks are fitted with asphalt or gravel carrying dump boxes. In winter they are fitted with plows up front and the boxes used for salt/grit spreading or to haul away snow.

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Saturday find

I found this one in Bayers Lake (Industrial) Park today - a freshly painted 1954 Chev 1500 with new flatbed body. Not quite completed (brakes may need a bit of work?) but looking very good.

More imports

This Cat digger arrived by ship for the local Cat dealer. Owen Davis Sons & Daughter Ltd of Lower Sackville, NS got the job to drag the unit away from the pier.

Their Western Star day cab unit was up to the job using a Raglan dolly and a Blackhawk trailer. They are waiting for quieter traffic before getting underway for the short trip over to Burnside.