How about some dromedary boxes

There have been may inventive arrangements to get more cubic capacity onto trucks, especially when length limitations were more stringent. This was especially true for moving companies, where loads usually "cubed out" before they "weighed out".

COE trucks were certainly one way of increasing the available space, but they had other limitations. So here are some conventional truck chassis solutions.

 1. Freightliner from Western Cartage and Storage of Edmonton carries a small drom behind the sleeper. Note the contorted stacks. 

2. Three years later, same trailer, AVL-270 ( a Roussy), but a new Western Star with a similar sleeper/drom, but a little space has been sacrificed to keep the stacks straight.

 3. This F'liner has a combination sleeper drom, but manages to have straight stacks.

 4. Close up of the same AMJ Campbell truck shows the moving van type door.

5. Classy deep green coloured Freightliner running for Mayflower out of Alberta has crooked stacks, but a little less radical than the first one.

6. This rig has a big box, some of which is sleeper. Running for Harris Moving and Storage of Sudbury, ON, the Peterbilt as an extra pair of headlights mounted on the rad, like an older model Pete.

 

8. Not a drom, but one way to get more load. This stylish Pete with low rise sleeper loads a car on the roof. Not sure how it got there or how they get it off at the other end. Some mover ran compete autoracks out of Halifax during the armed forces re-posting season, particularly the moves to Alberta and BC.

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Long way from Texas

This shiny Pete from Jack B. Kelley Inc is a long way form its home base in Amarillo TX. The company specializes in transporting industrial gasses, and there trucks can be seen anywhere in the US, Canada and Mexico, with special cryogenic tank trailers and containers.
Since its founding in 1946 with one truck carrying helium the company remained family owned until 2011 when it became part of Kenan Advantage Group of North Canton, OH the largest tank transport company in the US.
The truck's white paint blends nicely with the snow in Halifax, which is being preserved by -12 degree C temperatures. It is carrying a single Texas plate on the front bumper. With the deregulation of trucking and various reciprocity agreements in place, multiple plates are a thing of the past.
Back in the summer of 1995 it was much warmer. Seaboard Transport Freightliner COE from Dartmouth had taken over the haul of this Jack B. Kelley trailer.

It was hauling nitrogen in a refrigerated, frameless tank trailer from Jack B. Kelley.

Fords - digging deep into the shoe box

Once upon a time heavy Fords roamed the roads. The best looking (in my opinion) were the LTL 9000 series of long hood conventionals of the mid to late 1980s.

 1. Seaboard Tank Lines ran this small sleeper unit out of Dartmouth, NS.

 2. Maycar Distribution of Ontario hauled this curtain side trailer for North Star Inc.

3. Deschènes Express of Sacré-Coeur, Saguenay County, hauled a B-train load of 2x4s with "Pompier" [the Fireman].

4. Arnold Bros. of Winnipeg usually fitted their rigs with big moose bars. This photo was taken in Millville, NB, on the old Trans Canada.

5. SLH "The Real Class of 87" was still hauling in 1992, but was taking a Christmas break in Halifax.

6. HK Transport had this multi-striped 900 plated for Manitoba through to Nova Scotia. It  is stopped at the old Irving Big Stop at Salt Springs, NS - on the Trans Canada when it was still two lane.

 7. Twin steer operated by Gary McKinley of Quebec boasted 400 hp worth of Cat under the hood.

8. Roy's Trucking and LandScaping of Nigadoo, NB was running unit 8830 in 1993.

9. Entreprise R.D. Engregistré of Rivière-du-Loup, QC,  was hauling what looked like a custom travel trailer of some sort. Note the generator exhaust pipe near the back of the trailer.

10. This rig out of Ste-Foy, QC had a very streamlined sleeper and was loading up the rear axles with 2x4s.

11. Winders Moving and Storage of North Battleford SK was still running this 9000 in 1994. It was in Halifax for the annual rush of spring military re-postings. Note the louvered panel for a heater on sleeper. 

Cleaning the streets - Halifax style

With our notoriously variable weather, it's not unusual to see snow plows one day and street sweepers the next.
Yesterday I saw this Allianz Jonhston sweeper ready to go to work to clean up the muck tracked out of a  downtown excavation site. Operated by Dexter/ Municipal Contracting as unit 4M14441, it is another of those mysterious CMC trucks, similar to one used by the Halifax Regional Municipality.

The cab is a dual control set-up and carries a Johnston VT 650 sweeper body. Johnston has had its problems of late. See: http://www.worldsweeper.com/SweepingCoProfiles/JohnstonNA/index.html

Twenty-four hours later, after 10 cm of snow, which was melting rapidly with +2 degrees C temperatures, the Halifax Regional Municipality had one of its many Volvos clearing a public parking lot, and spreading more salt.

It isn't often I get a chance to take a photo of a high speed plow at high speed-he was doing a good 30 kph when I snapped this one. In case you are wondering - yes there is an oil change access port on the driver's side of the tilting hood.

They're off

Six of the new double deckers got underway this morning. One was a slow starter following several days of cold weather, and may be playing catchup this afternoon.

 1. OC Transpo 8058 lead off the convoy, displaying Route 111 on its number board. Note the two upstairs vent windows on the OC models, not found on the GO units. All units are air conditioned however. Lower level windows are the same on both, but the OC maple leaf logo covers the rear most sections.

 2. GO Trans 812x followed with one of four in the sequence of route board displays . The meaning of 16x160, if any, escapes me.

 3. GO 8124 has bars and GO 8121 has blocks on the the displays which change about once a second.

 4. GO 8123 has the display makers name (Axion Technologies, www.axiontech.ca ). That rest of the ice on the roof is going to slide off the first time the bus stops. The buses were warmed up for an hour or more before leaving, so most of the ice was gone by the time they left the terminal.

5. OC 8059 brought up the tail of this morning's convoy, and is a bit off course for route 2, but will get there in a few days.

Gentlemen start your engines

It looks like the start of a Lemans race inside the Fairview Cove container pier as another batch of ADL Enviro 500 double deckers have arrived and will soon hit the road.
Built by Alexander Dennis Ltd of Scotland, the new units are destined for OC Transpo, the Ottawa transit system and Go Transit, the government of Ontario system.
Until now the incoming units have been hidden away so that I couldn't photo them, and they have left the pier unseen (by me).
OC Transpo has 75 buses of this class on order, with many delivered in the fall of 2012 and already in service. They follow an initial order of three units in 2008.  With seating for 82 (27 lower, 55 upper) and two wheelchairs, all are the low floor, air conditioned 40 footers called the Enviro 500 or Trident E500. They meet EPA 2010 regs, with Cummins engine EGR and SCR, and Allison transmission. They are built with a combination of stainless steel and aluminum frame and aluminum composite body panels. 
The latest arrivals are carrying number  8057, 8058 and 8059.
The GO Transit units appear quite similar and are additions to the first 22 double deckers previously acquired.These ones are numbered 8121, 8122, 8123 and 8124,
Alexander Dennis Ltd (ADL) comprises three well known UK bus builders, Alexander, Dennis and Plaxton and are now building buses for worldwide markets including the US and Hong Kong, as well as Europe and Canada. Vancouver also has ADL buses and Calgary may be getting some soon too.
For more see: http://www.alexander-dennis.com/

Two more Liebherrs

Another pair of Liebherr cranes arrived by ship this week. Unlike last month's pair, these do not have Mammoet identification, although they are painted in Mammoet colours.

First onto the rail cars was this five axle model. I was glad to get a picture before the plywood went on the windows.

The second crane was the really big one, with seven axles. It also has its own heavy duty Red n' Ready rail car.

The jibs, bolsters, hooks and secondary equipment for the cranes will be leaving Halifax by truck.